Raptors Global Ambassador Drake applauds the team as the Toronto Raptors beat the Philadelphia 76ers 101-96 at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
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Sports media company Overtime has secured an $ 80 million round of fundraising with investors including Jeff Bezos investment company, global entertainer Drake, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and various players from the National Basketball Association.
“The breadth and diversity of this investment group, including leaders from business, entertainment, technology and sports, speaks to Overtime’s remarkable growth and our future trajectory,” Dan Porter, CEO and co-founder of Overtime, said in a statement. “We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg as we develop new ways to engage and entertain Overtime with the next generation of athletes and fans.”
Overtime is a media company that distributes original sports content on social media, including Snapchat, YouTube and Facebook. The company also sells clothing with its logos and corporate identities. The increase comes more than a month after Overtime announced a paid basketball league for young players.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO
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Bezos Expeditions, the personal investment firm of Amazon’s CEO, is one of the companies tied to this funding round. Global investment firm Blackstone, Morgan Stanley and many NBA stars including Devin Booker, Trae Young and Klay Thompson participated in the investment round. WNBA star Chiney Ogwumike is also an investor.
To date, Brooklyn-based Overtime says it has raised more than $ 140 million. In March, the company made headlines when it announced Overtime Elite, a basketball league for 16- to 18-year-olds that can earn them at least $ 100,000 a year.
As of now, participating players are not eligible to play at the collegiate level. But if OTE players are not pursuing a professional career, OTE will provide an additional $ 100,000 for tuition. Investors in OTE include Carmelo Anthony, the forward-thinking Portland Trail Blazers, Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
In this handout image from SportsPro, Dan Porter, Overtime speaks at the SportsPro OTT Summit USA 2020 at Turner Studios on Feb. 19, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia.
John Nowak | SportsPro | Getty Images
Overtime said it will use a portion of the $ 80 million to pay for player and staff salaries, support league start-up costs, invest in the NFT industry and improve the app.
The company told CNBC that the content is streamed more than 1.7 billion times a month across all social platforms. Since its launch in 2016, Overtime said it has nearly 50 million social media followers.
“Overtime has built an unparalleled brand and a global community in just five years. This fundraiser reflects the incredible growth opportunities that come with such a market-leading position, including the opportunity to bring Overtime Elite to the world,” said Michael Spirito, a partner . with investment company Sapphire Sport Partner, which led the financing round.