International Sportstech News

Drake Star, a sportstech investment advisory specialist, has released its H1 2024 Sportstech Report. With over $US 27 billion in disclosed value through 225 M&A deals, H1 2024 represented the strongest ever first half of a year (# of deals) with more than triple the disclosed deal value of H2 2023. Top investors focused on early-to-late-stage financings include Ryan Sports Ventures, Will Ventures, and Phoenix Capital Partners, while seed stage investment activity was led by Eberg Capital, Antler, and Elevate Ventures. The large pool of capital raised in 2023 in still largely undeployed and with growing investor interest in the sports tech ecosystem, Drake Star expect this pool to be put to good use in the coming year.

Toca Football, Inc., a soccer experience company, has raised approximately $USD 100 million in Series F funding. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its global growth by investing in new technologies, upgrading its TOCA Soccer training centers, and opening additional soccer-themed TOCA Social entertainment venues. TOCA Soccer operates 39 tech-enabled soccer training centers in North America. TOCA Social is a new soccer-themed entertainment and dining venue, operating in London and Birmingham.

Springbok Analytics, a life sciences muscle analytics company, announced that it has received FDA 510(k) Clearance for MuscleView™, its AI-based muscle health analysis of MR images. Springbok's technology comprehensively measures musculoskeletal structures from a wide range of MR systems, strengths, and sequences, producing personalized 3D visualizations and analyses of muscle health including individual muscle volume, left-right muscle asymmetry, bone volume and intramuscular fat percentage. Springbok is providing a new way for life sciences, elite sports and human performance organizations to deliver precision medicine to the individual at scale.

SportsTechX, a leading global research firm specializing in the sports technology sector, has announced its new role as the "Official Research Partner" at the International Sports Technology Association (ISTA). Through this collaboration, SportsTechX will provide ISTA and its partners with comprehensive custom research services, offer data driven reports, and thoughtful market analysis covering emerging buyer trends, investments, and market dynamics within the expanding sports technology sector. 

Zwift has unveiled its most significant racing update yet, the Zwift Racing Score, designed to make its virtual cycling platform more competitive, fairer, and accessible than ever before. The Zwift Racing Score introduces a new ranking system that reflects each rider's current fitness and racing skill. This ensures participants are matched with others of similar abilities, making races more competitive and allowing riders to steadily climb the ranks. The Zwift Racing Score is a value ranging from 0 to 1,000, with higher numbers reflecting superior fitness and racing ability. It factors in both a rider's power data – based on their best 30-second and 10-minute efforts from the past 90 days – and their finishing positions in races.

Genius Sports has announced the launch of its fan activation platform FANHub, the only omnichannel marketing platform custom-built to reach and engage sports fans. Capitalizing on 20+ years of experience in data collection, curation, and activation and harnessing direct global relationships with 400+ leagues and teams including the NFL and NCAA, Genius Sports created FANHub to give marketers an easy-to-use platform, which combines programmatic and social media buying capabilities built with a sports-first mentality.

OneFootball, a leading digital football media platform, and Major League Soccer (MLS) announced an agreement to showcase MLS to a wider international audience. This new program OneFootball becomes an official content distribution partner for MLS worldwide. The partnership will grant OneFootball access to MLS highlights, covering hundreds of MLS matches, MLS NEXT Pro matches, and MLS NEXT matches per season. he partnership will also leverage OneFootball’s video player network, which includes the newly announced co-branded content hub with Yahoo! Sports

MLS announced the six companies selected for the second edition of the MLS Innovation Lab, a pioneering initiative shaping the future of sports and the league's continued growth. The project identifies and nurtures cutting-edge startups and advanced technologies, and the new cohort will enhance the league's key priority areas of fan engagement, on-field performance, and media technology. Select organizations will also be invited to present to MLS executives and owners at the second “Future of the Game Showcase” during the 2025 MLS All-Star Game in Austin.

German healthtech EGYM has raised approximately $US 200 million of growth capital at a valuation of over $US 1 billion from L Catterton, a leading global consumer-focused investment firm, and Meritech Capital, a leading Silicon Valley technology-focused venture firm. The investment will support the continued expansion of the EGYM Wellpass corporate wellness network and further development of innovative digital solutions, smart strength equipment and tech-enabled products for data-driven and personalized training, allowing fitness club operators to deliver a distinctive experience to its members.

