International Sportstech News

Genius Sports has announced a new multi-year integrity, technology and AI partnership with the Pac-12 Conference to power the next generation of sports betting, integrity, fan engagement and monetization, and performance analysis in college sports. As part of the agreement, Genius Sports will deploy GeniusIQ, its data and AI platform, in every venue across Pac-12 football and men’s and women’s basketball competitions, creating a single, intelligent foundation for tracking data and video capture, real-time insights, and commercial activation.

CVC Capital Partners has raised $US 4.3 billion for its Global Sport Group (GSG) division after reportedly agreeing a complex financing deal with Pimco and KKR. The agreements value GSG at around $US 8.1 billion. The division was launched by CVC in September 2025 to host its multibillion-dollar sports portfolio, which includes investments made in soccer’s LaLiga and Ligue 1, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Volleyball World, as well as Prem Rugby, the United Rugby Championship (URC) and the Six Nations.

McLaren has announced the launch of an exciting new venture, McLaren Golf.  This launch will extend McLaren’s DNA, built on decades of experience in elite motorsport and supercar engineering, into a new category, led by a dedicated team of golf-industry experts and world-class engineering minds.

ShotQuality, the AI-enabled real-time performance intelligence platform used by sportsbooks, market makers, and quantitative trading groups, has announced a partnership with Kalshi, the first federally regulated prediction market exchange in the United States. Kalshi and ShotQuality will work together around real-time event intelligence and structured data generation for live events and broadcasts.

Genies, an AI avatar technology company powering the next era of interactive digital identity, and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) have announced a licensing partnership to offer Genie avatars for NBPA member. This opens up new ways for players to connect with fans across games and apps. Through the collaboration, Genie avatars may be licensed to developers to create games and apps, supercharged by Genies' developer ecosystem.

The National Football League has launched the Innovation Hub Challenge, a pathway designed to move sports technology startups to integration-ready MVPs that could be piloted across the league. The Challenge is open to technology teams, organizations, and individuals with working products and demonstrated capabilities. There are three challenge categories - Fan Journey & Personalisation, Local Monetisation & Commerce, and Event Discovery & Global Engagement. Applications close 22 March, with the finalists showcasing their solutions 23-25 April.

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) have announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Paramount will acquire WBD, forming a premier global media and entertainment company. The deal is worth an estimated $US 111 billion. The merged company will hold one of the industry's most compelling and competitive portfolios of sports rights, including: the NFL, Olympics, UFC, PGA Tour, NHL, Big Ten and Big 12 Football, NCAA College Basketball, and Champions League.

In a move meant to bolster the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled digital health products, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated two guidances to ease its oversight of general wellness devices and clinical decision support (CDS) software. The agency said that the changes will provide product developers with more flexibility and predictability in bringing products to market, while ensuring that medical-grade products continue to be regulated.

FIFA has extended and expanded its integrity services agreement with Sportradar, a leading global sports technology company creating immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors, for an additional five years, reinforcing a long-term partnership dedicated to safeguarding the integrity of football worldwide. The renewed agreement, which runs through 2031, provides comprehensive AI-driven bet-monitoring services and now includes expanded intelligence and investigation support and dedicated risk assessment services for both FIFA and its 211 member associations.

Sports betting and technology leader Genius Sports' annual revenue for 2025 hit $US 669.5 million, up 31% for the year. The business is expected to continue to grow strongly in 2026, with revenues expected to hit over $US 800 million. Upon completion of the acquisition of Legend, Genius expects to further strengthen their position at the intersection of official data, fan identity, and real-time content.

WHOOP, the wearable human performance company, has announced plans to add more than 600 new roles across software, research & design, hardware, product, and marketing as the company continues to scale globally. The majority of new roles will be based at the company’s iconic Boston headquarters in the heart of Kenmore Square, with additional hiring across North America, Europe, the GCC, and Asia.

