<p>The greatest competitive advantage in sports and health isn&#8217;t capital. As generalist capital floods the space in the short term, fueled by a wave of high-profile transactions and increased investor attention, we strongly believe that specialists will outperform in the long term. What matters most is expertise. Nuance, network, and know-how.</p><p>At LEAD, this is an especially exciting time, as the earliest specialist investors are seeing the upside of these market developments. As more investors begin entering our space, competition for the strongest opportunities intensifies, making early access more important than ever.</p><p>We follow a legacy that traces back to 1949. Adi Dassler, a relentless innovator, redefined what it meant to build in sports and created one of the most iconic cultural brands in the world, adidas. That same DNA fuels us today to back the Adi Dasslers of tomorrow. What began in 2017 as a sports accelerator from the adidas family has evolved into $150M+ assets under management with 50+ portfolio companies across a multi-fund, multi-stage mandate&#8212;writing $100K to $10M checks across sports, health, and more.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png" width="1456" height="364" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:364,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:76916,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://leadvc.substack.com/i/192737163?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!67AT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7e07744-602f-4268-9637-0ad24eda424b_1584x396.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>It is exactly this combination of legacy, experience, and domain expertise that sets LEAD apart. And defines how we aspire to build in our space.</p><p>As a firm, we have two heartbeats: sports and health. Sport is the great unifier, serving as one of the only things that brings the world together. And health is a shared concern, one of the only things that all 8 billion people on earth care deeply about.<br><br>This means we invest in life-changing and industry-evolving companies like the following:</p><ul><li><p>After participating in their seed round in 2024, we invested in primary care consumer app <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/03/lotus-health-nabs-35m-for-ai-doctor-that-sees-patients-for-free/">Lotus Health</a>&#8217;s $35M Series A round led by Kleiner Perkins and CRV to further their mission of providing 24/7 access to AI-powered primary care for more than 100 million Americans.</p></li><li><p>ADvantage led fitness app <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/27/workout-app-ladder-launches-nutrition-tracking-experience/">Ladder&#8217;s $15M Series B</a> alongside Point72 Ventures and a $90M go-to-market investment from General Catalyst, accelerating Ladder&#8217;s mission to deliver personalized training to millions.</p></li><li><p>As part of our thesis on women&#8217;s sports, we invested in <a href="https://www.togethxr.com/">Togethxr</a>, a women&#8217;s sports media and commerce company founded by four of the world&#8217;s greatest athletes: Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, Simone Manuel, and Chloe Kim.</p></li><li><p>Participated in <a href="https://www.youth.inc/">Youth Inc</a> alongside Will Ventures and Ryan Sports Ventures, a sports media and commerce platform designed to revolutionize how premium, customized merchandise is delivered to schools, fans, and parents.</p></li><li><p>Due to accelerating revenue growth and strong user metrics, digital comics platform <a href="https://www.globalcomix.com/">GlobalComix</a> recently closed a $13M financing round led by Point 72 Ventures, with LEAD, Wise Ventures, and Scrum Ventures participating.</p></li><li><p>Invested in <a href="https://www.orionsleep.com/">Orion</a>, a sleep technology company that uses AI to regulate body temperature for optimal sleep, in a $17.5M seed round alongside Mucker Capital and Second Sight Ventures, to democratize access to sleep solutions.</p></li><li><p>Participated in <a href="https://somneesleep.com/">Somnee&#8217;s</a> Seed round led by Khosla Ventures, alongside the DeVos Family as part of the Orlando Magic Venture Challenge, to provide a safe, effective solution for people struggling with insomnia.</p></li></ul><div id="youtube2-u-MIVyHM8tw" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;u-MIVyHM8tw&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/u-MIVyHM8tw?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>Beyond investing, we also leverage our unique vantage point to deliver investment, advisory, and equity services to athletes, corporates, and health systems. Beyond investing ourselves, we partner with corporations to do the same work. Drawing on our decade of infrastructure, access, learnings, and network, our partners skip the resource-intensive process of building this themselves. Start in year ten, not day one. It is the ultimate shortcut.</p><p>While the firm has evolved greatly since its inception in 2017 to the specialist investor it is today, LEAD has always had the same &#8216;North Star&#8217; in mind. What was true then and what&#8217;s true today is that our investment funds and investment products are built with one goal in mind &#8212; to help the entrepreneur win.</p><div id="youtube2-nE__gW2K3bM" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;nE__gW2K3bM&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/nE__gW2K3bM?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><div id="youtube2-ZSiN52X1qYA" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;ZSiN52X1qYA&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZSiN52X1qYA?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://leadvc.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://leadvc.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p>

Legacy From 1949. Founded in 2017. LEADing Ever Since.

