Ballers Sports closed a $20 million Series A with Andre Agassi, Sloane Stephens, and Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey taking equity stakes and ambassadorship roles. The luxury athletic venue operator plans to open 12 locations by end of 2026, starting with Dallas and Atlanta markets in Q1 2025.
The round values Ballers at roughly $80 million post-money, according to two people briefed on the terms. Courtside Ventures led, with participation from Monarch Alternative Capital and an undisclosed family office with retail real estate holdings in Sun Belt metros. The athlete trio join as both limited partners and creative advisors, with Agassi expected to influence court design and Stephens consulting on programming for the women's membership tier the company is building.
The timing matters because the premium fitness category is bifurcating. Equinox commands $300+ monthly dues in 15 cities; F45 and Orangetheory chase volume at $150-$200. Ballers is betting on a third lane: $400/month for multi-sport access (basketball, pickleball, tennis, padel) in 40,000-square-foot facilities with recovery suites, film rooms, and chef-prepared nutrition bars. The model borbs elements from Lifetime Athletic and Life Time Work but layers in athlete-content programming—think Agassi doing quarterly clinics, Maxey hosting youth camps, Stephens leading corporate tennis events.
The athlete equity here is structural, not decorative. Agassi's venture arm, Agassi Ventures, negotiated a board observer seat. Maxey's deal includes revenue share on youth basketball programming and licensing for a co-branded footwear line launching in 2026 with an undisclosed sneaker partner. Stephens is contracted for 16 appearances annually across locations, with performance bonuses tied to membership conversion rates in markets where she appears. One investor described the arrangement as "Peloton's instructor model applied to brick-and-mortar."
Ballers will use the capital to lock long-term leases in six markets: Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Austin, and Phoenix. All are Sun Belt metros with household income growth above 4% annually and existing pickleball infrastructure the company can draft behind. The Dallas flagship opens in February in a former LA Fitness shell near Highland Park; buildout cost ran $8 million, roughly 30% below initial projections after the company negotiated TI allowances with the landlord, a REIT that sees Ballers as an amenity play for adjacent mixed-use.
The risk is execution at scale. Ballers has one pilot location in Orange County that's been operating for 11 months; average membership is 680 members paying $385/month, which pencils to $3.1 million annual revenue per club at maturity. But maturity took nine months in Orange County, and the company is now committing to open 12 clubs in 24 months without a proven playbook for staffing, local marketing, or retention in non-coastal markets.
Two comps are instructive. Vida Fitness tried a luxury multi-sport model in D.C. and sold to Harbor Group International after struggling to replicate its flagship economics in secondary locations. Chelsea Piers, by contrast, runs four profitable facilities in New York and Connecticut by owning (not leasing) real estate and anchoring around youth programming with 60% of revenue from camps, leagues, and clinics. Ballers is closer to Chelsea Piers in programming mix but structured like Vida on the real estate side—a tension the company will need to manage as lease obligations compound.
Maxey's involvement is the most leveraged piece of the roster. He's 24 years old, coming off a $35 million annual contract extension, and building a portfolio that includes a Panera franchise stake and a minority position in a Philly-based sports betting app. His social reach—1.2 million Instagram followers, mostly male, 18-34—maps directly onto Ballers' target demo. If the Dallas club works, expect Maxey to anchor the Philadelphia expansion in 2026, likely in the Navy Yard district where two mixed-use projects are already scouting fitness anchors.
Next milestones: Dallas soft opening in February, Atlanta lease signing by March, and a second funding round likely in late 2025 once the company has four operating clubs and can show unit economics across different markets. Agassi is already introducing Ballers' CEO to operators in Las Vegas, where a Strip-adjacent location would test the model's appeal to transient, high-net-worth traffic.
The takeaway
Ballers Sports is using athlete equity as both capital and content, betting **$20M** on a luxury multi-sport model in Sun Belt markets before proving replication.
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