International Sportstech News

SURJ Sports Investment and Kings League have today announced a partnership to launch Kings League MENA, a regionally anchored version of the revolutionary seven-a-side football league founded by football legend and entrepreneur Gerard Piqué. The new joint venture will launch later this year and will bring an innovative and digital-first sporting experience to the MENA region, with Saudi Arabia confirmed as the league’s inaugural host.

SportsTech Sweden have announced the launch of their Sports Tech Bootcamp 2.0. The 4-week online program released in partnership with SportsTechX provides startup founder, sports enthusiast, or industry professionals a guide to navigate the global sports tech ecosystem. The program covers 10+ hours of expert-led video content, step-by-step roadmap on how to launch a sports tech venture and insights into funding, business models & global best practices

Strava, the app for active people, announced it has acquired the core assets of The Breakaway, the Y Combinator incubated cycling training app. The deal follows the recent news of Strava acquiring Runna, a leading running training app. The Breakaway offers personalized cycling training, innovative ride analysis, and achievement tracking tools. The investment demonstrates Strava's continued investment in its developer community and open API, which enables third parties to connect and build new experiences for athletes.

In recent years, sports have become more than just entertainment—they've evolved into a powerful asset class attracting billions of dollars in global investment. Sports investment funds represent a growing niche within the alternative investment space. These funds pool capital to invest in sports teams, leagues, media rights, sponsorship deals, and related assets such as technology and infrastructure. 

Genius Sports has launched BetVision, the world’s first interactive in-game wagering product for soccer. Sportsbooks can now offer the ground-breaking BetVision experience across many of the world’s leading soccer competitions. As part of the launch, Genius Sports has partnered with Infront, the rights holder for several top-tier football competitions, for premium video content. BetVision harnesses AI to augment the live broadcast with data-driven insights and storytelling features that highlight player names and personalized bet tracking innovations.

A group of professional sports team insiders, including Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban, is launching a $US 750 million private equity fund designed to take small stakes in US pro sports teams. The Harbinger Sports Partners Fund will focus on acquiring stakes of as much as 5%, the group said in a statement. It expects to invest $US 50 million to $US 150 million in each transaction

Springbok Analytics, the platform for rapid MRI and AI-powered analytics for muscle insights to support training, recovery, and long-term health, has announced its first WNBA partnership. Springbok announced a partnership with WNBA champion, the New York Liberty, as the tip-off for the 2025 season commences.

In August 2024, the NFL opened its doors to private equity investments in teams. Ares and Arctos were the first to strike. Ares Management Corporation acquired a 10% stake in the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, and the F1 Miami Grand Prix, at a $US 8.1 billion valuation. Arctos took a 10% stake in the Buffalo Bills, at a $US 5.8 billion valuation. In December 2024, two families acquired small stakes in Jeffrey Lurie's Philadelphia Eagles, bumping the franchise value north of $US 8.3 billion. Last week the San Francisco 49ers sold a 6% stake to a trio of Bay Area families (the Khosla, Griffith, and Deeter families), valuing the franchise at $US8.5 billion - the highest for a sports team globally. 

Future of Sport Lab (FSL), Canada’s premier SportsTech accelerator, announced the selection of ten innovative startups for its acclaimed incubator program. This year’s cohort features a diverse range of ventures spanning AI, athlete training, fan engagement, wearable technology, and athlete wellness, including several Canadian-founded companies and a startup led by former NHL star Mike Weaver and Canadian Olympian Jill Moffatt.

A research team from the Chair of Biomechanics at the University of Bayreuth examined the soles of more than 100 running shoes. The results revealed that over a third of the heel areas were poorly designed and may therefore contribute to the risk of injury for runners. Using four measurement parameters, the Bayreuth researchers examined 112 shoes from various manufacturers.  the researchers found that 38% of the 112 tested shoe models were either over-designed (too little cushioning due to excess hardness) or under-designed (too little cushioning due to excess softness).

