February 17, 2022

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NWSL expansion team Angel City FC has added even more celebrities to its star-studded ownership group — including the 3-year-old daughter of Dwyane Wade and actress Gabrielle Union. Other names include Christina Aguilera, Shawn Johnson East, and Jay Shetty.

Seattle Sounders Building $1B Training Facility and Development

Seattle Sounders FC/Design: Alex Brooks

The Seattle Sounders don’t just want a new place to practice — they’re building an entire neighborhood.

The Major League Soccer team announced [[link removed]] a 10-year plan to build a training facility, office space, and housing on a site in the southwest Renton area, which used to hold the Longacres Racetrack and was most recently Boeing’s corporate headquarters.

The entire project is likely [[link removed]] to cost over $1 billion.

The 50,000 square-foot, eco-friendly facility, slated to open in 2024, will eventually include four fields, two made with artificial turf, the other two with grass.It will also include the team’s offices, plus a gym and clubhouse for the players.The team, which is partnering with Unico Properties on the entire project, will also build 3,000 multifamily residential units.

Unico bought Boeing’s former commercial headquarters in December for around $100 million.

Star Owners

The team is majority-owned by investor and Seattle Kraken co-owner Adrian Hanauer, and counts many Seattle legends among its minority shareholders.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, Seattle Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr., Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, entertainers Drew Carey, singer Ciara (Wilson’s wife), and rapper Macklemore are all part-owners.

Garmin Pockets $5B in 2021, Projects Double-Digit Growth

Garmin/Design: Alex Brooks

Garmin exceeded expectations with its latest earnings report, projecting double-digit growth in the financial year ahead driven by the company’s fitness segment.

The Kansas-based company reported $1.4 billion in revenue in Q4 2021, a 3% increase compared to the same period the year prior, beating analysts’ estimates [[link removed]] of $1.37 billion.

Garmin’s full-year revenue reached $5 billion in FY2021, a 19% increase year-over-year.

Known for its GPS devices, Garmin has also benefited from its activity trackers and smartwatches — the company’s fitness segment generated $1.5 billion in revenue for the year that ended Dec. 25, 2021, up 16% compared to the year prior.

Garmin reported growth across all segments during the fiscal year.

Its outdoor segment saw revenue reach $1.2 billion, up 14% compared to FY2020.The marine segment posted $875 million in revenue, a 33% uptick year-over-year.Its aviation segment generated $712 million in revenue, up 14% compared to FY2020.

Garmin expects growth to continue in FY2022, with revenue projected to reach $5.5 billion, which would mark the company’s seventh consecutive year of profitability.

A Deeper Dive

Last month, Garmin’s 2021 [[link removed]] connected fitness report provided insight into how consumers have stayed active amid a global pandemic.

From data collected through smartwatches, Garmin saw the number of indoor activities logged by its users double year-over-year. The company also reported a 9.5% increase in outdoor activities in 2021 compared to the year prior.

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Silver Lake Gets Players’ Approval For All Blacks Deal

Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Silver Lake is one step closer to purchasing a stake in a new commercial operations entity for New Zealand Rugby, which would mark the first time the All Blacks rugby team is not solely owned by New Zealanders.

The firm received [[link removed]] approval from the players to buy a 5.7% stake in convertible preference shares for $133 million in NZR CommercialCo, the new division housing [[link removed]] all revenue-generating assets of the governing body. Previous reports revealed Silver Lake offered [[link removed]] $279 million for a 12.5% stake, but the players union opposed the deal.

“We’ve spent a lot of time with a lot of different parties in the last 12-to-14 months and now have the confidence to move forward,” NZR CEO Mark Robinson said.

Upon approval from the 26 provincial unions and Māori Rugby Board, NZR CommercialCo could reach an estimated $2.3 billion valuation.

An additional co-investment of up to $67 million will be offered to domestic investors later in the year.Silver Lake, NZR, and its players association will invest in international rugby-related businesses through the creation of Global Rugby Opportunities. NZR and NZRPA will earn a 15% share of its profits. Rugby’s Revenue

NZR and the NZRPA also agreed to a new bargaining agreement including governing of the relationships between the pair and NZR CommercialCo, as well as continuing the duo’s current revenue-sharing deal.

Silver Lake could end up owning as much as 8.6% of the company’s equity.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, NBC is expected to make a big push for Big Ten media rights, soccer players oppose biennial World Cups, the Super Golf League reportedly lures 17 players from the PGA Tour, and the Professional Fighters League signs a Latin American media rights deal. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady has launched [[link removed]] Ones Basketball Association, a nationwide one-on-one basketball league. The league will hold a seven-city tournament with a chance to win $250,000 in July at the OBA Finals in Las Vegas. The NFL has hired [[link removed]] former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to fight a race discrimination case filed earlier this month by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. Lynch is a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. It is currently anticipated that $579 million will be spent on NIL deals in the first 12-month period ending in July 2022. Download [[link removed]] our latest white paper to learn how your brand can leverage NIL.*

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Market Movers

U.S. stocks experienced declines across all three major indexes on Thursday for a second straight session. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed:

COLM [[link removed]]

Columbia Sportswear Co.

[[link removed]]

$97.23

[[link removed]]

+0.20%

[[link removed]] RCI [[link removed]]

Rogers Communications Inc.

[[link removed]]

$52.98

[[link removed]]

+0.65%

[[link removed]] ATVI [[link removed]]

Activision Blizzard Inc

[[link removed]]

$80.97

[[link removed]]

-0.77%

[[link removed]] PLNT [[link removed]]

Planet Fitness Inc

[[link removed]]

$92.93

[[link removed]]

-1.39%

[[link removed]] MTN [[link removed]]

Vail Resorts Inc.

[[link removed]]

$267.44

[[link removed]]

-3.02%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 2/17/22) What to Watch

The Philadelphia 76ers (34-23) face the Milwaukee Bucks (36-23) on Thursday at Fiserv Forum.

How to Watch: 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT

Betting Odds: Bucks -6.5 || ML -255 || O/U 224* ( Bet on DraftKings [[link removed]])

Pick: Expect Giannis Antetokounmpo to continue his dominance. Take Milwaukee to cover.

*Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook [[link removed]] for details.

Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]]

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