Our Legacy as Specialist Investors

<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png" width="1456" height="817" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:817,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1337300,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://leadvc.substack.com/i/201233039?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9TCH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb893b23e-bee8-4e54-8ac2-474173538420_1742x978.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>There&#8217;s no denying that sports teams have some of the most loyal customer bases in the world. Yet despite valuations in the billions, most teams don&#8217;t know their fans&#8217; names (or much else about them) because they don&#8217;t own their consumer data. That gap, in our eyes, is the structural problem in sports &#8212; they are not acting like consumer brands. </p><p>The critique isn&#8217;t that valuations are wrong, but that they are incomplete. Today&#8217;s market prices in brand equity and media rights, but not yet data infrastructure or the compounding value of a direct customer relationship built over decades. The conventional justification is that the supply of sports teams is scarce, fans don&#8217;t churn, and a new investor will always want in. We don&#8217;t disagree. But it explains the floor, not the ceiling.</p><p>Data infrastructure and customer data don&#8217;t appear in a traditional sports team&#8217;s valuation, but they do in every other consumer business. Netflix commands its valuation not because of its content library alone, but because it knows exactly who is watching, when they stop, and what brings them back. That gap between what a sports team is worth today and what it could be if it centered on fan data is where the next tier of value is created.</p><div><hr></div><h4><strong>I. The Valuation Paradox</strong></h4><p>In the last 5 years, franchise valuations have defied gravity. The NFL&#8217;s average team now exceeds $5 billion, with the NBA, NHL, MLB, and European football clubs not far behind &#8212; all trading at multiples that compare to most tech deals. Every new sale seems to set a record that the next one breaks.</p><p>And to be fair, the track record justifies the attention. Over the past two decades, the big four North American leagues have generated 13.2% annualized returns (outpacing the S&amp;P 500 by more than 2x). As an asset class, sports franchises have been among the most consistent wealth-creation vehicles over the last generation.</p><p>When you look past the headlines, most teams still run a business model designed for a different era. They don&#8217;t own their ticketing infrastructure, don&#8217;t control their merchandise, and have outsourced their media rights. At some point, price appreciation alone stops being a thesis. We are confident that reality has either arrived or is close.</p><p>The business of sports teams is not easily explained on a spreadsheet. The real question is what they would be worth if they were run like a consumer brand that owned its customers?</p><div><hr></div><h4><strong>II. A Brand With No Customer</strong></h4><p>Think about the brands with the most loyal customers in the world: Apple, Netflix, Adidas, and Spotify. Their business is built around one obsession: knowing their customers better than anyone else. Spotify knows your favorite artist and can recommend a new song to you. Adidas knows which sneakers you bought and can offer a special-edition Samba next release. Now think about your favorite sports team. You've worn the jersey since you were 8 years old. You've never missed a home game, with season tickets, exclusive merchandise, and the league pass. Chances are, the team has no idea who you are.</p><p>Sports franchises sit on the most emotionally committed customer bases ever assembled. This is loyalty that consumer brands spend billions trying to manufacture. In sports, it exists organically and is inherited across generations, geographies, identities, and communities. By every metric that matters in a modern consumer business, teams have already won the hardest part. It&#8217;s precisely why sponsorship commands such a premium: partner brands are paying to access a loyal customer base they could never build on their own.</p><p>And yet, structurally, they operate like a business that is not direct-to-consumer.</p><p>The average fan can appear as four entirely different users across four entirely different systems. The ticketing platform knows you by your seat number. The merchandise provider knows you by your shipping address. The broadcast partner knows you by your subscriber ID. The team itself? Often, it knows you as little more than an email address. Of course, through innovation, this is changing drastically, and it is most teams&#8217; top priority.<br><br>The average fan can appear as four different users across four entirely different systems. The ticketing platform knows you by your seat number; the merchandise provider by your shipping address; the broadcast partner by your subscriber ID. The team itself? Often, little more than an email address. Through innovation, this is changing drastically, and it is most teams&#8217; top priority.</p><p>The model currently optimizes for the vendor partner over the fan relationship. It has not measured what it&#8217;s losing: the compounding value of unified fan data.