Deal Brief · Week of Aug 17
Tracking the deals shaping the business of culture.
Investments
Derek Jeter backs ALUM, a luxury hospitality brand built for college towns
Jeter is in as investor, board advisor, and ambassador on ALUM, which is building members’ clubhouses, condo-hotel residences, and chef-driven dining within walking distance of campus. The first property — 116,000 square feet in Tuscaloosa — is underway, with sites secured or in talks at Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Notre Dame, and a target of 30–40 locations.
Arthur Fils joins performance cosmetics brand Tiva as investor and ambassador
The French tennis player closed out Tiva’s funding round as both a backer and a user — the startup’s grip gels and friction balms were already part of his match routine. Tiva is now in 130 retailers across France.
Vaca adds a group of athletes and CPG operators to the cap table as part of its $1.5M seed round
The beef-tallow tortilla chip brand closed a $1.5M seed led by BAM Ventures, pairing athlete backers (DeAndre Hopkins, Nyjah Huston, and MLB’s Shane Bieber, Mark Canha, and Shelby Miller) with operators like Sweetgreen’s Nic Jammet and Kettle & Fire’s Justin Mares. Built DTC first, it’s now moving to shelf at Whole Foods.
DeAndre Hopkins invests in Lemon Perfect
Hopkins now owns a piece of Lemon Perfect, after approaching the brand about buying in rather than taking a partnership deal. He was already drinking it. What convinced him, he says, was that it tasted like the lemonade he loved as a kid with no sugar added — so ownership was the only version of the conversation he was interested in. He frames it as where athlete deals are heading: asking for equity instead of taking the check.
Alix Earle takes an equity stake in Cymbiotika
Earle bought into the liposomal supplement brand, which hit $150M in 2025 revenue. It’s a familiar pattern for her — she already holds stakes in Poppi, SipMargs, and Gorgie, and launched her own brand, Rēale Actives, in March. She joins a cap table that includes The Weeknd, Post Malone, Kendall Jenner, and Hailey Bieber.
New ventures
Travis Kelce launches NIL venture Tekta with Publicis Sports
Kelce is building Tekta with Publicis Sports and 3 Arts Sports — a consulting and activation firm that helps brands find, structure, and measure NIL deals across a network of 45,000 Division I athletes and 68 Power Four schools. The timing tracks the market: NIL spending is projected at $4.5B for 2026–27, up from $3.6B. Tekta plans to add branding and financial-literacy education for the athletes on the other side.
Tracy McGrady revives the ABCD Camp after a 20-year hiatus
McGrady acquired an 80% stake in the storied high school showcase Sonny Vaccaro ran from 1984 to 2006, with Vaccaro keeping the rest. The first edition in 20 years ran in Phoenix, sponsored by Adidas. ABCD is where Kobe won MVP in 1995 and a 16-year-old LeBron outplayed Lenny Cooke. A documentary is now in development with Carmelo Anthony’s Creative 7.
Jermaine O’Neal and VICTORYROAD+ launch prep sports media brand FUTR5
The six-time All-Star formed a JV to build FUTR5, covering the country’s top high school athletes across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, with free short-form feeding a paid tier for live games and documentaries. O’Neal’s Dynamic Prep — a three-time recent champion — anchors it, with baseball added next school year.
Serena Williams rebrands Serena Ventures as Starfire Ventures
Williams dropped her own name from the firm she’s invested through for over a decade, reasoning that a personal name can cap what a company becomes — and she wants this one bigger than her. The track record is already substantial: 100-plus startups and 16 unicorns in the portfolio.
The Cavinder twins launch wellness brand Go Two
Haley and Hanna Cavinder — among the first athletes to build national NIL profiles — launched Go Two, a “frictionless wellness on the go” brand, debuting with two products (Debloat and Sleepy) and plans to expand into hydration, protein, and collagen. It joins a portfolio that already spans the TWOgether fitness app, Azucar tequila, and Hustle Beauty.
