April 24, 2023 – (Orlando, Fla.): TMRW Sports, which is focused on building progressive approaches to sports, media, and entertainment, has announced an expansion of its investment group with two more sports business leaders with extensive experience across media and technology: Michael Rubin, Founder and CEO, Fanatics; and Greg Maffei, President and CEO of Liberty Media. The announcement was made today by Mike McCarley, TMRW Sports Founder & CEO, who created TMRW Sports alongside co-founders Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
“Strategic investors and advisors have helped us build a business fusing sports, media, and technology,” said Mike McCarley, founder and CEO, TMRW Sports. “Michael’s and Greg’s incredible track records and decades of experience building large-scale enterprises is more fuel for TMRW Sports and our preliminary endeavor with TGL, our primetime golf league in partnership with the PGA TOUR.”
TMRW Sports’ initial investment round, announced in November 2022, was co-led by Connect Ventures and 25madison Ventures. The TMRW Sports investment group’s sports experience includes team ownership in every major league and ranges across F1, NFL, NBA, Premier League, MLB, NHL, MLS, tennis, esports, surfing, and golf with a combined social reach of nearly 1 billion followers across social media. TMRW Sports recently announced three additional NBA greats – Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant – as well as MLB superstar Mike Trout to its investor roster.
Michael Rubin – Founder and CEO, Fanatics – A noted internet entrepreneur, philanthropist, and social justice advocate, Rubin has built several multibillion-dollar, direct-to-consumer companies. As CEO of Fanatics, Rubin is reimaging the fan experience across many different businesses, including licensed merchandise, physical and digital trading cards and collectibles, and sports betting and gaming. Named annually as one of the most prominent people in sports business, Michael was named the Sports Business Journal “Executive of the Year” in 2022 and has also been named to the Bleacher Report “Power 50” list of most influential people in sports. Rubin is a board member of Rue Gilt Groupe. He also founded GSI Commerce, which was sold to eBay in 2011 for $2.4B and spent more than a decade as a partner of the Philadelphia 76ers before selling his ownership stake in the team in June 2022 to focus his efforts on Fanatics’ expansion across the broader sports ecosystem.
Greg Maffei – President and CEO of Liberty Media – Maffei serves as President and CEO of Liberty Media Corporation, which owns media and entertainment businesses, including subsidiaries Formula 1 and the Atlanta Braves, and interests in SiriusXM and Live Nation Entertainment. He is President and CEO of Liberty Broadband Corporation, which consists primarily of a 26% stake in Charter Communications and subsidiary GCI. Maffei also serves as Chairman and CEO of Liberty TripAdvisor, which holds a controlling interest in Tripadvisor, and Executive Chairman of Qurate Retail, Inc., which owns digital commerce businesses, including subsidiaries QVC, HSN, Zulily and the Cornerstone Brands. Maffei also serves as Chairman of the Liberty-related companies Live Nation Entertainment, SiriusXM and Tripadvisor, and as a Director of Charter Communications of Zillow. Prior to joining Liberty in 2005, Maffei served as Co-President of Oracle, Chairman and CEO of 360networks, and CFO of Microsoft.