069 Building Ballers Into a $30M Sports Hospitality Brand with David Gutstadt

David Gutstadt, CEO of Ballers Social Sports and founder of Fitler Club, joins the podcast to break down how he’s building a new category at the intersection of sports, hospitality, and community.With over 20 years of experience across hospitality, real estate, and finance, David started his career at Goldman Sachsand went on to lead hospitality advisory at Morgan Stanley before helping launch Equinox Hotels as a founding executive. That background shows up in how he approaches building and scaling premium, experience-driven businesses.We get into the origin of Fitler Club and Ballers, what gaps he saw in the market, and how he’s thinking about creating spaces that bring people together around sports and shared experiences.David also shares how Ballers raised over $30M from a mix of VCs, family offices, and athlete investors, what made the concept stand out, and how they balance unit economics with delivering a high-end brand.The conversation closes with practical insight on fundraising, including how to access family offices, navigate private equity, and the level of persistence it actually takes to get a deal done.If you’re building in sports, hospitality, or any experience-driven business, this is a great look at how to turn a concept into a scalable brand.