Women sports league operator Athletes Unlimited has raised $30 million in funding from investors including NBA star Kevin Durant, Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils co-owner David Blitzer, and oil and gas billionaire Lynn Schusterman. It’s the first round of outside money raised for Athletes Unlimited, which was founded in early 2020.
“A number of people who are now coming in as investors have experience on the media and communication side,” Athletes Unlimited CEO Jon Patricof said in a phone call. “We’ve seen real excitement and interest in the business model, especially of Athletes Unlimited building a network of leagues. Investors really understand the power in the network. And the fact we’ve had athlete involvement in Athletes Unlimited at all levels since the early days of our company has really resonated with investors.”
Joining the investment round are Angela Ruggiero, founder of the Sports Innovation Lab and an ice hockey gold medalist; Jane Gottesman of Earlystone Management; hedge fund manager Keith Meister; film producer Sharon Harel-Cohen; and Salil Seshadri, a cofounder of JS Capital management with Jonathan Soros. Soros is a co-founder and lead investor of Athletes Unlimited.
Also in the group is Rich Kleiman, Durant’s longtime manager, who joins Durant through their venture capital effort 35V. Schusterman, who co-founded and led a large Oklahoma oil and gas company, is investing through her family office, Schusterman Family Investments. All the investors are buying equity of Athletes Unlimited, which declined to disclose the percentages involved.
Athletes Unlimited operates four professional sports leagues: softball, indoor volleyball, basketball and lacrosse. Each league is led by a player executive committee and athletes share in the profits of the business. Athletes Unlimited is also unique among sports leagues in that it’s organized as a public benefit corporation, in which the pursuit of profit is balanced in the corporate mission with social goals.
“Every pro sports league should take note of what AU is doing, especially the pathway for athletes to have a financial stake in their own leagues,” Kleiman said in a press release detailing the fund raising.
Athletes Unlimited has taken a media-centric approach to building up its leagues. Earlier this year it struck its first multiyear broadcast deal with ESPN for its softball and lacrosse leagues. The $30 million will be used for a variety of business purposes, according to Patricof.
“Like any sports league in the early part of its evolution, a business like this requires a lot of capital, and we’re now building a base of our investors who care committed to our vision and committed to our business plan,” Patricof said. “This is a huge, important force in the world of sports right now.”
