Winners Alliance
A worldwide, athlete-focused commercial platform committed to uniting and empowering athletes for ultimate success.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | investor | €0.0 | round |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
* | $40.0m | Late VC | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Winners Alliance operates as a global, athlete-centric commercial services company, established in August 2022. The firm was launched by the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) as a for-profit affiliate to create and maximize off-the-court commercial opportunities for athletes. Its business model is centered on unifying athletes' collective commercial rights to generate value through group licensing and marketing. The company represents athletes' name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights to secure large-scale deals in verticals such as video games, trading cards, sponsorships, and apparel that individual athletes would typically not be able to access on their own.
The company was founded with Ahmad Nassar as the CEO of Winners Alliance and Executive Director of the PTPA. Nassar brings extensive experience from his previous roles as the founding CEO of OneTeam Partners, a similar group licensing firm, and as President of NFL Players Inc. His career has been dedicated to increasing the commercial value for professional athletes. The President of Winners Alliance is Eric Winston, a 12-year NFL veteran and former President of the NFL Players Association, where he handled collective bargaining with the league. His background includes serving as Chief Licensing Officer at OneTeam Partners, giving him a deep understanding of athlete advocacy and the business of sports.
Winners Alliance serves a diverse client base, primarily focused on athletes and their representative associations. Initial partners include the PTPA, the World Cricketers' Association (WCA), Grand Slam Track™ (GST), and the EuroLeague Players' Association (ELPA). The firm also works directly with brands and licensees to create custom marketing playbooks and product lines featuring a broad group of elite athletes. A significant milestone was raising $26 million in its initial funding round, co-led by Bill Ackman of the Pershing Square Foundation and Prysm Capital. The company later secured an additional $40 million from these existing investors to expand its operations beyond tennis into sports like cricket and track and field. A notable achievement includes a partnership with Michael Johnson to launch a new professional track league set to debut in 2025, aimed at elevating the sport's commercial profile.
Keywords: athlete commercial rights, group licensing, player associations, sports marketing, name image likeness, NIL, athlete representation, PTPA, sports business, athlete partnerships, collective bargaining, sports licensing, athlete advocacy, cricket, tennis, track and field, EuroLeague basketball, athlete brand management