Easy Money Sniper

Puck launched in 2021 promising to cover Hollywood, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, DC (and more recently, sports) under one roof, which sounded like a hard weave to pull off. Five years and $17 million in funding later, it has nearly 50,000 paid subscribers, $20 million-plus in revenue driven mostly by sponsorships and events, and a roster where readers know the names behind every piece. RedBird is buying out TPG, Standard, and J Rothschild to become the largest shareholder at a $250 million valuation. The lesson here: Know exactly who you are and exactly who you're for, and put real names and faces behind your content.

Unrivaled just raised a nine-figure round for a product with a TV audience that shrank 40% from season one to two. The Philly and Brooklyn sellouts proved the demand is real, but a 1,000-seat arena and 135,000 viewers is still a tour business. Add a new WNBA CBA that shrinks the offseason pay gap, a looming TNT opt-out, and Project B poaching talent, and a lot has to go right for these investors to get a return at a $650 million entry.

A Browns tight end became an LSU Tiger this week because a Baton Rouge judge paused the NCAA's eligibility clock. When "college athlete" no longer means anything a court can enforce, we can’t act dumbfounded when coaches start recruiting the NFL waiver wire.

Thompson argues that American pro sports already operates like socialism, from cartel-controlled scarcity to subsidized stadiums to owners amortizing purchase prices, so cities might as well own a piece. Fun listen that pairs well with last week's essay, The Roaring '20s. My pushback: cities already benefit from the economic activity these teams generate, and I'd rather that money flow through the private market than through a mandated check to a government.

The Klutch founder who built the most powerful agency in basketball was fired by both of his first two draft clients. Notably, Paul calls youth sports his next big investment focus, because with NIL trending younger, whoever builds the infrastructure owns the pipeline before the pros ever get a look.

The pair invested $100k at seed and $150k in the Series A. This adds to their list of early-stage home runs, which already includes companies like Coinbase, Robinhood, and WHOOP. Easymoneysniper, indeed.

College GameDay opens this season with its 500th-ever episode in Baton Rouge for Clemson vs. LSU. We are so close.