Winners Alliance
Winners Alliance is a private group licensing intermediary founded in 2022 that aggregates collective athlete IP across tennis, cricket, basketball, track, and collegiate sports, licensing those bundled rights to brands, gaming companies, and media for licensing royalties and sponsorship fees.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersVienna, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Winners Alliance does
Winners Alliance is a private, for-profit commercial services company founded in August 2022 that operates as the central group licensing intermediary for fragmented athlete intellectual property (IP) across multiple sports. The company aggregates and manages the collective commercial rights—names, images, and likenesses—of more than 5,000 professional athletes through five athlete coalition partners: the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA, tennis), the World Cricketers' Association (WCA, cricket), Grand Slam Track, the EuroLeague Players Association (ELPA, basketball), and Pathway Sports & Entertainment (collegiate sports). Its core offering is group licensing—bundling athlete IP into single, scalable rights frameworks that brands, licensees, and rights holders can access through a single commercial counterparty rather than negotiating individually with thousands of athletes. The company reports reaching 1.5B+ fans through athlete-led initiatives and creating 20+ athlete-centric products.
The company's core "product" is a three-phase group licensing playbook—securing fragmented IP, developing repeatable commercial programs, and managing execution—which it monetizes via licensing royalties, partnership facilitation fees, and long-term commercial agreements. Notable deals include an exclusive 20-year annualized tennis trading card partnership with Fanatics/Topps (the first group licensing agreement in tennis history), a multi-year global hospitality partnership with Hilton covering 7,400+ properties for PTPA players, and licensing deals placing athlete IP into major mobile gaming franchises including Real Cricket, World Cricket Championship, Tennis Clash, and E-Cricket. The company also extends into fanwear (500 Level), collectibles (National Bobblehead Hall of Fame), travel (TUMI, Priority Pass), and Web3 gaming (SCOR on Sweet). Winners Alliance does not develop proprietary consumer technology products; its technology layer is rights management, deal execution workflows, and partnership coordination rather than a consumer-facing platform.
Winners Alliance operates a B2B, sales-led go-to-market model, with founder-led direct outreach to enterprise brands and licensees, supplemented by industry events and athlete coalition-driven introductions. Revenue is generated through licensing royalties on collective IP, with multi-year anchor deals (Topps, Hilton) providing recurring visibility. The company is incorporated in Delaware, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, with a Sydney office overseeing Asia-Pacific commercial activity. It has raised $26 million in disclosed equity (2022) and filed a Form D for up to $40 million in additional securities (2024). Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management chairs the board; the leadership team includes veterans of NFL Players Inc., MLB Players Inc., and OneTeam Partners.
Winners Alliance firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Winners Alliance
- Legal name
- Winners Alliance, Inc.
- Website
- https://winnersalliance.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Winners Alliance is a private group licensing intermediary founded in 2022 that aggregates collective athlete IP across tennis, cricket, basketball, track, and collegiate sports, licensing those bundled rights to brands, gaming companies, and media for licensing royalties and sponsorship fees.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Winners Alliance industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Sports Licensing Services
- NAICS
- Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114)
- SIC
- Patent Owners & Lessors (6794)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Athlete Licensing, Merchandising & IP Representation (MPAKAMAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Athlete Marketing, Endorsement & Sponsorship Representation (MPAKAMAC), Sponsorship Sales, Valuation & Analytics Services (Rights Sales, Measurement, Consulting) (MPAKALAK)
Keywords
Where Winners Alliance is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Vienna
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Winners Alliance business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Group Licensing Fees: Winners Alliance generates revenue by managing and licensing collective athlete intellectual property (names, images, likenesses) to brands, licensees, and commercial partners. They create group licensing deals that allow multiple athletes' rights to be bundled together for products like trading cards, video games, collectibles, and fan apparel. Revenue is generated through licensing fees paid by commercial partners for access to athlete IP.
- Sponsorship and Partnership Agreements: The company facilitates sponsorship deals between athlete coalitions and commercial brands. They create and manage partnerships where brands sponsor athlete groups or gain association rights with player associations. This includes hospitality partnerships (e.g., Hilton), travel partnerships (e.g., TUMI, Priority Pass), and category-specific sponsorships.
- Commercial Partnership Development: Winners Alliance creates partnership models that activate athlete IP at scale across various commercial categories including gaming, collectibles, apparel, digital assets, and brand collaborations. The company earns fees for structuring repeatable product frameworks, campaigns, and commercial assets that partners can activate year after year.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Winners Alliance product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Winners Alliance unifies fragmented athlete intellectual property (names, images, and likenesses) into a single rights framework, then sells group licensing access to brands, licensees, and commercial partners across gaming, trading cards, collectibles, apparel, and sponsorship categories. The company represents athlete coalitions across five sports (tennis/PTPA, cricket/WCA, basketball/ELPA, track/Grand Slam Track, collegiate/Pathway) and manages the full licensing lifecycle from deal structuring through product launch.
