SBJ Unpacks: Sports stocks sliding downward under Trump

Tonight in Unpacks: A day after President Trump announced a round of tariffs targeting numerous countries and industries, sports stocks continue a downward slide that started in January, as SBJ’s Chris Smith reports.

Also tonight:

• Sports Media Podcast: Where MLB stands in the landscape
• Mixed-use firm SEREGH adds investors in LionTree and Delaware North
• What are sports-tech investors most bullish about in Q1?
• Ultimate Frisbee Association catches its biggest deal yet

Listen to SBJ’s most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast, where Abe Madkour looks at the likely hosts for the 2031 and 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cups, the early reaction to Trump’s latest round of tariffs, a new era for the T’Wolves and the Lynx and more.

Wednesday’s slate of wide-reaching tariffs hit equity markets hard Thursday. Sports stocks were along for the ride, with most of the pain being felt by sportswear manufacturers reliant on overseas supply chains.

For many public sports companies, the past day only continues a downtrend since Donald Trump took office in January. In fact, sportswear stocks -- including Nike, Lululemon and Under Armour -- have fallen by an average 28.5% since Trump’s inauguration. The S&P 500 declined by 10.6% in that time.

Other sports-related sectors have proven more resilient, with publicly traded media companies, leagues and teams collectively outperforming the broader market under Trump.

No public sports-related company has shed more value since Trump’s inauguration than ticketing marketplace Vivid Seats, which at $2.77 per share is down more than 40%. That could highlight a worrying trend if diminished consumer spending -- expected to slow even further, according to Deloitte -- results in fewer attendees for games and other live events.

A small handful of sports stocks have managed to avoid the red ink. Shares of Take-Two Interactive, which publishes 2K Sports video games, closed at just shy of $209 today, up 13% since Trump’s inauguration. Other sports-related stocks that have gained under Trump include Netflix (up 5.5%), TKO Group Holdings (4.4%), Sportradar (4.0%) and the Braves (3.2%).

SBJ’s Bret McCormick reports on how the larger sports industry is bracing for the tariffs that kick in April 9 -- and the uncertainty that comes with them.

This week’s Sports Media Podcast turns its attention to MLB, with the season now in full swing. Baseball’s in an interesting place in the sports media world, with ESPN opting out of its deal with MLB and so many teams turning to streaming options and over-the-air broadcasts in the wake of the RSN crisis.

Co-hosts Austin Karp and Mollie Cahillane bring on SBJ baseball writer Mike Mazzeo to makes sense of MLB’s place in sports media these days. Excerpts have been lightly edited for clarity.

Does MLB need ESPN to keep up with other leagues? “No question. You need at least some type of presence. When you look at the NFL and its presence, you look at the NBA, a lot of people would argue they surpassed MLB in terms of the most popular sports in North America. Now, ratings might say otherwise, but when you’re on ESPN, when Stephen A. Smith is talking about you, good, bad or ugly, it’s important. It means you’re out in the forefront. When he’s talking about the Dallas Cowboys in March, these other NBA teams, Luka and the Lakers, LeBron, LeBron’s son, whoever it is, those are the big topics. That’s what the fans want to hear about. And for MLB to not be in that conversation, that’s a little concerning.”

Is MLB.tv’s Opening Day outage a black eye? “When MLB pushes its digital platforms, you’ve got 27 teams out of 30 with [direct-to-consumer] streaming. You got rid of the in-market blackouts, which credit to Rob Manfred for that. But yeah, to have everybody watch on MLB.tv, that’s where you wanted to push your fans to, and for the first, what, hour or so of these Opening Day games for it not to work, and kind of be a lack of communication in terms of, ‘Yes, we’re on this. We’re trying to fix it.’ And credit to them -- at least they took care of it, and the majority of fans got to see most of their games, and then probably got to go back to MLB.TV to see the first couple innings if they missed it. But it’s certainly something that you don’t want to see.”

SEREGH, the recently launched sports-adjacent mixed-use development and investment firm, has added Delaware North and LionTree as strategic investors.

Beyond Delaware North EVP & COO Amy Latimer indicating that her company’s financial involvement in SEREGH “is significant,” no other detail about the investment amounts was disclosed. The two companies join SEREGH’s existing investors CAA and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.

“This is a space that people have been finding their way through the last few years and it’s nice to see a subject matter expert coming in to help teams,” said Latimer, who is a member of SEREGH’s board of directors. “Most teams don’t have this skillset. And certainly for some teams it’s very interesting to have a capital partner.”

