Sports Media's Discoverability Conundrum and AI's Quiet Revolution

Resources

Resources & Recommendations

People Mentioned

• David Karnowsky (J.P. Morgan) - Wall Street analyst who shared his perspective on the NBA, ESPN, and YouTube TV deal.
• Naveen Sarma - Wall Street analyst who discussed Paramount Global and David Ellison's leadership.
• Matt Hong (President of USA Sports, Versant Media) - Sports media executive who shared a counter-intuitive, bullish view on cable in the context of cord-cutting.
• Scott Gutterman (PGA Tour) - Talked about the PGA Tour's significant savings through AI for operational efficiency.
• Bob Carney (NBA) - Discussed how the NBA is using AI to produce almost entire 30-minute shows.
• John Fanta (NBC Sports, formerly Fox) - Described as an incredible broadcasting talent, known for calling college basketball games, with a passionate approach to his work.
• Karen Nortman (Monarch Collective) - Involved in a new investment in a German women's soccer team.
• Jason Wright (Ariel Investments, formerly Washington Commanders President) - Leads women's sports investing and backed the NWSL's new expansion team in Denver.
• Heather Carrots (Third Space Capital) - Founding partner of a newly launched capital firm, whose insights are anticipated.
• Greg Betnelli (The Chernin Group) - Participant in the "Future of Sports Capital" panel, representing a major investment firm.
• Josh Empson (Sixth Street) - Participant in the "Future of Sports Capital" panel, representing a major investment firm active in sports.
• Ted Oberwager (KKR) - Participant in the "Future of Sports Capital" panel, representing a major investment firm.
• Julia Whitlin (RedBird) - Participant in the "Future of Sports Capital" panel, representing a major investment firm with significant sports investments.
• Jozy Altidor (US Soccer fame) - Investor in the Buffalo Bills, participating in the athlete investment strategies panel.
• Ra Madcore - Mentioned as being part of a conversation with Mark Tatum about the NBA in Europe.
• Mark Tatum (Deputy Commissioner and COO of the NBA) - Discussed the NBA's strategy and future plans for expansion in Europe.

Organizations & Institutions

• J.P. Morgan - Financial institution employing David Karnowsky, who provided analysis on sports media deals.
• Paramount Global - Discussed in the context of its new structure and challenges regarding cash flow and leverage.
• Versant Media - Recently spun out media company, whose sports division (USA Sports) is led by Matt Hong.
• PGA Tour - Highlighted for its use of AI to achieve significant operational savings and enhance content production.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services) - Partnered with the PGA Tour to increase content production by covering every shot.
• Genius Sports - Mentioned for its chief product officer discussing the "three I's" of content and its acquisition of Second Spectrum.
• Second Spectrum - Acquired by Genius Sports, providing volumetric data capture for immersive sports experiences.
• Fox Direct to Consumer - An executive from this division spoke about the success of their bundling strategy with ESPN.
• TikTok - Discussed for its massive global user base and engagement metrics.
• Monarch Collective - An investment firm led by Karen Nortman, recently investing in a German women's soccer team.
• Ariel Investments - Led by Jason Wright, backed the NWSL's new expansion team in Denver.
• Third Space Capital - A newly launched capital firm with Heather Carrots as a founding partner.
• The Chernin Group - Investment firm represented by Greg Betnelli on the "Future of Sports Capital" panel.
• Sixth Street - Investment firm represented by Josh Empson, known for raising new funds and investing in teams like the Patriots, Giants, and Celtics.
• KKR - Investment firm represented by Ted Oberwager on the "Future of Sports Capital" panel.
• RedBird Capital Partners - Investment firm represented by Julia Whitlin, active in sports investments both domestically and overseas, and potentially involved in the Paramount/Skydance bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
• Apex Capital - A fund mentioned for its investments from major European soccer and Formula 1 athletes into sports tech companies.

Other Resources

• YouTube TV and Disney Deal - A recent agreement discussed for its impact on content delivery, including the ingestion of ESPN app content and WWE PLEs into YouTube TV.
• Venue Sports - An earlier concept for a skinny sports bundle, referenced in the discussion of new sports bundling possibilities.
• Paramount/Skydance bid for Warner Bros. Discovery - A potential deal involving three Middle East sovereign wealth funds, mentioned in the context of RedBird Capital Partners' possible involvement.