*By Bridgette Webb*
The four major sports leagues in the U.S. have the ability to bring in serious cash. And that's created opportunity for Nick Fullerton, CEO of SportsETFs, a fund dedicated to the business.
"We are trying to capture the growth of the sports leagues, which has been growing faster than the overall economy," Fullerton said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar.
The ETF, which trades under the ticker FANZ, invests in companies that have deals with the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.
Fullerton said the proof is in these partners, which enter into "multi-year, multi-million dollar agreements" with the leagues.
"\[We\] found that these companies who choose to spend their marketing budgets with sports leagues tend to grow faster than their competitors," he said.
The fund includes some of the most dominant names in sports sponsorship, among them Coca-Cola, Gatorade-owner Pepsi, as well others that may surprise you, like Amazon. The e-commerce giant struck a deal with the [NFL](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/26/amazon-streaming-thursday-night-football-in-2018-2019.html) to stream Thursday Night Football games for the next two seasons.
Fullerton said the recent [Supreme Court](https://cheddar.com/videos/draftkings-ceo-were-going-all-in-on-legalized-sports-betting) decision opening the door for legal sports betting may also be a serious factor as casinos look to partner with top leagues ー in July, the NBA announced that it had tapped [MGM](http://www.nba.com/article/2018/07/31/mgm-resorts-international-becomes-official-gaming-partner-nba-official-release) to be its official gaming partner.
It's a union that Fullerton said will be a boon for many partners of major league sports.
"The casual fan is probably going to be more apt to stay engaged with their screen and device to see when they make a casual bet," he said. "We feel that more partnerships will come into play."
For full interview [click here](https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjI4MjI=).
Fintech companies are taking notice of the rapid growth in esports, and Quicken Loans has partnered with 100 Thieves, a League of Legends expansion team. Quicken CMO Casey Hurbis said this venture opened the company's eyes to the endless possibilities of esports and its personalities.
The Twitter Esports Business Summit ran from Oct. 1-3, and it held its focus on the growing market of esports and how Twitter fits into the business. Rishi Chadha, head of gaming content partnerships at Twitter, said the company is focusing on the communities that foster players and fans, as well as publishers and developers of different platforms.
The team became the first in the NBA to introduce GIFs for the Facebook platform. Sandro Gasparro, director of social media for the Los Angeles Clippers, told Cheddar it's not just another way to promote engagement, but can also connect fans to players on a more personal level.
Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, sat down with Cheddar at this weekend's tournament at the Barclays Center and talked about the esports world and what he believes is needed for the enterprise to grow.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Ron Darling, a former MLB starting pitcher and current TBS baseball analyst, said the easiest way to attract younger people to baseball is to get more kids playing it when they're kids. Darling said there are more children opting out of football due to concerns about head injuries, and those athletes should be primed to take up a different sport.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
18Birdies has seen success as a one-stop shop for golfers, both amateur and pro, gaining 1.3 million members since its launch. The app lets players book tee times, navigate a new course, and choose the right club. But CEO Eddy Lui says the main goal is to create a community ー a social network ー of golfers.
The blockchain has made its way into a slew of industries. Next at bat ー the sports world. The Los Angeles Dodgers are moving away from traditional promotions and have begun using crypto tokens to give away digital bobbleheads to fans. Ralph Esquibel, VP of information technology for the team, said this is the first giveaway of its kind and could lead to more experiments with cryptocurrencies.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
