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#116🏏 IPL Owners Taking Over Global Cricket

#116🏏 IPL Owners Taking Over Global Cricket

Plus New Sports Innovation Challenge Announcement

SportsTechX
February 14, 2025

News, features & insights from the world of Sports Tech & Biz. Every Week.

If you followed The Hundred auction, you likely have some idea about Cricket. If not, this newsletter edition should provide some background on a growing trend in the second most popular sport in the world (2.5 billion fans), only after football.

Indian Sports Business and Tech Report 2025: Snippet

There's been a lot of talk about Multi-Club Ownership (MCO) in Football. Though as the recent & highly successful 'The Hundred' auction showed, where the 8 teams have been valued at $1.2 billion, this is becoming a dominant trend in global cricket.

Unsurprisingly, it's the Indian teams taking the lead here with 9 of the 10 franchises expanding their reach across at least one other league. Most of the focus is in international leagues including the International League T20 (UAE), Major League Cricket (USA), SA20 (South Africa), Caribbean Premier League (CPL), The Hundred (UK), and Women’s Premier League (India).

This image we created summarizes this pretty neatly. Arranged alphabetically above, and in order of the number of teams below:

2 teams on 5 each: Mumbai Indians (owned by Reliance Industries), and Delhi Capitals (jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Sports) lead the way with teams across the UAE, South Africa, USA, and WPL
1 team with 4: Knight Riders Group up next, backing franchises in CPL, SA20, MLC, and ILT20.
4 teams on 2 each: Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Lucknow SuperGiants, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad
2 teams on 1 each: Punjab Kings & Royal Challengers Bangalore
Lastly, the Gujrat Titans the only team without a co-ownership in place, though they were a sponsor / partner of Capri Global, the owners of UAE based Sharjah Warriors.

Why is this trend hot?

MCOs provide the benefits of scale: help streamline talent development, create year-round brand engagement, and leverage commercial opportunities across multiple geographies. As T20 cricket continues to globalize, IPL-backed franchises are leading the charge, shaping the future of the sport by establishing a multi-league ecosystem.

This growing trend reflects the evolution of sports into more interconnected, multi-continental, franchise-driven enterprises which look to leverage the benefits of the scale.

More on that in our upcoming Indian Sports Business and Tech Report, out next week. Our very first deep dive into this dynamic sports market.

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Top News from the World of Sports Tech & Biz

🚀 The Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) announced the launch of the AI League - a virtual competition running from February 10 to the end of April 2025, with a total prize pool of SAR1 million.

🏆 Thinksport, together with AquaBloom International Sports Technology Group (ABSG), launched the Sport Innovation Challenge AI & Robotics, applications open till 10 March 2025.

🏀 A year after lighting up the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, ASB GlassFloor has set up a temporary testing facility in Orlando, eager to expand its U.S. footprint. Listen to our pod with them here.

⛳ The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and Hero Digital announced the launch of its revamped mobile app designed to help fans feel like they are part of the action.

⚖️ Lega Serie A has taken Stats Perform to court over its abrupt withdrawal from a lucrative betting rights agreement.

🤝 FIFPRO Technologies, a new division of the global labor union for professional soccer players, announced a long-term partnership with Sports Data Labs which includes an equity stake in the international technology provider.

🏈 Super Bowl Lix on Fox and Tubi generated more than $800 million in gross advertising revenue.

💻 World Triathlon announced the relaunch of its OTT streaming platform, TriathlonLive, for the 2025 season ahead of WTCS Abu Dhabi.

🎦 New AI-based shooting range cameras were fully incorporated at the Biathlon World Championships, designed to drive higher audiences ahead of upcoming rights deals negotiations beyond 2030.

💥 Reliance's JioStar officially launched JioHotstar, its new streaming platform which was formed by merging JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. JioHotstar will let viewers watch shows, movies, and live sports without requiring a subscription.

🎾 Tencent obtained the exclusive new media broadcasting rights for Wimbledon in China from 2025-2027, in a deal facilitated by IMG.

🤝 App Cats and Membership Zen agreed to partner to create more apps for NIL collectives.

💪🏽 Williams secured what the British Formula 1 team described as the “biggest partnership deal” in their 48-year history, with software firm Atlassian becoming their title partner.

🏏 Sony Sports Network bagged broadcast rights for PCB’s home cricket series & PSL 2025.

🤝 1Password became the exclusive security partner at Red Bull Racing.

💪🏽 Floyd Mayweather, undefeated, undisputed champion of boxing, expanded his empire with the launch of a line of premium nutritional supplements, called 101 (ONE OF ONE).

Money Talks:

💸 Romanian gaming operator Superbet finalized a €1.3 billion ($1.34 billion) refinancing agreement with existing investors Blackstone and funds managed by HPS Investment Partners.

💸 The Enhanced Games received a multi-million-dollar investment co-led by 1789 Capital.

💸 GMR Group secured a stake in Southern Brave to conclude the ECB's process of selling equity in the Hundred.

💰 Epicore Biosystems, a digital health solutions developing advanced sweat-sensing wearables, raised $26 million in a Series B funding round led by the Steele Foundation for Hope (SFFH).

💰 Lingopal.ai, a NYC-based real-time speech-to-speech translation company, raised $14 million in Series A funding round led by DCM Ventures, with participation from Scrum Ventures, Marquee Ventures and angel investors.

💰 AI-powered sports media company ScorePlay, raised $13 million in a round led by Alexis Ohanian and Giannis Antetokounmpo. ScorePlay's technology is used by more than 200 sports organizations around the world and helps teams streamline their highlights and clips using AI.

💰 Anybuddy, the French platform dedicated to booking racket sports, raised €2 million ($2.1 m) with Seventure Partners’ Sport & Performance Capital fund to support its expansion.

💰 Hiveclass, an edtech platform that hosts online P.E. courses for K-12 students, raised $1.5 million in seed funding.

💰 StepOut, an Indian sports performance analysis and ecosystem technology startup, raised $500 k in its seed round led by Rainmatter.

💰 UK based Pure Energy Music, which delivers expertly curated tracks designed to optimise exercise performance, received a £500,000 ($6.3 k) investment from Finance Yorkshire’s growth fund.

💰 Interactive Strength Inc. signed a binding agreement to acquire Sportstech, a profitable $40 m+ revenue connected-fitness equipment business.

💰 Tournated, an all-in-one white-label sports management solution, secured a €50,000 investment from the Latvian Business Angels Network.

💰 Rainmatter invested an undisclosed amount in Sisters in Sweat to support their expansion to 10 cities by 2026.

🤝 Stagwell , the challenger network built for marketing, announced the acquisition of Gold Rabbit Sports, a global sport marketing agency, for an undisclosed amount.

Recap from our content archive:

1080 Motion's Vision for the Indian Sports Market #234

🎙Continuing focus on the Indian ecosystem in build up to the Indian Sports Biz & Tech Report, we present: Per Nohlert, CEO of 1080 Motion. In this conversation, Per discusses his journey and vision for the company, focusing on the innovative technology behind their products and the potential of the Indian sports market. He shares insights from his recent trip to India, highlighting the growing interest in sports technology and the willingness to invest in high-quality training equipment. Per also addresses challenges in the market, including price sensitivity and the need for education around their products. Looking ahead, he emphasizes the company's growth strategy and commitment to understanding customer needs in various regions.

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