Tony Khan, son of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan and the team’s senior vice president of football technology and analytics, has made a significant investment in Massachusetts-based sports analytics firm TruMedia Networks.
Terms of the investment were not disclosed, but both parties described the deal as “substantial.” The investment, not tied to Shahid Khan or the Jaguars, is designed to help TruMedia Networks bulk up its staffing and technology as it competes in a quickly accelerating market for sports analytics. That competitive landscape includes several other, much larger players, including Bloomberg Sports and Stats LLC.
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Jacksonville Jaguars SVP Tony Khan, with father and team owner Shad Khan
Photo by: RICK WILSON / JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
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Khan’s investment is a Series A venture financing for the company, and he will now take a seat on TruMedia Networks’ board of directors. TruMedia Networks’ funding before Khan’s involvement was made up of angel-level investors that included Boxcar Media CEO Ozzie Alvarez, former Converse, Puma and Adidas executive John O’Rourke, and Boston Red Sox TV analyst Jerry Remy.
The Jaguars have been clients of TruMedia Networks since early last year. During discussions earlier this fall about further deploying the company’s technology, talks emerged about Khan becoming an investor.
“We weren’t out looking to raise a round,” said Rafe Anderson, TruMedia Networks president and chief executive. “This was much more of an organic thing, but Tony’s involvement is going to allow for a lot of innovation and growth, and helps us really build our engineering capabilities. You’ve seen what Shad Khan has done in his business career, and with Tony, the apple definitely doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Khan, 31, was general manager and a board member of biodiesel fuel company Bio-Alternative LLC before joining the Jaguars last year. Khan said he is not looking to build out a portfolio of corporate investments, and that his interest in TruMedia Networks was specific to the company.
“With limited startup funds to date, they’ve built up a really strong business,” Khan said. “So there seemed to be a really big opportunity to jump in and help grow the business, and it was something that I’d be a fool to not be a part of. ”
TruMedia Networks works with 18 teams across baseball, football and soccer, and several sports media entities, including ESPN. The company also is partnered with veteran baseball writer Peter Gammons on his website GammonsDaily.com.
