Michael Jordan Banks On Golf Instruction With Investment In Game Improvement Software Player V1 Sports

During a U.S. Open press conference nine years ago, when Tiger Woods was asked why players are beginning to excel in golf at a much younger age then they used to, the holder of numerous PGA Tour records explained the skills leap was due to video capture enabled teaching technologies and dropped V1 Sports’ name. 

While the Big Cat gave lip-service to the Novi, Michigan based company whose software is integrated into over 3,500 golf clubs training programs, Michael Jordan’s Black Cat Ventures decided to pounce on it earlier this week announcing the closing of a funding round for an undisclosed amount.

“MJ said the reason why he loves us is because you can have elite instruction available for non-elite athletes anywhere on the planet. That was interesting to him and that is what we are doing” explains V1’s CEO Bryan Finnerty, who also helms the venture capital firm Opportunity Seed Capital which specializes in the sports and technology sectors.

“I can’t say enough about his passion for winning, but not at all costs. He is very, very thoughtful about the idea of teaching,” Finnerty adds.

Golfers desire to shave strokes off their scorecard and level up their skills in the lifeblood of V1 Golf, an app and game improvement platform marketed to golf pros as well as directly to consumers. The 25-year-old software outfit currently delivers upwards of 50,000 lessons per month. While V1 gets paid via a subscription fee rather than on a per lesson basis from the 15,000 pros dialed into their software, lesson volume is a testament to the current vitality of the golf instruction space.

“We are up well over 20% from last year,” says Bryan Finnerty who believes the demand spike the golf industry has experienced during the pandemic has staying power.

“Instructors have been asked, maybe for the first time in their careers, depending on how old they are, to do things a little differently. They’re engaging consumers differently, they’re seeing first-timers, guys and gals that may have only played in a couple corporate events or banged balls at Top Golf or Drive Shack. They’re seeing not just golf crazed people but a new group and I think that is going to continue. Our indication through this last year is that people who take their first lesson don’t disappear. They are taking multiple lessons, and whether that’s at PGA Tour Superstores where we are installed at all their locations or the most high-end golf clubs who are getting their family members and juniors involved,” Finnerty adds.

Finnerty, who played goalie for the Detroit Rockers of the National Professional Soccer League in the 1990s, first experience with the video analysis company came as an advisor and ambassador.  At the time, the company was exploring applying their video and telestration technology to sports. Last year, under Finnerty’s stewardship, they launched a baseball app that pairs video analysis with lesson delivery.   

Growth Drivers

“The number one reason people don’t take lessons, and only 15% of the golf playing population do in any given year, is because they are intimidated—not because it’s too expensive or too hard to find or too far away, or takes too much time. They’re intimidated,” Finnerty says, who sees great opportunity in courting this cohort.

In the past three years V1 has strived to capture ‘Do It Yourself’ golfers who are not seeing a pro but given the tools to do so seamlessly and on their own terms would be down for some game improvement guidance. Whether that’s simply viewing specific instructional video content or utilizing V1’s shot tracking platform to get a read on their game, they can choose their own instructional adventure.

“To democratize the ability to get instruction and not have to be in front of an instructor, I think that has been a game changer,” Finnerty explains. “Those 15,000 golf pros create content, they curate content, they feed our system and allow a DIYer to come in and say ‘let me start where I want and I’ll find my path,’” he adds.

The app’s marketplace, currently being expanded upon, is an area in which Finnerty and Black Cat Ventures see tremendous growth potential. Soon a golfer seeking left-handed putting tutelage from a Top 100 instructor for less than $500 a session will be able to search for pros that meet that criteria.

“We are about two and a half to three months away from fully unloading that filter system. Currently, if you saw a Mike Bender or Darren May on T.V., you can search for them, see if they’re available for lessons, send them a video, and do a transaction,” Finnerty says.

Another improvement coming down the pipe is turning marketplace into a much more robust AI integrated product using a predictive engine a la Spotify to serve golfers content based on areas they need to address.