"Mother Nature is the Main Character" · Natural Selection Tour CEO Carter Westfall on Brand Building

Why We Started Media Companies for the Sports Business Crowd · Sid Balaga & Suraj Peramanu | The 4th Quarter X Under The Number

Brent Peus joins Sid Balaga and Suraj Peramanu of The 4th Quarter at their studio in the Courtside VC office for a crossover conversation on building new media properties for the sports business crowd. The 4th Quarter (newsletter + newscast, backed by Courtside) and Under The Number (media property of Skybox) represent two complementary bets on what's next for sports business media. Recorded in New York City. The thesis: there are roughly 100 people in their 20s who are going to run the sports business industry, and they all know each other. This is a conversation between three of them about the opportunity for a new generation of operators. What's covered: → Why TBPN became the template for niche business media and what its acquisition signals → The "100 people" theory of who actually runs sports business → Why legacy sports media companies can't ship new products at startup speed → Substack vs. Beehiiv vs. building your own platform → Research grade vs. entertainment-driven content and how to balance both → The case for building in public and shipping imperfect product → Turpentine, Erik Torenberg, and the playbook for stacking niche shows into a network → Why the next wave of sports careers will come from builders and emerging leagues, not the traditional path → Shoutouts to Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Molly O'Shea, Market Bubble, and the broader new media ecosystem. Guests featured on Under The Number include the McCourty twins, Cooper Manning, Seth Wickersham (ESPN), Kyle Rudolph (NFL / Alltroo), CiCi Bellis (Pro tennis, Cartan Capital), Marques Colston (Champion), Jason Illian (Dude Perfect / Highmount Capital), Terrence Murphy (Synergy Sports Capital w/ Reggie Bush), Pete Wilson (Grass League), Ryan Girardot (Cerebro Sports), and Dylan Robbins (Lucra). Subscribe to Under The Number: → Substack: https://undertheumber.substack.com → Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/33jZvtNEiXYo6tMgDwhHJx?si=1W4SlhodQCiywBqIf3ZIJw → Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/under-the-number/id1730764733?i=1000769663455 Subscribe to The 4th Quarter:→ https://www.thefourthquarter.co/ #SportsBusiness #NewMedia #SportsMedia #CreatorEconomy

"Mother Nature is the Main Character" · Natural Selection Tour CEO Carter Westfall on Brand Building

Get off the sidelines—subscribe to Under the Number on Substack: https://underthenumber.substack.com/ Carter Westfall is the Co-Founder and CEO of Natural Selection Tour (NST), the outdoor action sports platform he's building alongside snowboarding icon Travis Rice. Joined by guest co-host Matthew Jester (CNC Partners), Brent Peus unpacks how NST is counter-positioning against the X Games (now owned by MSP Sports Capital under CEO Jeremy Bloom), Shaun White's Snow League, and the World Surf League (Dirk Ziff) by building a brand-first platform rather than a league. Carter walks through his winding career from Wall Street to the Sacramento Kings, the NBA league office under David Stern and Adam Silver, the Beijing and London Olympics, and the PAC-12's China expansion with Joe Tsai, before partnering with Travis Rice to fill the void in elite, mountain-based snowboarding competition. → Why Mother Nature is the main character of the NST brand → The Teton Ridge / TWG Global comp and why NST is a platform, not a league → How Red Bull, Yeti (Matt Reintjes, Bill Neff), and GMC came on as anchor partners → The three-bucket business model: content, experiential, and commerce → Inside the events: Revelstoke, Jackson Hole, Queenstown, Micronesia, and a South Africa surf event on deck → The destination hospitality fund ($30-50M) targeting heli operations and boutique adventure lodges → Powder Mountain (Reed Hastings), Patience Capital Group in Myoko Japan, and Bald Face as the comp → The "Natty Selects" derivative brand and a surf-meets-Survivor episodic concept with Skydance/Paramount → $15M raised across convertibles and a Series Seed, Series A closing mid-June → Matthew Jester on cultural capital, Rick Hess's CAA-to-TPG track record, and why NST fits the thesisWatch on Spotify → Listen on Apple Podcasts → Check out Skybox → https://www.skyboxmedia.com#surf #ski #bike #actionsports #UnderTheNumber #SportsBusiness Watch on YouTube → https://youtu.be/BHthoUe-BvU Watch on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/episode/4mtedvVZPoLeQJwT5WQMra?si=E_ersxSnQv6lQHHEQOXotg Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mother-nature-is-the-main-character-natural-selection/id1730764733?i=1000768576107 Check out Skybox → https://www.skyboxmedia.com #surf #ski #bike #actionsports #UnderTheNumber #SportsBusiness

