#203 💸 NFL's 32 Equity Teams Up with General Atlantic

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NFL’s highly succesfull investment arm, 32 Equity, just partnered with General Atlantic to pursue growth investments across sport, tech and media. It’s the clearest signal yet of a shift we’ve been tracking: leagues and clubs no longer want to be just customers of sports tech, they want a piece of the upside. This week’s feature maps who’s building venture arms, from the NFL and NBA to European Football and Australian Tennis.

Also, our Intelligence Hub is relaunching as ATLAS, a sports tech intelligence platform built around three key use cases: Explore to navigate the market, Raise to help founders raise capital, and Scout for investors to find the next hot deal.

This week we’re previewing ATLAS Scout, our deal-sourcing and due diligence partner. Investors can fill out the survey below to be considered for early access. Sneak peek below.

Sport's Biggest Brands Are Getting Serious About Venture Capital

On 20 October, the NFL's investment vehicle, 32 Equity, announced a strategic partnership with General Atlantic to pursue growth investments across sport, technology, media and entertainment.

The NFL's investment arm has been active for years, having invested in Fanatics, On Location, CLEAR, Hyperice, Genius Sports and many others.

The model creates multiple ways for the NFL to make money. A company pays the league for a commercial partnership, often becoming an ‘official partner’, benefits from the NFL's brand and reach, and potentially grows as a result. If the NFL also invests in the company, it gets to share in the upside as the business grows or is eventually sold.

Now, it's partnering with one of the world's largest growth investment firms to take that strategy further.

The move raises a question that’s been asked more often and louder: why should sports organisations settle for being customers and commercial partners of technology companies when they can also become investors in their growth?

American Leagues Think Bigger

Established in 2013 with $1 million from each of the NFL's 32 teams, 32 Equity has since grown to $256 million in contributed capital, with each team investing $8 million in total.

Its portfolio spans sports commerce, technology, media and fan engagement, with multiple investments delivering significant returns, including a few exits already. The fact that all 32 owners keep coming back for more suggests the model clearly works.

The partnership with General Atlantic takes that investment activity to another level. The firm brings more than 45 years of growth investing experience, an international network and the expertise to identify, finance and scale companies beyond the NFL's immediate ecosystem.

Both parties are expected to contribute at least $160M in capital each, with the total fund size expected between $320-640M. The NFL is expected to participate as a general partner, giving its club owners exposure not only to investment returns but potentially to the economics of managing the investment vehicle. ‘2 & 20’ can go a long way at that fund size.

And the NFL aren’t alone here. The NBA has developed its own investment activity through NBA Equity, taking strategic positions in businesses across technology, media and fan engagement. For example, Its long-term commercial partnership with Sportradar included an equity stake alongside the agreement to distribute official league data.

Alongside the investment vehicle, NBA Launchpad provides an early-stage technology program where startups can test solutions with the league, access industry expertise and explore commercial opportunities, before identifying a potential investment thesis fit.

The model can really scale across stages.

Europe Is Building Its Own Investment Models

We’re seeing a similar path in European football, with teams often working with specialist investment partners rather than building venture operations entirely in-house.

• City Football Group were early movers here, as they became an anchor investor in Sapphire Sport in 2019, gaining exposure to sports technology investments through an established VC manager.

• Como 1907 Ventures, launched in September 2025 in partnership with The Players Fund, it has already announced an investment in Collecto, a digital platform for fractional ownership of luxury collectibles.

• Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur have also partnered with The Players Fund through Juventus Forward and Hotspur Labs, respectively, developing relationships with startups and venture investors.

• Red Bull Ventures invested in athlete-backed venture firm APEX in 2025, gaining exposure to its portfolio and opportunities to collaborate with emerging companies.

There's potentially more to come. Real Madrid, Barcelona and PSG all have established innovation initiatives, some have even previously publicly explored venture investment ambitions. These haven’t yet materialised, but never say never, the innovation hubs could provide the foundations for future investment vehicles.

The common thread is the increasing role of professional investment partners, bringing sourcing, due diligence and portfolio management expertise to sports organisations with valuable commercial assets.

Venture Up Down Under

One of the more developed examples outside the US and Europe is AO Ventures, the investment arm of Tennis Australia and the Australian Open.

The $40 million fund has made multiple investments since establishment in 2025, including video tech provider Bolt6, venue operations platform Raven Controls, wearable tech company PlayerData and sports media platform ScorePlay.

It's a compelling example of how a major sports organisation can combine its investment activities with the operational and commercial advantages of running a global sporting event.

Our Take

• Sports organisations want a share of the upside: Leagues, clubs and tournaments have spent years helping technology companies develop products, lending their name as a client, providing credibility. Equity investment gives them a way to participate in the value they help create.

• Specialist investment partnerships could become the preferred model: The NFL–General Atlantic agreement and European examples suggest a growing opportunity for established investment managers to work alongside sports organisations, combining financial expertise with industry access and distribution.

• Innovation programs could become investment platforms: Many sports organisations already have mechanisms to identify and work with startups. The next step could be converting those relationships into equity investments and dedicated funds, although the commercial and financial success of such models remains to be demonstrated.

• The conflict conundrum: For SportsTech founders, strategic capital offers more than funding. Access to customers, real-world product testing and commercial credibility can be valuable advantages. But founders must consider potential conflicts, exclusivity and whether partnering with one major rights holder could limit opportunities elsewhere.

