IVP Steps Up to the Plate with The Players' Tribune

15/06/2017

By Eric Liaw, Somesh Dash, and Armaan Ali

Today, The Players' Tribune announced a $40M Series C financing, and IVP is thrilled to partner with Founder Derek Jeter and the entire TPT team as the lead investor in the round. TPT is a digital-first media company dedicated to empowering world class athletes to share their authentic stories with their fans. IVP is a leading later-stage venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, CA, and over the years we have been fortunate enough to partner with some truly exceptional, high growth companies, including Business Insider, Dropcam, The Honest Company, Netflix, Snap, Supercell, and Twitter. We believe TPT is well on its way to becoming a household name and a worldwide leader for a few reasons:

Explosive Off the Line

In only a little over two years since launch, The Players' Tribune has become home to some of the most impactful and rich sports media content out there today. If you've followed sports at all over the past few years, you've probably heard of some of TPT's pieces the platform has been the first to break some of sports' biggest stories, including Kobe Bryant's retirement announcement, Matt Harvey's pledge to pitch in the playoffs, and Kevin Durant's decision to join the Golden State Warriors. TPT was the primary source for each of these stories and had deeper access to the athletes than even the most well-established media outlets. The company's platform has allowed it to forge real trust within the athlete community, and, as a result, TPT is becoming closer to the heartbeat of the game than nearly anyone else.

A Five Tool Player

But TPT is more than just the primary source for some of the most important sports announcements of the past two years, it is also home to some of the most engaging and unique sports-related content available today. Whether it's Richard Sherman's unfiltered dissection of the NFL's relationships with its players, Von Miller sharing how much of a nerd he was growing up, Ibtihaj Muhammad's reflections on being a female Muslim-American athlete, Larry Sanders explaining why he walked away from the NBA, Megan Rapinoe breaking down the greatest play she ever made, John Urschel stumping people with math problems, or Cam Newton's poem to his newborn son, TPT's platform hosts powerful, exclusive multi-format content that tells real stories from the perspective of athletes, on and off the field. In a world where narratives are often intentionally distorted and dominated by talking heads whose sole purpose is to scream louder than yesterday, TPT offers thoughtful, high-quality, and authentic content straight from the source, content that we think today's sports media landscape desperately needs.

An All-Star Lineup

But TPT's content hasn't just resonated with fans - equally importantly, it's loved just as much by athletes. Founder Derek Jeter saw the need for a trusted platform that enabled athletes to tell their own stories and share what they really think and feel. With that in mind, it's no surprise to us that TPT's athlete community encompasses one of the deepest rosters anywhere. TPT's network of athletes is massive, diverse, and continuing to grow to include greats beyond baseball, football and basketball - everyone from soccer legend Gary Neville to tennis champ Caroline Wozniacki to League of Legends star faker has had content on the site. Along with management that has decades of experience across sports and media, it's a team that we are thrilled to back.

Strength in Numbers

TPT counts over 1,200 world class athletes in its community, who have come to view the company as a trusted platform for them to share stories of victory and defeat, on or off the field. Despite its relatively recent launch, TPT has already built a loyal, fanatical audience and reaches millions of users every day. The company's content has been viewed hundreds of millions of times, all across the globe. There aren't many media platforms that we've seen reach this level of scale in such a short period of time. And even more than just sheer reach and user growth, TPT's audience is highly engaged and becoming even more engaged as the company grows. It's a testament to the quality of the platform's content and another reason we are so excited to be on board.

And Still in the Early Innings

What The Players' Tribune has managed to build in a short period of time is incredibly impressive, yet it's just the beginning. We can't wait for everyone to see what the TPT team has in store in the years to come as they lay the foundation for a franchise.

Eric Liaw and Somesh Dash are General Partners at IVP, a later-stage venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, CA. Armaan Ali is an Associate at IVP.

LINK:	https://www.ivp.com/news/blog/ivp-steps-up-to-the-plate-with-the-playe...
	See more stories from ivp

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

Net Insight Names Larissa GrnerMeeus CPO

Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4. Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...

18/03/2026

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...

18/03/2026

SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog Goes Live as Countdown to Vegas Heats Up

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...

18/03/2026

The Premiere of Dead Lover Showcases Grave Robbing and Sex With a Giant Finger

(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...

18/03/2026

Music Row Piano from Wiltone Productions

Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...

18/03/2026

Techivation introduce T-Warmer Mk2

Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...

18/03/2026

Tonal Balance Control 3 from iZotope

Mix-reference plug-in overhauled iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...

18/03/2026

Toontrack Transistor Organ EKX

Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...

18/03/2026

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture 18 March, 2026 Media releases New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026