Deebo Samuel opens Problem Lounge in Old Town Scottsdale
Samuel opened a three-level concept with chef Cleashaun Hill in the long-vacant Barney’s Boathouse building: flame-grilled dining on the ground floor, a cocktail lounge upstairs, and a rooftop open-air hookah space.
Mo Bamba opens a card shop near the Texas campus
The former one-and-done Longhorn is opening a trading card shop by his old campus, announced through his YouTube channel and the Mo Bamba Cards and Collectibles socials.
Fundraising and acquisitions
Samsonite buys 85% of Shay Mitchell’s BÉIS at a $210M valuation
Samsonite is acquiring 85% of BÉIS for $178.5M in cash, valuing the travel brand Mitchell founded in 2018 at roughly $210M. Beach House Group, the incubator that owned 70%, is selling its entire stake, while Mitchell rolls over about half her equity to keep 15% and stays on as Founder and Head of Creative and Design.
Alex Cooper’s Unwell takes its first outside investment at a $500M valuation
Whitesell’s WTSL — the Silver Lake-backed firm he launched after exiting Endeavor — invested an undisclosed sum valuing Unwell at $500 million, the media company’s first outside capital. Cooper and husband Matt Kaplan, who self-funded the business since 2023 and say it’s been profitable from day one, keep a majority stake.
Brand endorsements
Marriott Bonvoy names Alex Eala the face of its Tennis The World campaign in APAC
The highest-ranked Filipino player in WTA history, and the first to win a WTA Tour singles title, fronts the Asia Pacific edition (excl. China).
eToro extends its Formula One position with Pierre Gasly
eToro signed the Alpine driver, building on the deal that made it Alpine’s exclusive trading and investment partner — running across live events, social, and podcast activations.
Kate Spade names Tyla global brand ambassador
The Tapestry-owned label signed Tyla to a yearlong deal fronting its fall 2026 campaign, built around “joy hiding in plain sight,” with nods to her album APOP* woven in.
Charlie Puth joins Lucky Brand as brand ambassador
Puth fronts Lucky Brand’s fall campaign as the lead name in a roster approach — the brand says it’ll keep spotlighting artists and creators through the season.
Loewe names David Jonsson brand ambassador
The Spanish house tapped the Alien: Romulus and Industry actor as it sets its course under new creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.
Under Armour signs Li Yueru, its first female Chinese basketball athlete
The Dallas Wings center — a 2022 World Cup silver medalist — will work with UA across China and globally on youth basketball, women’s sports, and community programming.
New Balance signs five-star recruit Jett Harrison to an NIL deal
New Balance signed the 16-year-old Ohio State commit — the No. 1 recruit in the 2028 Rivals300 — joining his older brother, Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., on the football roster.
Media deals
Alan Ritchson signs a first-look feature film deal with Netflix
The Reacher star signed a first-look deal through his Dancing Skeleton banner to star in and produce a slate of films. First up: an untitled MotoGP heist thriller from Fast & Furious writer Chris Morgan. The deal follows War Machine, which drew 139.9M views in its first 91 days.
Vic Mensa launches The Vic Mensa Show with Chance the Rapper as first guest
Mensa launched a weekly podcast and video series through ORANJ, his new production company, in partnership with Mass Appeal. Season one runs 24 episodes, with Rapsody, Lena Waithe, and Van Lathan Jr. among the lineup.
DeAndre Hopkins' move is the whole playbook in one line: he was already a customer, so he asked to buy in instead of taking a partnership deal. That's the shift - stop treating the endorsement offer as the ceiling and start asking whether you can own a piece of what you're already promoting for free with your own attention. Alix Earle is running the same play at scale, stacking stakes across Poppi, Cymbiotika, SipMargs and Gorgie on top of her own brand. One deal builds a paycheck. A stack of equity positions builds a portfolio.