</p><div><hr></div><h4><strong>III. Why Intermediaries Made Sense And Why They Don&#8217;t Anymore</strong></h4><p>For most of the 20th century, sports organizations lacked the technology and operational infrastructure to sell directly to fans at scale. Ticketmaster could distribute inventory across thousands of outlets. Fanatics could manufacture, warehouse, and ship merchandise globally. Broadcast networks could reach tens of millions of households that no team could reach.</p><p>The problem isn&#8217;t that intermediaries exist. It&#8217;s what happens over time when the entire fan relationship is built on someone else&#8217;s infrastructure.</p><p>Every time a fan interaction is outsourced, the team loses a little more visibility into who that fan is, what they value, and how their behaviors connect. Intermediaries don&#8217;t just take margin; they take context. And unlike margin, context doesn&#8217;t show up on financials until it&#8217;s gone.</p><p>The model highlights a structural weakness: the idea that ticketing, merchandise, media, and sponsorship are separate businesses that happen to share a logo. Each vendor relationship became its own silo, with its own contract, data, and definition of who the customer is.</p><div><hr></div><h4><strong>IV. What Would a D2C Business Model Look Like?</strong></h4><p>We provide a blank-page exercise exploring what could be possible if they were run more like a consumer business, with examples below.</p><ul><li><p><em>Ticketing: </em>The status quo is that outsourced providers such as Ticketmaster, Live Nation, SeatGeek, StubHub, and others control primary/secondary distribution. The D2C vision is to sell inventory through owned channels, with price optimization and other strategies managed by the team.</p></li><li><p><em>Media/Broadcast: </em>The status quo is that broadcast rights deals are the dominant revenue engine for teams today. The D2C vision is to include behind-the-scenes programming, player storytelling, and other content opportunities owned by teams and leagues, built on a direct, owned audience.</p></li><li><p><em>Merchandise: </em>The status quo is that Fanatics controls manufacturing and distribution for most major North American league apparel. The D2C vision is to sell all merchandise through an owned commerce infrastructure, in which the sports team retains all customer data.</p></li></ul><div><hr></div><h4><strong>V. The Talent Evolution in Sports</strong></h4><p>If the problem were technological, it would already be solved. The tools to build a D2C business exist and are accessible; the harder problem is organizational.</p><p>For decades, the sports industry has been powered by career insiders, people who have built deep institutional knowledge over 20 years within the same organization, league, or ecosystem. That experience is genuinely irreplaceable. Nobody understands a fanbase, a market, or a league relationship better than someone who has lived inside it for a generation.</p><p>But the next chapter of value creation requires bringing in diverse thought and experience alongside these leaders. In technology, the pace of change is relentless by design. Companies like Anthropic, SpaceX, and Ramp operate on an iteration cadence that most industries never experience. Operators who have built consumer businesses from scratch think differently about data, retention, and customer lifetime value.</p><p>Sports are beginning to import talent. AC Milan hired Maxime Laharrague, formerly a data scientist and insights manager at Spotify, to lead their data strategy across business and marketing. The Florida Panthers brought in Michael White, President of Business Operations, who previously served as Chief Product Officer at Amazon&#8217;s autonomous vehicle division. These examples are early signals of what more ownership groups will begin to implement.<br><br>Sports are beginning to import talent. AC Milan hired Maxime Laharrague, a Spotify data scientist and insights manager, to lead their data strategy across business and marketing. The Florida Panthers brought in Michael White as President of Business Operations, a former Chief Product Officer at Amazon&#8217;s autonomous vehicle division. These are early signals of what more ownership groups will begin to implement.</p><div><hr></div><h4><strong>VI. The Valuation Implication </strong></h4><p>Here&#8217;s the question we keep coming back to: if two teams generate identical revenue but one runs through intermediaries and the other through owned channels with first-party data infrastructure, are they worth the same multiple? We don&#8217;t think so. Not even close.</p><p>When a team knows every fan, it can model churn, underwrite a fan product, build sponsorships based on verified performance, and personalize experiences at scale. It carries a technology asset alongside the sports asset. The comps stop being other sports teams and start looking more like Spotify and Netflix: consumer businesses where the depth of the customer relationship is itself a source of enterprise value.</p><p>That&#8217;s the shift we&#8217;re watching for at LEAD. Not which team sells next, or at what price, but which groups are quietly building the infrastructure that turns every fan relationship and data point into a driver of valuation.</p><p>The teams that get there first won&#8217;t just be worth more; they&#8217;ll be worth it.</p>

There's no denying that sports teams have the world's most loyal customers. Despite being worth billions, they still don't know everything about their fans.

