MLB Players, Inc. joins LEAD as an Official Venture Partner

MLB Players, Inc. and LEAD ONE forge strategic alliance to drive sports tech development.

(Oct. 2, 2024) — MLB Players, Inc., today announced a venture partnership with LEAD ONE, the new direct investment vehicle within LEAD Sports and Health Tech Partners.

This strategic alliance is designed to accelerate innovation in sports and health technology by pairing LEAD’s industry expertise with MLB Players Inc.’s commitment to growing the game of baseball at both the youth and professional levels. MLB Players, Inc., will have unprecedented access through LEAD to the most cutting-edge startups and technologies, while providing access to a pipeline of athletes who are passionate about training, nutrition and recovery and will help drive LEAD ONE’s portfolio of businesses to the next level.

Technologies centered on an athlete’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) will be an overarching focus. The new partnership will put baseball players at the forefront of products that support athlete performance, health and wellness, brand building, and advance youth development technologies to bolster the game’s future.

“Baseball players, at all levels, are focused more and more on human performance and understanding how they train, what they eat, how they recover, and ensuring that they are ready to perform at the highest level,” said MLB Players, Inc. Managing Director Evan Kaplan. “By partnering with LEAD, we will provide emerging technology companies with guidance based on our extensive experience and access to engage elite athletes for input.’’

Justin Driscoll, Principal of Investments & Portfolio at LEAD, added, “The LEAD team is inspired by the MLB Players Inc.’s impressive track record of reimagining and advancing players' interests and priorities. We are thrilled to collaborate with MLB Players, Inc., sharing a forward-thinking outlook on what our industry looks like over the next decade.

Their forward-thinking mindset perfectly aligns with a startup's innovative outlook when envisioning the future over the next decade.”

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About MLB Players, Inc.

MLB Players, Inc. is the business arm of the Major League Baseball Players Association. The Major League Baseball Players Association (www.MLBPLAYERS.com) is the collective bargaining representative for all professional baseball players of the 30 Major League Baseball teams and serves as the exclusive group licensing agent for commercial and licensing activities involving active Major League Baseball players. On behalf of its members, it operates the Players Choice licensing program and the Players Choice Awards, which benefit the needy through the Major League Baseball Players Trust (www.PlayersTrust.org), a charitable foundation established and run entirely by Major League Baseball players. Follow: @MLBPA on Instagram and Twitter.

About LEAD

LEAD is a global venture corporation shaping the future of sports and health. As institutional investors with an entrepreneurial mindset, LEAD operates an investment division - sourcing, funding, and driving the growth of early-stage startups worldwide - and an innovation services division - advising organizations on their innovation and investment initiatives. Positioned within LEAD’s family of funds, LEAD ONE will invest in ten companies annually with $1M earmarked. For more information, visit www.lead.vc