OneTeam Partners, the commercial venture created in 2019 by the NFLPA and MLBPA, is looking to launch a $75 million fund to invest in early-stage businesses that support athletes.
The group is currently seeking a general partner for the venture fund, according to a deck that was viewed by Sportico. OneTeam is hoping to leverage its expertise, its access to deal flow and its deep connections to some of the world’s most famous celebrities to help grow businesses and share in the upside.
The fund, called OneTeam Ventures, will target a portfolio of about 12 companies, with an average investment of about $5 million, the deck says. It will collect a 2.5% annual management fee on capital, plus a 20% performance fee on returns over a designated benchmark (slightly more than the standard two and twenty common in other private capital structures).
The ownership (and fees) will be split between OneTeam and the general partner, which the deck says could be an established sports investor or an investor new to sports looking for exposure in a new sector. OneTeam CEO Sean Sansiveri said via telephone that the company is evaluating whether to proceed with the fund, adding he sees “great value” in how OneTeam is positioned.
OneTeam plans to deploy the money in ways that further its underlying mission—to help athletes maximize the value of their intellectual property. It currently helps negotiate group licensing deals for individual unions, facilitates collaboration between athletes across multiple sports, and handles everything from sponsorship and marketing to media and investing.
That investing has typically happened via two different structures, according to the deck: directly from its balance sheet, or via special purpose vehicles (SPVs) formed and managed by OneTeam. Those two approaches both had drawbacks, the deck says. Investing off the balance sheet, for example, was time intensive due to OneTeam’s board approval process, and many companies prefer single investors to SPVs.
Some OneTeam investments have come as part of its commercial arrangements, including equity-in-kind as a form of compensation. OneTeam has done about 10 of those deals, according to the deck, including with Fanatics and Bally’s. The current value of those equity-in-kind deals is more than $100 million, the deck says.
Other OneTeam investments include Overtime and Toldright. The deck says the group has also passed on other investment opportunities into groups such as DraftKings, Just Women’s Sports and Uber, due to “cash and infrastructure restraints.”
OneTeam’s union partners include the NWSL Players Association, the WNBPA, the USWNT Players and the MLS Players Association. The group was valued at $1.9 billion in September 2022 when RedBird Capital sold its 40% interest to a group that included HPS Investment Partners, Atlantic Park and Morgan Stanley Tactical Value.