Sports Teams Are Consumer Brands That Don’t Act Like It

Club Fútbol Estrela Amadora | Lisbon, Portugal | August 25, 2026

LEAD’s First-Ever Sports Team Ownership

<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png" width="1456" height="968" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:968,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:7505932,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://leadvc.substack.com/i/172097663?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hHxi!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a1d5050-274b-4313-99e6-9d723567b221_2875x1912.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-refresh-cw"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></svg></div><div class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The inaugural broadcast of <strong><a href="https://tglgolf.com/">TGL</a></strong> on January 7, 2025, marked a significant moment in the evolution of golf, blending technology with traditional sport in a way that has not been seen before on the biggest stage. Co-founded by golf legends Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and former NBC Sports executive Mike McCarley, TGL aims to redefine how competitive golf is experienced by fans and players alike.</p><p>In this blog, we bring together two unique perspectives on the groundbreaking debut of TGL. First, <strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoph-sonnen/">Christoph Sonnen</a></strong>, co-founder of LEAD, shares firsthand experience of the exhilarating atmosphere and innovative format that defined the event. His insights are complemented by <strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaiwenliu6/">Kaiwen Liu</a></strong>, an analyst at LEAD and a former professional golfer, who provides his insights from watching the event unfold on television and discusses how TGL is modernizing the sport to engage a broader audience. Together, the two examine how this innovative new league not only reimagines golf but also could set a precedent for the future of sports entertainment.</p><h2>A CEO&#8217;s Front-Row View of TGL&#8217;s Groundbreaking Debut</h2><p>As the co-founder of <strong><a href="https://lead.vc/">LEAD</a></strong>, a venture corporation that thrives on investing in transformative ideas, attending the inaugural TGL match at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, FL was nothing short of exhilarating. The evening marked the culmination of years of planning, innovation, and bold decision-making. Sitting in the intimate setting of the SoFi Center, I could feel the electricity in the air&#8212;a perfect blend of technology and tradition that reimagined how golf can be experienced.</p><p>The venue itself deserves special mention. Its intimate design brought fans closer to the action than ever before. You could see every detail of each shot's outcome, either on the state-of-the-art screen or the green itself. This real-time visibility wasn&#8217;t just a perk&#8212;it was a game-changer. In traditional outdoor golf, the suspense often lies in waiting for the camera to pan and reveal the ball&#8217;s destination. Here, the suspense was replaced with immediacy and engagement, drawing audible reactions from the players and the crowd alike.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://leadvc.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Subscribe to receive the latest LEAD posts.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>The format was another standout feature. Match play with unique elements allowed players to showcase their talent and personality in a way that felt fresh and entertaining. You could sense that the players were liberated to experiment and have fun, and the enjoyment they displayed was shared by fans in the stadium.</p><p>As the night progressed and the Hammers were thrown, it was easy to settle into the completely different experience. After all, the golf was the same &#8211; completing the hole in as few shots as possible. When combined with live microphones capturing the players&#8217; strategic banter&#8212;&#8220;More left to right. Hit the spinner over there&#8221;&#8212;it created a level of intimacy rarely experienced in professional sports.</p><p>Another defining aspect of the evening was the production quality. There&#8217;s something about seeing your sport on ESPN. With the platform&#8217;s legacy and reach, it brought a sense of legitimacy and gravity to the event, and the <strong><a href="https://www.instagram.com/lead_vc/">buzz on social media</a></strong> was palpable.</p><p>There&#8217;s always room for improvement, of course. For example, I&#8217;d love to see a camera angle positioned in front of the hole to better capture the drama of the putts sinking. Yet, even with minor tweaks ahead, the core of TGL&#8212;a fusion of cutting-edge technology, compelling gameplay, and a modern take on fan engagement&#8212;is poised to attract attention.</p><p>As I left the SoFi Center, I couldn&#8217;t help but feel that I&#8217;d witnessed something truly special. TGL isn&#8217;t just about golf; it&#8217;s about the future of how sports could better connect with fans.