SEREGH is seeking to develop and invest in mixed-use developments adjacent to sports venues. LionTree is a global merchant bank specializing in media, technology and sports, and should strengthen SEREGH’s ability to support future development partners with capital investment, while also bringing more and different potential clients into SEREGH’s orbit.

“They have their tentacles in the space, they see the opportunity. They don’t have the real estate capabilities but see it as a service their clients really need,” said SEREGH CEO Jonathan Fascitelli. “And two, they see it as a tremendous global investment opportunity as well. They have their footprint not only domestically but also Europe, the (Gulf countries), and Asia.”

Delaware North owns TD Garden and the Bruins and its deeper involvement with SEREGH will provide SEREGH clients with expertise in team and arena ownership and operations. And the Buffalo-based company has its own mixed-use development experience with The Hub On Causeway, the two-acre, $1.2B real estate play connected to TD Garden that opened during COVID, as well as through clients like the Braves and Packers and their real estate efforts.

“If SEREGH had been around a decade ago, we might have done it faster having a partner in mixed-use development that has the relationships and the funding,” said Latimer, who ran TD Garden for 11 years until a 2023 promotion and was centrally involved in The Hub’s development.

Closer ties with SEREGH will benefit Delaware North, too, whether providing potential opportunities to open restaurants in SEREGH-involved developments or contribute service and expertise in the retail, hotel and gaming worlds. And Delaware North Sportservice could include SEREGH’s capabilities as part of its offering in concessions business pursuits in the same way that CAA Icon might, too.

SEREGH, which launched last September, hasn’t announced any projects but Fascitelli said the company’s pipeline is brimming with projects on four continents. “The ancillary real estate around stadiums is a trillion-dollar opportunity globally,” he said. “This is a space that needs attention.”

Welcome to the first 2025 installment of the SBJ Tech Funding Round(up), where we dive into the funding raises of the previous quarter and identify industry trends. Let’s jump right in and follow the money.

Speech translation push: As various leagues continue their international expansions, the need to distribute in more languages only grows.

Lingopal.ai ($14 million Series A) and Camb.ai ($11 million Pre-Series A, which was raised at the end of last year but announced in February) have developed growing connections through tennis. Camb.ai started 2024 by earning a spot in Tennis Australia’s AO Startups, and Lingopal.ai piloted with the Tennis Channel by translating English broadcasts of the WTA’s 2024 Guadalajara Open Akron into Spanish.

In total, Camb.ai raised just over $15 million last year. The startup, one of SBJ’s 10 Most Innovative Sports Tech Companies, also earned additional accelerator spots in the inaugural MLS Innovation Lab cohort and in this year’s Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech program.

Athlete tech stays hot: Nearly half of the sports tech investments we saw this quarter (more specifically, five) touched on the various aspects of athlete health and wellbeing.

Two companies -- Epicore Biosystems and Output Sports -- lean on sensors to monitor hydration and wide-ranging athletic data, respectively. Two others -- Springbok Analytics and Ochy -- use AI to analyze the structure of an athlete. Springbok, which was also recognized as one of our 10 Most Innovative Sports Tech Companies in 2023, provides high-level comparative analysis for the likes of the NFL, NBA, MLB and Unrivaled. The mobile-based Ochy, meanwhile, breaks down movement to boost running form.

And finally, Eternal seeks to be an equal part brick-and-mortar clinic for elite-level athletes while providing data-driven goals based on testing.

Former athlete involvement is hot, too: Just after SBJ Tech Week, I wrote about the notable athlete presence there and the growing impact that group will continue having on innovation and investment.

Case in point -- athlete fingerprints were all over some of these rounds. ScorePlay, the digital asset management platform, saw fund injections from Giannis Antetokounmpo’s BYL Ventures and Alex Morgan’s Trybe Ventures.

Eternal’s raise was co-led by Lance Armstrong’s Next Ventures. Springbok secured participation from Cartan Capital, the venture firm of former tennis pro CiCi Bellis. And athlete financing tool Scout, created by former college athlete-turned-content creator, got some support from Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, who was an infielder in the minors.