Uplift Labs has built a reputation with movement analysis software widely used by college and professional sports teams.With just a pair of tripod-mounted iPhones or iPads, the company’s Uplift Capture software can use sophisticated computer vision techniques to track how athletes move, evaluate their performance, and offer guidance to avoid injuries. The company is offering a new app—simply called Uplift—designed for individual athletes. The app allows users to track their jumping performance which can be used as part of tracking their overall athletic performance.

As part of its mission to bridge the worlds of sports and crypto, the Chiliz Group is launching Chiliz Sports an independent division that will focus on leveraging the Group’s position as a pioneer in sports and blockchain to foster business opportunities between sports and brands. The Chiliz Group launched of the Socios.com platform and the first Fan Tokens in 2018. Over 70 organizations across nine sport verticals relying on them to grow, engage with, and reward their digital communities. In 2023, Chiliz took a further step in its mission with the launch of the Chiliz Chain. The Sports Blockchain currently hosts a growing ecosystem of over 150 brands and organizations from sports, crypto, and beyond, all of which work together to drive and promote innovation.

Champions Innovate is a programme designed to solve modern, meaningful and relevant challenges identified by UEFA and the host city of the Champions League final. The UEFA Innovation Hub launched this program last season, culminating in a successful first edition around the 2024 final in London. The aim of the program is to foster collaboration between commercial partners, innovative companies and the city (and national association) hosting the climax of the European club season, with the objective of leaving a lasting, positive impact. This year the collaborative partnership program includes the City of Munich, the German Football Association (DFB) and UEFA Champions League commercial partners Mastercard and adidas.

Hudl will be the exclusive performance technology partner for Rush Soccer—which includes video, data and analytics on all of its 55,000+ athletes. Rush Soccer will integrate Hudl Focus Cameras, allowing member clubs the opportunity to capture and analyze every aspect of their games—whether home or away.

The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) announced that it has selected 11 finalists to compete in the 2024 SFIA Start-Up Challenge. The Start-Up Challenge, now in its eighth year, champions innovative entrepreneurs who are revolutionizing the sports and fitness sector through cutting-edge products, technologies, and concepts.

Springbok Analytics have announced a partnership with the Detroit Pistons, who became the latest NBA team to add their MRI-based, AI-powered muscle analysis to their health and performance operations. The Pistons evaluated Springbok Analytics through their partnership with Henry Ford Health and decided to move forward to support their athlete assessments and how they personalize athlete care and performance.

FitnessAI, the AI-powered gym workout app owned by Appex Group has announced the launch of its BodyScan feature. This technology enables users to perform detailed body scans with their smartphone cameras, offering insights comparable to those of costly medical-grade scans. FitnessAI has partnered with Prism Labs, a leader in AI-powered wellness solutions, to launch this innovative feature.

The NBA is seeking submissions for the fourth cohort of NBA Launchpad, the league’s initiative to source, evaluate and pilot emerging technologies that advance the NBA’s top priorities on and off the court. The six priority areas include; Future of Officiating, Future of Youth Basketball, Future of Player Health & Wellbeing, Future of Media, Future of Fan Connection, and Future of NBA Impact. Applications close 18th October 2025.

The NFL and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have extended their long-term partnership, first commenced in 2017. The global partnership will be on display during this week’s games with the debut of a new AI-powered Next Gen Stat that changes how we understand and analyze tackles in football. Powered by AWS, the Next Gen Stats platform collects more than 500 million data points each season. This data serves as the foundation for innovation throughout the NFL - from enhancing fan engagement through advanced statistics, to transforming the viewing experience by enabling alternate broadcasts and new ways of visualizing the action on the field.

ŌURA, maker of Oura Ring, the smart ring that delivers personalized health data, insights, and daily guidance, announced that it’s entered into an agreement to acquire Veri, a Finnish personalized metabolic health company and Oura partner that guides users to the right foods and habits for their bodies through an app enabled by continuous glucose monitors (CGM).

