🔎📈 June Recap: Mbappe, Zidane, NBA, Puma, Wimbledon Enter The Metaverse. Rafa Nadal Vs Djoko: 22 - 21. Warriors Win 4th NBA Ring. $262M Raised From Sports Tech Startups.
Discover more from The Upside Newsletter
🔎📈 June Recap: Mbappe, Zidane, NBA, Puma, Wimbledon Enter The Metaverse. Rafa Nadal Vs Djoko: 22 - 21. Warriors Win 4th NBA Ring. $262M Raised From Sports Tech Startups.
Dear Colleague,
June was another busy month in the world of elite sports. In the world of soccer, many of the soccer teams across the world are now gearing up for their preseason games. The Super League Clubs is now accusing the UEFA of soccer monopoly. In addition, FIFA announced the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup. Two of the host cities are in Canada, three in Mexico and 11 are in the United States. Of note, a new study from 2018 that found that North America could collectively see $5B in economic impact from the 2026 Soccer World Cup.
In the world of pro basketball, the Warriors won their 4th NBA title after beating the Celtics in the NBA finals. Kevin Durant is now shaking up the NBA offseason. Durant wants to leave the Nets, and Phoenix and Miami are among two of the teams that he has on his wish list, sources tell ESPN, but the Nets plan to move Durant where they can get the best possible deal. Durant’s teammate Kyrie Irving allegedly wants to leave as well and go to the LA Lakers.
In the world of American Football, NFL teams are working full speed to get ready for the new NFL season. But one of the biggest news was Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski announcing his retirement from the NFL. The Raiders also made history by hiring Las Vegas attorney Sandra Douglass Morgan to be their new team president, as she becomes the first Black woman to hold that title for an NFL franchise. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also joined the incoming ownership group for the Denver Broncos.
In the world of pro rugby, France have moved up to number one in the men's rugby union world rankings for the first time in their history. The 2022 Grand Slam winners beat Japan 20-15 last week to take top spot as New Zealand lost 23-12 to Ireland and world champions South Africa were upset 13-12 by Wales. England also leveled the three-match series at 1-1 with a 25-17 victory over Australia in Brisbane last week.
In the world of pro baseball, the Yankees now lead the American League (61-25) while the LA Dodgers lead the National League (56-29).
In the world of pro tennis, Rafael Nadal made history by winning his 22th grand slam title after winning Roland Garros last month. But Novak Djokovic is catching up as he just won his 21th grand slam title after winning Wimbledon last week. The US Open is set to become a key grand slam for both players in their quest to make history.
In the world of pro golfing, LIV Golf made history this month after launching its competition in London and Portland. Interesting enough, the PGA Tour is now apparently being investigated by the Department of Justice over anticompetitive behavior as it competes with the LIV Golf Invitational Series, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In the world of pro hockey, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that the NHL league is set to generate record revenue of at least $5.2B this season. Former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam is also nearing a deal to purchase the NHL’s Nashville Predators, according to some reports.
In the NFT/Metaverse/AR/VR/Crypto/Blockchain space, Niantic unveiled NBA All-World mobile game for ‘real-world metaverse”. Sorare Ethereum Soccer NFTs surged after signing PSG’s Kylian Mbappé and Zinedine Zidane as its new ambassadors. Puma also made big Web3 push as sports brands go all-in on the metaverse. In addition, Wimbledon engaged younger fans with virtual Centre Court on Roblox. Cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance also announced a new, multi-year BFT partnership with soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
English Premier League (EPL) also became the latest entity to venture into the metaverse with two filings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Voax launched the first of its kind cricket-based utility NFT with Indian cricketer Kedar Jadhav. ESTN also announced the official launch of the Electronic Sports Tournament Network a global blockchain-powered metaverse esports arena owned via NFT 'Seat Licenses'.
Global consulting firm McKinsey & Company is now forecasting that the metaverse may generate up to $5 trillion by 2030. In addition, more than 80% of commerce could be impacted by activities in the metaverse. Smartphone manufacturer HTC also launched its first "Viverse" phone the HTC Desire 22 pro, designed to be compatible with its metaverse platform and incorporating crypto and NFT functionality.
