June 8, 2022
Willkie advised Shamrock Capital on the transaction.
On June 6, Willkie client Shamrock Capital Advisors announced the closing of its strategic growth investment in The Religion of Sports Media, Inc., an award-winning sports media production company founded by Gotham Chopra, Tom Brady and Michael Strahan. Shamrock Capital led the $50 million Series B fundraising round, with Elysian Park Ventures and Cerro Capital also participating.
With the funding, Religion of Sports plans to develop and invest in premium content and IP, establish a non-fiction studio arm and expand into new formats, categories, genres and markets globally. The expansion is expected to include ventures into non-sports territory, as well as production projects in the realms of entertainment, business and music.
Religion of Sports is a leading sports media production company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California.
Shamrock Capital is a Los Angeles-based investment firm with approximately $3.6 billion of assets under management. Shamrock Capital invests exclusively in media, entertainment, communications, and related sectors through a multi-fund strategy centered on private equity investments, as well as ownership and financing of content and media rights. The firm was originally founded in 1978 as the family investment company for the late Roy E. Disney and has since evolved into an institutionally backed firm with a leading group of investors, including endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth and pension funds.
The Willkie team was led by partners Ray LaSoya and Joe Kaczorowski and associate Ian Morganelli, with partner Sidney Fohrman and associate Hayley Silvertown advising on media production and content matters.
