Sep 21, 2022

September 21, 2022 Velocity Capital Management will invest in start-up sports, media and entertainment companies. The firm was founded by former private equity specialist David Abrams and former Sportradar CEO Arne Rees. Velocity will invest up to $50 million in companies with a corporate value of up to $2 billion. - Advertisement - Two longtime sports executives are creating an investment firm they say will support startups capitalizing on growing opportunities at the intersection of sports, media and entertainment. - Advertisement - Velocity Capital Management said Tuesday it will invest up to $50 million in early-stage companies with corporate value up to $2 billion. One of the co-founders of Velocity is David Abrams, co-owner of Premier League Crystal Palace and former private equity partner and chief investment officer of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA and the New Jersey Devils. from the NHL. . The other co-founder is Arne Reese, who most recently served as US CEO of Sportradar, a sports technology company. - Advertisement - The firm closed its first investment in Camp NYC, which is building retail stores based on the intellectual property of popular children’s entertainment such as Disney’s Mickey and Friends and Paw Patrol. “Camp is a business that crosses over some of the things that we looked at as a firm,” Abrams said. The company’s stores, which are a combination of shopping and interactive experiences, are located in New York, including Fifth Avenue, as well as in New Jersey, California and Texas. Velocity said it has received investment capital from a variety of sources, including Delaware North, a privately held company with a portfolio of more than 50 entertainment and sports properties, sports betting sites and the NHL’s Boston Bruins. Other investors include Signify Wealth, an investment advisor with NFL clients; Remington Ellis, sports marketing and talent agency; Bolt Ventures, a family office that invests in sports and entertainment in the US and Europe; and RWN Management, the family office of Apollo Global Management co-founder Mark Rowan. In an interview, Abrams and Reece said they decided to create Velocity after seeing the development of the sports and media ecosystem in areas such as technology, analytics and intellectual property. “Right now, we’re focusing primarily on companies in the growth stage,” Abrams said. “These are companies in which we are most likely to take non-controlling investments but want to play an active role as an advisor or on the board of directors.” Abrams and Reece said their investing and sports backgrounds gave them confidence that Velocity would get off the ground. Before joining Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment as chief investment officer in 2018, Abrams worked as a partner at Apollo for most of his career. Harris Blitzer, founded by private equity professionals Josh Harris and David Blitzer, also owns Prudential Center, the arena where the Devils play, and esports organization New Meta Entertainment, among other businesses in the sports world. Rees previously led Sportradar, a data firm that works with sportsbooks, sports federations and media companies, through an IPO in 2021. His resume also includes positions at ESPN and the Union of European Football Associations. Credit: www.cnbc.com /