Video: "Viverse" phone the HTC Desire 22 pro
Timberland & Epic Games also unveiled a shopping experience in Fortnite Metaverse. Investing directly in SimWin Sports, a digital sports league where virtual teams and athletes backed by NFTs compete in simulated games, Magic Johnson also acquired a basketball team and football franchise called the Los Angeles Magic. NASCAR also teamed up with Roblox on the metaverse front.
Picture: SimWin Sports, a digital sports league.
Meta also announced the launch of a digital designer clothing store that will allow users to purchase clothes and other accessories for their avatars in its metaverse. DraftKings and the UFC also agreed to develop fighter NFTs that will tie into both fantasy gaming and sports-wagering opportunities in an evolution of the companies’ blockchain-based offerings.
The National Hockey League Players' Association , the National Hockey League, the NHL Alumni Association and NFT distribution platform Sweet also announced a new multiyear partnership naming Sweet the Official NFT Digital Collectibles Marketplace and an Official NFT partner of the NHL, NHLPA and NHLAA.
Starting next season, the EuroLeague will become part of Unagi’s ‘Ultimate Champions’ platform, allowing players to buy, collect, and trade officially licensed digital cards of their favourite players and assemble fantasy teams that compete with other players. Aquatics world governing body Fina also gave a personalised NFT to any athlete who breaks a world record at the World Championships in Budapest that took place on June 18, 2022. Steh Curry and his purpose-driven company, SC30 Inc., unveiled surprise merch during the NBA Finals Game 4 tunnel walk. This initiative further offered collection holders with unique and one-of-a-kind experiences that connect them with Curry.
In the world of sports performance and wearables, Apple could unveil an extreme sports watch. Ultrahuman Ring put a metabolism tracker on your finger. Fitness tech startup Strive also raised $6M with backing from NFL Pro Bowler.
In the world of sports tech investments, investments reached $262M, which was down -59% , compared to May 2022. 22% of funding came from Metaverse/NFT startups, down from 78% last month.
Lastly, if you have a sports tech product and startup and want us to review and do a full analysis of your sports tech product (e.g. sleep tech, wearables, biosensors, NFT/Metaverse..) that would be published here on our Upside newsletter and website, please reach out to us at julien@sportscouncilsv.com
As a reminder, we launched our Upside Global platform to bring together our sports, tech & health community of 6,000+ executives under a single web platform. Members include executives from the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, MLB, NCAA, Laliga, English Premiere League, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Series A, Brazilian soccer league, Olympic teams, Pro rugby, Pro tennis, as well as representatives of startups, brands, VCs, and athletes.
If you are a head athletic trainer, CTO, CMO of a major sports team or league looking to connect with the most innovative startups or connect with your peers to network, or if you are a startup CEO looking to connect with top teams or investors, you can join our Upside community of executives from the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, MLB, NCAA, Laliga, English Premier League, Olympic teams, top VCs, startups (AR, VR, wearables, sleep tech..) and more!
Your opportunity for growth starts now, create your free executive profile today to join our online community and click on “become a member today” as a first step. It is free to join! It only take one minute to create your profile.
Join the Upside online community
If you face any problems during the registration process, please contact us at julien@sportscouncilsv.com
📰 Top Stories We’re Reading This Month
📈 📹 Upside: Thermography Ecosystem Analysis (Key Vendors, Trends, Recommendations to teams)
🎾Analysis: Tennis Tech Ecosystem: Where we are heading
⭐ ⌚ Upside: Video Analysis Vendor Ecosystem Market (Key vendors, Trends & Recommendations to Teams)
⭐ 🚴Upside: The Connected Fitness Ecosystem: From Smart mirror, treadmill, Bike..to Smart Rowing
🏈 How Tech is Transforming American Football: From AR/VR/MR, NFTs to drones, robots, holograms and more
🔗 Niantic unveils NBA All-World mobile game for ‘real-world metaverse’
🔗Sorare Ethereum Soccer NFTs Surge After Signing PSG’s Kylian Mbappé
🔗 Puma makes big Web3 push as sports brands go all-in on the metaverse
🎮 Wimbledon looks to engage younger fans with virtual Centre Court on Roblox
⌚ Apple Could Unveil Extreme Sports Watch
⌚ Ultrahuman Ring puts a metabolism tracker on your finger
⌚ Exciting upcoming smartwatches landing in 2022
⌚ Fitness tech startup Strive raises $6M with backing from NFL Pro Bowler
💸 Startup investment recap (June 2022)
📊 Tech Stats of the month
📸 Snapshots & videos of the Month
Let’s jump right into the insights and upside for all of these top stories
📈 📹 Upside: Thermography Ecosystem Analysis (Key Vendors, Trends, Recommendations to teams)
Over the last decade, injury risk assessment has become a major challenge for many pro teams and leagues. As part of that, thermography has emerged as a new way for pro teams to help reduce the risk of injuries with high level of accuracy. This is having a profound impact on pro teams in terms of players’ monitoring, recovery or injury prevention. In this analysis, we will provide an overview of the current and future trends, the thermography vendor ecosystem and the key players. We will also provide recommendations to teams and leagues on how to successfully implement a thermography solution.
