Major League Pickleball is adding another sports GOAT to its roster of owners.

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady is part of an ownership group of an expansion team that will begin play in the 2023 MLP season.

Brady isn’t the only big player getting in on the hottest new professional sports league, which will see its ranks expand from 12 to 16 teams before next season.

• Six-time tennis Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters is the other big-name athlete in the ownership group. She’s most excited about getting to “help shape the future of pickleball.”
• The group, led by Knighthead Capital Management LLC, also includes Knighthead co-founder Tom Wagner, film producer Matt Alvarez, and Wall Street bond saleswoman Callie Simpkins.
• Financial advisor Kaitlyn Kerr is also part of the group and will serve as the team’s general manager.

The new team will be 50% female-owned, aligning with the league’s push for gender equality.

Deals

| by Owen Poindexter

NBA Stars Buying Major League Pickleball Team

LeBron James and others buying a Major League Pickleball team.

September 28, 2022

Last month, a group headlined by NBA stars LeBron James, Draymond Green, and Kevin Love bought another MLP expansion team.

Professional Development

The continued investment in the professional league will likely do wonders for a sport that is dominating recreational circles.

MLP founder Steve Kuhn said these new owners will help “showcase the joy [pickleball] brings to millions of people around the globe” — and further the sport’s goal of having 40 million players by 2030.

Next season, MLP will hand out $2 million in prize money.

For now, though, the league’s teams will compete for the MLP title from Oct. 14-16 — where a sport-record $319,000 purse is up for grabs.

Puttshack — a tech-infused mini-golf venture — has completed a $150 million growth capital round led by BlackRock and Promethean Investments.

Launched in 2018 by Topgolf co-founders Steven and Dave Jolliffe, Puttshack will use the fresh capital to support its growth throughout the U.S. by securing real estate deals in top markets.

• In May 2021, Puttshack completed a $60 million growth capital round.
• The company currently has two locations in the U.S. and four in the U.K.
• It has venues coming to Boston, St. Louis, and Miami by the end of 2022.
• In 2023, it will open venues in more cities including Denver, Nashville, and Philadelphia.

Puttshack’s latest round will help it compete in a mini-golf industry that sees more than 130 million people play each year with annual revenue of more than $1 billion.

Swingers — a DJ-fueled mini-golf venture — raised $20 million from Cain International in March 2021 to open two locations in the U.S., including a 23,000-square-foot venue in New York.

Real Estate

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In July 2021, four-time golf major champion Rory McIlroy and his investment group Symphony Ventures invested in Puttery — an indoor golf experience from Topgolf rival Drive Shack.

Marquee Investor 

BlackRock, which has several sports-related investments, is the world’s largest asset manager with $10 trillion in assets under management.

The investment management company recently participated in a $1.5 billion funding round for Fanatics and took part in a $25 million Series B round for fantasy sports company Underdog.

BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel are pulling back on their Golden State bet.

Proposition 27, which would legalize mobile sports betting in California, is not popular with voters — 53% opposed compared to 27% in favor, according to a poll from last week by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

A Public Policy Institute of California poll from September produced similar results, with 34% supporting the initiative and 54% against it.

• The initiative has solicited $403.2 million in campaign donations, a California record.
• The pro-Prop 27 campaign organization, which had raised $169.8 million as of Tuesday, canceled roughly $11 million in television ads after the poll was released. Its top three donors are entities owned by BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel.
• The opposition campaign raised $233.4 million, with the largest contributions coming from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, and the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.

The measure would require that sportsbooks pay 10% of all bets made to the state after deducting certain expenses. The state Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that it would add up to $500 million to California’s coffers each year.

Another Proposition

The second sports betting initiative on the California ballot, Proposition 26, would allow in-person sports betting at racetracks and tribal casinos.

The same UC Berkeley poll found that voters are leaning against Prop 26 as well, with 31% in favor and 42% opposed.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is just six weeks out, but accommodations are still being made, as organizers have hired a third cruise ship to operate as a hotel for the tournament.

With 1,075 cabins, MSC Cruises will provide another ship between Nov. 19 and Dec. 19. The other two ships were part of a 2019 deal between the Qatari government and MSC. The World Cup begins Nov. 20 and ends Dec. 18.

• Ship-goers will have to stay at least two nights.
• Daily prices for the third ship start at $470 per person during the group stage and drop to $220 during the final week.

About 1.2 million international visitors are expected, but Qatar Tourism only reported 31,123 hotel rooms available earlier this year. Qatar’s World Cup organizers said that FIFA booked 80% of available rooms for players, guests, and officials during the tournament.

Qatar Airways and flydubai will reportedly operate around 54 flights per day between Qatar and Dubai, which has 115,000 hotel rooms.

Fan Ban

Those looking for accommodations won’t have to compete with more than 1,300 fans from England and Wales who are banned from the World Cup due to past issues with soccer-related violence.

The U.K.’s Home Office has warned of a possible six months in prison for defying the ban.