Religion of Sports Raises $50M in Series B Funding Round Led by Shamrock Capital
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Religion of Sports, the media production company founded by Gotham Chopra, Michael Strahan and Tom Brady, has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Shamrock Capital and joined by Elysian Park Ventures and Cerro Capital.
Chopra tells The Hollywood Reporter that the raise will be used to help “grow the company from the production company model, which is what we have operated in for a long time, to really controlling our own destiny. To really bet on ourselves, bet on talent we believe in, bet on stories we believe in.”
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“It is investing in content, building IP, expanding into other formats and areas,” he adds.
Religion of Sports has leaned on its founders relationships with athletes to emphasize sports and sports-adjacent content, but the company says that with its new funding it will be entering new genres and formats, including non-sports content and music.
“Obviously we have been very sports-centric, a certain type of premium content, and all of that will stay, but is also expanding a little bit outside of that, including some projects that are non-sports right now,” Chopra says.
“Greatness isn’t just found in the world of sports, they have the great talent they have been covering, but it is found in other verticals as well,” Shamrock Capital partner Andy Howard adds.
The proliferation of streaming services (and with sports streaming still nascent relative to entertainment) suggests that there will be continued demand for premium content, with RoS hoping to fill that need.
RoS forged a name for itself with documentary fare like Kobe Bryant’s Muse and Man in the Arena, which profiles Tom Brady. It has also recently expanded into scripted film and TV, and inked a content deal covering scripted and podcasts with Skydance Sports. Netflix, Apple TV+ and ESPN are among the media companies for which RoS has produced content.
“Strong demand for premium non-fiction content by consumers and streaming platforms alike is a major driver, and Religion of Sports is really at the forefront of such,” Howard says. “Obviously we have been following them and their track record for a long time, but at the heart of Religion of Sports, what makes them really stand out are three tenets that they bring to their storytelling, and that is trust, collaboration and their unique relationships that enable them to make these endearing stories, distributed across numerous platforms.”
RoS’ original funders include Elysian and Advancit Capital, which is led by Shari Redstone. Shamrock, meanwhile, specializes in entertainment and media assets, with investments in companies like the ad tech firm EDO, AdWeek and FanDuel. It was founded as the family office of Roy E. Disney in 1978 but has since evolved into an institutionally backed investment firm.