To Read the full Upside analysis, click here.
🎾Analysis: Tennis Tech Ecosystem: Where we are heading
With Wimbledon, one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world happening this week, we thought we would go over the emerging technologies in the world of pro tennis.
In the past few years, the world of tennis has evolved quite dramatically through the emergence of advanced technologies (Injury prevention software, wearables, AI, AR/VR/holograms, radars..) that have helped improve the fans experience as well as the performance of tennis players or even prevent major injuries.
To Read the full Upside analysis, click here.
⭐ ⌚ Upside: Video Analysis Vendor Ecosystem Market (Key vendors, Trends & Recommendations to Teams)
With 32% of teams looking to invest in a video analysis tool, according to our 2020 Upside survey, video analysis systems (Second Spectrum, Hudl, Stats Perform, SkillCorner, Footovision..) have become one of the most common technologies used by pro teams today, along side of GPS, HR, AMS systems. Video analysis systems are often used for game analysis, scouting and even sports betting purposes. In this analysis we will discuss the current and future market trends, VC/M&A investment trends, the video analysis vendor ecosystems, and the key video analysis vendors. We will also provide recommendations to pro teams looking to adopt a video analysis solution.
To read the full analysis, click here.
⭐ 🚴Upside: The Connected Fitness Ecosystem: From Smart mirror, treadmill, Bike..to Smart Rowing
Over the past 2 years, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic a growing number of teams have started to adopt connected fitness products to enable their athletes to stay in shape remotely. We have seen a variety of connected fitness equipments from smart mirrors, treadmills, bikes to smart rowing products.
To read the full analysis, click here.
🏈 How Tech is Transforming American Football: From AR/VR/MR, NFTs to drones, robots, holograms and more
American Football is one of the most popular sports in America. But it is also one of the most advanced sports leagues when it comes to emerging technologies. Before we get into some of the technologies used in the NFL, let’s start with the economics. In 2021, the NFL generated about $18B, making it the king of U.S. sports. Moving forward, the NFL is on track to hit $25B in annual revenue by 2027.
To Read the full Upside analysis, click here.
⭐ Upside Podcast Interviews of the Month
🔥 Upside Chat: Greg Bonnier, VP, Helight (Leading Red Light Therapy Device Company)
🎮 NFTs/Metaverse/AR/VR/Blockchain News
🔗 Niantic unveils NBA All-World mobile game for ‘real-world metaverse’ | Via : Venturebeat
Niantic revealed a new mobile game dubbed NBA All-World that will let fans compete against other players in their own neighborhoods.
The game uses gelolocation to enable players to find other players and challenge them in a one-on-one multiplayer hoops game on a smartphone. It’s another title that expands the geolocation gaming genre that Niantic pioneered with Ingress and Pokémon Go. Niantic’s formula has been to create new geolocation games with famous brands such as Harry Potter or Pikmin, and it is also licensing its AR/geolocation platform to indie devs through a platform called Lightship. You can watch the video promo here.
⬆️ The Upside: We believe that this is a good move by both the NBA and Niantic. The NBA can leverage Niantic’s experience launching successful Pokemon Go type experiences. Of note, Pokémon GO from Niantic surpassed $3.6 billion in global player spending, according to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates. This should help the NBA bank on the growing interest towards the metaverse and mobile AR. For Niantic, they will be able to leverage the NBA’s strong brand recognition in order to help drive its top line. Of note, the NBA has 38.4 million fans on Twitter and 39M fans on Facebook..For more info, you can check out our latest analysis on the NFT Sports market here. You can also check out our sports metaverse ecosystem analysis here.
