TMRW Sports, a company focused on building progressive approaches in sports, media, and entertainment, announced the closing of its Series A investment round. The funding round was co-led by Dynasty Equity, which recently closed a strategic minority investment in Liverpool FC, and Connect Ventures – which co-led the initial fundraising round for TMRW Sports and included participation from other leading institutional investors, sports team owners, business leaders, etc. TMRW Sports was founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Mike McCarley.
The overall investment group’s sports business experience spans the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA TOUR, Premier League, Formula 1, NASCAR, MLS, NWSL, WNBA, tennis, surfing, and cricket and includes cultural icons with a combined reach of more than 1 billion social media followers. And TMRW Sports’ first project is TGL presented by SoFi, a new team golf league that fuses advanced tech and live action with six teams of PGA TOUR superstars and will launch in January in prime time on ESPN and ESPN+.
TMRW Sports was first launched in August 2022 by founders Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Mike McCarley. And in November 2022, TMRW Sports announced a diverse investment group across sports, culture, technology, media, and business, ranging from future members of the team ownership groups for TGL presented by SoFi, including Arthur M. Blank, David Blitzer, Stephen Curry, Fenway Sports Group, Alex Morgan, Alexis Ohanian, and Serena Williams; to an all-star roster of strategic investors, including Josh Allen, Lewis Hamilton, Andy Murray, Ninja, Chris Paul, Shohei Ohtani, Tony Romo, and Justin Timberlake. Plus, additional investment announcements included NBA superstars Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, and Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s 35V; MLB superstar Mike Trout; business leaders Michael Rubin and Greg Maffei; and music superstars Justin Bieber, DJ Khaled, and Darius Rucker.
Along with Woods’ and McIlroy’s combined 805 weeks at World No. 1, 108 PGA TOUR wins, and 19 Major Championships, TMRW Sports’ investor group has hit 116 Formula 1 wins; 13 MVP titles across four sports; 78 NBA All-Star Games; 10 WNBA All-Star Games; 40 Emmy Awards; 7 F1 World Championships; 33 MLB All-Star Games; 6 UEFA Champions League titles; 27 Olympic medals; 6 World Series Championships; 26 Grand Slam singles titles; 3 Stanley Cups; 20 Grammy Awards; 3 WNBA Championships; 18 NBA Championships; 2 FIFA Women’s World Cups; and 17 NFL Pro Bowls
This is the background of the lead investors
Dynasty Equity – Co-founded and led by Jonathan M. Nelson and K. Don Cornwell, Dynasty Equity is a global sports investment firm that is focused on strategic investments across the sports ecosystem in assets that are resilient, compelling, and differentiated. Dynasty’s founders have deep expertise in sector specific private equity and long histories in the business of sports, media, and entertainment.
Connect Ventures – An investment partnership between entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and global venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Connect Ventures launched in 2020 to accelerate the growth of early-stage, consumer-focused businesses and draws on CAA’s resources, relationships, and expertise spanning the global entertainment and sports landscape and the deep domain and company-building expertise of NEA’s world-class technology practice.
— David Arison – Arison Investments
— Pat Battle – Executive Chairman of Diamond Baseball Holdings
— Arthur M. Blank – Owner and Chairman, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, Atlanta Drive GC, PGA TOUR Superstore; AMB Sports and Entertainment; Co-Founder, The Home Depot
— David Blitzer – Co-Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment – Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils, Newark’s Prudential Center, and Joe Gibbs Racing; Owner, Real Salt Lake, Utah Royals; Co-Owner, Jupiter Links Golf Club; Minority Owner, Cleveland Guardians
— Carolyn Tisch Blodgett – On behalf of the Tisch Family and Next3; CEO and Founder, Next 3; Governor, Gotham FC; Limited Partner, Los Angeles Golf Club; and Strategic Advisor to the Tisch Family ownership, New York Giants
— Gary Burnison – CEO of Korn Ferry
— Greyson Clymer – CIO and Founder of Ninth Avenue Capital
— Gary Cohn – former President & COO of Goldman Sachs
— Todd Dagres – Co-Founder and Partner Emeritus of Spark Capital
— Michael Farello & Jon Owsley – Managing Partners at L. Catterton (investing personally)
— Vishal Gandhi – Managing Director at Ares Management (investing personally)