Novig, the fastest growing sports trading platform in America, has announced the close of a $US 75 million Series B round of funding. The investment follows a period of growth for the platform, which reported a 10x increase in trading volume during 2025. Novig's annualized trading volume currently exceeds $US 4 billion. Although sports account for the majority of activity on most prediction market platforms, those products are not built with sports traders in mind. Novig, by contrast, is built for sports fans, delivering a fair, transparent, and commission-free trading experience. 

Zenniz, one of the world's leading provider of smart tennis court solutions, has completed a new $US 6 million funding round. The raise will accelerate Zenniz’s ongoing global growth. With systems already in operation on 4 continents and in over 25 countries, the Finland-based company is now establishing its North American Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. In June 2025, Zenniz also became one of the first vendors in the world to be certified by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for line calling in international tournament play for club-level systems.

The Premier League is launching a Netflix-style direct-to-customer streaming platform from next season, chief executive Richard Masters. Premier League Plus will be launched initially in Singapore and, if successful, could be replicated all around the world. The new platform could eventually transform the way fans consume the most popular league in the world, which says it has a global audience of 1.87 billion people and is watched in 189 countries.

BatFast, the global sports simulation technology company, has announced the appointment of former Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. The appointment marks a pivotal moment for BatFast as it accelerates international expansion of its AI-powered sports simulation platform, which integrates advanced robotics, computer vision ball tracking, machine learning analytics, and immersive gamification to deliver world-class training, entertainment, and fan engagement experiences.

SportIQ, a company that develops smart basketballs and in-app shooting coaching technology, has raised a total of $US 6.2 million in a Series A funding. The company develops connected sports balls that combine sensors, analytics, and AI to support performance tracking. Its sensor system and analytics app, which are covered by multiple patents, are used in the Spalding TF DNA basketball. The system uses a sensor embedded in the ball’s valve to track shooting performance, collecting data such as shooting position, power, angle, and technique. 

It has been announced that a “Standard for a Common Exchange Format for Match-Data in Football (Soccer)” will be developed through the IEEE Standards Association. This standard establishes a uniform and standardized format for providing digital data arising from football (soccer) matches. The standard includes data from the following sources: match sheet data, video data, event data, tracking data, match meta data, and player physical data. Usage of this data includes performance analysis, fan engagement, medical analysis, wagering, and coaching. The Working Group will be led by sports data and standards experts including Jesse Davis, Joris Bekkers and Sam Robertson.

The Juventus Football Club has launched an open innovation program called Juventus Forward. The initiative represents the heart of Juventus’ open innovation, a strategic bridge between the club, start-ups, partners, talents and a community working on sport, technology and applied innovation. As part of the program CDP Venture Capital will relocate its Accelerator dedicated to the Sportech and Wellness vertical from Rome to Turin, making the Allianz Stadium a new national hub for sports start-ups and business acceleration. Whilst The Players Fund will support Juventus as a strategic partner of the Innovation team, bringing an international perspective, benchmarks and expertise through global scouting activities.

The NFL and StatusPRO, a sports entertainment and technology company that combines AI and performance data with emerging technology to create experiential content, has announced an expansion of their partnership, granting StatusPRO new rights that enable the company to build a device-agnostic training product. The newly secured rights align with StatusPRO’s vision of building a unified platform spanning training and gaming. Powered by AI and telemetry data from sports leagues, the platform delivers simulated content that enables fans, athletes and coaches to play, watch and learn the game, deepening engagement across the sports ecosystem.

FIFA has announced PlayerData as a FIFA Preferred Provider for Player Tracking within the framework of the FIFA Quality Programme for Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems (EPTS). This two-year agreement recognises PlayerData as an industry leader, with expertise contributing to the development of technical standards for EPTS.

The Collectiv Foundation, in collaboration with Rice University, has announced the creation of the AI Native Dual-Use Sports, Health & Wellness Accelerator. The accelerator will officially launch in March and will be hosted at the Ion, the epicenter of the Ion District and Houston’s emerging venture advantage platform. The accelerator will focus on high-growth sportstech verticals, including but not limited to performance and health, fan experience and media platforms, data and analytics, and enterprise infrastructure. 