🔗Sorare Ethereum Soccer NFTs Surge After Signing PSG’s Kylian Mbappé and Zidane | Via : Decrypt
Sorare, an Ethereum NFT-based fantasy soccer game, signed its first player ambassador this week—and secondary sales of the game’s NFT player cards have been surging ever since. On Wednesday, Sorare announced the signing of soccer star Kylian Mbappé, forward for Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and the World Cup-winning French national team, as an investor and global ambassador. Sorare has also pledged support to Mbappé’s charity, Inspired by KM, as part of the alliance. It is Mbappé’s first move into the Web3 space. Sorare also announced a partnership with Zinedine Zidane this week.
⬆️ The Upside: This should not come as a surprise to see Sorare signing world’s class soccer players and coaches like Mbappe and Zidane. This is part of Sorare’s global strategy to sign top athletes in order to help them grow the popularity of their NFT platform and grow their top line. Of note, Mbappe has 8.4M Twitter followers, 15M Facebook followers. We expect Sorare to team up with more athletes in the coming months. For Mbappe and Zidane, they will be able to leverage the growing popularity of Sorare’s platform which is now expanding in the US and into new sports (baseball with the MLB).
Picture: Sorare, Mbpappe, Zidane.
🔗 Puma makes big Web3 push as sports brands go all-in on the metaverse| Via : Vogue
Puma, up against tough competition in the metaverse from Nike and Adidas, has revealed the next stage in its Web3 strategy: a partnership with 10KTF, the narrative NFT project that includes a virtual Tokyo and digital clothing for profile picture avatars (PFPs) made by Wagmi-San, a fictional tailor who previously worked with Gucci.
It marks Puma’s most significant metaverse project yet, with digital products tied to physical goods on the horizon, says Puma chief brand officer Adam Petrick in an exclusive interview with Vogue Business to announce its Web3 strategy.
“As a sports company, we have to be thinking about engaging with people in the physical world and giving people the opportunity to bring physical products into the digital world,” Petrick says. Digital products open up new possibilities, he says: a digital basketball shoe can carry with it athletic abilities in virtual worlds, for instance. “Whether it’s gamified utility or access, it’s like a fourth dimension of experience with the product,” he says.
⬆️ The Upside: This should not come as a surprise to see Puma doubling down on the metaverse/web 3.0 space. But make no mistake! the competition will be fierce among top sports apparel companies in the metaverse space as Nike and adidas are a bit ahead of Puma at the moment. For example, Nike acquired RTFKT a hot metaverse startup a few months ago and adidas already launched an NFT collection. We expect other major sports apparel brands to follow suit in the coming months. For more info, you can check out our latest analysis on the NFT Sports market here. You can also check out our sports metaverse ecosystem analysis here.
🎮 Wimbledon looks to engage younger fans with virtual Centre Court on Roblox | Via : SP
The All England Club (AELTC) has built a digital recreation of Wimbledon’s Centre Court in the Roblox video game platform as part of its 100-year celebration of the arena. ‘WimbleWorld’ offers a mixture of online games, video content, and social features for fans aged under 18 that can’t be engaged via its other metaverse world, the Virtual Hill. In the Roblox environment, users can roam a fantasy representation of the grounds using their digital avatar and compete against each other on the tennis court, earning digital ‘coin packs’ that can be redeemed for digital merchandise.
In addition, there are highlights from the tournament and the opportunity to meet famous players like Andy Murray.
⬆️ The Upside: We think that this is a good move by Wimbledon to partner with Roblox. That being said, they are not the first to do so in the pro tennis world as the Australian Open Tennis and the Rafael Nadal academy already launched their own metaverse experience earlier this year. We expect other major tennis tournaments (US Open, etc) to follow suit in the coming months to try to bank on the growing interest towards metaverse types experiences.