The Orlando Magic are extending their foray into venture capital as a source of finding new inspiration for team operations. The NBA team owned by the DeVos family is joining the Lead One fund as a venture partner, the second major U.S. team to join the sports- and health-tech focused investor. Lead One is the pre-seed stage investment fund from Orlando-based Lead, a sports- and health-tech focused venture capital company founded by members of the Dassler family of Adidas fame.

Autograph, the fan engagement company co-founded by Tom Brady, raised $200 million by 2022 with a vision to sell collectible NFTs. Now the company plans to instead reward fans for actions they already take, such as listening to podcasts and buying tickets. The newly announced platform (which retains the Autograph name) aggregates publicly available blog posts, news stories, YouTube videos and digital shows in customizable feeds for followers of 240-plus teams, doling out digital coins for users consuming content. 

India Premier League (IPL) team Delhi Capital has partnered with Ludimos, a leading cricket technology platform, specializing in AI-driven scouting and player development. The Ludimos match analysis and preparation platform, which will be implemented across Delhi Capitals’ IPL and WPL platforms, will empower the squads to plan and prepare with unparalleled precision.

AMB Sports and Entertainment (AMBSE) announced a multi-year agreement with Wicket, a cutting-edge, proprietary technology built to eliminate friction through facial authentication, as the new proud partner of technology at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Wicket is the leading provider of facial authentication technology in professional sports stadiums, offering facial ticketing, payment, and access control solutions for more than 40 teams around the USA.  

UAE-based Web3 streaming platform, myco, has completed its Series A round, raising $10 million from prominent venture investors across MENA, North America, and Europe. myco’s live-streaming division has secured major rights until 2025, including ICC and PSL Cricket Rights for Pakistan, all major cricketing rights for North America via Willow TV, and rights for the World Squash Federation and Egypt Squash Federation. The platform is set to relaunch its native utility token on the Aptos Blockchain at the beginning of Q4 2024, along with the migration of its wallet infrastructure.

With the re-branding of leading sportstech investor, LeAD Sports & Health Tech Partners to LEAD, Profluence Sport has highlighted the gap in early-stage sportstech investment. LEAD plans to deploy ten $AUD 100k investments into pre-seed sports and health tech companies each year..

The World Health Organization (WHO) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) are joining forces to highlight the transformative impact of assistive technology on sports during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The "Equipped for equity" campaign emphasizes the crucial role of assistive technology for Paralympic athletes to advocate for concerted global action to improve access to these essential health products.

On Tuesday afternoon, NFL owners voted to approve a measure to allow private equity funds to buy stakes -- small stakes for now -- in teams. It is a significant shift in the NFL's ownership rules, which, until now, had allowed a team to have limited partners, but had never allowed institutional investment as part of ownership. A total of 10 percent of a team can be owned by private equity funds. The NFL has already vetted the private equity funds that will be allowed to do transactions with the teams. 

Stratton Studios has announced 'PGA TOUR RISE', a collaboration with the PGA TOUR and Chain Games Ireland to develop a revolutionary Web3 interactive golf game. 'PGA TOUR RISE' is a groundbreaking competitive mobile golf game powered by blockchain technology. Players embark on a journey from amateur to the PGA TOUR, competing on renowned courses, participating in real-time tournaments, climbing leaderboards, and earning 'Rise Bucks' for essential upgrades.

Zepp Health, a smart wearables and health technology, has teamed up with Wild.AI, a women’s wellness app, to launch an integration on Amazfit smartwatches. Starting with the Amazfit Active series, the collaboration will later extend to the brand’s other watches. Wild.AI will provide insights on personalized readiness scores and training plans linked to each female user’s hormonal needs. By leveraging Wild.AI’s AI-driven insights, women can tailor their fitness routines to hormonal fluctuations by aligning exercise, diet and recovery practices with a personalized hormonal profile, accessible directly on their wrist.

alphabeats, a leader in mental performance for athletes and an official supporting partner of USA Triathlon’s Project Podium, announced collaboration with the men's elite development program. The collaboration will integrate alphabeats' innovative neurofeedback technology into the training regimens of Project Podium athletes, enhancing their mental fitness and overall performance as they pursue excellence in international competition. alphabeats' unique approach combines curated popular music with advanced neurofeedback technology, delivered through an app and EEG headband.

