Sapphire Sport, a venture fund, raised $181 million from a group of investors, including Adidas, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Madison Square Garden Sports, Arctos Sports Partners, City Football Group, and AEG Worldwide.
The fund also received investments from Boston Celtics part-owner Stephen Pagliuca and Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils Co-Owner David Blitzer.
The funding follows its $117 million initial fund vehicle announced in January 2019, including investments in Overtime, Tonal and Fevo. The fund provides early-investment capital in firms “powering the next generation of consumer behavior across media, digital commerce, gaming, health and human performance, culture and community.” It aims to make 18-to-20 different investments, mainly in California and New York.
“When we launched Sapphire Sport in 2019, we believed that the sport, media and entertainment industries would be better served by an institutional investment approach to the sector, one that brought the experience and partnership of sport and entertainment stakeholders to venture capital. Alongside our LPs, we believe we have built Sapphire Sport into a leading partner for early-stage companies at the intersection of technology and these large markets. We couldn’t be prouder of this group of investors, and we believe that they would agree that harnessing new technologies to better understand the next generation of consumers has never been more important,” said Michael Spirito and Doug Higgins, co-founding partners, Sapphire Sport.
“As a Founder, I know that bringing on the right investors isn’t just about capital; it’s about support and partnership during critical times. Over the past four years, I have felt that support from Sapphire Sport during the best times, but especially during the most challenging times, and we at Overtime are proud to partner with them as we continue to build great things,” said Dan Porter, CEO, Overtime.