Picture: Roblox, Wimbledon
🚑 Wearables, Health, Nutrition News
⌚ Apple Could Unveil Extreme Sports Watch
Apple is reportedly planning to release a watch geared toward extreme sports athletes. The rugged version of its Apple Watch Series 8 will have the smartwatch’s largest display yet with 7% more screen area at 2 inches diagonal, a bigger battery, a metal casing, and a more shatter-resistant screen. The standard watches are made out of aluminum. The extra battery will allow athletes to track workouts for longer periods of time.
The standard Series 8 and the extreme sports Series 8 will both be able to take a user’s body temperature and improve tracking measurements like elevation. The standard Apple Watch currently starts at $699.
⬆️ The Upside: It would make sense for Apple to release a special version of the Apple Watch as extreme sports enthusiasts tend to gravitate around high tech products like this. Apple needs a product that meet their needs and where they can track their biometric data in real time. But we believe that Apple needs to double down on the biosensing capabilities of the Apple watch by offering new capabilities like hydration, electrolyte assessment.
⌚ Ultrahuman Ring puts a metabolism tracker on your finger | Via : Wareable
Startup Ultrahuman is getting into the smart ring game with the promise to help wearers better understand their metabolic health. Having already launched its wearable M1 glucose monitoring patch, the Ultrahuman Ring can work in conjunction with the M1 patch or on its own to help draw links between your lifestyle choices and the impact it has on your metabolism.
It's packing motion sensors to track movement and sleep with a heart rate sensor also packed in to deliver real-time data and then offer actionable insights via the companion phone app, which is available for both Android phones and iPhones. Ultrahuman also says the Ring is able to perform a body scan, picking up heart rate, heart rate variability and body temperature to help users understand how those metrics vary based on what you do during the day and to also offer recovery advice based on that information.
⬆️ The Upside: We expect to see more startups like this one trying to compete against Oura which has gained good traction in the world of elite sports. But differentiation (biosensors, analytics..) will be key for any of those startups if they want to take share away from Oura. In May 2021 — nearly a year after the NBA purchased Oura rings for players in the Bubble — Oura announced that it had sold just over 500,000 rings, and Oura's total funds sat at $148.3 million. The boost in sales comes after Oura launched its $300 Gen3 model and a $5.99 monthly subscription offering in October.
Picture: Smart ring.
⌚ Exciting upcoming smartwatches landing in 2022 | Via : Wareable
Smartwatches are the hottest property in tech right now, and there are plenty of upcoming devices to get excited about. As the key period of 2022 approaches, we're expecting all of the big name devices from the Galaxy Watch 5 and Apple Watch Series 8 to appear in the coming months. And the appearance of Google's first smartwatch – the Google Pixel Watch – has the potential to shake up the world of Android smartwatches.
⬆️ The Upside: We believe that the smart watch market is a very competitive market. But most smart watch vendors need to push the boundaries in terms of biosensing capabilities. They need to add new types of biosensing capabilities like hydration/electrolyte assessment, lactate measurement, glucose monitoring, etc. The point here is that it will help them get an edge over the competition (Apple, Fitbit/Google, Meta, Garmin, Samsung…).
⌚ Fitness tech startup Strive raises $6M with backing from NFL Pro Bowler | Via: FINMES
Strive, a Bothell, Wash. – based platform proven to optimize muscle performance for elite athletes and teams, raised $6m in Series A funding. The round was led by Future Communities Capital, with participation from SeaChange Fund, SeedtoB Capital, Jas Ventures, Gaingels, Founders First, Macnica Investment Partners, fama Ventures, Biosphere Investment Group, and Thinkuvate, Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts and former Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL and Ohio State University quarterback Troy Smith. Future Communities Capital Managing Director Rohit Gupta joined Strive’s Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the funds to build out sales and marketing to accelerate and scale growth of its athletic and military customers, as well as to building out its capabilities for industrial applications. Led by Nikola Mrvaljevic, founder and CEO, Strive delivers a platform to optimize muscle performance for elite athletes and teams. Through proprietary algorithms and sensors that integrate into any compression clothing, the system provides the most complete, accurate and actionable data for athletes to always compete at peak performance.