Mumbai-based Dream Sports invests $US 50 million into Cricbuzz and Willow TV (both owned by Times Internet), gaining a minority stake in cricket's global media ecosystem. Cricbuzz and Willow TV collectively have 185 million monthly users across more than 150 countries. Cricbuzz is a cricket media platform whilst Willow TV is a North American cricket broadcaster. Dreams Sports investments intend to provide more real-time analysis and statistics, engagement and commerce integrations and AI-driven predictions.

The France sports technology market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.7% from 2024 to 2030, reaching approximately $US 3.46 billion by 2030. Initiatives like France 2030 are accelerating this growth with billions in innovation funding, while the Paris 2024 Olympics provided a catalyzing widespread tech adoption. As of early 2025, France hosts a vibrant sports tech ecosystem with approximately 681 companies operating in this sector. Among these, 96 have secured funding, collectively raising over $US 1 billion in venture capital. 

YouTube will stream the NFL's Week 1 game in Brazil to a worldwide audience for free, the NFL has announced this week. The Los Angeles Chargers are scheduled to play at Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo on 5th September. Their opponent will be revealed when the NFL releases its full schedule Wednesday night. This will mark the first exclusive NFL game to be streamed live and for free in its entirety on YouTube and YouTube TV.

Dream Sports and Microsoft have partnered to enhance India's gaming market, leveraging Dream Sports' extensive user base and Microsoft's AI expertise. The collaboration, announced at WAVES 2025, aims to publish Microsoft's gaming titles locally and develop AI-driven gaming experiences tailored for Indian gamers. This initiative taps into India's booming $3.8 billion gaming market, which boasts 600 million gamers.

SportsEngine Play has agreed to a multi-year extension with Pixellot, accelerating the NBC streamer’s efforts to activate game streaming from youth sports facilities across the U.S.  SportsEngine Play will continue to help sports facilities of all sizes reduce their financial barriers of entry to streaming by offering a live and on-demand solution at no cost. The platform serves a constantly growing list of more than 10,000 facilities. 

WHOOP, the human performance company, has launched WHOOP 5.0 and WHOOP MG, two next-generation wearables designed to unlock a new approach to personal health and longevity. The devices offer 14-day battery life in a seven percent smaller form - and introduce category-defining features, including Healthspan with WHOOP Age, Heart Screener with on-demand ECG and Blood Pressure Insights.

Unrivaled Sports, US's leading youth sports experiences company announced a strategic investment by DICK'S Sporting Goods which led the company's latest funding round. The strategic investment of $US 120 million will help to deliver and expand best-in-class youth sporting experiences, programs and destinations for young athletes across the nation. In the last year Unrivaled has built a national footprint across 30 states through acquisition, now hosting over 600,000 young athletes and nearly 2 million family members and fans.

ASICS has announced the launch of Run Concierge, a collaboration with Boston-based startup Neurun. Run Concierge is a first-of-its-kind AI-driven platform that integrates the latest advancements from Google Maps and Google Cloud to serve as a personal AI running guide. Run Concierge will debut later this summer across Race Roster’s and Njuko’s extensive network of racing events in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Fanstake recently raised $US 6.25 million in seed funding to continue building a platform that lets college sports fans crowdfund potential NIL payouts as a way to entice athletes to attend their school. Fanstake CEO Greg Glass foresees schools needing to find new revenue sources to pay their players and fund their athletic programs. Courtside Ventures led the latest funding round, with participation from the likes of Will Ventures and Scrum Ventures.

After months of deliberation and back-and-forth disputes, DAZN is set to end its Ligue 1 broadcast rights agreement after just one year into a new four-year deal. DAZN will pay the LFP €100m to exit the agreement, as well as the remaining €140m it owes to the organisation for the final two instalments. A DAZN statement sent to L’Équipe informed that there was an exit clause within the contract with Ligue 1 and LFP, and also revealed that the French football league is now focusing on developing a direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service. 

