The NFL is "investing in Blue Star Sports, the Texas-based software and technology company partially backed" by Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones that is "seeking to consolidate the youth sports business," according to Eric Fisher of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The NFL's 32 Equity arm is "joining majority partner Genstar Capital, original backer Jones, Providence Equity Partners" and Blue Star Sports Founder & CEO Rob Wechsler as investors in the company. The deal is "believed to be the first of its type in which the NFL has invested directly in an entity co-owned by one of its team owners." The NFL's investment in Blue Star was "small enough that it fell within the operating parameters of 32 Equity and did not require full owner approval." NFL Senior VP/Corporate Investment Kevin LaForce said that he "conferred with a smaller working group of several unnamed team owners on the deal." Meanwhile, Blue Star is "also acquiring Stack, which produced Stack Magazine and stack.com focusing primarily on youth athletes." The NFL investment is "separate from the acquisition of Stack." The NFL worked on the Blue Star investment with Providence Equity Partners, which "formed a partnership with the league" in '13 to "invest in sports and entertainment companies." LaForce said that the "primary attraction was Blue Star Sports' emerging efforts to aggregate far-flung components of the youth sports space." Blue Star "will not be formally tied to any of the NFL's ongoing youth participation efforts, such as the Play 60 campaign." But some league content will be "distributed through the Blue Star Sports portfolio, in turn helping expand the NFL's reach to the coveted youth audience." The NFL and Blue Star Sports also each have "relationships with USA Football, the national governing body for amateur football" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/10 issue).