⬆️ The Upside: We think this is a great milestone for Strive and it will help the company scale its business. Founded in 2016, the company currently works with over 215 professional and collegiate athletes and teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, EPL and NCAA use it to achieve and maintain peak performance with accurate and actionable muscle data. We also think that the EMG sensor market has become quite competitive with vendors like Neurocess, or Myontec shaking up the market. But some vendors like Athos shut down due to the lack of traction and increased competition.
💸 Sports Tech & Health Investment Recap - June 2022
Here is the recap of the major sports startups’ investments in June 2022, which reached $262M. This was down -59% , compared to May 2022. 22% of funding came from Metaverse/NFT startups, down from 78% last month.
Source: Upside, Confidential, June 2022
New Tech fund & M&As:
Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), an operator of a women’s tennis association based in St. Petersburg, Florida, is set to sell a 20% stake to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for $150 million.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – through its subsidiary Savvy Gaming Group, has purchased a $1 billion stake in Embracer Group, acquiring 8.1% of the company’s shares.
Konvoy Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in Esports, infrastructure technology, tools, platforms, and video gaming, raised a $150 million new venture fund focused on pre-seed, seed, and Series A funding for those companies creating assets across multiple industries with a focus on Web3 and gaming.
Bain Capital and Nextalia have agreed to acquire streaming technology provider Deltatre from Bruin Capital in a deal reportedly ranging between $700 and $900 million.
📊 Key Tech Sports Stats of The Month
$5 Trillion: Global consulting firm McKinsey & Company has forecasted that the metaverse may generate up to $5 trillion by 2030. In addition, more than 80% of commerce could be impacted by activities in the metaverse.
$46.7B: Nike reported $12.2 billion in fourth-quarter revenue on Monday and $46.7 billion in full-year revenue, a 6% year-over-year increase.
The Swoosh beat analysts’ quarterly estimates of $12.06 billion but fell 1% from the same period last year. Nike reported net income of $1.4 billion. Nike Direct revenue increased 7% to $4.8 billion during the quarter, Nike Brand digital saw its revenue jump 15%, and Nike-owned stores fell 2%. Converse, a subsidiary of Nike, reported $593 million in revenue, down 1% year-over-year. Revenue for the Nike Brand reached $44.4 billion for the fiscal year.
$10B: A number of sports deals are in limbo after cryptocurrency platform Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy.
Voyager says “prolonged volatility and contagion” forced the Chapter 11 filing. According to the filing, Voyager estimates it had more than 100,000 creditors and between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets, with an equal amount of liabilities.
Last week, Voyager suspended all withdrawals and trading. Voyager had announced an agreement in December with the NWSL — one of the league’s largest in history — in which the players were to receive a portion of the deal in cryptocurrency and financial education on cryptocurrencies.
The NWSL isn’t Voyager’s only tie to sports.
Voyager paid one bitcoin in April 2021 — around $60,000 at the time — to the Oakland A’s for a full-season suite-ticket package. Bitcoin is now trading at roughly $20,000.
Six months after announcing its A’s deal, Voyager became an international partner of the Dallas Mavericks.
Former NFL player Rob Gronkowski announced a marketing deal with Voyager last fall, NASCAR driver Landon Cassill extended his Voyager partnership in December, and NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady and NFL Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk serve as advisors.
$4.6B: Forbes last valued the Warriors at $4.6 billion, second in the NBA. The Warriors had a $184 million payroll for the 2021-22 season and generated the highest basketball-related revenue in the NBA last year at $474 million.
$3B: The 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games could cost $3.09 billion if they’re held in British Columbia. Canada’s First Four Nations, the Canadian Olympic Committee, and the Canadian Paralympic Committee presented the financial estimates — with bid officials promising operating costs would be covered by private funding up to an estimated $2.16 billion. The cost would be funded by sponsorships, broadcasting rights, and merchandise licensing.
$2.5B: Apple and MLS have entered a 10-year streaming rights agreement worth $2.5 billion. The deal will sequester MLS games on the Apple TV+ streaming service.
$2B: UEFA and the European Club Association announced the start of a media rights tender process for U.S. rights to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League until Aug. 15. The rights to the Champions League — which is expanding from 32 to 36 teams — are expected to go for “north of double” their current price, a source familiar with the deal told Front Office Sports.
For the first time, companies can bid on the rights for up to six years, and the deal could fetch more than $2 billion.