Dave Checketts, an influential figure in global sports business, and The Cynosure Group, a diversified private investment firm founded by the Eccles family, announced the formation of Cynosure | Checketts Sports Capital, a new investment vehicle dedicated to investing in high-potential sports opportunities. It also reunites two powerful entities who worked closely to keep the Utah Jazz of the NBA in Salt Lake City over 30 years ago. The fund will target multiple segments of the sports industry including teams, leagues, governing bodies, venues, media and broadcasting and sports technology.

Under the expanded agreement, Genius Sports has been appointed as the exclusive distributor of official NCAA data to licensed sportsbooks for all post-season tournaments, including March Madness, through 2032. Sportsbooks will gain exclusive access to official NCAA data feeds alongside NCAA marks and logos. NCAA LiveStats to remain free for all member schools, delivering trusted, real-time data for over 70,000 games each year. GeniusIQ, a next-generation AI platform, will enhance LiveStats to power real-time analytics, advanced coaching insights, and immersive fan experiences.

Drake Star, a global technology focused investment bank and advisory, has released its 2024 Sports Tech Market Report on the industry's financing activities. 2024 marked a historic year for Sports Tech M&A, with over $US 86 billion in total deal value across more than 1,100 M&A, private placement and public market transactions. While the broader M&A market was still recovering from a muted 2023, the sports tech sector demonstrated notable resilience and momentum — a trend that has continued into early 2025.

Energy drink company Red Bull has launched a CVC arm, Red Bull Ventures. The CVC unit will make early-stage investments in sports and sustainability startups aligned with the parent company’s strategy. Previously, Red Bull had backed innovation indirectly—investing through other VC firms such as Speedinvest, Fund F, Calm/Storm, 3VC, and xista. Now, with Red Bull Ventures, the company is establishing its own platform to directly fund early-stage startups aligned with its brand ethos. While Red Bull has not confirmed the fund size, media reports suggest a target of around €200 million ($AUD 350 million). 

Asus has unveiled its VivoWatch 6 Aero, the world's first fitness tracker that can measure blood pressure and electrocardiogram (ECG) at the touch of a finger. The watch instantly measures blood pressure and ECG (used to detect atrial fibrillation) through wristband sensors. The watch also captures the usual health-tracking, like monitoring SpO₂, heart rate, steps, calories, and sleep quality. 

Strava, the app for active people, announced it will acquire Runna, a UK-headquartered tech company developing personalized running training plans and coaching. The deal is part of Strava’s ongoing initiatives to innovate for its 150+ million registered users and represents deep investment in Strava’s API developer community. Over 100 training apps currently connect to Strava’s API in order to provide users with enhanced features and functionality. 

The method for measuring first downs in the NFL will switch from chain gangs to camera-based technology in 2025. The official use of Sony's Hawk-Eye virtual measurement system, consisting of six 8K cameras for optical tracking of the ball's position, was announced at the annual league meeting. The system notifies on-field officials of the measurement's outcome, with virtual recreations of the measurements produced in real time for the in-stadium crowds and broadcast audience.  

The European Business Angel Network (EBAN) is the European association for business angels and other early stage investors. EBAN Sports is the dedicated community within EBAN focused on early-stage investing int he SportsTech sector. EBAN Sports organises knowledge exchanges, dealflow showcases and networking activities intended to drive the growth of SprotsTech early-stage investing across Europe.

FloSports, a global sports media company focused on passionate, underserved sports communities, today announces the successful closing of its Series D funding round,  led by Dream Sports, a leading sports technology company based in India. This round brings total funding raised by FloSports to more than $US 100 million to date. The investment will be used to fuel FloSports’ growth through content acquisitions that will expand the company’s sports portfolio. The investment follows the most successful year in FloSports history with 40,000 live events streamed, reaching more than 23 million viewers 

Apple Health+ is taking on Dr. Google. The tech giant is developing an AI-powered “doctor” inside a revamped Health app. According to Bloomberg, the new service could roll out with iOS 19.4, offering personalized health insights, food tracking, and doctor-led video content. Known internally as Project Mulberry, the initiative pulls data from Apple Watch, AirPods, iPhone sensors, and third-party devices to create a proactive wellness coach.

