Thrive Capital led VCs into pro sports ownership; Collaborative Fund just upped that play
- ID
- 23371
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 11 Sep 2026, 6:30 AM
- Fetched
- 11 Sep 2026, 6:51 AM
- Provider
- TechCrunch
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/10/thrive-capital-showed-vcs-the-way-into-pro-sports-ownership-collaborative-fund-is-now-trying-its-own-version-of-the-same-play/
- Source URL
- https://techcrunch.com/feed/
Summary
- Score
- 2.0
- Created
- 11 Sep 2026, 6:52 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- saas_founders
What happened
Collaborative Fund (~$1B AUM) is taking a stake in D.C. United and Audi Field, following Thrive Capital's play of turning venture money into pro sports ownership via its Thrive Eternal vehicle. Thrive previously bought the Lakers outright for a record $12.5B after taking a stake in the San Francisco Giants.
Why it matters
This is a VC sports-ownership trend story with no direct impact on software builders, AI tooling, infrastructure, or Malaysian tech opportunities. There is no actionable takeaway for developers or founders here.
Discussion angle
Brief mention only: whether VC firms locking capital into illiquid sports franchises for decades signals a shift away from funding early-stage tech startups — but this is speculative and not actionable.