20 Don’t-Miss Moments From Sportico’s Invest West

The bottom line for Sportico ‘s Invest West conference on Wednesday in San Francisco: Sports has never offered up so many business opportunities. Investors, team owners, venture capitalists and even San Francisco’s mayor engaged in lively conversations about topics such as women’s sports, building out the fan experience and some Bay Area boasts over its allure for sports. The more than 150 guests packed into the exclusive setting at the Presidio Golf Course & Clubhouse heard insights on topics across the sports economy.

Not an easy task to narrow our choices, but we are sharing 20 memorable observations from the stage. More from Sportico. com Sports Investing's Next Wave Tops 'Invest West' Agenda 'Invest West' New Speaker: Portland Thorns, Fire Owner Alex Bhathal IOC Anticipates Fight Over Rule Banning Trans Women in Olympics The Biggest Misnomer in All of Sports: During the opening keynote conversation, Golden State Warriors co-executive chairman and CEO Joe Lacob decried the idea that franchise owners shouldn’t be involved in their teams’ operations or decision-making.

He called it “the biggest misnomer in all of sports. ” Added Lacob: “That’s ridiculous. In any business, if you’re not involved as the owner, I don’t care what business you’re in, it’s probably not going to succeed … So I am 100% committed to it.

I do it full time. ” News on a NorCal Volleyball Investor : Venture capitalist Theresia Gouw, who is the lead investor of the new NorCal Volleyball club of Major League Volleyball, announced exclusively from the stage that former NBA player Zaza Pachulia is joining NorCal Volleyball as a founding investor. Everything’s Bigger in Texas, Including Girls Volleyball: “There are more young girls and women who play volleyball right now in the state of Texas than there are boys who play football,” noted Gouw.