There’s a growing wave of sports content moving into creator territory, and Playback wants to be at the center of it. The livestreaming startup just raised $US 22 million from backers including Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, Khosla Ventures, and NBA Investments. It’s making a serious play to become the go-to platform where sports creators and fans watch live games together. The platform lets creators host live watch parties of NBA and MLB games, backed by official partnerships with League Pass and MLB.tv.

Feldspar, the UK-based technology company, announced the successful completion of early-stage testing of the first functional prototype of a sensor-enabled, high-performance running track. This cutting-edge innovation, powered by AI and real-time data analytics, is set to redefine track technology, providing both physical advantages for athletes and data-driven insights for coaches, broadcasters, and fans. 

Approved updates bring Flag Football and Lacrosse into Los Angeles along with several Olympic events into the Valley for the first time in history, while achieving significant cost savings and bolstering fiscal responsibility, improving athlete and fan experience, and maximizing use of world-class existing venues.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced their joint exploration of a new professional men’s basketball league in Europe that would bring the sport to more European fans and accelerate the game’s growth across the continent. The NBA and FIBA will continue discussions that began more than a year ago with prospective investors, teams, arena developers and commercial partners.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has rapidly expanded its global sports footprint through billion-dollar investments and high-impact partnerships — all aligned with its Vision 2030 strategy to diversify the economy, boost global influence, and become a sports and entertainment powerhouse. Just in Q1 of 2025, we've seen a wave of major deals and potential investments. This includes Saudi's Public Investment Fund's subsidiary SURJ Sports Investment $US 1 billion minority stake in DAZN, a $US 5 billion proposed investment by PIF into a basketball league that will span Asia and Europe, a potential $US 500 million investment in a new Global T20 Cricket League and $US 300 million by SURJ into One Cycling, envisioned as a 'Super League' for cycling.

NBA team owners are expected to discuss an initiative to launch a professional basketball league in Europe during meetings this week. The proposed league would be comprised of eight to 10 teams generating up to $US 3 billion in annual revenue. Franchises in cities such as London or Paris could sell for at least $500 million, according to Sportico. 

Colosseum Sport, Startup Nation Central and Accelab have partnered to launch the Global Sports Tech Startups Program to strengthen the sports innovation ecosystem in Morocco and Israel, leveraging the momentum of the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Up to 10 Moroccan and Israeli startups will complete the 3-month online curriculum which will help them to enter and expand in local and regional markets, and foster innovation and collaboration between entrepreneurs in the sports technology sector. 

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has announced a series of new international media partnerships, significantly expanding its global reach ahead of the 2025 season. With coverage spanning over 130 countries, the new deals ensure broader access to live matches and highlights across key international markets. ESPN has secured exclusive rights in Mexico, Central America, South America, Brazil, the Caribbean, the Netherlands, and Sub-Saharan Africa. For Australian audiences, Optus Sport has acquired exclusive rights to all NWSL matches and highlight packages, ensuring full coverage for fans across the country.

Racquet sports facility operations platform Playtomic has raised $70 million in equity and debt in a funding round led by Match Invest. Playtomic, with more than 6,000 partner clubs across 63 countries, is well-established in Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and Latin America, and derives most of its business from padel. Playtomic plans to fuel expansion by administering loans to burgeoning padel clubs to scale their businesses in exchange for those clubs adopting Playtomic’s platform. Playtomic is developing new modules where players can connect with coaches and build leagues, in addition to finding facilities and booking court time. 

Buffalo Bill safety Damar Hamlin (who suffered from cardiac arrest after he was hit in the chest during a game in 2023) is backing a recently launched venture capital fund that is targeting personalized and preventative healthcare startups. Former Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis, like Hamlin, is on the board of the One Eight Capital fund, which is looking to raise $US 100 million by the end of the year. One Eight Capital has already raised $US 50 million with roughly $US 5 million deployed across three companies: Nucleus Genomics, healthcare service Sollis Health and fitness company VitalSpark AI. One Eight Capital looks to invest in roughly 50 early-stage companies once it closes.