#112 🚀 Sports Tech & Investment Predictions for 2025 - Part II

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Part II of our predictions for 2025 delivered right to your inbox. Plus some important news stories, especially from FIFA and the Australian Open.

SportsTechX’s Predictions for 2025 - Part II

For those who missed it, go check out Part I.

Our big list of predictions for 2025 (14 of them on there) is our take on the most influential sports tech & innovation trends 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. Here's the Part II:

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 < insert other Musk venture >. Good timing for Bayer Leverkusen to have shown a successful model.

• 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.

• UEFA did a great job with their Champions Innovate program, centered around Champions League final in London, and will be back in Munich in 2025. Formula 1 has made significant strides and is on track to its commitment of Net Zero by 2030. For all the problems they had, Paris 2024 took major steps forward in addressing ESG goals. Sports will play a major role in driving fan, and therefore societal, behaviour around these topics.

Top News from the World of Sports Tech & Biz

⚽ FIFA relaunched the FIFA Innovation Programme seeking tech-driven solutions for a series of challenges and opportunities identified by the governing body. Startups that believe they can help advance the game can submit pitches here.

🎾The Australian Open is well underway and seems like their tech teams have been busy:

• They turned their players into cartoon characters and livestreamed matches on their YouTube channel, Australian Open TV.

• All visitors to the Open agreed to be monitored by facial recognition technology, under a new privacy clause in this year’s conditions of entry.

⛳ The PGA TOUR and Pro Shop Studios announced a new Creator Series following the momentum of 2024 Creator Classic at the TOUR Championship. Three live events will be streamed via PGA TOUR YouTube channel, PGA TOUR FAST channels, ESPN+ and NBC platforms.

⚽ The first edition of the Kings World Cup Nations was a hit, receiving over 100 million viewers and 1.5 billion interactions on social media.

🚫 Venu Sports, the proposed virtual MVPD service from ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery, to be discontinued. The collective decision by the three companies not to move forward with the contemplated joint venture is effective immediately.

🏈 Prime Video’s NFL wild card playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens smashed records for the streamer with its largest ever audience- an average of 22.07 million viewers.

💪🏽 WWE and Cosm announced a multi-year partnership that will see WWE Premium Live Events – such as WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble – delivered to fans in Shared Reality at Cosm’s experiential venues in Los Angeles and Dallas.

⚽ Paris Saint-Germain stepped up its commitment to the younger generations by making its debut on Roblox with an immersive and collaborative experience: Paris Saint-Germain OBBY. 

🏀 Fans can express their NBA fandom with newly launched Dynamic Badges, a 3D digital collectible, earning achievements as you engage with the NBA App, NBA ID, & NBA League Pass. 

🤝 Spokenote teamed up with Indy Ignite, as the official jersey patch sponsor for the team’s opening season. This collaboration introduces fans to an innovative way to connect with the team through exclusive content accessed via scannable code patches on the players’ jerseys.

⚽ English football club Charlton Athletic FC launched a new gaming and entertainment space at its stadium. 

🏀 SeatGeek and Cleveland Cavaliers launched Navigable Concourse Maps which offers fans detailed, navigable venue maps that highlight essential features, including restaurants, merchandise stores, club spaces, and bathrooms. 

🌐 Gaming peripherals brand Razer unveiled its latest project, an AI esports coach that aims to provide real-time insights and analysis. Called Project AVA, the concept was introduced at tech trade show CES 2025 and has been described by the company as ‘the ultimate AI gaming copilot.’

🔴 The World Snooker Tour (WST), the organizer of the sport’s global circuit, announced the launch of a new global streaming service.

💸 Streaming platforms spent $10 bn on sports rights in 2024. Ampere Analysis expects streaming services to be spending more than US$11bn on live sports rights by the end of this year.

📢 Sport Industry Group released The Sport Industry Report 2025 – a comprehensive first annual study of the UK sports sector, reflecting on emerging challenges, attitudes and trends that will define the year ahead.  

Money Talks:

💸 Tennis Australia completed the first close of a $30 million venture capital fund, AO Ventures, as it seeks to back startups innovating in sport, entertainment, media and health.

💸 The Enfield Investment Partners private equity group agreed a new partnership with the sports arm of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), SURJ Sports Investment. This new partnership coincides with the launch of a new $4 billion global sports investment fund by Enfield. 

💸 DAZN is close to a $1 billion investment from Saudi’s PIF, and could reportedly conclude a deal by the end of the month.

🤝 Genius Sports Limited announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 17.6 million ordinary shares at a price to the public of $8.50 per share. 

💰 The Snow League, the first professional winter sports league exclusively dedicated to snowboarding and freeskiing, announced their funding round of $15 million led by Left Lane Capita.

💰 Eternal, an athlete-focused healthcare platform, raised $13.25 million in a seed round led by Lightspeed Ventures Partners, Courtside Ventures, Treble Capital, and Next Ventures.

💰 HBCU alumni Terry Comer and Khalil Thompson raised $2.25 million for NIL FanBox, a College Sports Memorabilia Subscription Platform, in a seed funding round led by KB Partners.

💰 Dropback announced the close of a $1.6 million funding round to build the new financial software suite for the new era of college sports.

💰 AEKE announced the success of its recent crowdfunding campaign for the AEKE K1, a new smart gym solution. The campaign surpassed expectations, raising over $1 million.

💰 Five Iron Golf Co-Founders invested in New York Golf Club, the New York-based team of TGL presented by SoFi and are announcing Five Iron as NYGC’s Official Watch Party location for its inaugural season. 

🤝 Arbiter, a recognized leader in athletic and event management, announced the acquisition of rSchoolToday, a trusted provider of K-12 software solutions, for an undisclosed amount.

Recap from our content archive

🔙 STX Article: Innovative Fan Engagement- The Future of Sports in the Metaverse, Web3, and Beyond

✅ STX Monthly: Last month’s sports tech dealflow, in case you missed it.

💪🏽 SportsTech AllStars Recap: Global Sports Tech VC Report series