San Francisco 49ers, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and CAA Launch Elevate Sports Ventures, a World-Class Premium Services Company

The San Francisco 49ers, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) today announced the launch of Elevate Sports Ventures, a best-in-class premium services company, providing innovative solutions to organizations across the global sports and entertainment landscape. Elevate Sports Ventures will source the extensive expertise and networks of its partners to create and execute comprehensive strategies to drive organizational performance. The company will offer a robust suite of services in areas including Stadium Licenses, Premium Ticketing, and Corporate Hospitality.  Sports industry veteran and President of the San Francisco 49ers Al Guido will serve as CEO and Managing Partner of Elevate Sports Ventures. With more than two decades of innovative leadership, HBSE CEO Scott O’Neil joins CAA Sports’ Co-Heads Howard Nuchow and Michael Levine, and CAA Sports’ Global Head of Sales Paul Danforth, as Co-Managing Partners. The company will have offices in Silicon Valley, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York, and London. Go to ElevateSportsVentures.com for more information and a complete list of client offerings. “I am thrilled to partner with the leadership teams at CAA and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment to bring Elevate Sports Ventures and comprehensive business solutions to the sports and entertainment world,” said Guido. “Our collective services and global experience working with teams, leagues, brands, colleges, venues, and owners will provide decision-makers with a full-service partner to identify new revenue opportunities and bring innovative ideas to market.”  In merely five years, HBSE Managing Partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer have amassed one of the most diverse and global sports and entertainment portfolios in the world. With a family of properties that encompasses seven professional teams, including the iconic Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, and Prudential Center, an internationally renowned arena ranked No. 7 in the world, HBSE has differentiated itself as one of the fastest growing and most ambitious organizations in the industry. HBSE’s bold, content-rich initiatives have earned its leadership acclaim as thought-leaders and risk takers. In addition to becoming the first professional sports franchise to acquire an esports franchise, Team Dignitas, HBSE has also launched the Sixers Innovation Lab Crafted by Kimball and opened the first east coast GRAMMY Museum Experience™ at Prudential Center. Through its body of global properties transcending multiple sports, HBSE is devoted to utilizing the special platform of sports and entertainment to inspire youth to become the next generation of leaders and innovators in the communities where its fans live, work, play and win. “We’ve reached a pivotal moment in the rapidly changing sports and entertainment landscape. The risk, competition and opportunity have never been greater,” said Scott O’Neil, HBSE CEO and Elevate Sports Ventures Co-Managing Partner. “Elevate Sports Ventures assembles the industry’s leaders in business innovation, revenue generation and venue development; offering brands, teams, leagues and entertainment properties the opportunity to access world-leading expertise and a vast professional network. In our partners, CAA and the San Francisco 49ers, we share the drive to innovate, desire to use our expertise to strengthen the sports and entertainment ecosystem, and aspiration to use our extraordinary platform to work with partners who have the same DNA.” After leading record-setting sponsorship and premium seating sales campaigns that enabled the construction of Levi’s® Stadium in 2014, the 49ers have developed into one of the most innovative and diverse business operations in all of sports. Leveraging its relationships throughout Silicon Valley to apply advanced technology to enhance the fan experience in pioneering ways, the 49ers also incubated VenueNext, a smart-venue technology platform, into a successful company that now counts many of the most prominent sports and entertainment venues in the country as clients. In managing Levi’s Stadium, the 49ers have successfully bid for and hosted preeminent sporting events and concert tours throughout the venue’s four years of operations, including the U2 Joshua Tree Tour, Super Bowl 50, and international soccer matches featuring Manchester United, Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona. During its lifetime, Levi’s Stadium has hosted more major events than any other venue in North America while also maintaining a multi-faceted private events business that activates the stadium on a daily basis year-round. The 49ers have also developed industry-leading practices in business strategy and analytics, stadium sustainability, and youth education, creating countless opportunities to apply its entrepreneurial ingenuity to making a positive social impact on the larger community. CAA represents the most creative and successful artists working in film, television, music, theatre, video games, and digital content, and provides a range of strategic marketing services to corporate clients.  CAA is also a dominant force across all areas of the sports marketplace, with global operations encompassing 17 divisions, including brand consulting, media rights, and sports properties for sales/sponsorships, for which the agency won “Best in Property Consulting, Sales, and Client Service,” presented by the Sports Business Journal.  Financial terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.  ABOUT ELEVATE SPORTS VENTURESElevate Sports Ventures is a best-in-class premium services company, providing innovative solutions to organizations across the global sports and entertainment landscape. Elevate Sports Ventures taps into the extensive resources, relationships, and expertise of its partners to innovate and execute comprehensive strategies and solutions in such areas including Stadium Licenses, Premium Ticketing, and Corporate Hospitality. Elevate Sports Ventures was formed in partnership by the San Francisco 49ers, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 2018. CONTACTS:Bob Lange, San Francisco 49ers, 408.986.4987, bob@49ers.comRoger Hacker, San Francisco 49ers, 408.986.4890, roger.hacker@49ers.comDave Sholler, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, 609.992.1315, davesholler@sixers.comLara Toscani Weems, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, 610.675.8153, laratoscani@sixers.comBeth McClinton, CAA, 424.288.2000, beth.mcclinton@caa.com