Leigh Steinberg to invest in tech start-ups
Sports agent Leigh Steinberg and rapper T.I. (aka Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr.) attend the 29th Annual Leigh Steinberg Super Bowl Party on Saturday.(Photo: Eugene Gologursky, Getty Images for Leigh Steinberg)
SAN FRANCISCO — Veteran sports agent Leigh Steinberg has teamed up with private equity firm Alpha Strategies to form Steinberg Ventures, a new venture capital arm that will invest in sports and entertainment technology including new tools to combat concussions.
Steinberg Ventures is raising a $50 million fund, according to Alpha Strategies founder and president Jay Rogers.
"We have been absolutely inundated with offers to invest," Steinberg said in an interview.
Steinberg, who was in San Francisco for the Super Bowl, has pushed the National Football League to address concussions since the 1980s when his quarterback clients such as Steve Young and Troy Aikman took repeated blows to the head.
He says it took decades for sports concussions to get attention. "What's happened is that there is now a profit motive in the prevention and treatment of concussions," he said.
Steinberg Ventures will also explore investments in other areas such as digital content. Steinberg said he's looking for the 21st century equivalent of Athletes Direct, a 1990s project that featured blog posts from famous players such as Michael Jordan. He sold his stake in Athletes Direct for $20 million.
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