Product overview
Winners Alliance is a global athlete-centric commercial solutions company that serves as a central platform for group licensing and rights management. The core offering is its Group Licensing Programs which unify athlete IP into a single rights framework. This platform is complemented by Commercial Rights Aggregation, Sales & Optimization, and Deal Execution & Management services. The company represents athlete coalitions across five sports: PTPA (Tennis with 300+ players), WCA (Cricket with 500+ cricketers), Grand Slam Track, ELPA (EuroLeague Basketball), and Pathway (Collegiate Sports). Key product verticals include trading cards (Topps partnership), mobile gaming (Tennis Clash, Real Cricket, E-Cricket), Web3 gaming (SCOR on Sweet mini-games), fanwear and collectibles (500 Level, National Bobblehead Hall of Fame), and global sponsorship partnerships (Hilton, TUMI). The company generated millions in new incremental revenues for athletes through 20+ athlete-centric products created, reaching 1.5B+ fans worldwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Group Licensing Programs Core offering that unifies fragmented athlete IP into single rights frameworks, enabling brands and licensees to access and activate athlete rights at scale across gaming, collectibles, apparel, digital assets, and brand partnerships. Sold to enterprise brands and commercial licensees seeking collective athlete rights.
- Commercial Rights Aggregation Service unifying athlete IP into a single rights framework for scalable licensing, turning fragmentation into a single, scalable commercial asset. Provided to brands, licensees, and sports rights holders.
Quantifiable outcome
- 136% revenue increase for Nautilus Mobile/Real Cricket in first year of partnership
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Winners Alliance
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Winners Alliance technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Winners Alliance partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
19 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.
- Dream Cricket (Dream Sports)corePartnership gives Dream Cricket official rights to names, likenesses, and playing styles of 500+ international cricketers, significantly elevating the collective global gaming experience for fans.
- LightFury GamescorePartnership to bring 600+ officially licensed international cricketers into E-Cricket video game scheduled for global release in early 2026. Licensed roster spans major cricketing nations including Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, West Indies, and more.
- SCOR on SweetcoreWeb3 mini-app ecosystem partnership launching Flappy Racquet tennis game and Sixer Smash cricket game featuring top athletes. Players earn Gems convertible to $SCOR crypto token for real-world rewards and experiences.
- 500 LevelcorePartnership to launch first-ever large-scale licensed tennis player fanwear collections. Hundreds of officially licensed t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, tank tops, and youth/baby apparel featuring men's and women's athletes including Jasmine Paolini, Naomi Osaka, Paula Badosa, Nick Kyrgios.
- National Bobblehead Hall of FamecorePartnership to launch first-ever tennis player bobblehead collectibles at scale. Debut lineup features stars including Aryna Sabalenka, Tommy Paul, Jelena Ostapenko, and Zhizhen Zhang. First foray into professional tennis for the world's largest bobblehead collection.
- Wildlife StudioscoreLicensing partnership to bring professional tennis stars including Naomi Osaka into Tennis Clash mobile game (170M+ users worldwide). First time officially licensed players appear in Tennis Clash. At least three more licensed player characters introduced in 2025.
- Nautilus MobilecorePartnership to bring 250+ professional cricket players to Real Cricket mobile game. Players include Chris Gayle, Joe Root, Andre Russell, Ben Stokes, Kane Williamson, Kagiso Rabada. First large-scale officially licensed mobile cricket game. Partnership fueled 136% revenue surge and 122% download increase.
- Team PlaymakerminorSales, marketing and partnerships agency partnership to accelerate growth strategies and maximize athletes' collective power. Veteran executives Matt Grandis and Ross Meltzer oversee commercial development for premium rights holders.
- EuroLeague Players Association (ELPA)coreExclusive commercial partnership to optimize commercial rights of players in Europe's top basketball league. Winners Alliance formed to unlock commercial opportunities for EuroLeague basketball players.
- Nextwave Multimedia (Nazara Technologies)coreLicensing agreement to integrate names, likenesses, and playing styles of 500+ pro players into World Cricket Championship (WCC) mobile game franchise.
- Priority PassminorPTPA partnership via Winners Alliance to help alleviate travel burdens of professional tennis players through airport lounge access.
- World Cricketers' Association (WCA)flagshipWCA partnership created cricket's first global group licensing program, unifying rights of 500+ cricketers from FICA's 13 country affiliates. Winners Alliance manages select global group rights and creates sustainable licensing programs for video games, trading cards, and collectibles.
- Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA)coreHistoric exclusive long-term global commercial partnership with FICA. Winners Alliance represents and manages select global group rights for 500+ cricketers from FICA's 13 country affiliates. Provides direct funding to FICA to assist core advocacy work.
- Grand Slam TrackcoreGrand Slam Track is a professional track league founded by Olympic champion Michael Johnson. Winners Alliance serves as the commercial partner, representing group commercial rights for track athletes. Note: League has faced bankruptcy proceedings with creditors claiming Winners Alliance made funding commitments it failed to honor.
