Article Courtesy: sportsbusinessjournal.com | Originally Published: 11/25/2024 | Please click here for original article.
Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert has agreed to purchase a team in the Sport Fishing Championship league. Originally founded in 2021, the SFC is transitioning from an amateur open to a 16-team league format. Mostert will own one of twelve teams that have been sold, while the league will continue to own the remaining four during the 2025 season. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The league is pursuing influential people with passion for fishing. To date, Pro Football HOFer Randy Moss, golfer Scottie Scheffler, Saints RB Alvin Kamara and Hornets F Grant Williams have also purchased teams.
“These are people that love the sport,” SFC President, CEO & Commissioner Mark Neifeld said. “They are excited to see the growth of our league and what we believe is untapped potential in pro fishing, and they just want to be a part of it.”
According to Neifeld, Mostert’s interest in owning a team came shortly after his participation in The Catch, the SFC’s celebrity fishing exhibition featuring NFL players. Mostert and Kamara were co-champions of the event.
“When I got a chance to meet Raheem, he told me that fishing was really the first sport he had picked up,” Neifeld recalled. “He had a rod and reel in his hand before his parents ever signed him up for football.”
The SFC announced in September its plans to make teams available for purchase, and Neifeld said that Mostert almost immediately reached out with interest. The two parties were able to get a deal done “in a couple of days.”
Neifeld added, “He just is very passionate about the sport. He obviously plays in Southeast Florida right now and has been around [fishing]. The culture in Southeast Florida is really the epicenter of the Saltwater Fishing community.”
Neifeld himself has an extensive NFL background, having spent three years in the Cowboys’ front office and co-founding the Monster Energy Stadium Blitz with former NFLer Rob Gronkowski. He is hopeful that background will continue to aid him as the league seeks more investors in the future.
