Two new SportsTech reports recently came out. I spent hours dissecting them, so you don’t have to.
If there’s anything I’ve come to learn in sports…
This is an AMAZING time to be building in the industry.
Let’s Dive In ????
SportsTech Companies
Tracxn has some interesting data that has internally sparked a lot of debate.
They have over 20,000 sports companies listed (with roughly ~15% of them funded).
At first glance, I thought 20,000 sports companies was too high of a number…
But then I remembered there are more than 150 million startups worldwide (according to Microsoft).
Deal Making in SportsTech
We saw records in total M&A and the number of deals last year:
2024 was by far the strongest year in history for M&A.
Some of the landmark deals include:
- Skydance’s $8.4B acquisition of Paramount
- KKR’s $4.75B acquisition of Varsity Brands
- Silver Lake’s $13B take-private of Endeavor
- Standard General’s $4.6B acquisition of Bally’s
- Liberty Media’s $4.6B acquisition of Dorna Sports.
It was a slightly slower year for SportsTech, with an announced deal value of about 1/4th of what it was in 2023.
The overall IPO market still isn’t looking great…but there are some potential contenders for 2025 in sports.
Increase in PE funds
One of the biggest stories of 2024 was the rise of new funding for private equity funds.
This continues to increase as we’re now 5 months into 2025.
What are the implications of this?
- more capital at the growth stages ($20m+ checks)
- this will increase M&A and rollups to reach those levels
- Founders must be sharp about positioning themselves as “acquisition targets” or “platform buyers.”
SportsTech Market Map
Drakestar also released a market map…
Having created many of these myself — I can say competitive landscape slides are HARD.
This gives a good high-level overview but only focuses on mid-to-late-stage companies.
Stay tuned, as I want to keep releasing deeper market maps in unique areas that not everyone covers (and includes earlier-stage companies).
Where It’s Going (Our Take for 2025)
The SportsTech industry is no longer niche — it’s infrastructure.
It’s where fans, athletes, teams, brands, and capital are all converging.
Here’s what we’re seeing:
- Capital Stack Shift: From seed to Series B, funding remains tight. But PE/growth money is ready to deploy. Founders must show traction or strategic value quickly.
- M&A Momentum: Every operator should be exit-aware. Building to sell or consolidate is a real strategy now.
- New Moats: AI, personalization, gamification, and proprietary data are today’s IP. Don’t just build a tool…build a wedge.
Closing this out…
- For founders, the bar is rising — but so is the ceiling!
- For investors, the time to pick winners is now — before the land grab accelerates.
2025 will be another great year in SportsTech.
