The NFLPA has partnered with several tech companies, venture capitalists and marketing agencies to create a new business accelerator targeting emerging sports-focused companies. The new OneTeam Collective will seek to use union intellectual property and access to NFL players as a key tool to help develop early-stage companies. The NFLPA will be joined in the venture by founding partners Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group, Intel, LeadDog Marketing Group, the Harvard Innovation Lab and the Sports Innovation Lab. Unlike some other sports-focused business accelerators that have formed in the last several years, the OneTeam Collective does not have defined investments amounts or specific timetables for investments and pitches. The venture will operate on a rolling deadline, and equity investments will be made on a case-by-case basis. Targeted functional areas for the OneTeam Collective include fan engagement, data and analytics, nutrition and wellness, gaming, fantasy sports, and virtual and augmented reality. NFL Players Inc. President Ahmad Nassar said, "We’ve obviously been paying a lot of attention to what’s happening out there with venture funds, incubators, accelerators and the like, and we looked at several options for starting our own fund. But we came up with the idea of leveraging our rights in exchange for equity and using that as a base for this concept. We think this can be very additive to the space.” The OneTeam Collective will have a presence at the upcoming '17 CES in Las Vegas, as well as Super Bowl LI in Houston. The effort will also employ an athlete advisory board involving several current and former NFL players, including Kelvin Beachum, Dhani Jones and Russell Okung. “We get very excited already working with company founders and disruptive ideas, so this obviously takes that to a higher level, and everybody involved has a particular role and brings a different perspective,” said LeadDog President & CEO Dan Mannix (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).
HOW IDEA BEGAN: In Seattle, Rachel Lerman reports the idea for OneTeam Collective was born in part "when a small tech company that made emojis approached the NFLPA" about permission to "use players' likenesses" in its app. Nassar indicated that the union "was interested, but the startup couldn't afford the cost to license the rights." Nassar's group "tried to find a way to take equity in the company instead of accepting a fee but couldn't nail down a deal in time." Nassar said that it was an "expensive missed opportunity." Lerman notes the company "was acquired for a 'sizable sum' not long after." Nassar: "We absolutely would have taken equity if (OneTeam Collective) had existed" (SEATTLE TIMES, 12/6).
