Our take on most influential sports tech trends & innovations for 2025. Covering Fans, Athletes, and Sports Business, we believe these will fundamentally shape the sports landscape this year.
Some are pretty straightforward, others are a bit out-there. It’s up to you to decide which is which. In no particular order, here’s our big list of predictions for 2025!
Fan Trends
Fan Voices will get Louder, their influence stronger
We saw it with the Super League. With the Tennis Ball protests in Germany. The latest initiative, Stop Exploiting Loyalty, by the Premier League Football Supporters Association is a direct response to “19 out of 20 facing ticket price hikes and a general sense that clubs just don’t value fan loyalty”. Fans are banding together to make sure their opinions are heard. Which makes total sense, if fans are being turned into customers, then you can’t forget that the customer is always right.
Fan Ownership will become more common
Clubs like Watford FC offered digital equity, raising millions in 2024. Left wing German club St. Pauli have set up a cooperative to raise €30 million, raising €18 million in 2 months. We believe 2025 will see fan ownership models expand. Whether it is using traditional cooperatives, like the Green Bay Packers who raised $65 million in just 3 months, through Sports DAOs or other blockchain based mechanics. All indicating a shift towards community-powered sports ecosystems.
An increased focus on Kids as the TV Audience
The Simpsons family had a Funday of Football as Bart vs Homer faced off as quarterbacks of opposing NFL teams the Bengals and the Cowboys in an ‘Animated Alt-Cast’. NBA followed suit on Christmas Day with their “Dunk the Halls” broadcast and the NFL has followed up with their latest Nickelodeon collaboration. Fun, family-friendly broadcasts designed to captivate the next generation of fans. This bandwagon will have it’s first European jumper. After all, the team providing the underlying tech is not far in The Netherlands.
The Live Sports Experience in-stadium will be (more) digitally enhanced
Shared reality environments, like those at Cosm’s venues, promise immersive viewing in 2025. Go into arenas and some have giant halos as screens, while others have LED floors. Some of these, especially the LED courts, significantly upgrade the broadcast experience as well. Smarter stadiums are a better way to justify increased ticket prices.
Athlete Trends
Sport specific gadgets will be more common in training, especially in grassroots sports
We had our own Christmas shopping list of Sports Tech gadgets, and expect more of those will fill stockings this year. 2025 will see an explosion in specialized tools across all sports levels. This democratization of sports tech is driven by young athletes and parents eager to gain any competitive advantage. And amateur athletes eager for bragging rights.
Market leader will emerge in AI based Scouting and Training, likely through acquisition
The big boys stepped up big time in 2024 as Google did with Liverpool and IBM with various partners through WatsonX. Athletes preparation is increasingly more data-driven recruitment, and there are a number of solutions in this market. We expect some consolidation in this segment.
Business Trends
More Corporations will own Sports Teams
While sports has been happy to take money of PE investors, not much heed is being paid to the ‘what happens when they WILL exit?’ question. Similar to the first wave of NFT / Crypto money, except some unhappy outcomes. Longer term views are better aligned. Jeff Bezos (Celtics) and Elon Musk (Liverpool) have thrown their names in. Maybe it’s Apple, or Amazon or X / Tesla / SpaceX / < insert other Musk ventures >. The Germans have certainly shown that this can work.
Multi-club ownership will increase
Speaking about exits, this is certainly one way to build the scale needed to get listed. Recent analysis shows the trend of conglomerates owning multiple football clubs across tiers and geographies has 120+ groups (with at least 2 clubs) owning 300+ sports teams. The challenge here is the limited market size, not the intention.
Alternative Sports Leagues will find audiences
The Influencer influence on sports has stepped up big time. While it still dominates where it started, boxing, other innovative sports leagues will continue to attract niche audiences. The Baller League’s expansion and Kings League’s viewership growth, indicating the rising appeal of creator-led competitions. Add on events like the recently launched TGL or upcoming Grand Slam Track and there’s plenty to look forward.
Women’s Sports Rights will continue to soar and get gobbled up
The appetite is there, and the market is to be made. The value of women’s sports teams will climb, supported by global broadcast deals, such as the one Netflix signed for the Women’s World Cup. Sportico pegged the average WNBA and NWSL franchise values at around $100 million. The Women’s Premier League (cricket) beat that. League One Volleyball has raised that. Plenty more to come.
Media Rights landscape is messy, and will get messier
The NBA absolutely smashed it in 2024 with their rights deals. The Premier League (Dec 2023) and the Bundesliga (Dec 2024) just about maintained their levels, which was a win for them. Others have not been and will not be so lucky. Even with the new streamers, Netflix, Amazon, Apple etc., direct-to-consumer seems to be an inevitability for the smaller leagues. Which is a massive undertaking.
Sportainment venues coming to your city
Sports as entertainment hubs blending food, gaming, and live action. And I’m not talking about Bowling. This is a hot trend, as shown by F1 Arcade and various others. Top Golf started it all those years ago, and it’s finally picking up. Part of a broader trend of combining digital with IRL where even Netflix has jumped on board, with Netflix House.
Crypto / Web3 Will Be More Visible
Whether it’s sponsorships which have seen a rise, gaming where FIFA, Manchester United and many others have jumped in or even ticketing (finally!), Web3 and blockchain initiatives will present new opportunities in fan-centric sports experiences.
More to add to these Sports Tech Trends and Predictions?
That’s our list for the top sports tech trends and predictions for this year. Will be back at the end of the year to give ourselves marks on how we went. Drop a comment on our posts or reach out to us via email to let us know what you think.
