Deal Brief · Week of Jul 6
Tracking the deals shaping the business of culture.
Investments
Premier Lacrosse League raises $100M, adds Glen Powell and Rob McElhenney as investors
The $100M Series E was led by Ares Sports and Joe Tsai, with Powell and McElhenney joining the cap table. Proceeds go toward media distribution, sponsorship growth, the Women's Lacrosse League, and youth access — ahead of lacrosse's Olympic return at LA28.
Pau Gasol invests €55M in Liga F
Gasol16 Ventures, partnering with Fortified Partners, is putting €55M into Spain’s top women’s football league — acquiring between 35% and 49% of Liga F clubs’ future commercial revenue rights for 25 years.
Kyle Lowry joins the Toronto Tempo ownership group
The former Raptors star and his wife, Ayahna Cornish-Lowry, have taken a stake in the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo — joining an ownership group that includes Serena Williams, Masai Ujiri, and Larry Tanenbaum.
Giannis Antetokounmpo doubles down on Superpower
The NBA MVP is joining preventative health platform Superpower as its first-ever Global Brand Ambassador while increasing his existing investment. The platform gives everyday consumers access to the deep diagnostic testing typically reserved for pro athletes.
Josh Morrissey invests in Indigenous food brand Mitsoh
The Winnipeg Jets defenseman came in as a strategic investor in Mitsoh’s multimillion-dollar growth round, led by Raven Indigenous Capital Partners. The capital funds national expansion and production upgrades for the traditional meat snack brand.
New ventures
Ashton Kutcher leaves Sound Ventures to launch a new VC firm
Kutcher is departing Sound Ventures to start a new fund with Morgan Beller — formerly a GP at NFX, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and co-lead of Meta’s Libra project. The firm targets early-stage companies building the physical layer beneath AI: infrastructure, energy, and deep tech.
Georgina Rodríguez launches activewear brand Mimoa
The Dubai-based, direct-to-consumer line debuts with 27 lifestyle basics — leggings, crop tops, hoodies — all priced under €100, positioning premium athleisure at an accessible tier.
Brand endorsements
Erling Haaland becomes the face of WALOVI
The Manchester City striker signed as global ambassador for WALOVI, the international arm of Wang Lao Ji — a Chinese herbal tea brand whose recipe dates to 1828. Another line on one of football’s deepest commercial portfolios.
Jeremy Lin signs his first beverage collaboration with Passion 24
Lin has partnered with Passion 24 to build GuoLiShui, a Taiwanese hydration drink made with fruit juice, coconut water, electrolytes, and green tea extract.
BTS’s V becomes JINRO’s first-ever global ambassador
The world’s best-selling soju has named V its inaugural global ambassador, part of a strategy to grow Jinro’s brand recognition and appeal across international markets.
Shane Lowry partners with Stryker as global brand ambassador
The major champion signed a multiyear deal with the medical technology company’s Joint Replacement division, fronting a campaign focused on the role caregivers play in recovery.
Lori Harvey named Chief Creative Advisor at Gran Coramino
Kevin Hart’s tequila brand has appointed Harvey to lead its “Coramino Woman” initiative, steering creative direction, campaigns, and cultural activations following the brand’s milestone of over $200 million in retail sales.
Pau Gasol's Liga F deal is the one to study here. He's not buying equity in the clubs, he's buying 35-49% of their commercial revenue for the next 25 years. That's a completely different bet - he doesn't need a club to sell or go public to get paid, he just needs the league's commercial side to keep growing every year for a quarter century. Most athletes think about a deal as one payday. Structures like this are built to pay out for decades. Giannis doubling down on his Superpower stake instead of just renting his name to it as ambassador is the same discipline at a smaller scale - real conviction shows up as more capital in, not more content posted.