</p><h2>A Former Professional Golfer&#8217;s Perspective on Modernizing Golf</h2><p>Generation Z has a fundamentally different attitude and relationship with traditional sports compared to Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers, and this presents a big challenge for sports organizations. A <strong><a href="https://www.fandomanalytics.com/post/the-next-generation-fandom-survey-from-the-emory-marketing-analytics-center">report</a></strong> published in 2021 from the Emory Marketing Analytics Center found that an astonishing 27 percent of Generation Z considers themselves &#8220;anti-sports,&#8221; compared to 7 percent of Millennials, 5 percent of Gen X, and 6 percent of Baby Boomers. A subsequent <strong><a href="https://www.fandomanalytics.com/post/next-generation-fandom-survey-2024">survey</a></strong> considers everything outside of football, basketball, and baseball a niche product. However, a 2023 Deloitte <strong><a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/media-and-entertainment/immersive-sports-fandom.html">article</a></strong> suggests that Gen Z fans are still developing their sports fandom.</p><p>To appeal to a changing audience, TGL harnesses technology and builds a modern approach to how golf is presented to today&#8217;s sports fans. The incorporation of digital technology and mics provided the traditional sport aspects of esports, which are particularly <strong><a href="https://www.fandomanalytics.com/post/the-esports-puzzle-a-haven-for-gen-z-young-men">preferred by Gen Z males</a></strong>. While much of the media coverage to date has focused on the simulation and the technological aspects of TGL, I was intrigued by how it will address some of the more fundamental challenges that have prevented golf from appealing to a greater audience, which are the slow pace of live broadcasts and the multi-day format of traditional tournaments.</p><p>The two-hour format of TGL is significantly shorter than a typical golf tournament broadcast, and the mixed formats introduce considerably more action. Each hole is interesting and engaging in ways that are not available in a Thursday broadcast. The match last night between The Bay Golf Club and New York Golf Club was not as competitive as many would have liked, but I can see a future match offering fans excitement comparable to a final stretch of a traditional tournament with a packed leaderboard.</p><p>The team format, along with alternate shots, head-to-head Singles, and the Hammer feature, offers a sense of fun that was previously absent from watching competitive golf. As I watched the broadcast last night with a friend who does not keep up with golf, we both agreed that it was more digestible and entertaining than a traditional golf broadcast. I appreciated that with TGL, every shot, good or bad, is broadcasted, whereas traditional golf broadcasts feel more or less like a curated highlight reel - the top players in the world are still humans, after all.</p><p>Reflecting on my own journey with golf - playing and thinking about the sport every day between the ages of eight and 23 - I must admit that the idea of spending a day off on the course doesn&#8217;t particularly excite me now. However, after watching TGL, I can envision myself occasionally spending half a day over the weekend on the golf course if my friends are willing to come up with similar formats.</p><p>TGL presents an interesting solution for how golf can be enjoyed by a wider, changing audience. By addressing the challenges posed by traditional tournament formats and embracing technology-driven strategies, TGL has the potential to attract more fans across different generations. The remainder of the season could provide valuable insights for the broader sports industry by highlighting which strategies resonated with audiences and which were ineffective.</p><h2>A Vision for Golf&#8217;s Future</h2><p>The 2025 opening TGL match demonstrated that golf is not bound by its traditional format. From Christoph&#8217;s enthusiastic in-person experience to Kaiwen&#8217;s analytical perspective from watching via television, it&#8217;s clear that TGL is on a mission to reimagine the sport for a new generation of fans. By addressing core challenges&#8212;such as pacing and format&#8212;while leveraging technology to create a more immersive experience, TGL has positioned itself as a beacon of innovation in sports.</p><p>For fans of all ages, the message is clear: golf can be thrilling, accessible, and fun. As the season unfolds, TGL&#8217;s success will not only redefine golf but also provide a playbook for other sports looking to adapt to the ever-evolving preferences of modern audiences. Here&#8217;s to a future where tradition and innovation drive sports forward&#8212;together.</p><div class="captioned-button-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://leadvc.substack.com/p/tgl-is-redefining-golf-with-technology?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading! Feel free to share this with anyone who might find it insightful.</p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://leadvc.substack.com/p/tgl-is-redefining-golf-with-technology?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://leadvc.substack.com/p/tgl-is-redefining-golf-with-technology?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p></div>

The LEAD team had a front-row view of TGLs groundbreaking debut.

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