In the Champions League’s current agreement, Paramount and Univision roughly pay an annual $145 million combined for the current rights, with the former paying more.
This year’s Champions League Final brought in 5.36 million viewers — making it the most-watched title game in U.S. history.
UEFA’s push to reach American audiences aligns with the 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
$1.1B: Major shifts in the college conference landscape have caught the attention of a rising player in sports streaming. Apple has reportedly restarted talks with the Big Ten following the news that USC and UCLA are joining the conference in 2024, per Sports Business Journal. The conference’s current six-year media deal, which pays around $440 million per year, expires in 2023. Apple may now reenter the fray for a third package, along with Amazon, ESPN, and NBC. The total package was thought to have the potential to reach $1.1 billion before the two big-draw Los Angeles-area teams joined.
$1B: The NFL has had its sights on expanding its reach through flag football as it looks to grow its international business to $1 billion annually over the next 10 years. The league believes that flag football as an Olympic sport could expedite the process of attracting new fans.
445M: Six years ago, worldwide viewership for F1 was down by 110 million from its 500 million peak in 2012 — a significant loss in value for the sport. It has now bounced back as the world of F1 had 445M viewers in 2021.
$302M: New York has generated $302.3 million in mobile sports betting tax revenue since its launch in January — surpassing expectations and beating every other state in total revenue. The Empire State benefits from being the largest mobile sports betting market in the U.S., with more than 2.9 million unique player accounts created since its legalization in January.
$270M: Major League Soccer has secured a deal with IMG Arena following an arduous request-for-approval process. IMG Arena — a service that works with more than 470 sportsbook brands — will work with MLS to increase fan engagement for America’s top soccer league and its new affiliate league, MLS NEXT Pro. The two entities will also work together to “create a new standard” for soccer data.
The deal is worth more than $270 million, per Sportico.
As part of the pact, MLS will launch three new live data feeds.
The two entities will also launch digital products to engage online audiences.
IMG Arena’s deal with MLS comes at an exciting time for the league.
$100M: UCLA’s decision to head for the Big Ten may have been out of necessity. When the school announced it would depart the Pac-12, some fans didn’t understand the decision. As it turns out, the Bruins were on the brink of having fewer sports to cheer on. UCLA’s athletic department racked up $102.8 million in debt over the last three fiscal years, potentially forcing it to cut Olympic sports programs altogether.
In the Big Ten, UCLA could close that deficit if it earns $100 million per year from the conference’s projected $1 billion media rights deal in 2024. The conference’s current deal, worth $440 million annually, expires in 2023.
4.8M: Pickleball grew to 4.8 million players last year in the U.S., representing a participation growth rate of 39.3% since 2019.
The U.S. lack of current infrastructure to support demand for the sport with only 10,000 places to play by USA Pickleball’s count.
The world’s best players currently earn around $200,000 annually through prize money, sponsorships, and other revenue streams.
3M: This year’s World Cup in Qatar has sold 1.8 million tickets so far. Qatar residents have purchased the most tickets, with Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the UAE, and the U.S. following. With all 32 teams now confirmed for the tournament, the next phase of tickets for the November event go on sale Tuesday. FIFA plans to offer a total of 3 million tickets over all buying rounds but has received more than 23 million requests. Qatar hopes to attract 1.2 million fans.
📸 Snapshots & Videos of the Month.
Here's our monthly look at the performance of the big leagues' NFT platforms: The markets are red all over. From the stock markets to crypto to NFTs. And the sports leagues' marketplaces are no exception to this.
Real Madrid’s new stadium. Check out this amazing new rendered footage of the new pitch removal and storage system at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium of the 21st century. Real Madrid's famous stadium, which is currently undergoing extensive renovation work, will be fit to host a number of events in the future, including concerts, basketball matches, American football matches and tennis matches. The best stadium in the world is getting even better.
You may also like:
🔥 Upside Chat: Dave Hancock, CEO, Apollo (Leading Athlete Management Systems (AMS) vendor)
🔥 Upside Chat: Ismael Fernandez, ThermoHuman CEO
🔥Upside: AMS Ecosystem Analysis: Key Trends, Vendors and Recommendations to Teams
💦Upside Analysis: The sweat and heat sensing market (Key Trends, Vendors)