News, features & insights from the world of SportsTech. Every Week.
Was lucky enough to attend two high quality events in Italy earlier this week. The first in Turin as part of ImpacTO 2023, held alongside the ATP Finals. Unfortunately there was no time for tennis as I had to get to Rome for the WeSportUp Demo Day 2023. And I’m glad I did because the startups really put on some high quality pitches.
Shout outs to Marta Serrano and Federico Smanio for the invitations. If you want to know more about what is happening in Italy around Sports and Innovation, then these are the people to connect with.
Speaking of people with influence, that’s the topic for this week’s lead article. Influence turning into investment is trend that I’d be quite happy to see continue. Details below.
Lots of investment news this week, rounded off with our podcast with Texas based $500m sports fund TXV Partners.
Happy Reading 🙌
Feature Article
Celebrities, Influencers & Athletes: Everyone’s investing in Sports
We’ve seen lots of stories about Athletes growing their profile as Investors in Sports & SportsTech. But of late they are increasingly overshadowed by the people that they are investing alongside.
When it comes down to it, entertainment is a big part of sports. And who’d know more about it than Hollywood and YouTube’s finest. These successful content creators aren’t just dipping their toe in the water, they’re making quite a splash in the entire sporting world.
In this article we look at celebrities, influencers and athletes that have made waves investing in sports in 2023.
Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney & Michael B. Jordan @ Alpine F1
Stormzy and Wilfried Zaha @ AFC Croydon Athletic
JJ Watt & Dude Perfect @ Burnley FC
Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Russell Westbrook and others @ Leeds United
Michael B. Jordan again, this time @ AFC Bournemouth (Okay this was Dec 2022 but we’ll sneak it in)
The long list of investors in TMRW Sports
Then there’s the new breed of sports marketer: the Influencer.
Whether it’s KSI and the Paul brothers lacing up boxing gloves for 1 million+ PPV sales. Or the Sidemen Charity Game selling out West Ham’s 62,000 seater London Stadium in 15 minutes. Or more recently Kim Kardashian partnering with the NBA for her shapewear brand. And we can’t forget the world’s biggest YouTuber Mr. Beast promoting his Feastables chocolates on the Charlotte Hornets jersey.
Arguably the best example of this is Logan Paul & KSI’s PRIME Hydration. Launched in Jan 2022, in less than 2 years they boast an elite list of partners: the UFC, Arsenal FC, FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Munich, LA Dodgers, athletes Erling Haaland & Alisha Lehmann and even a Super Bowl LVII commercial. Talk about Prime.
It seems like the world and their aunt is waking up to the commercial power that sports wields and the potential that is yet to be unlocked.
At the same time, sports business understands the power of influence that celebrities, wherever they come from, bring to the table.
This symbiotic partnership helps connect sports to brand new audiences. For those who still have doubts, just ask a ‘Swiftie’ about their favourite NFL team.
Global SportsTech VC Report 2023: Coming Soon
We’re about a month away from publishing the 5th edition of our SportsTech VC Report, summarising what’s been a really interesting year so far for SportsTech.
Dealflow is at a low, not a lot money going around. Yet interest has never been higher with new funds are being almost announced every week. Curious times. We’ll get into it.
Word to startups, investors and other interested stakeholders: partnership options available. Reach out if you want to be involved.
Top News from the World of SportsTech
⚽ Last weekend the Premier League ran a trial of player bodycams for Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers. An AI powered bodycam from Mindfly was attached players from both sides during the warm-up in a bid to take fans closer to the action than ever before.
🏦 Creative Artists Agency, home to some of the most famous agents, is set to launch a new investment bank and advisory firm targeting the global sports, media, and entertainment. Working together with M. Klein & Company, it will be called CAA Evolution.
📈 The Global SportsTech market is set to reach $79 Billion by 2032, at a CAGR of 18.5% according to a report published by Emergen Research
⛷️ France has submitted a bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games. The bid submitted by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions, will use 95% existing infrastructure and vows to host ‘the first sustainable Olympics.
Money Talks:
💰 The Deutsche Fußball Liga or DFL is considering selling a €1 billion stake in its media rights business to Private Equity investors, with a vote likely to be held in December. Mind, this was attempted last year and rejected.
💰 TKO Group Holdings, the Endeavor-controlled business that owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), recorded revenues of US$449.1 million during Q3 of 2023.
💰 Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus has announced that he has raised $2.5bn through his investment company XXI Century Capital and is ready to launch a bid to buy Inter Milan.
💰 Irish-based gambling giant Flutter Entertainment plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the first quarter of 2024.
💰 FaZe Clan, the L.A.-based esports and gaming content outfit is evaluating two acquisition offers, from Gamesquare and Enthusiast Gaming.
🤝 Sports Media group Better Collective is set to acquire Canada’s Playmaker Capital for $188 million
🤝 Indian SportsTech company Game Theory acquired Matchday.ai, a sports analytics startup.
Latest from our Channels
🎙️ #187 TXV Partners: Investing in Disruptive Startups Shaping Tomorrow’s Industries
In this episode, we are joined by Brandon Allen, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of TXV Partners. TXV is an institutionally-backed private investment firm focusing on the sports, human performance, and software verticals.
Brandon talks about his background in Consulting and Equity, the early inception of how he and Marcus Stroud, college roommates at Princeton, founded TXV a Venture Capital Fund centred around an ethos of Human Performance and Health Accountability. Watch the full video here.
⚡ STX Weekly: More VCs in SportsTech: 31 New Funds with at least $4B+ to Deploy
Podcast Throwback
🎙️#154 Trickshot – 3D data extracted from live sports to create engaging augmented & virtual reality experiences for fans.
Interviewing Simon Thompson, Founder of Trickshot. Trickshot is a London-based sports technology company that uses 3D data from live sports to create engaging augmented & virtual reality experiences for fans. Watch the full video here.
All our podcasts are now available as Vodcasts on our YouTube channel. We will be publishing new episodes and back catalogue from the year simultaneously so there’s plenty to watch.