Jung+, a science-backed, human-forward company rewriting the standard approach to longevity care, announces its launch after completing a successful private beta phase with a 10,000-strong community. With five years of research and development, Jung launched its Total Longevity System™, a seamless system that allows users to create a holistic longevity regimen tailored to their lifestyle and goals. The products have been engineered with ingredients backed by science to target the drivers of aging and optimize human performance.

The NBA's newest arena has opened. The 17,700 seat Intuit Dome, a joint venture between AECOM and Turner, will be the home of the LA Clippers. The $US 2 billion arena uses face recognition technology for patron entry, and houses the world’s largest “Halo Board,” an oval-shaped, double-sided 4K scoreboard. Two megawatts of rooftop solar panels and 11 megawatts of battery storage on site were designed to help the Intuit Dome operate carbon free.

FIFAe has announced its first-ever multi-title football esports event which will take place from 28 August to 1 September. The event will feature Football Manager alongside eFootball™, celebrating football and esports alike together with different communities. Twenty managers with one assistant manager* each will compete at the inaugural FIFAe World Cup™ featuring Football Manager and represent their respective nation at the event. Players will compete to be crowned the world’s best and win their share of the $US100,000 in prize pool.

Manchester City launched the ‘Man City Virtual Etihad Stadium’ – a new interactive fan experience delivered by Sony for fans. The interactive experience sees City become the first sporting brand to utilize Sony’s new FavoriteSpace service. Fans are able to create a personalized avatar and participate in a variety of activities. Powered by the data tracking technology of Hawk-Eye Innovations, a Sony group company, fans can explore 3DCG immersive match highlights for City home matches during the 24/25 men’s season, as well as relive key moments from the 23/24 season.

Tennis fans can now be a part of the professional tours—off court, that is, by investing in the future stars of the sport. Commonwealth is a sports investing platform that allows for anyone in their 17,000 sports fan community to buy shares of its players and fund their professional journey.

ESPN announced it has reached an agreement with Genius Sports on a new, long-term deal that will help transform ESPN’s live data-driven storytelling for NCAA sports and enhance broadcasts for the NBA and WNBA. ESPN will expand its college sports coverage with real-time team and player stats from Genius Sports, the exclusive distributor of official NCAA Data, with access to data across 65,000 NCAA games a year inclusive of basketball, football, ice hockey, volleyball and soccer. Additionally, ESPN is extending its deal with Genius Sports around NBA player-tracking data insights while adding the WNBA to its portfolio of sports properties leveraging its data.

Levels, a software startup co-founded in 2019 by longevity expert Dr. Casey Means, which uses artificial intelligence for meal monitoring and personalized insights based on biomarkers, has announced a $US 10 million Series A extension. The round included $3 million in crowdfunding from over 2,000 investors and follows a $US 38 million Series A in 2022. 

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and AquaBloom International Sports Technology Group Limited (ABSG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the “Sports Technology Talent and Industry Development Centre”. The Centre aspires to cultivate top industry talents and accelerate sports research and industry development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area through education programmes, academic exchanges and joint research projects.

Google's Fitbit has partnered with Peloton Interactive to give its premium users access to the exercise equipment maker's fitness content, starting early September. As part of the deal, Fitbit premium members based in the U.S., UK, Canada and Australia would have access to Peloton's classes across categories, including pilates, running, boxing and cycling. Peloton members, on the other hand, would receive offers on Google Pixel watches and Fitbit Charge 6 devices.

Known for partnering with top sports, media, and entertainment IPs to launch next-gen, brand-building web3 games, GameOn has teamed up with LALIGA, PFL, and Karate Combat to bring the best web2 sports to web3. As a first milestone to commemorate this partnership with Sequence, GameOn is launching a cutting-edge fantasy game based on real-world LALIGA players and matches. Fans will be fully immersed in a soccer/football experience like never before — collecting playable Avatars (NFTs), customizing gear, and playing in weekly matches against other competitors.