FIBA has underlined its commitment to driving innovation and excellence in global basketball by confirming the inaugural Test Event for Automated Video Solutions on March 24 and 25 in Doha, Qatar. FIBA's inaugural product test event for Automated Video Solutions marks a milestone by validating real-world performance with clearly defined performance metrics. It will serve as an essential evidentiary basis, establishing a pathway for industry technologies seeking FIBA Approval. All assessments undertaken at the FIBA Test Events in Doha will be conducted by industry experts, the Institute of Sports Tech Standards (ISTS) and Sports Labs Ltd.

HUMAIN, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has acquired a controlling stake in London-based ai.io to launch HUMAIN Sport division. The combined entity will deploy AI-powered sports technology across Saudi Arabia and international markets, spanning grassroots to elite performance. Ai.io’s existing products include 3DAT markerless motion capture, aiScout talent identification platform, and aiLab facility integration software.

China's biggest sportswear brand Anta Sports Products has struck a deal to buy a 29% stake in Puma from the Pinault family for 1.5 billion euros ($US 1.8 billion), making it the biggest shareholder in the German sportswear maker. Anta said it would ‌use its expertise to help struggling Puma increase its sales in the lucrative Chinese market. The deal also helps Fila owner and Salomon backer Anta in its quest to become a more global business.

European Leagues and LaSource have been working together to shape the Sports Data Value Chain (SDVC) project: a strategic initiative designed to help member leagues gain more control of their sports data and build the foundations for a shared, future-ready data ecosystem. The European Leagues brings together 40 professional leagues representing more than 1,170 clubs across 34 countries and over 70 football divisions. 

Otro Capital has announced the close of its inaugural sports fund, Otro Capital Fund I, with $US 1.2 billion in committed capital. Fund I represents the largest first-time, dedicated sports buyout fund ever raised globally. The Fund is targeting investments where it believes professionalized operations, intellectual property, and enhanced governance can unlock significant value.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced the five companies that will make up the fifth cohort of NBA Launchpad, the league’s initiative to source, evaluate, and pilot emerging technologies to further impact the future of basketball. The five companies include Atlas, a brain-sensing wearable; CRED, an intelligence platform for sponsorship lead-generation; Diddo, an API for rights holders and publishers to integrate shoppable moments within media platforms; Peripheral Labs, a spatial intelligence platform focused on applying autonomous vehicle technology to reconstruct live sports, and; Swish Basket, an AI-powered basketball training and gaming platform.

Athvance Capital has launched a European investment platform dedicated to building scaled sports assets across intellectual property, technology, and services, as private capital increasingly targets under-commercialised segments of the global sports industry. The platform is founded by Danny Menken, former managing director of Eurosport and co-founder of Eleven Sports, alongside Karim Ben Rejeb, a former JPMorgan investment banker.

Genius Sports has struck a deal to acquire Legend's sports and gaming media network worth up to $US1.2 billion, which the sports technology company plans to combine with its FanHub platform. Legend offers marketing technology for owned and operated digital properties while syndicating sports and betting content for the likes of Yahoo Sports and Sports Illustrated. Genius said the company helped generate 320 million visits from 118 million unique visits in 2025.

With $US 200 billion in total announced deal value across more than 1,000 deals, 2025 was an unprecedented deal making year in sports Tech with a wave of mega-mergers, according to Drake Star's latest Sportstech Report. The year featured five $US 1 billion-plus acquisitions, 23 private financings exceeding $US 100 million, and $US 12 billion of new funds being raised for sports acquisitions and investments. Notable M&A deals included Netflix’s $US 82.7 billion acquisition offer for the streaming and studios division of Warner Bros Discovery, and Saudi PIF and Silver Lake’s $US 55 billion acquisition of EA. Some of the large private placements included DAZN's $US 2.4 billion financing, Oura ($US 900 million), NEP Group ($US 700 million) and Teamworks ($US 235 million).

