The Profluence Pod 🌐

Mike Nicoll is a former hooper turned award-winning filmmaker focused heavily on basketball's business side in his documentaries.  The Spoils penetrates a shadowy financial system: America’s youth basketball industrial complex. With unprecedented access to the money game that dominates the sport, the film unravels the raw capitalism of the American basketball machine. Mike Nicoll has directed 3 feature films, best known for writing & directing "At All Costs" - a feature documentary acquired by Netflix in 2017. Chapters: (01:20) The Spoils (07:20) Shocking revelations (10:10) How the AAU system works  (13:05) Why travel basketball exists (20:20) Reimagining the system (26:55) Business of basketball (35:20) Next films . Mike Nicoll: Website: https://thespoilsmovie.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-nicoll/ . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

After 15 seasons in Major League Baseball, José Bautista has made the jump into entrepreneurship and investing.  He took a majority position in Marucci Sports and helped them to an exit and has also invested in outwear company Canada Goose. José Bautista recently bought the majority position in a USL team, Las Vegas Lights FC.  Chapters: (01:45) Owning a pro sports team (05:45) Transition from athlete to investor  (08:15) Marucci Sports to exit (11:30) Due diligence and evaluating deals (14:15) MLB players vs other sports (20:50) What stands out in founders (22:45) Deals he’s looking at (26:00) Baseball tech and robot-umpires (32:10) Las Vegas Lights & USL . José Bautista: X: https://x.com/joeybats19 Las Vegas Lights: https://www.lasvegaslightsfc.com/ . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

With soon-to-be 16 eatertainment facilities, Chicken N Pickle is expanding across the country with their “TopGolf for Pickleball” concept.  Chicken N Pickle is an entertainment complex that includes a restaurant, sports bar, pickleball courts, and a variety of yard games.  Kelli Alldredge joined part-time at the first location and went full-time as the president in 2023.  Chapters: (01:15) Landing at Chicken N Pickle (04:25) Rollout of more locations  (07:10) Chicken N Pickle description  (09:30) GTM strategy  (12:20) Learnings/Mistakes in eatertainment (17:20) Building partnerships team (20:20) Sponsoring athletes  (24:00) Eatertainment trends (27:00) 3 categories of pickleball players . Kelli Alldredge: Website: https://chickennpickle.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelli-alldredge-553920249/ . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

Recently closing out their $4M Series A round, Forever Network is adding more sports and new products and expanding to the United States.  Forever Network is a social-first sports media company that started as a basketball social media page in Australia.  in 2023, Nicholas Kelland joined Forever Network coming from the agency and marketing world. Chapters: (01:20) Forever Network origin story (04:25) Monetization  (07:50) Expanding into US market (10:00) New product  (15:10) Advantages of internal media  (18:05) Content to acquire customers (22:20) Trends in sports media  . Nicholas Kelland: Website: https://www.forevernetwork.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-kelland-b59042146/ . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

With ownership in 3 pro teams, including Premier League club Ipswich Town FC, Brett Johnson has made a name for himself as one of the best investors in sports (particularly soccer).  Ten years ago, Benevolent Capital was formed by Brett Johnson and his twin brother Grant Johnson to invest in sports assets.  Some of Brett Johnson’s other investments include Profluence Capital Fund I, Athletic Brewing, Terracycle, Oura, Getaway, and Carbon 6.  Chapters: (01:20) Ipswich Town FC promotion to EPL (02:55) Investing in sports journey  (05:20) Promotion & relegation in U.S.  (08:00) Sports investing as asset class (13:30) Getting outside investors excited  (16:50) Multi-club ownership & USL (20:10) Brett’s typical day  (21:50) Rhode Island FC (25:00) Next 10 years in sports . Brett Johnson: Benevolent Capital: https://benevolentcapital.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-m-johnson-70b148/ . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

