August 30, 2022

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Today’s episode of The Leadoff is all about breaking new ground: A Mickey Mantle card sells for a record-shattering sum, the MLBPA takes a major step toward unionizing minor league players, LIV Golf joins its players’ antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, and Apple prepares for a move into VR. Click here to listen [[link removed]].

Yankees Set to Buy Stake in AC Milan [[link removed]]

AC Milan

AC Milan is adding two big names to its list of high-profile sports investors.

MLB’s New York Yankees and the Main Street Advisors investment fund are reportedly [[link removed]] becoming stakeholders in the Serie A team.

The pair would join RedBird Capital Partners, which entered an agreement in June to purchase the team from Elliott Management. Elliott acquired [[link removed]] the club in 2018 after former owner Li Yonghong missed a loan-repayment deadline.

The acquisition valued the club at $1.2 billion.The Financial Times stated that Elliott agreed to lend RedBird $602 million to help with the latter’s takeover. RedBird has reportedly been looking for co-investors to reduce the size of the loan, which has a 7% interest rate.

RedBird is expected to take control of the team on Aug. 31, when the Yankees and Main Street are likely to be officially announced as investors.

The deal could lead to AC Milan broadcasts on the YES Network, a regional sports network owned by the Yankees, RedBird, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Amazon, Blackstone, and Mubadala.

Soccer Status

The Yankees are MLB’s most valuable franchise [[link removed]] with a $6 billion valuation.

AC Milan would be the team’s second soccer investment — they have a 20% stake in Major League Soccer’s New York City FC after partnering with Manchester City in 2013 to launch [[link removed]] the team.

World No. 2 Cameron Smith Joins LIV Golf for $100M [[link removed]]

Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

LIV Golf has lured the world’s second-ranked golfer, which now gives the upstart series over a quarter of the top 100.

Cameron Smith, second to only Scottie Scheffler in the World Golf Rankings, is joining [[link removed]] the Saudi-backed tour, along with Joaquin Niemann (19th), Harold Varner III (46th), Cameron Tringale (55th), Marc Leishman (62nd), and Anirban Lahiri (92nd).

LIV Golf now has 26 of the world’s top 100 golfers under contract.Smith’s deal [[link removed]] is reportedly for at least $100 million.The announcement follows the completion of the PGA Tour season, capped by LIV critic Rory McIlroy’s victory at the Tour Championship, which lifted him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and netted him $18 million.

Hideki Matsuyama, Japan’s top player and 16th worldwide, is staying [[link removed]] with the PGA Tour for now after turning down an offer that may have been between $300 million and $400 million.

PGA’s Evolution

The PGA Tour’s next season will feature 12 events in the FedEx Cup regular season with an average prize purse of $20 million, as it seeks to counter the rise of LIV Golf. It’s also doubling the total payout of its Player Impact Program to $100 million.

In what may be the most intriguing development on the horizon, Tiger Woods and McIlroy are working with the PGA Tour to develop a new, tech-enabled golf league that will be played in stadiums.

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NBA Top Shot Investor to Raise $100M [[link removed]]

Dapper Labs/NBA

Software and venture firm Animoca Brands plans to raise $100 million in a funding round that will include Singaporean state holding company Temasek, according to Bloomberg.

It’s the latest influx of fresh capital for Animoca Brands, which raised [[link removed]] $359 million in January and $75 million in another round in July.

Animoca Brands is valued [[link removed]] at $6 billion.The firm owns more than 340 gaming, social media, and finance companies.It’s an investor in NBA Top Shot and Fan Controlled Football.

Earlier this month, the company’s Japanese business completed [[link removed]] a $45 million raise that included MUFG Bank — the largest bank in Japan. That funding will be allocated toward Web3 growth.

A Great Start

Animoca Brands generated [[link removed]] $573 million in revenue over the first four months of 2022.

The results were driven by its diverse portfolio of investments and the sale of NFTs. During the period, the Hong Kong-based firm had a cash balance of $98 million.

As of June 2022, Animoca Brands holds digital asset reserves of roughly $4.2 billion.

Conversation Starters An entire flight watched [[link removed]] Serena Williams compete in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday night, defeating Danka Kovinic in straight sets. NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin signed [[link removed]] a new contract to remain with NFL Network, according to NFL Media spokesman Alex Riethmiller. Giannis Antetokounmpo and investment firm Calamos Investments have created [[link removed]] an exchange-traded fund called the Calamos Antetokounmpo Sustainable Equities Trust.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH KAULIG RACING

The Incredible Value for Owners and Sponsors

There’s no better billboard for your brand than one speeding 200MPH through the straightaway at Talladega – or one parked in Victory Lane after 500 grueling miles at Daytona.

And that’s just how it started for Matt Kaulig. He approached a NASCAR team to put his LeafFilter logo on their car, which ultimately led to developing his own team in 2016 and introducing the LeafFilter brand to a motorsports fanbase.

In the fourth episode [[link removed]] of our series, Behind the Wheel With Matt Kaulig, our Editor in Chief Ernest Baker chats with Matt about building successful partnerships with innovative strategies and the unique opportunity to connect with fans behind the track through the gear garage.

Watch now [[link removed]].

Market Movers

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

BATRK [[link removed]]

Liberty Media Corp.

[[link removed]]

$27.32

[[link removed]]

+0.59%

[[link removed]] LYV [[link removed]]

Live Nation Entertainment Inc

[[link removed]]

$91.27

[[link removed]]

-1.45%

[[link removed]] CMCSA [[link removed]]

Comcast Corp

[[link removed]]

$35.84

[[link removed]]

-1.59%

[[link removed]] DECK [[link removed]]

Deckers Outdoor Corp.

[[link removed]]

$324.43

[[link removed]]

-1.87%

[[link removed]] EA [[link removed]]

Electronic Arts, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$126.47

[[link removed]]

-2.10%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 8/30/22) What to Watch

The best tennis players in the world make the trip to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to compete in the U.S. Open — the last Grand Slam of the year.

How to Watch: 7 p.m. ET on ESPN

Pick: Expect upsets as players compete for a total prize pool of more than $60 million.

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

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