All Access

Media Deals

Media Deals Alerts

Alert

Standard

Media Deals Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

mustard

BFD Expert Voices - Media Deals

BFD Expert Voices

topics

politics-policy

epstein-files

donald-trump

2026-midterm-elections

immigration

behind-the-curtain

race-and-equity

technology

privacy-tech-regulation

automation-and-ai

tiktok-news

big-tech

social-media

cybersecurity

economy

social-security

inflation

tariffs

federal-reserve

jobs

transportation

business

stock-market-news

retail-news

crypto

media

elon-musk

dealmaking

health

rfk-jr

drug-prices

axios-explains-abortion

public-health

world

israel

axios-explains-ukraine

iran

russia

china

energy-climate

nuclear-energy

climate-energy-policy

climate-change

extreme-weather

alternative-energy

electric-vehicles

science

emerging-tech

biomedicine

newsletters

charlotte

detroit

columbus

austin

kansas-city

dallas

atlanta

washington-dc

nw-arkansas

boulder

chicago

indianapolis

nashville

richmond

houston

san-francisco

seattle

colorado-springs

boston

des-moines

salt-lake-city

philadelphia

denver

phoenix

new-orleans

miami

twin-cities

huntsville

raleigh

san-antonio

portland

san-diego

tampa-bay

cleveland

pittsburgh

axios-local

axios-pro

axios-live

the-axios-show

The Professional Tennis Players Association has raised $26 million to launch Winners Alliance to help professional tennis players better monetize themselves. 

Why it matters: The for-profit will seek to sign NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals, an increasingly popular way for athletes to make extra money, among other dealmaking to support tennis players' well-being, Kerry writes.

Details: Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Foundation and investment firm Prysm Capital co-led, according to a PTPA press release. 

Ahman Nassar, former president of NFL Players Incorporated and founding CEO of OneTeam Partners, also participated in the funding round and was named executive director of PTPA and CEO of Winners Alliance. 

Winners Alliance plans to create a licensing program for players to get paid for their likeness used in video games, trading cards and collectibles. 

What the CEO is saying: "Tennis has more total viewers worldwide than baseball and football combined, but just 10-ish% of their revenue," Nassar told Sportico. "And the athletes only see about 17% of that revenue, whereas football and baseball are hovering around 50%. It's just an order of magnitude off."

Catch up quick: Tennis stars Vasek Pospisil and Novak Djokovic co-founded the PTPA in 2020. They criticized the structure of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

ATP opposed the new organization for fragmenting the sport. 

The PTPA met in-person yesterday in New York, where the U.S. Open begins next week. The two-hour meeting was led by Nassar and Ackman and attended by more than 40 players, per Sportico. 

The bottom line: Tennis stars like Djokovic are high earners, but Winners Alliance could help better financially empower the rest of the tennis community. 

1 big thing: Monetizing tennis stardom

Illustration of a sparkling golden tennis racket leaned against a tennis net. 

LIV Golf has hired a lobbying firm to advance its interests in D.C., lobbying registration filings show. 

Why it's the BFD: The Saudi-back challenger to the PGA Tour is pushing forward despite controversies. 

Driving the news: LIV has hired Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures, the firm of former Rep. Benjamin Quayle (R-Ariz.), to lobby on its behalf, Shawna Chen writes.

Quayle, who served in Congress from 2011 to 2013 before losing re-election due to redistricting and controversy over his ties to a salacious website, will lead lobbying efforts alongside Rashid Hallaway, a former legislative assistant for former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.).

2. The BFD: LIV's lobbying effort

Illustration of a pattern of golf balls on tees.   

Last night's preseason game between the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans may have been meaningless in the standings, but it meant plenty to Amazon, which kicked off its new era of exclusively broadcasting NFL games.

So ... how did Al Michaels and company do? 

