Apollo's $5B Sports Fund | Agassi & Graff's $200M Play

Good morning, ! This week we’re breaking down Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff’s business, Poker as thef new frontier in esports, record deal in Premier League media rights history, and the % of club and sports with dedicated tech analysts.

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MEDIA & SPORTS

Premier League TV Deal: Record in Name Only

The EPL just signed a record £6.7B domestic deal—but strip away the press release gloss and it’s mostly smoke. Per-season revenue is flat. Per-game value is actually down 50% from the 2015 peak. Blame it on inflation, market saturation, and cautious broadcasters nursing post-OTT hangovers.
Still, the league is laughing globally. Total media and commercial revenue hit £12.25B, driven by booming overseas rights. A DTC pivot looms as the IMG partnership ends, possibly clearing the runway for a “Premflix” streaming platform. Meanwhile, Serie A and Ligue 1 are barely scraping reserve prices. So yes, the EPL's dominance continues, but the trendline is flashing amber. When the richest league on earth hits a revenue ceiling, everyone else better bring a parachute. (More)

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INVESTOR CORNER

Apollo Kicks Off with a $5B Hat Trick

Private equity just subbed in a game-changer. Apollo Global Management is launching a $5 billion permanent sports fund, its first dedicated vehicle for the sector, signaling that the PE playbook now includes football boots. This move comes on the heels of Apollo’s £80M loan to Nottingham Forest and rumored talks with Atlético Madrid, which could be valued at €3B. The timing aligns with record €35.3B revenues across Europe’s top five leagues. Yet while the Premier League prints money, most clubs still bleed red ink—Premier League clubs alone lost £685M pre-tax last year. That’s where Apollo sees upside: funding infrastructure, stabilizing operations, and playing long-term. But with rising fan scrutiny and regulatory uncertainty, the real question isn’t whether capital flows in—it’s whether it plays nice. (More)

ENTREPRENEURS

From Grand Slams to Grand Strategies

Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf didn’t just win on the court—they’re winning in business. Through Agassi Graf Holdings, they’ve backed everything from Viagogo (valued at $13B) to Square Panda (ed-tech in emerging markets). Agassi alone boasts a ~$165M net worth, built on prize money, endorsements, and smart investing. But this isn’t just about returns. Their $200M charter school infrastructure fund and the Andre Agassi College Prep Academy show how they balance profit with purpose. Think of it as private equity with a conscience—where literacy programs and pickleball startups sit comfortably in the same portfolio. (More)

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TECH & INFRASTRUCTURE

Digital Leads Take the Field, AI Still on the Bench

Nearly every major NBA, NFL, and Premier League club now has a digital lead and data engineer—a sign that tech roles are as standard as strength coaches. The NBA leads globally: 100% of teams employ digital and data heads, 63% have innovation leads, and 17% already deploy AI specialists. By contrast, European leagues (Bundesliga 11%, LaLiga 15%, Serie A 5%) are still treating AI like a pre-season experiment. The Olympic federations lag furthest, with only 31% employing data specialists. This gap stands out against the $7.6B AI spend in sports for 2025, most of which is flowing to third parties. The bottom line: digital and data roles are now table stakes—but the next must-have hire is the AI lead. (More)

eSPORTS

Poker’s Digital Second Wind: From Tables to Timelines

Once a TV-era breakout, poker is now positioning itself as the sleeper engine of the iGaming future. As platforms race to reduce churn and deepen engagement, poker’s inherently social gameplay—built around player interaction, bluffing, and banter—has become a strategic retention lever.

Operators like EvenBet Gaming are embedding poker within multi-vertical ecosystems (sports betting, casino, fantasy), leveraging community features—chat, missions, challenges—and star-driven brand ambassadors. With 30-day retention rates for mobile slots down 40% YoY, the shift toward "sticky" formats is accelerating.

Shorter-session formats like “Spin & Go” or “All-In or Fold” now deliver the thrill of poker in under 10 minutes—ideal for the attention-fragmented Gen Z cohort. Meanwhile, integrated social features (feeds, profiles, video content) mimic the stickiness of casual games and social media.

Bottom line: Poker may be low-velocity, but it’s high-value. As the iGaming sector evolves into a mobile-first, multi-vertical entertainment platform, poker is quietly becoming its most flexible—and profitable—glue. (More)

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