Other investments covered by SBJ from Q1 2025:

• Dropback 
• EDGE Markets 
• MX Locker 
• Playtomic 
• SponsWatch 

The investment big picture: For a larger-scale view of the sports investment scene, I asked my colleague, SBJ finance reporter Chris Smith, for his thoughts. Here are his takeaways from Q1 2025:

“Sports investors remain bullish on athlete health and performance data firms. Nearly 30% of the $179 million raised by sports tech startups in Q1 went to that sector, including $26 million for sweat-sensing wearable firm Epicore Biosystems, $13 million for health-care platform Eternal and $5 million for athlete muscle-analytics firm Springbok Analytics. Those deals come hot on the tail of Oura being valued at $5.2 billion with its landmark $200 million Series D in December, marking the biggest sports funding deal in five months (Cosm raised $250 million last July).

“Looking ahead, the biggest question right now is how worrying macroeconomic trends might impact the investment landscape. New research from PitchBook suggests no private equity slowdown thus far: The 2,263 PE deals that PitchBook recorded over the last three months are the most for a Q1 since 2022.”

There’s no mistaking the Ultimate Frisbee Association with the NBA or NFL. Still, when the top-tier pro league in any sport completes its biggest sponsorship deal, that’s notable.

Consequently, I can break the news here that the UFA, rebranded from the American Ultimate Disc League last year and opening its 13th season on April 24, has indeed competed its largest sponsorship ever, a three-year deal with Pabst Brewing.

Pabst will attach its newfound UFA rights to support Pabst Light, relaunched earlier this year and looking to compete with the likes of Michelob Ultra in that developing “beer-as-sports-drink” category.

The UFA is terming it a title sponsorship, although it’s just short of that, since the 24-team circuit will henceforth be known as the “Ultimate Frisbee Association presented by Pabst Light.”

Your name here

Especially notable for sponsorship junkies is the sheer tonnage of marketing inventory included in the league’s first beer deal since before COVID (Oregon-based craft brewer Deschutes sponsored the AUDL).

The Pabst Light brand will appear on every UFA jersey and disk. This year’s UFA title will be determined at UFA Championship Weekend, presented by Pabst Light in Madison, Wisc., from Aug 22-23 (teams will compete for the Pabst Light Cup trophy).

Additional inventory includes an official beer designation, presenting sponsorship of “Friday Night Frisbee” games on the UFA’s YouTube channel (including a “Pabst Light Player of the Week” feature) and perimeter signage and pouring rights at most UFA venues. On-premise and retail display support are also expected.

UFA Commissioner and CEO Tim DeByl termed it the league’s largest and most comprehensive sponsorship to date. “There’s always some skepticism about how long a Frisbee league can last,” said DeByl, who also owns (and coached) the Madison Radicals franchise. “Hopefully, this shows we’re a premium national brand with staying power that other premium national brands see as worth supporting.”

Initial conversations started a few years ago, but they heated up early this year, DeByl added.

The UFA also moved sponsorship sales in-house after several years of sales representation by Legends.

Pabst’s Blue Ribbon brand has been around since 1844. The current ownership, an amalgam of private equity firm TSG Consumer Products and longtime brewery exec Eugene Kashper, has been in place less than five years.

Across the grassroots levels of ultimate frisbee, the most recent SFIA stats show U.S. participation declining slightly in 2024, down 1.9% drop to 2 million participants.

Dispensing with other business

Less significant financially, but nonetheless captivating -- since I’ve long been tracking this category as a potential source of fresh sponsorship dollars -- is a new UFA deal with Trulieve, which operates 229 cannabis dispensaries across eight states: Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Since Trulieve dispensaries are mainly open to “qualified patients” with medical marijuana cards, marketing efforts will be largely educational and lean on digital player testimonials and activation at venues. Trulieve is publicly traded on the CSC and the OTCQX exchanges, so some branding could help there as well.

Trulieve last year struck a sponsorship with the United Pickleball Association, parent of the Carvana Pro Pickleball Tour and Major League Pickleball.

• Range Sports is expanding its golf division through the acquisition of Sunrise Sports Consulting, the firm founded by industry veteran Jana Smoley, reports SBJ’s Josh Carpenter.
• The second round of the five-year, $100 million renovation of Barclays Center will include a new premium club, the Gallagher Terrace, and a new fan zone in the arena’s upper concourse, called The Bridge, writes SBJ’s Bret McCormick.
• Major League Pickleball inked a multiyear presenting sponsorship deal with DoorDash, notes SBJ’s Rob Schaefer.
• MiLB made Circle K its official convenience store, with signage behind home plate in some ballparks and on video boards in others, reports SBJ’s David Broughton.
• Bubba Watson’s LIV Golf team, RangeGoats GC, added a sponsorship with Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers through the rest of the league’s 2025 season, notes Carpenter.