In sports, no matter how badly you lose, you can always give it another shot — at least that’s what the remaining backers of the European Super League are hoping.

Nearly a year after the initial project rose and fell in a dramatic 48 hours, the league is reportedly preparing to relaunch with changes to the format and the participants.

• Real Madrid, Juventus, and Barcelona never disavowed the original project and filed a suit against UEFA and FIFA in October on the grounds that the organizations both regulate and profit from the competitions they oversee, violating European competition law.
• La Liga’s Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid, Serie A’s Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan, and the Premier League’s Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea are all reportedly prepared to join.
• A separate report denied that any Premier League clubs are involved in the relaunch.

The new Super League format reportedly eschews permanent membership for the promotion-relegation system familiar to European soccer.

UEFA President Appalled

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin did not hold back in commenting on the reported Super League revival.

“They first launched their nonsense of an idea in the middle of a pandemic. Now … they are planning to launch another idea in the middle of a war,” he said. “These people, they obviously live in a parallel world.”

Čeferin added that “nobody forbids them to play their own competitions. But if they want to play their own competition, they cannot play in ours.”

Epic Games, the video game publisher best known for “Fortnite,” announced plans to acquire independent music storefront Bandcamp.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The music company will use Epic’s resources to assist with international expansion but will “keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music company.”

Epic emphasized Bandcamp’s role in “Epic’s vision to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music, and more.”

• Bandcamp’s artists net an average of 82% of every sale.
• Co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond said Bandcamp’s payments to artists and labels are “closing in on $1 billion.”

The video game publisher isn’t new to the music scene — “Fortnite” has produced a number of musical series, including in-game performances from Travis Scott and Marshmello. Earlier this week, “Fortnite” added four-time Grand Slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka as an in-game character, joining LeBron James and Neymar.

An Epic Expansion

In November, CEO Tim Sweeney called for a single, all-platform app store. Epic has recently battled Google and Apple, avoiding the tech companies’ developer fees for apps and in-app purchases by allowing users to download the game from its website or Samsung’s Galaxy Store.

Reports in October implied that Epic was considering creating an entertainment division to focus on scripted shows and movies, including a “Fortnite” film.

Epic was valued at $28.7 billion as of April 2021.

Serena Williams just scored a major off-court win — this time, with her venture capital firm.

Serena Ventures announced on Wednesday that its first fund has raised $111 million. The fund will “invest in founders with diverse points of view,” according to The New York Times.

• The company has made angel investments in about 60 brands, including Daily Harvest and MasterClass.
• Its track record already includes six exits and 13 unicorns.
• Some of the fund’s limited partners include Liontree, Kapor Foundation, Norwest, and Capital G.
• 76% of founders in Serena Ventures’ current portfolio come from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

Williams began investing in 2014 but didn’t announce the company publicly until 2019. Her business partner is Alison Rapaport Stillman, whose résumé includes Wasserman and J.P. Morgan.

A Portfolio of Her Own

Williams’ venture capital firm is just one of many business ventures the tennis star has pursued in recent years. 

The 23-time Grand Slam champion also raked in $45 million in off-court earnings in 2021, according to Forbes, second only to Naomi Osaka among female athletes.

Williams, who owns an estimated 0.5% stake in the Miami Dolphins, is on Poshmark’s board of directors, and also launched clothing line S by Serena in 2018. In April 2021, she signed a TV deal with Amazon.