#161 🎁 Boxing Day Debrief: Debt Financing on the Rise

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Signing off for the year with a quick Boxing Day newsletter. More insights from our latest SportsTech VC Report, this time covering the rise in debt financing. Plus highlights from a relatively quiet news week.

Wishing you all a warm and restful close to 2025. See you in 2026! 🎉

💡 GLOBAL SPORTS TECH VC REPORT

Rise of Debt Financing: 25% of Sports Tech Capital

Staying on Key Trends highlighted in our recently published Global SportsTech VC Report, we’re ending the year with the last key trend seen in 2025, i.e. the rise of debt financing in sports tech, pointing to a structural shift rather than a temporary spike. Debt rounds now account for roughly a quarter of all deal flow in 2025, rising at an average rate of 22% annually since 2021.

Large operators and growth-stage companies increasingly turn to debt without harming valuations, evident in major rounds from Superbet, DraftKings, and Solidcore. With $5.9B raised over five years and notable upticks in 2024-2025, debt has become a standard part of the funding mix for companies focused on efficient scaling.

Here are the top debt rounds in 2025:

1. Superbet - $1.36 billion

2. DraftKings - $600 million

3. Solidcore - $325 million

4. Midnite - $100 million

5. Sports Illustrated Tickets - $50 million

6. Alt - $40 million

7. The Beachbody Company - $35 million

8. TOCA Football - $20 million

9. Rivalry - $0.7 million

10. Teamworks - Undisclosed

Read the Global SportsTech VC Report 2025 to explore the other two top trends shaping sports innovation, plus the top-funded companies and sectors

If you need the complete picture for investment, strategy, partnerships or planning, the PRO report and Intelligence Hub provides the granularity needed for decision making. These are intelligence tools built for serious dealmakers.

• Dealflow Database: Track funding rounds, investment activity, and emerging opportunities as they come.

  Use case: See which companies just raised capital and who led the round. Spot opportunities before they hit the headlines.

• M&A Intelligence: Access acquisition data, valuations, and buyer trends across sports tech.

  Use case: Identify acquisition targets or assess competitor M&A activity.

• Contact Access: Get direct contact information for founders, executives, and decision-makers.

  Use case: Skip the cold intro and reach out directly to key stakeholders.

📰 THE LATEST

Top News From The World Of Sports Tech & Biz

🥊 Keeping the Boxing Day theme, Jake Paul’s match vs Anthony Joshua drew in 33 million concurrent viewers globally on Netflix

⚽ The NWSL introduces $1m salary cap boost for ‘High Impact Players’ who meet commercial or sporting criteria

🏀 NBA owners voted to allow private equity investors to purchase equity in as many as eight franchises, up from the previous limit of five

🏊‍♀️ The International Swimming League (ISL) is planning a return in 2026, following a three-year hiatus

🎲 DraftKings launched DraftKings Predictions, a standalone CFTC-regulated prediction market app

🏈 Kansas City Chiefs will receive $1.8 billion in public funding for a new $3 billion stadium, the largest public subsidy ever for a U.S. sports stadium project, moving from Arrowhead to a new domed stadium by 2031

💰 Wellness company Truemed raised $34 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Long Journey Ventures, BoxGroup, and Trust Ventures.

💰 Peripheral Labs announced a $3.6 million seed funding round led by Khosla Ventures, bringing its volumetric video tech to sports

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