OneTeam NFLPA Partners received the Under The Lights Flag Football
OneTeam Partners
Using celebrities to accelerate the growth and popularity of a business or product is not a new concept but the NFL Players Association has been quietly turning the power of the energy- professional actors to (indeed) big business. A few years ago, the NFLPA launched OneTeam Partners, a joint venture with several professional sports unions including Premier League Soccer and Football Associations as well as the U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association and sports-focused investment firm RedBird Capital, with the aim of taking advantage of the large platforms of their shared membership to do more than just “run the mill” license. OneTeam Partners has expanded the traditional business line player unions that typically engage on behalf of members to include other direct brands such as content creation / production and enterprise investment. With the construction of Under The Lights Flag Football, it looks like the players (as represented by OneTeam Partners) are now dipping their toes into the world of private equality.
Under The Lights, a national youth flagship football league, was first set up in 2015 as a non-profit vehicle to raise money for a fallen Naval Seal, but the company’s founders quickly realized that much more than just good. way to raise money for a worthy cause. After digging in further, Under The Lights Chairman Eric Beach realized there was a huge untapped opportunity that was part of a larger movement of parents waiting longer to let go. with their children getting involved in football.
“Like any other youth sport, flag football across the country was completely dismantled but we quickly realized with over two million children across the country playing flag football that there was an opportunity create something. Three and a half years later we have grown to over 100 sites across the country, ”said Beach.
It was this kind of growth and success that caught the eye of OneTeam Partners President Brent Stehlik who was actively keeping his eyes open for M&A opportunities in the form of companies that fit within the overall philosophy. and that it could grow by 2x or 3x in a very short time.
“This is our first major investment in the field of youth sport but we believe that youth sport is a growing industry – and indeed investing in the expansion of youth sport is good for the sustainable growth of our games. , ”Said Stehlik.
It is easy to see why a company that is literally involved in the football industry might be well suited for an entity that represents the best players in the world. The more active question is whether a player union, even one as enterprising as the NFLPA, can successfully buy and run businesses. But Stehlik sees OneTeam’s role as just a supporter, reinforcing the point “We invest in great operators and Eric (Beach) is just a great executive.” In other words, a typical private equity company that intends to aggressively cut costs and replace the existing management team with its own management team is not a OneTeam building strategy. currently, they are investing in capable teams that are already familiar with running their businesses. but that represents a naturally strategic approach.
When it comes to flag football in particular, it is no secret that we have seen a huge shift with parents choosing to put their children in a sport that is less physical than dealing with football. football especially because of the revelations about the dangers of long-term brain injury, so sport that marries all that is great about the game of football with a fraction of the risk of injury physical apparently as a perfect solution to continue encouraging children to play the game. As far as who is helping to lead the youth flagship football festival, it should come as no surprise that mothers are the driving force.
“Mothers make unquestioning decisions, not the fathers,” Beach said.
While people who deal with such matters have to do with the money that is split between the leagues and the players in terms of vis bargaining, the NFLPA has quietly been creating value that is not. -dependent on anything that would make its way to the bargaining table and the work that OneTeam does is just another example of that.
“We’re always looking to develop the game in the right way, and I’m pleased that OneTeam and the NFLPA have a unique opportunity to do just that through our investment in Under The Lights,” said DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA Managing Director and Board Member, OneTeam Partners. “This is a tremendous national platform for the NFLPA and its members to support and grow the flagship football league.”
If anything this trend is with OneTeam tokens, is that the athletes platform is as strong as ever and the reports of the death of the football game have been contributes greatly.