— Robert Greifeld – Managing Partner at Cornerstone Investment Capital; former Chairman, Virtu Financial; former CEO, NASDAQ
— Michael Hamp, Peter Hamp, Kevin Kelleher, and Colin McDonough – through Middle West Partners, a privately held investment partnership focusing on consumer brands, sports, and media
— Anthony Jabbour – CEO, Dun & Bradstreet; Investor, Bournemouth FC
— Derek Jeter – MLB Hall of Famer; Investor and Founder: The Players’ Tribune, Greatness Wins, and Cap 2 Productions; philanthropist
— Eric Lane – President and COO, Tiger Global
— Reggie Love – Senior Advisor, Apollo Global Management; former Partner, RON Transatlantic EG, and White House Personal Aide, President Barack Obama
— Old Tom Ventures – A golf-focused venture group
— Kal Somani – Founder and CEO, IntraEdge, Truyo, Academian; Investor, Rajasthan Royals (IPL)
— Jay Stein – President, Sandor Development Company; Investor, Colorado Rockies, Leeds United, Sounders FC, and Seattle Reign
— Vincent Viola – Owner of Florida Panthers and founder of Virtu Financial
— Mark Wilf – Owner/President, Minnesota Vikings; Chairman and Managing Partner, Orlando City SC and Orlando Pride; President, Garden Homes Development
— Robert Wolf – founder of 32 Advisors; former Chairman & CEO, UBS Americas
— Josh Allen – Buffalo Bills
— Jozy Altidore – former U.S. Men’s National Team, MLS, La Liga
— Cal Crutchlow – former MotoGP
— Maurice Edu – former U.S. Men’s National Team, Scottish Premier League, MLS
— Ray Evernham – NASCAR Hall of Famer; automotive & motorsports industry consultant; entrepreneur; philanthropist
— Larry Fitzgerald – former Arizona Cardinal
— Haley Jones – Atlanta Dream, WNBA
— Patrick Mouratoglou – legendary tennis coach of Serena Williams and Holger Rune; Founder of Mouratoglou Academy and UTS tennis tour
— Ollie Pope – England Cricket Team, Surrey County Cricket Club
— JT Realmuto – Philadelphia Phillies
— John Terry – former Chelsea FC captain, 5-time Premier League champion
— Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels; 3x MLB MVP; Founder, Trout National
TGL presented by SoFi is a new team golf league that combines advanced tech and live action with six teams of PGA TOUR superstars and will launch in January in prime time on ESPN and ESPN+. SoFi Center will be TGL’s custom-built arena in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on the campus of Palm Beach State College.
The six TGL teams include Atlanta Drive GC, Boston Common Golf, Jupiter Links Golf Club, Los Angeles Golf Club, New York Golf Club, and The Bay Golf Club with each team featuring four players.
KEY QUOTES:
“TMRW Sports is leading the evolution of sports, starting with TGL presented by SoFi, which will deliver an innovative product to millions of global golf fans and the broader sports community. And that is just the beginning for this great company. We share TMRW Sports’ vision and commitment to relentless innovation in sports – reimagining the playbook for sports media and entertainment and embracing technology to create experiences that will make sports more accessible to a broader audience. We’re thrilled to partner with the world-class team that Tiger, Rory, and Mike have assembled, as well as the PGA TOUR, and look forward to supporting TMRW Sports as it expands its groundbreaking platform to redefine how the next generation will watch, play, and consume sports.”
- K. Don Cornwell, Co-Founder and CEO, Dynasty Equity – who joins the TMRW Sports Board of Directors as an observer.
“It is remarkable what TMRW Sports and its visionary leadership have accomplished in the short period of time, from our initial investment in 2022 to today. We are proud to extend our partnership with TMRW Sports, to help accelerate the next phase of its growth plan; fueling expansion into new formats, leagues, territories, and media properties; and furthering its ability to drive innovation across the sports and entertainment ecosystem.”
- Connect Ventures’ Michael Blank, who also serves as a Board Director of TMRW Sports
“As momentum has built for TMRW Sports’ vision to create modern media approaches to sports, we’re humbled by the enthusiasm within the investment community to support our efforts. We continue to forge partnerships with the best-in-class, which includes Dynasty Equity and Connect Ventures leading this investment round and a diverse spectrum of expertise and strategic perspectives across our full roster of investors. The combination of these relationships and resources will help serve as a springboard for further development and expansion, including the continued focus and growth of TGL presented by SoFi and fueling future projects, including new partnerships with major global sports leagues.”
- Mike McCarley, founder and CEO, TMRW Sports
