Home/MLB

USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

Alex Rodriguez is one of the biggest names in baseball today. With a storied career of twenty-two seasons, A-Rod retired from MLB in 2016, but he didn’t give up sports entirely. He is currently part owner of Minnesota’s basketball teams – the NBA’s Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx. Not only that, but the former Yankee has a financial acumen not many can match.

Coming from a humble background, Rodriguez was always interested in business, and today, he’s achieved his dream. The former pro baseballer teamed up with Marc Lore for the NBA team’s ownership after a failed deal to buy the Mets. And that only fueled their desire to invest in various other ventures together. One recent deal the duo teamed up for was Jump, a new ticketing and fan experience enterprise. After raising significant capital for the same, some big names that were behind the funding came forward.

Forerunner Ventures officially welcomes Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore’s Jump

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The main idea behind Jump is to make ticket-buying an easy process for people. Additionally, Lore and Rodriguez want to make a dent in an industry currently ruled by high prices. The business partners have commented before about how a lot of sports teams are still “missing the mark when it came to their fan experience.” And Jump is their solution.

Any new venture requires funding before it’s able to stand on its own feet. For Jump, a lot of this money came from Forerunner Ventures, who officially welcomed A-Rod and Lore’s business to their portfolio with an Instagram post. “We’re thrilled to work with these rare founders united by a clear mission: to fuel the magic of the live event experience,” read their caption.

READ MORE – $350 Million Man Alex Rodriguez Once Shared How He Didn’t Let COVID-19 Affect Employment at His $1 Billion Worth A-Rod Corp

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

One of the main reasons behind their motivation was the Taylor Swift and Ticketmaster debacle.

Taylor Swift broke the internet because of Ticketmaster

Even if someone is not a Taylor Swift fan, they probably heard that late last year, the singer broke the internet. Why? Because Swift announced tickets for her Eras Tour were on sale and fans flocked to the ticketing website to secure their spot. However, due to sheer numbers, Ticketmaster broke down. For three days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

That fiasco isn’t the only trouble the website has faced. People have complained about the prices as well as its monopoly over the ticketing business. It was another reason Lore and Rodriguez were inspired to create Jump, and now they want to improve overall economics by catering to fans first and foremost.