💭 Tim's thought bubble: The best compliment I can give Amazon is that it looked and felt like a normal NFL broadcast. But I did have a few thoughts:

The picture looks much sleeker, and Amazon loved to show off their slow-motion cameras. It looks a lot like NBC's "Sunday Night Football" — which should be expected given the partnership with NBC Sports. ("SNF" executive producer Fred Gaudelli is also running "TNF" broadcasts).

Getting Michaels was a smart move. His voice gives Amazon immediate credibility. It was a bit weird to hear Kirk Herbstreit's voice outside of a college game.

That's synergy: Yes, Amazon's down and distance graphic uses the tech giant's smile logo. 

Final verdict: Amazon smartly isn't trying to reinvent the wheel.

3. What we watched: Amazon's "TNF" debut

Illustration of a football in the shape of a video play arrow

Symbolic Capital, a web3 VC firm led by Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal and Cere co-founder Kenzi Wang, raised $50m for its debut fund. https://axios.link/3AKnT7g

Animoca Brands, a crypto gaming and web3 firm, said that its Japanese unit raised $45m at a $500m valuation from Animoca and MUFG Bank. https://axios.link/3wUW6ir

Francisco Partners is in advanced talks to buy Kobalt Music Group, a London-based music publishing and rights management services company that's raised over $550m from firms like GV, Section 32, MSD Capital and Balderton Capital. https://axios.link/3PQn4OM

Cineworld's second-largest shareholder, Jangho Group, reduced its holding from 13.7% to 11.6%. https://axios.link/3comlXi

Roadside Attractions signed a multiyear output deal with Hulu for post-theatrical pay one window. https://axios.link/3POjRPK

Genius Sports Limited partnered with Bally's Interactive on data and livestreaming. https://axios.link/3Kl4kFL

4. Deal flow

Apple is looking for someone to run its live sports programming strategy. https://axios.link/3CxOkyy

Paramount Global hired former Apple TV+ and Sony Pictures Television executive Kim Rozenfeld as SVP current television for Paramount Television Studios. https://axios.link/3RbSIHk

Sandeep Pandey, VP of engineering at Twitter, is leaving after more than a decade to join Meta. https://axios.link/3CvqNOv

Range Media Partners hired Justin Comins as SVP of development, non-scripted TV. https://axios.link/3TeIS9A

Rolando Rodriguez, CEO and president of Marcus Theatres, will retire in October. https://axios.link/3pMyd8x

TelevisaUnivision hired Ralf Jacob as EVP of global broadcast engineering. https://axios.link/3TlAqFu

Dan Lin is in talks to take over as head of DC's film and TV division for Warner Bros. Discovery. Current DC Film chief Walter Hamada is expected to exit. https://axios.link/3AmMgXi

5. Movin' on up (or out)

"Sports streaming was supposed to make it easier for fans to follow the leagues and teams they love. But with so many options, it's starting to feel even more difficult to navigate than cable," Jeff Tracy and Sara Fischer write.

Book publishers just spent 3 weeks in court arguing they have no idea what they're doing (Vox)

"Over the course of the trial that ensued, publishers would continue to insist on their existing public image as helpless incompetents at the whims of larger companies and an irrational market," Constance Grady writes.

California's $330m annual film & TV tax credits bill placed on hold (Deadline)

"Just last week, new provisions were added to Senate Bill 485 making it very clear that productions need to widen their demographic aperture if they want to be eligible for big-bucks incentives from the Golden State. In other words, the message is: increase diversity," Tom Tapp writes.

6. Channel surfing

Illustration of a television with a tie dye pattern on the screen.

😬 Situational awareness: Shares of Electronic Arts surged this morning on a rumor (prompted by a report from an outfit called Good Luck Have Fun) that Amazon will offer to buy EA. The stock pared its gains after the rumor fizzled. 

@tim_bays: Too busy packing for a 17-day trip through France and Spain. 

@kerrymflynn: Harry Styles at Madison Square Garden. Did you know Ticketmaster sometimes releases face-value tickets days ahead of shows? So excited!

Thank you for reading Axios Pro Media Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues and Al Michaels to sign up.

August 26, 2022

1 big thing: Monetizing tennis stardom