That's a big decision for both sides: what kind of relationship do they really want?

After all, there's a big difference between dating and marriage. Especially when you're still hoping to date theirs neighbour.

Introducing ATLAS: A New Chapter for SportsTechX Intelligence

Our SportsTechX Intelligence Hub is getting a major upgrade and will soon relaunch as ATLAS, our new sports tech intelligence platform with three dedicated products:

• Atlas Explore, to navigate and understand the sports tech market;

• Atlas Raise, to help founders prepare for investment, find the right investors and manage their fundraising journey; and

• Atlas Scout, to help investors discover and evaluate opportunities.

More about the full Atlas launch soon. For now, here's a sneak peek at Atlas Scout.

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Help Shape Next Month’s Report

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Top News From The World Of Sports Tech & Biz

🏈 ESPN, Lucasfilm, Disney and the NFL announced Star Wars Funday Football, a real-time animated Super Bowl LXI alternate telecast scheduled for February 14, 2027 on Disney+, the ESPN App, Disney Channel and Disney XD, with Sony’s Beyond Sports technology set to transform NFL players into animated avatars alongside Star Wars characters.

🏀 The NBA committed to what it called the largest investment in European basketball history through its planned NBA Europe launch in October 2027, covering academies, grassroots development, league operations, marketing and arena infrastructure.

🏀 The NBA expanded its content creator relationships for the 2026–27 season, introduced dedicated NBA experiences on X and TikTok and took its Tap to Watch feature global to help fans discover and watch live games.

🎾 Novak Djokovic joined New York-based investment firm General Atlantic as Global Strategic Advisor, contributing insights on long-term strategy and leadership to its management, investors and portfolio companies while remaining separate from fund management and individual investment decisions.

🥊 UFC, Disney+ and ESPN signed a multi-year exclusive media-rights agreement under which ESPN on Disney+ Philippines was scheduled to broadcast every UFC event live from UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev on October 24, alongside UFC Countdown, UFC Connected, The Ultimate Fighter and Road to UFC.

📺 WSC Sports, through its WSC Studios production arm, partnered with ESPN to create The Sports Explorers, a 20-episode animated children’s series for ESPN JV that combined live-action archive highlights with characters called The Squad to deliver educational, athlete-focused stories.

🥍 FloSports secured exclusive global streaming rights to the National Lacrosse League through a multi-year agreement covering its complete regular season, postseason and marquee events from the league’s 40th-anniversary season in November 2026.

⚽ UEFA gave FIFA a November 2 deadline to answer questions and release documents concerning Gianni Infantino’s abandoned secretive World Cup investment plan and other governance and decision-making issues.

⚽ Independent Football Regulator chair David Kogan outlined a proposed agreement under which the Premier League more than doubled its annual solidarity payments to the English Football League, reduced parachute payments and created redevelopment and liquidity funds for lower-league clubs.

🏀 EuroLeague announced a 10-year growth plan approved by its 13 shareholder clubs that targeted a nearly sixfold increase in value to $8.98 billion by boosting commercial revenue and expanding with new teams.

💸 General Atlantic and the NFL’s strategic investment vehicle 32 Equity formed a global strategic partnership, approved by NFL clubs at the league’s October meeting in New York, to pursue growth investments in sports technologies, platforms and experiences and expand access to sports worldwide.

💸 Blackstone and a unit of Apollo Global Management reportedly held preliminary talks with the NFL to join its list of approved private equity firms permitted to acquire minority stakes in teams.

💰 Rezzil, a Manchester-founded sports technology company specializing in 3D visualizations and Movement Intelligence, raised $10 million from new strategic investors Jobe Bellingham and Phil Kenyon, alongside existing backers the Premier League and Simba Investments, to accelerate global growth, expand from its new Chicago office and double its workforce to approximately 100 employees.

💰 IDA Sports, a female-focused sports footwear and apparel brand, raised $3 million in funding led by sports performance investment and consulting firm CoverFour to expand beyond footwear into new product categories and strengthen its direct-to-organization sales capabilities.

💰 GetPicks, an Atlanta-based daily fantasy sports platform with withdrawals processed in under five seconds, raised $3 million in seed funding from gaming industry operators and angel investors to expand across the US and develop its social features, after attracting more than 35,000 registered users across 21 states.

🤝 TruGolf Holdings, a producer of golf simulation systems for homes and entertainment venues, acquired Polymath Research for an undisclosed amount, making the regulated digital-asset infrastructure company a wholly owned subsidiary and combining TruGolf’s simulation technology with Polymath’s platform for issuing and managing tokenized securities.

💸 KKR-owned Arctos acquired a 7.5% stake in the Atlanta Falcons at a reported $10.6 billion valuation after receiving NFL approval and committed to purchase another 2.5% later, subject to further approval.

💸 Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross agreed to sell Chilean billionaire Jean Eric Salata a 2.1% stake in the team, Hard Rock Stadium, the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and the Miami Open at a valuation above $12.5 billion.

💸 Videoland received regulatory approval for its $159.1 million (€142 million) acquisition of Viaplay Netherlands’ sports rights, programming and approximately 50 employees, which added Formula 1, Premier League football, darts and hockey to the Dutch streaming platform.

💸 A consortium led by former England international Ryan Bertrand and financially backed by Omar Mir through Sloane Street Capital proposed a $116.5 million (£87 million) investment for a 34% stake in AFC Wimbledon’s operating company.