The McCourty Twins' Playbook for Life After the NFL · Devin & Jason McCourty

Devin McCourty is an analyst for NBC's Football Night in America and Westwood One. A 2009 first-round pick from Rutgers, he spent his entire 13-year career with the New England Patriots before retiring in March 2023 — winning three Super Bowls, starting 205 games, recording 35 interceptions, and serving as team captain for 12 of those 13 years. A four-time Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee, he co-founded the "Tackle Sickle Cell" campaign with his twin brother Jason, raising over $2.5 million. Jason McCourty also played 13 NFL seasons, retiring in May 2022 after winning a Super Bowl alongside Devin in 2018 — making them the first twins to win a championship together. Drafted out of Rutgers in 2009, he now serves as a game analyst for CBS Sports and Westwood One, and is a regular on NFL Network's Good Morning Football. He sits on the Boston Medical Center Philanthropic Trust and co-founded "Tackle Sickle Cell" with Devin.Recorded at the Pro Athlete Community (PAC) Accelerate Conference, this conversation goes deep on the operator playbook: how the McCourtys screen deals, build personal brands, advise young players, and navigate the identity shift that comes when the game ends. On this episode of Under the Number, we cover: → The "black trash bag" moment and how Jason and Devin each processed retirement differently → How the McCourty's screen inbound deals and use their network of funds, family offices, and advisors as multiple sets of eyes → Why young athletes underestimate how much founders and operators want to talk to them → The personal brand playbook: be yourself, own your voice, build everywhere → Legacy 25: connecting venture capital to college programs in the NIL era → The earners-to-owners shift inside NFL locker rooms — and how NIL changed the conversation → The operators they look up to: Curtis Martin, Larry Fitzgerald, Marshawn Lynch, Pat McAfee, Cortland Finnegan→ What they're each looking forward to between now and the start of the season Get off the sidelines—subscribe to Under the Number on Substack: https://underthenumber.substack.com/ Watch on YouTube → https://youtu.be/4WjVTRPdxF0 Watch on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/episode/1n2EC9V6Qtv3AjJ3kGvgeA?si=4t-K932zQ9u3c5OmSKFNgwListen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mccourty-twins-playbook-for-life-after-the-nfl/id1730764733?i=1000767419347Check out Skybox → https://www.skyboxmedia.com/

$20 Million to Power Play · Dylan Robbins, Founder & CEO of Lucra

Dylan Robbins is the Founder & CEO of Lucra, the software company powering interactive competition for brands like Dave & Buster's, Five Iron Golf, and Chess Kings. In April 2026, Lucra announced a $20M Series B led by ARK Invest — the firm's first-ever lead investment in a startup. On this episode of Under the Number, we cover: → Why ARK Invest led its first-ever startup round (and why it wasn't AI) → How Lucra is rebuilding corporate loyalty as friendly competition → The pitch process: getting grilled by Cathie Wood and Nick Grous → Overcoming ARK's Skillz reticence and the B2B pivot that unlocked conviction → Building the engagement layer for offline competition at scale → Customer playbook: Dave & Buster's, Five Iron Golf, Chess Kings → What this investment unlocks for Lucra's next chapter Get off the sidelines—subscribe to Under the Number on Substack: https://underthenumber.substack.com/Listen on YouTube → https://youtu.be/84dPJgIoqFE Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/episode/5qcAisOxsUKSNIanbNesV6?si=1dTTAPzRRua02GrQQnhrIg Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/%2420-million-to-power-play-dylan-robbins-founder-ceo-of-lucra/id1730764733?i=1000766213712 Check out Skybox → https://www.skyboxmedia.com/ #Lucra #ARKInvest #UnderTheNumber #SportsBusiness #SportsTech

Therabody Founder Dr. Jason Wersland: The Crash That Built a Wellness Category

Dr. Jason Wersland is the founder of Therabody and inventor of the Theragun, the product that created the percussive therapy category. After losing his business to embezzlement, going through a divorce, and surviving a serious motorcycle accident, he built one of the most ubiquitous brands in wellness, used by pro athletes, training staffs, and households worldwide.On this episode of Under the Number, we cover:- Inventing a new category from a personal pain point- The Gatorade/Under Armour playbook for getting Theragun into athletes' hands- The Kyrie Irving NBA Finals moment that changed everything- Justin Timberlake, 2 Chainz, Jay-Z, and Daniel Craig as early investors- How COVID accelerated the wellness boom- The platformization of Therabody and where Coach + IRL activations fit nextRecorded on podcast row at PAC Accelerate in Phoenix. 🏟️ Get off the sidelines ➡️ https://underthenumber.substack.com/🎥 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TZDJC8jN_bc?si=XFiu5edOgelf9sJf 🎥 Watch on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3mF0gdHLVtLRvkxTIeWATh?si=qf9EqhyPS4-yF30wv6P-Bw🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-crash-that-built-a-category-dr-jason/id1730764733?i=1000764104310Dr. Jason Wersland is the Founder and Chief Wellness Officer of Therabody, formerly known as Theragun, a leading global tech wellness company rooted in science and technology, based in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Jason’s Theragun story began in 2007 when he experienced a debilitating injury in a motorcycle accident. Necessity became the mother of invention, and he created something to help him deal with his pain. And that’s how Theragun was born. Dr. Jason dedicated eight years to developing five different prototypes, devoted to finding a solution that increases range of motion and decreases pain. In 2016, Theragun introduced the G1, its first product. In 2017, Theragun introduced the G2PRO and became the industry leader in percussive therapy. Dr. Jason’s quest for constant innovation drove to the release of the G3PRO in January 2019, and most recently its 4th generation percussive massage therapy devices, the Theragun PRO, Elite, Prime, and mini launched in May 2020.Theragun is now trusted by more than 250 professional sports teams worldwide, physical therapists, trainers, chiropractors, celebrities, athletes, and everyday people in over 60 countries. Most recently, Theragun rebranded to Therabody continuing its mission to provide natural wellness product solutions and in July 2020 launched its own U.S. grown CBD line, TheraOne — becoming the first brand to ever garner the USDA Certified Organic seal across its entire product line. As a chiropractor, Dr. Jason’s life’s work has always been about helping people feel their best, so they can live the life they were meant to live. Dr. Jason is passionate about wellness and is dedicated to constantly evolving science, research, and education around the subject and a huge part of that is learning from other’s experiences.Via Brand Innovators