SportsTech update Aug 2022: The wave continues

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SportsTechX

5 min readAug 11, 2022

Top 5 SportsTech stories from 2022 so far

Well over the halfway mark in the year calls for a SportsTech investment recap. Summed up into our top 5 stories of the year so far. Starting with…

1. 2022 still riding that wave

We’ve played the 2021 record on loop for a while now, $12b+ in investment will do that. And it seems like 2022 is proving to be a solid follow up. $5.7b invested in the 1st 7 months of this year. Down about 23% compared to the same period last year but that’s hardly something to moan about given the general global economic climate.

$100m+ deals in good number, 11 so far this year compared to 19 in the same period last year. Long way to go to match the year end total of 34 but there’s still plenty of time and good momentum carrying forward.

2. The Fanatics IPO is inevitable

$995m raised in 2021 followed by $1.5b raised in 2022 to top the funding charts in 2022 by a country mile. Most importantly, look at the valuations, $6.2b in Aug 2020 > $13b in Mar 2021 > $18b in Aug 2021 to now $27b in Mar 2022!

Now that’s what being aggressive with your fundraising looks like. An incredible vote of confidence from new investors who have jumped on board to help Fanatics reach it’s goal of becoming a $100b company.

The latest round means that 2022 is unlikely and the broader financial climate will have a big say in it’s timing but at this point the IPO is a when rather than an if. 2023 or early 2024? Maybe their new sportsbook will be open to taking bets.

3. NFTs are still a thing

Love them or hate them, you simply can’t ignore them. The polarising acronym NFTs have continued to be a big part of the SportsTech story in 2022.

On one hand we’ve seen over $1b invested in NFT related startups, with existing big names raising more rounds and some new ones jumping onto the scene. The latter is especially true in India with 2 companies, Rario & FanCraze, announced $100m+ deals in the early part of the year. Collectibles will continue to be a niche segment but we’re seeing an evolution in offerings as utility becomes more than a buzz word.

On the other hand, no matter where list you look at, there certainly has been a slowdown in trading activity as we keep reporting on our NiftySports newsletter. Subscribe if you want to keep up with the latest news.

Here are the 5 companies that have raised the most so far

4. Everyone wants to stream Live Sports

We talked about this in our North American SportsTech Report in April. New York Times talked about this last month. LinkedIn is full of opinions. And plenty more will share more in the coming months.

It’s no secret that big tech (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google) have taken a shine to sports in general and live sports especially. Apple signed a mega deal with the MLS, the NFL confirmed that it’s Sunday ticket will move to a streaming service next year and promptly launched their own streaming service NFL+. A bunch of those names were interested in the IPLs streaming rights which smashed some serious records.

My favourite though is relationship cliff-hanger of long time Friends Netflix & Formula1. ESPN is playing spoilsport for now, in the US at least. But I really hope those two work it out.

All that just means that live sports deals are likely to get a nice bit sweeter.

5. SportsTech ecosystem gets stronger & stronger

Every year we add to the list of new SportsTech focused funds / accelerators / innovation programs. And 2022 has provided quite a list to add. Will run through a few quickly

Arsenal brought back their innovation lab
SportBoost brought Iker Casillas, Wayra Innovation Hub & LaLiga together for an accelerator program
Adidas and Le Tremplin launched an innovation lab to support women-led or women-focused startups promote. Very cool.
Cardinal Sports Capital announced a $100m accelerator focused on Sports Betting and SportsTech. Cha-ching.
Konvoy Ventures Launches $150M Investment Fund, largely towards gaming & crypto

There are plenty more to name, which we continue to do across our channels. Kudos to all these people driving new initiatives in the space. We appreciate you.