N.Y.-based agency Roc Nation is getting some of its athletes closer to high-level decisions through a collaboration with private equity firm CVC and its sports investment platform, Global Sport Group, with a newly formed Athlete Advisory Board consisting of Roc Nation athletes in Storm G Skylar Diggins, South Africa national rugby team captain Siya Kolisi and DV7 Group owner David Villa, a former Spanish soccer player. The advisory board will meet regularly with GSG’s leadership team and league partners to give its input on commercial strategy, investment decisions, exploring ideas to expand into new markets and more for GSG.
Though investments in sports are generally up, especially those from private equity firms, the board was created to address a critical gap that has historically lacked athlete input.
“What we found is it’s important while we’re focusing on commercial strategy and opportunity that we take into account all of the most important stakeholder voices and needs that are represented, and we thought it would be a really good idea when setting up GSG for this next phase of our growth and future that we could create a really talented group of athletes who could act as advisors to us in working on some of the key priorities that we’ve got going on at the moment,” GSG Chairman Marc Allera said.
The AAB will meet for the first time this month to discuss topics like athlete workload, women’s sports growth and general fan experience at sporting events.
The partnership between Roc Nation and GSG has been years in the making, with multiple conversations between Allera and Roc Nation President Michael Yormark focusing on athletes voices are often only heard on large investments after deals are already done.
“We’ve heard we need to try and get input early to help shape our thinking, rather than reacting to what’s been decided,” Allera said. “I think the individuals we’ve chosen are not just because of their sporting pedigree, which speaks for itself, but they’re also really strong, commercially minded people who have got really great views on how we can expand in sports in general.”
GSG has already made itself into a recognizable name in the sports industry through investments in leagues like Spain’s La Liga, France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel and the WTA. But Allera has said that more growth is around the corner for the group and that it is actively seeking new investments.
Roc Nation has also been active this year, teaming up with others in the industry like Matchroom Boxing and the E1 Series.