Full body VR movement platform Virtuix has listed on the US-based Nasdaq, and secured $US 11 million investment from Chicago Venture Partners. Tcompany said the proceeds are expected to support several initiatives, including the sales and marketing of Omni One, its at-home gaming system that features a treadmill-like platform and lets players enjoy 360-degree movement within a virtual world. Players wear a VR headset and can walk or run safely in any direction, as well as crouch and jump, secured by an adjustable support vest attached to a metal arm.

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić today announced the launch of 77X, a company he built to create original entertainment, collectibles, merchandise, and live experiences for his fans, and Fan Pass, a free membership platform available now at 77x.world. He is the first athlete to bring everything he creates – from content and products to events and community – into a single direct-to-fan universe, giving members early access to limited drops, exclusive content, and a voice in what gets made.

Bruin Capital, in collaboration with affiliates of 26North Private Equity, TJC LP and select other partners, has launched a new investment platform capitalized with $US 1 billion. The platform will target high-growth businesses that provide technology, data, media and commercial services—referred to as “second-level enablers”—to sports teams, leagues, federations and rights owners. This marks a significant expansion of Bruin’s specialist strategy focused on infrastructure critical to the global sports industry.

Sportable has announced that its premier Portable LPS tracking product has been officially certified within the FIFA Quality Programme for Electronic Performance & Tracking Systems (EPTS), marking a major milestone for the company and further validating its position as a global leader in sports tracking and connected ball innovation. The FIFA Quality Programme for EPTS is the global benchmark for tracking accuracy and reliability in football. Systems are independently assessed against strict criteria including positional accuracy, consistency, latency, and robustness.

KKR has agreed to acquire sports-focused investment firm Arctos Partners in a transaction valuing the business at approximately US$1 billion, according to Bloomberg. With more than $US 700 billion in assets under management, KKR has previously invested in sports and entertainment assets including FanDuel and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The acquisition would further deepen its presence in the sector. Arctos holds stakes in more than 20 professional sports franchises across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS, making it the only private investment firm approved to own equity across all five major North American men’s professional leagues. It is also the largest institutional owner of North American sports equity globally.

Indian-based Centre Court Capital has closed its maiden fund at NR 410 crore ($US 40 million) supported by domestic institutional investors and sports and media personalities. The fund will leverage off the wave of convergence across sports, fitness, wellness and social gaming in India. 

Sports investment firm APEX has announced the launch of a of a high-growth private equity fund with plans to raise 300 million euros, or about $US 350 million. APEX, which is based just west of Lisbon in Oeiras, Portugal, intends to use that newfound scale to pursue minority stakes ranging from 20% to 49% in teams, leagues and other sports assets. Over the life of the ten-year fund, Caçorino expects to strike 10 to 20 deals, with ticket sizes falling between $US 15 million and $US 50 million.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has faced an unexpected broadcasting crisis just two months before the impending T20 World Cup 2026, after JioStar formally informed the body that it cannot fulfil the remaining two years of its four-year India media rights deal. The broadcaster cited mounting financial losses as the primary cause for pursuing a premature exit from the $US 3 billion agreement.

Globant, a company dedicated to reinventing businesses through innovative technology solutions, and LALIGA, Europe's most successful football league, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that marks a milestone in the transformation of the operations of one of the world's leading sports organizations through the large-scale adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). Through Sportian, the joint venture between Globant and LALIGA, AI agents will be created in key organizational areas such as talent development, operations, and technology to improve sports performance analysis, personalized content creation, and workflow automation, all within a coordinated and centralized system. These new agents will join Sportian's current offering of technological solutions.

Ten startup companies from five African countries that have been selected as finalists as part of the second edition of NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator, which the league launched last year to support the continent’s technology ecosystem and the next generation of African entrepreneurs. Five winners will receive financial support and the opportunity to join CMU-Africa’s 12-month Business Incubation Program – in the Innovation Hub.