Happy Wednesday! Today, we highlight the growing footprints of two behemoth brands (Fanatics and Netflix) that continue to bolster their tech-related offerings.
However, first, we have a funding round to discuss. Let’s get started. — Ethan Joyce
In today’s edition of Power Up:
- The 33rd Team raises new investment capital
- Fanatics Studios launches with LA28, Fox, ESPN, MLB, WWE among partners
- Netflix makes improvements as it pushes more into live events
The 33rd Team raises new investment capital
The 33rd Team, a football intelligence and tech company founded by former Jets and Dolphins front office executive Mike Tannenbaum, has raised a new growth investment round. Executives did not disclose a sum other than calling it an “eight-figure” Series B.
Participating funders include: Liberty Media, which first invested in 2022; Bruin Sports Capital founder & CEO George Pyne; Gary Vaynerchuck; FORTA Advisors; Autumn Road; Dan Senor; Nick Gross; Ryan Moore; Greg Ciongoli; John Low; former NFLer Justin Pugh; Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia; and Silver Falcon Capital, the family office of former NASCAR CEO Brian France.
The 33rd Team was founded as a media and content company, originally selling itself as a “think tank." But since early 2024, it pivoted to technology, building its proprietary Zenith platform, which provides advanced on-field metrics and analytics. The company has also developed a suite of pre-snap data points, including huddles, motions, substitutions and formations, all designed to help game planning and in-game management. The 33rd Team claims four NFL team clients during the just-completed season.
Fanatics Studios launches with LA28, Fox, ESPN, MLB, WWE among partners
Fanatics is formally diving into the content production business by partnering with L.A.-based OBB Media to launch Fanatics Studios. The new division, helmed by CEO Michael Ratner, will look to create feature films, documentaries, live event specials, digital series and scripted/unscripted originals. At launch, Fanatics Studios will be partnering on content alongside LA28, Tom Brady, Fox Sports, ESPN, WWE and MLB.
As a content partner with LA28, Fanatics Studios will create film, TV and digital projects, and it also will produce the official Olympic film that will be aired theatrically.
Fanatics is deepening its ESPN relationship, which included production of this past summer’s “Fanatics Fest: All Access” TV special. This new deal comes with a committed number of hours of programming this year and in 2027, including a renewal of the “All Access” special. Fanatics Studios also will assist ESPN and Full Day Productions in producing the ESPY Awards. Fanatics and OBB recently signed a 10-year deal to continue to co-produce Fanatics Fest.
The connection to Brady and Fox came out in September around the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, which is set to air on Fox this March from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. New elements of that deal include a multipart docuseries following Brady in partnership with Shadow Lion, a production company co-founded by Brady in which Fox took a stake last year. The docuseries, dubbed “One More Drive,” follows Brady as he prepares for the flag event and potential quest to earn a roster spot on Team USA as flag football makes its Olympic debut at LA28.
Fanatics Studios and MLB will begin a partnership as well, including a docuseries alongside Box to Box Films that will launch this spring for the World Baseball Classic.
For WWE, Fanatics Studios will create a number of projects, including an unscripted culinary series with WWE superstars Jimmy and Jey Uso that will be distributed across WWE’s YouTube channels and social media platforms.
Netflix makes improvements to live events as push into area grows
As Netflix “cements its role as an entertainment behemoth, including with a recent bid for Warner Bros. Discovery,” it is “simultaneously tackling the last bastion where traditional TV has an edge over streamers: sports and live events,” according to Isabelle Bousquette of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Since March 2023, Netflix has broadcast “more than 200 different live events,” including a weekly WWE show, whose rights it snagged in a $5B deal. Many events “have been seamless, but others haven’t,” including a November 2024 Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing matchup "marred by streaming snafus.” Netflix remains “bullish on the potential upside.” In the U.S., YouTube and Netflix have emerged as “market-share leaders among streamers, representing about 20% of total TV viewing,” per Nielsen. The goal for Netflix is “driving more subscriptions with a broader content portfolio.” The 65 million concurrent viewers for Tyson-Paul was “more than Netflix prepared for.” Netflix Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone said that “part of the fix was building a more flexible algorithm for choosing which appliance a given user streams from and improving appliance performance.” Bousquette notes the 2025 Christmas Day NFL games “did leave some viewers grumbling over buffering and poor resolution.” However, Netflix said that they did not “report any outages during the games,” and “systems operated as normal for all viewers.” Bousquette notes Netflix now has a “dedicated ‘live operations center’” in its California HQ, where staffers “monitor and address issues in real time.” Stone said that plans are “in the works for two more in 2026, one in the U.K. and one in Asia” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/13).
PODCAST PUSH: BLOOMBERG NEWS’s Lucas Shaw wrote Netflix’s “embrace of podcasting is a major moment for the service.” Spotify, Amazon and SiriusXM “spent at least a couple billion dollars buying up companies and rights to podcasts,” but Netflix has been “reluctant to commit that kind of money.” Netflix has been “more comfortable spending in the six-to-low-seven figures.” Several shows “rejected Netflix offers as insufficient.” Sources said that “All the Smoke,” hosted by former NBAers Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, “turned down an offer of a couple million dollars.” The sources added that Netflix then “increased its offer, but still couldn’t come to a deal” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/11).
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