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Right, we’re finally here. The Global SportsTech VC Report 2023 is out. If you haven’t got the report yet and want to get the most out of it, here’s how to:
- Scroll down a bit
- Follow the easy ‘Download’ click trail, with a pitstop to fill a form, till you see a nice looking pdf appear on screen with a Dollar sign and SportsTechX logo on there somewhere.
- Pour yourself a nice, relaxing drink of choice (research has reported that an Albariño pairs very well).
That’s it, you’re now set to dive in. Happy Reading 🙌
Lastly, in the spirit of Christmas sales, we’re running a little offer ourselves. For those interested in buying the PRO Edition of the report (€999), you’ll get 1 year’s access to SportsTechDB PRO (also €999) for free. Holiday spirit and whatnot.
Offer is only on till Dec 31. So if you feel like treating yourself, you can fill up your digital stocking with our latest, beautifully crafted SportsTech Report right now. And still have the powerhouse SportsTechDB access stashed away for the new year when you need it most. Set!
Go on, you deserve it.
Feature Article: #GSTVCR23
Global SportsTech Report 2023: Out Now
M&A props up 2023, cumulative dealflow 2nd only to 2021
It’s been a tough year for startups across the board, as investor activity has slowed significantly. But the sports industry in general has strong tailwinds with new capital coming in from multiple sources: Increased VC / PE activity, Big Tech (FAANGs especially), Sovereign nation / Family office wealth. The lot.
That mixed sentiment has manifested itself in an interesting way for SportsTech startups.
2023 was the lowest year for SportsTech investment that we’ve seen since 2015, will top out around $2 billion.
But it’s been the highest year for Mergers & Acquisitions dealflow that we’ve ever seen, projected to cross $11 billion.
So it’s not that there was no money to go around in 2023, it was simply being routed differently. We’ve christened it ‘The Year of Consolidation’.
The 5th edition of our Global SportsTech VC Report #GSTVCR23 breaks this down along with a bunch of other data and insights:
🤝 Cumulated dealflow (Investment + M&A) projected to cross $13 billion, 2nd only to the SportsTech vintage year 2021 ($17 billion)
🦄 6 New SportsTech Unicorns added to the list in 2023
💸 34 New Funds added to the list in 2023
We’ve covered some of these highlights in the previews to the report so this might not be a surprise for regular readers. But the report itself is packed with a lot more:
- How the dealflow has played out in different markets: countries, cities & sectors
- The top funded companies All-Time and just in 2023 (so far)
- Since M&A was so hot in SportsTech, we summarised the top M&A 10 deals in Sports. Led by the $21 billion mega merger of the WWE & UFC.
+ The fastest growing sub-sector, the updated Investor Ecosystem table, all the Startup Features including the winners of our 1st ever SportsTechX Startup Spotlight – shoutout to Team Mingle Sport 🏆
Yup, there’s a lot packed in there.
For those that really want to get into it, we even have a paid PRO Edition, with 17 additional pages (about 45%) of detailed data & insights. And we have an offer running on that one, details below.
Right, enough talk. Let’s get on with it.
2 for 1 on GSTVCR23 PRO + SportsTechDB PRO
Were trying to decide which between ‘2-for-1’, ‘50% off’ or ‘Buy 1, Get 1 Free’ sounded least sales-y. None really but we made our choice. You get the point.
And we do believe the offer is pretty good.
The PRO Edition of the Global SportsTech Report is packed with 17 additional pages of data & insights. That’s nearly half the free LITE edition added on. Including some particularly interesting bits:
- Top 5 funded companies in all 8 sub-sectors
- Investment overviews by Region: North America, APAC, Europe & ‘Rest of World’ (basically South America & Africa)
- Most active investors in SportsTech
- Investments volume & amount by Deal Size
- Summary of M&A Dealflow
- Summary of Unicors & IPOs
- Sub-sector snapshots for all 8 sub-sectors
Add on a FREE 1 year Access to SportsTechDB with it’s 6k+ SportsTech startups, powerful filters & interactive infographics and that’s a solid deal!
Offer is only on until Dec 31. So get in before 2023 goes out.
Top News from the World of SportsTech
🏏 Amazon is on it. Last week was the NBA, this week it’s Cricket. Prime Video will be Australia’s exclusive rights holder for all ICC events from 2024 till 2027 covering 448 live matches over the four-year deal. A ripper or a bit dodgy? Likely the latter according to Forbes.
🏃♀️ ASICS will run an accelerator in India, sort of. ASICS Innovation Pitch “will solicit collaboration proposals from Indian startups and create business collaboration with ASICS India” to focus on the growing running market in the country.
⚽ We covered this story a couple of weeks ago and it’s actually happening now: Blackstone, EQT & CVC are all bidding for a minority stake in German Football’s TV rights. The DFL is holding out for a €1 billion valuation. #BigScore
📺 And a cautionary tale: Nordic broadcaster Viaplay outlined a $1.9 billion rescue package as it prepares to exit the Baltics and Poland by 2025 to focus on core markets. They’d already announced their exit from the UK sports market.
New Section Alert:
Not SportsTech but you should know:
🎾 Tennis is getting some interesting ideas apparently. The 4 majors want to tie up with the 10 largest tournaments on the tour to “create a premium tour that resembles a tennis version of F1”. All to avoid a oil money-backed breakaway situation, a la LIV Golf.
🏀 The Dallas Mavericks: Bought for $285 million in 2000, sold for a valuation of $3.5 billion in 2023. And Mr. Cuban will apparently retain full control over basketball operations. Talk about a slam dunk. For those keeping count, this is his 2nd billion dollar exit. #HitTheMark
🤑 The NCAA is proposing to allow D1 schools to actually start paying their athletes, not in just scholarships. Quite the U-turn from their pre-NIL position.
🏈 Speaking about NIL, here’s another example of it’s game-changing power: a college athlete is now a sports investor. Alabama Linebacker Dallas Turner has invested in the US SailGP Team alongside other pro athletes and celebrities.
Money Talks:
💰 Vancouver based GameOn, a Web3 fantasy sports platform, received grant funding from The Arbitrum Foundation. The deal will see GameOn launch upcoming partnerships on the Arbitrum One network, including with LaLiga and the PFL.
💰 French startup Finishers raised €3.3M to help enthusiasts find their next road / trail running or walking race
💰 The NBA doubles down on nVenue, with an equity investment in the Dallas based microbetting and predictive analytics platform. nVenue were part of their the NBA Launchpad program in 2023.
💰 London based Runna closed £5 million for their AI-Powered Run Coach
💰 Italian fitness equipment company Technogym sold a €111 million stake to Saudi’s NEOM Investment Fund (NIF)
Latest from our Channels
🍿 STX Clips: The crazy story of how Gary Kirsten, the man who coached India to victory in the Cricket World Cup 2011, got the job.
⚡ STX Weekly: Last week’s newsletter, in case you missed it.
Connect with us at the event
15th December
Pulsar SportsTech
Meeting of representatives from the SportsTech ecosystems of Europe, Japan, and Brazil, along with a pitch session for startups from Pulsar.
SportsTechX Co-Founder Rohn discusses Global Trends in SportsTech at the event on the 15th of December.