- HiltoncoreMulti-year global partnership with PTPA naming Hilton as Official Hotel & Lodging Partner. Supports players on tour with exceptional hotel stays across 7,400+ properties and exclusive experiences for Hilton Honors members. Players have spent hundreds of nights at Hilton properties.
- TUMIcoreGlobal partner of PTPA providing hundreds of professional tennis players with TUMI travel products. TUMI products help make player travels more seamless throughout the season. Brand present at PTPA player activations and tournaments.
- Fanatics/ToppsflagshipGroundbreaking exclusive annualized trading cards partnership for professional tennis players. First group licensing agreement in tennis history. Fanatics Collectibles committed to creating annual series of player trading cards for two decades. Winners Alliance grants rights to use names, images, and likenesses of players who opt into the group licensing agreement.
- Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA)flagshipPTPA is Winners Alliance's first and flagship athlete coalition partner. Winners Alliance serves as the for-profit commercial affiliate of PTPA, generating and maximizing off-the-court commercial opportunities for professional tennis players through group licensing programs including trading cards, video games, and brand partnerships.
- Pathway Sports & EntertainmentcorePartnership to represent group commercial rights for collegiate sports athletes through Pathway Sports & Entertainment.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Winners Alliance competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Panini: Global sports collectibles and trading card company with established licensing relationships across basketball, football, soccer, and other sports. Competes with Topps/Fanatics for the trading card rights Winners Alliance is bundling.
- Endeavor (IMG): Global sports and entertainment company with deep athlete representation, licensing, and event rights businesses through IMG. Competes for premium athlete IP commercial opportunities and brand partnership dollars at the highest end of the market.
- Octagon: Global sports marketing agency operating athlete representation, sponsorship consulting, and rights sales. Adjacent competitor for brand sponsorship budgets Winners Alliance is pitching.
- Wasserman: Global sports marketing, athlete representation, and licensing agency operating across endorsements, branding, and content. Overlaps with Winners Alliance in monetizing athlete IP at scale for brands.
- CAA Sports: Sports marketing and athlete representation arm of Creative Artists Agency with deep relationships across athlete endorsement, licensing, and brand partnerships. Broader portfolio than Winners Alliance but competes for the same commercial partner dollars.
Direct peers
- MLB Players, Inc. Licensing and commercial arm of the Major League Baseball Players Association, monetizing group player rights across trading cards, memorabilia, and licensing. Rob Sanzillo, Winners Alliance's CGO, previously helped more than double revenue here.
- Excel Sports Management: Tennis-focused athlete management and marketing agency representing top players including Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki. Competes with Winners Alliance for the same tennis athlete endorsement and licensing relationships.
- National Basketball Players Association (NBPA): The NBPA negotiates group licensing rights for NBA players and historically has licensed them through marketing partners; structurally analogous to the PTPA relationship Winners Alliance has in tennis.
- NFL Players Inc. Licensing and marketing arm of the NFL Players Association; one of the largest for-profit licensors in sports and the model Winners Alliance is attempting to replicate for sports without an existing group licensing infrastructure.
- OneTeam Partners: Athlete group licensing joint venture representing NFLPA, MLBPA, and other player associations in collective rights deals. Most direct competitor and was founded by Winners Alliance's own CEO Ahmad Nassar, making the two the closest functional and executional peers in the athlete IP licensing space.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Winners Alliance social profiles
Digital presenceWinners Alliance financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Winners Alliance leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Winners Alliance funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Winners Alliance M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments1 record
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Winners Alliance
What does Winners Alliance do?
Winners Alliance unifies fragmented athlete intellectual property (names, images, and likenesses) into a single rights framework, then sells group licensing access to brands, licensees, and commercial partners across gaming, trading cards, collectibles, apparel, and sponsorship categories. The company represents athlete coalitions across five sports (tennis/PTPA, cricket/WCA, basketball/ELPA, track/Grand Slam Track, collegiate/Pathway) and manages the full licensing lifecycle from deal structuring through product launch.
Is Winners Alliance a public or private company?
Winners Alliance is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Winners Alliance founded?
Winners Alliance was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Winners Alliance based?
Winners Alliance is headquartered in Vienna, United States, in the North America region.
How does Winners Alliance make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Group Licensing Fees are the primary driver. The others are sponsorship and Partnership Agreements and commercial Partnership Development.
Who are Winners Alliance's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Panini, Endeavor (IMG), Octagon, Wasserman and CAA Sports. Direct peers are MLB Players, Inc., Excel Sports Management, National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), NFL Players Inc. and OneTeam Partners.
Does Winners Alliance have an API?
No public API is recorded for Winners Alliance.
What industry is Winners Alliance in?
Winners Alliance's product category is Sports Licensing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAKAMAH, Athlete Licensing, Merchandising & IP Representation, with a secondary code of MPAKAMAC, Athlete Marketing, Endorsement & Sponsorship Representation. Its NAICS code is 7114 and its SIC code is 6794.