Acquired by 3STEP Sports, West Coast Elite is the largest basketball event operator on the West Coast with more than 100 events in 11 states.  WCE is the premier grassroots basketball program and is a member of the Under Armour Association, WCE teams play a national schedule.  Ryan Silver is the founder and CEO who previously ran a nightclub before creating West Coast Elite and Silver Waves Media.  Chapters: (01:40) Starting youth sports club (06:25) 3STEP acquisition  (08:25) West Coast Elite success (09:30) Misconceptions of AAU (11:45) Business model (17:00) Shift in parents (20:45) Men’s vs women’s AAU (24:35) Trends to watch . Ryan Silver: WCE: https://westcoastelitebasketball.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachryansilver/?hl=en . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

ScorePlay now counts over 130 sports clients and has experienced great growth since the $5M seed round last year.  ScorePlay provides a suite of products that help sports organizations automate their media workflows, grow their brand, and unlock new revenue streams. Victorien Tixier previously co-founded a digital suite for 5-side-football centers, Hydra, which was acquired.  Chapters: (01:35) Creation of ScorePlay (03:10) Doing market research  (06:15) Bootstrapping to start  (08:30) Pricing models (11:00) Selling to different sports clients (15:45) Europe vs USA differences  (18:05) Where most clients come from  (21:40) $5M seed round insights (24:10) Vision for ScorePlay . Victorien Tixier: ScorePlay: https://www.scoreplay.io/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorien-tixier-28543510b/ . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

PFL is the #1 fastest-growing sports league in the world quickly rising to challenge the UFC and is coming off a $100M investment from Saudi’s SRJ Investments.  Donn Davis first entered sports as the Chief Legal Counsel of the Chicago Cubs in the 1990s. He would go on to hold several prominent roles across media, sports, and entertainment (including a senior executive at AOL) before founding the PFL in 2018.  PFL disrupted MMA with the sports-season format and now operates 4 fight franchises worldwide: PFL League Season, PFL PPV Super Fights, PFL International Leagues, and Bellator. Chapters: (01:00) The Rise of the PFL: Competing with the UFC (04:19) Building a Sports League: Challenges and Strategies (07:58) Investing in Sports Insights  (12:04) The Vision for PFL: Becoming a Co-Leader in MMA (18:30) Leveraging Technology in Sports (20:03) A Day in the Life: Managing a Non-Linear Schedule (23:26) Global Trends Shaping the Future of Sports (26:09) The Role of Private Equity in Sports (28:14) How to get free PFL tickets . Donn Davis: Website: https://pflmma.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donndavis/ . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

As a 23-year-old business owner and coming off a $500k fundraise, Huck Sorock is looking to transform the referee space.  The idea of Refr Sports stemmed a few years ago as Huck realized how much technology was growing in every category within sports but saw lots of improvement for the referee vertical.  Huck Sorock is a recent graduate of Colorado Boulder and grew up an athlete playing juniors hockey.  Chapters: (01:00) Entrepreneurial journey  (04:50) Refr Sports (08:55) Stats on referee market (13:30) Acquiring customers  (15:30) Being a young founder (18:00) Future of Refr Sports (23:15) Trends in sports (25:25) AI refs  . Huck Sorock: Website: https://refrsports.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/huck-s-29841913a/ . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

StatusPRO recently received $20m in funding including an investment from Google’s venture arm to transform training and gaming in sports.  StatusPRO is a sports technology company that combines data, XR, and real-life experiences to provide a revolutionary suite of training and gaming products. Troy Jones is a former D1 quarterback who spent time at the NFLPA and Goldman Sachs before coming up with the StatusPRO idea and building alongside former NFL player Andrew Hawkins.  Chapters: (01:20) Troy’s athlete and business background (07:10) Scaling StatusPro learnings  (12:10) Getting Lamar Jackson involved  (14:30) Training vs. Gaming side of StatusPro (16:50) AR/VR/XR state of the market (19:55) Trends to watch in sports (22:50) StatusPRO post-$20m raise  (26:00) Limiting social media  . Troy Jones: StatusPRO: https://www.status.pro/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-jones-jr-mba-582b60163/ . Andrew Petcash: 🏠 Website: https://profluence.com 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/ Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.