- EP Atwater Capital made its first investment in female sports with League One volleyball.
- The company based in Los Angeles thinks that media rights for female sports are massively undervalued.
- Founder Vania Schlogel explained how Atwater plans to use her media and entertainment links to develop LOVB.
The Atwater Capital Investment Capital Company thinks that female sports are massively undervalued.
The company based in Los Angeles made its first investment in sports last year thanks to the volleyball of League One, or Lovb, to be short. The company’s professional female league began playing in January. Atwater, which is investing in media and entertainment companies, has contributed to an investment of $ 100 million in LOVB.
While the evaluations of certain professional sports teams have increased in recent years, the founder of Atwater, Vania Schlogel, said that the value of media rights had still not been able to withdraw the demand.
The founder of Atwater, Vania Schlogel, underlined the female sports that have established attendance records in recent years. A university volleyball match in 2023 brought a crowd of more than 90,000, filling an area that generally houses football. The Angel City of the National Women’s Soccer League had an average attendance of more than 19,000 fans in 2024, in accordance with the 20,000 that the best NBA teams have on average last year.
“You tell me that women’s sports rights are not undervalued? I don’t believe it,” Schlogel told Business Insider.
With Lovb, Schlogel said that the company sees an opportunity to make the League more precious by expanding goods, marketing and content production.
Why Atwater bets on Lovb
Atwater has around $ 450 million in assets under management and mainly focuses on the digital media and entertainment industries. It is invested in companies like the production company of Brad Pitt Plan B and 88rising, a media collective focused on Asian talents.
PE has been attracted to Lovb because, like the other Atwater companies, the League serves a fandom.
Schlogel said that female sports enthusiasts are rabid and looking for an outlet. Organizations such as WNBA and NWSL have cultivated basketball and football fans, but sports like the butt or volleyball are starting to train professional leagues. The Professional Crosse League recently launched a female league, for example. Other leagues have been announced soon in sports such as softball and baseball.
Atwater said that the LOVB community approach distinguishes it from certain other leagues and could help develop its fans base. Lovb has a network of junior clubs to encourage young girls to continue playing youth volleyball at the professional level.
“It’s really good for the longevity of the entire ecosystem,” said Bi Bi.
Volleyball is one of the popular high school sports for girls. In 2023, the volleyball of the women’s high school had 470,000 participants, the second plus behind athletics, according to a survey carried out by the National Federation of Lycée associations.
Consciousness and cultural relevance are essential for the success of LOVB
Atwater offers LOVB access to its media and entertainment expertise, in addition to giving money to the League. The cabinet said he could offer advice on rights agreements (LOVB currently has a distribution agreement in the United States with ESPN) and how to stimulate sales of merchanting.
“One good that the investment capital can do is provide reproducible trade processes and learning of previous investments in current investments,” said Schlogel.
Gao said that Atwater has already helped Lovb to establish links in the entertainment space.
“One of the main engines of our success, especially in a professional level, is awareness and cultural relevance,” said Gao. “And for that, we are talking to many people they know in their ecosystem.”
businessinsider
