Welcome to Sportico’s transactions wire, a weekly rundown of personnel, partnerships, products and purchases across the sports business industry.
PERSONNEL
Sixth Street Hires Josh Empson to Expand Firm’s Investing Platform
Industry veteran Josh Empson has joined Sixth Street as a partner to co-lead its expanding sports, media and entertainment investing platform. Sixth Street is an investment partner to global organizations across sports, media and entertainment, including Bay FC, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and the San Antonio Spurs, as well as Legends, a premium experiences company. Over the last year, Empson has served as a senior advisor to Sixth Street and will continue to work closely with co-head Austin Bowers and ESPN veteran Russell Wolff to lead the firm’s investments in sports, media, entertainment and adjacent sectors. Prior to joining Sixth Street, Empson was a senior member of the investing team at Providence Equity Partners where he led the firm’s investments in Soccer United Marketing (Major League Soccer), Learfield Sports and intellectual property assets of Real Madrid, among others.
Raptors’ Tanenbaum Re-Elected as Chairman of NBA Board of Governors
Larry Tanenbaum, the Toronto Raptors governor and chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), has been re-elected as chairman of the NBA Board of Governors. The first Canadian to serve as NBA board chairman, Tanenbaum has been governor of the Raptors since 1998 and holds the same title with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and MLS’ Toronto FC. In May 2024, the WNBA awarded Toronto an expansion team that will be owned and operated by Tanenbaum-led Kilmer Sports Ventures. The franchise, which is the WNBA’s first outside of the United States, will begin play in the 2026 season.
Seventysix Capital Hires Jack Hally as Digital Marketing Manager
SeventySix Capital, an early-stage venture capital company, has hired Jack Hally as its digital marketing manager. Hally will manage the company’s social media channels, create content, and handle media relations across all platforms. Prior to joining SeventySix Capital, Hally was social media editor at Bet 365.
PARTNERSHIPS
Monumental Sports & Entertainment, TikTok Enter Into Partnership
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) and TikTok have entered into a multiyear partnership that will see TikTok as an official partner of the NHL’s Washington Capitals. In addition, the partnership includes the Capitals road jersey, the entitlement of the Capitals 50th anniversary celebration, in-arena branding and unique programming elements specific to the Capitals, NBA’s Washington Wizards, WNBA’s Washington Mystics and more. The partnership will launch immediately and extend season-long across MSE’s NHL, NBA, WNBA, G-League and NBA2K properties and media entities, inclusive of Monumental Sports Network, through the conclusion of the 2026-27 season.
Lay’s Named Official Sponsor of 2026, 2027 FIFA World Cups
Lay’s has become an official sponsor of both the FIFA World Cup 26 and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027. This marks a global extension of Frito-Lay’s role as a Regional Supporter during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and as a Tournament Supporter at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. As Official Sponsor, Lay’s, alongside a portfolio of food brands, including Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Ruffles, Cracker Jack, PopCorners, Quaker and Gamesa, will bring fans closer to the game with exclusive experiences, merchandise, consumer activations and more.
Manchester United and DHL Extend Partnership Until 2027
Manchester United and DHL, the club’s Official Logistics Partner, have extended their longstanding partnership which will now run until 2027. The partnership, which began in 2011, will continue with the evolution of “A World United” campaign with fresh objectives under a new rallying cry, “United for One Goal.” That campaign will recognize fans and local heroes who make a difference in their communities. Worthy nominations will be entered in the “United for One Goal” recognition program, with rewards including signed Manchester United merchandise, tickets for games at Old Trafford and a unique opportunity to play on the famous pitch at the Theatre of Dreams.
AHL and FloSports Announce Expansion of Media Partnership
The American Hockey League and FloSports have announced a multiyear extension of their media partnership, highlighted by an enhanced streaming experience for AHL fans as AHLTV joins the FloSports platform as AHLTV on FloHockey starting in the 2024-25 season. Beginning this fall, the AHL’s streaming service, which has been managed by FloSports since 2018, will become AHLTV on FloHockey and move to FloHockey.tv, featuring an enhanced viewing experience for fans with encoders provided by FloSports to every AHL team, doubling the rate of high-quality streams to 60 frames per second. FloHockey will provide AHL fans access to not just every regular-season and Calder Cup Playoff contest for all 32 American Hockey League teams, but also more than 21,000 hockey contests on FloHockey and access to all other live event streams and replays across FloSports.
Iron Bow Technologies, AEG and the LA Kings Announce Partnership
Iron Bow Technologies, the next-generation technology solutions provider to commercial, government, and healthcare markets, AEG and the NHL’s LA Kings, have announced a strategic new partnership. As part of the multiyear partnership, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships, Iron Bow has become the official away jersey patch partner of the Kings. Beginning with the upcoming 2024-25 NHL season, Iron Bow’s logo will appear on the front of all Kings away jerseys. Additionally, Iron Bow will be the preferred IT solutions provider of AEG, providing hardware and software solutions and services to the company and its global portfolio of assets.
National Pickleball League Names ERNE as Official Ball Machine
The National Pickleball League (NPL) and Victory Sports Technologies LLC have formed a partnership that will make the ERNE—a pickleball training machine—the Official Ball Machine Sponsor of the Champions Pro (50+) pickleball league. As part of the partnership, ERNE will become the official ball machine of NPL and will be featured during NPL events to support player training and development. ERNE will also receive other benefits including on-site activation and on-court signage at NPL events through the league championship weekend in October, along with promotion on NPL digital and social channels.
MSG Sports Extends ‘Fan First’ Ticket Buying to Avoid Secondary Markets
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (“MSG Sports”) announced the continuation of its “Fan First” program for the 2024-2025 Knicks and Rangers seasons. Since the “Fan First” program launched in March 2023, approximately 100,000 team-verified Knicks and Rangers fans have signed up for early access to purchase their desired tickets. “Fan First” individual game tickets for the upcoming Rangers and Knicks seasons are on sale now.
PURCHASES
LeagueSpot Expands Into Youth, Traditional Sports With Mission Control Acquisition
LeagueSpot, the platform for managing competitive gaming competitions, has acquired Mission Control, a leader in recreational youth and community esports league management. Through this acquisition, LeagueSpot now expands beyond competitive gaming into traditional sports with an eye on the youth sports market in the U.S. As part of this expansion, LeagueSpot, a PHNX Sports Partners portfolio company, welcomes the Ventnor Ventures team of Taryn McCarty and Rob Johnson to its Board of Directors.
SkyView Innovations Acquires OMM
SkyView Innovations, a provider of spatial computing and immersive solutions, has acquired OMN, a creative, sport technology and experiential company. Headquartered in London with satellite offices throughout the UK and Europe, OMM works with brands in sport, retail, fashion, luxury goods, consumer electronics and nutrition. OMM Agency services brands including Nike, the Premier League, Hugo Boss, Gucci, Unilever and Samsung. In addition to OMM Agency, the company also boasts two other divisions: OMM Sport Technology and OMM Print.
