In this article, we will be taking a look at the 15 most innovative startups in sports. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the 5 Most Innovative Startups in Sports.
Sports Industry Outlook
Sports have been a vital element of entertainment for civilizations. Today, the sports industry is more advanced than ever before with the latest technology and equipment being used in sports. Technological developments are influencing athlete training, game analysis, management of sports venues, players' data, and wearable technology for athletes. Sports is a diverse industry with different games, markets, and audiences.
According to a report by Grand View Research, the global sports technology market was valued at $13.14 billion in 2022. The market is expected to reach $55.14 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 20.8% from 2023 to 2030. At the same time, the global sports analytics and global esports market sizes are forecasted to reach $6.34 billion and $12.49 billion by 2030, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 27.1% and 21.9% from 2022 to 2030, respectively.
Sports stadiums are using high-end technology to provide the best experiences to fans and increase efficiency and safety for players. Stadiums are approaching smart ways to take their setup to the next level. The smart stadium segment is expected to record a compound annual growth rate of 20% between 2023 and 2030, as per Grand View Research. Another segment in the sports industry that is really gaining momentum is wearables. With increasing demand for wearables, the wearables sub-segment is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 14% from 2023 to 2030.
Highest Earnings Sports
Global sports have a wide range of audiences and collaborations with sponsors and advertising agencies. Sports such as basketball, football, soccer, cricket, tennis, and boxing are some of the highest-earning sports in the world. Every year sports leagues around the world attract billions of views including the National Basket Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), the English Premier League, and the National Hockey League (NHL).
American leagues are some of the richest sports leagues in the world. One reason for that is a large viewership and the second major factor is that the owners of the teams are key stakeholders in the decision-making of leagues. Unlike European football, where there are hundreds of clubs and multiple divisions, that are under the control of UEFA and FIFA. In Europe, UEFA takes a certain portion of earnings. According to UEFA, the gross revenue for 2022/2023 UEFA leagues was estimated to be EUR3.5 billion. Whereas, the NBA alone generated revenues of over $10 billion in the 2021/2022 season, which was a record high revenue for the NBA, as per Forbes.
Cricket is one of the biggest sports in the world. As per Grand View Research, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 recorded 6.58 billion video views across ICC platforms, rising by a staggering 65% from the ICC T20 World Cup in 2021. The prize money for the winning team for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 was $1.6 million. Indian Premier League (IPL) is the richest cricket league in the world. On June 15, 2022, BBC revealed that IPL sold its streaming rights for $6.02 billion until 2027. The rights were purchased by Viacom18 for $3.05 billion and Disney-owned Star India retained the streaming rights for $3.02 billion. The contracts include nearly 410 IPL matches, with each match sold for almost $7.36 million. This makes IPL one of the highest-ranked sports leagues alongside the NFL and the English Premier League in cost-per-match terms.
Technology and Tech Companies in Sports
The use of technology is everywhere and in every industry today. PwC International Limited conducts a global sports survey, researching various aspects of the industry. In PwC’s seventh edition Global Sports Survey, the company obtained 507 responses from senior sports executives from across 43 countries. According to the PwC survey, 76% of respondents believe that large, non-traditional tech players are in a position to capture the sports media and broadcasting rights in the future. While, 40% of respondents feel that Web3 and blockchain technology will create bigger opportunities for sports companies in collectibles including cards, videos, and sporting items.
According to IMG Media's Seven League Digital Trends forecast for 2023, there will be a significant evolution in the adoption of Web3 technology in the sports industry. 2022 had some notable collaborations and sponsorship deals. Crypto.com sponsored two major events including F1 and FIFA World Cup, while blockchain firm Tezos became a sponsor of English Premier League club Manchester United. Other Premier League clubs including Manchester City and Liverpool FC were involved in NFTs along with Wimbledon and Red Bull Racing. Seven League highlighted that the optimal way to utilize Web3 is to improve fan communities. Seven League’s report mentions:
“For sport, it’s likely in 2023 that the innovation won’t be focused on using these new technologies to solely make money but instead to improve the relationship with fans and customers. The true art form is in building and fostering fan communities who connect around these themes.”
Seven League is working with Oracle Corp.’s (NYSE:ORCL) Red Bull Racing to launch a Discord server. Through the Discord server, Seven League wants to create a community for Oracle Corp.’s (NYSE:ORCL) Red Bull Racing F1 teams and esports teams.
Despite the slower conversion of fans to Web3, companies like Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have portrayed a positive image of the sector. For instance, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) through its Meta Horizon has generated more than 10,000 public worlds on its platform. The leading players on Meta Horizon include NBA and UFC, which have streamed live events.
Another tech giant, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is leading wearable technology through its Apple Watch. On September 12, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) revealed the Apple Watch Series 9, which comes with a powerful new S9 SiP chip. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) with its latest chip in the Apple Watch brings improved performance and capabilities, adding access to health data. Apple Watch has been doing great in the market as one of the best-selling smartwatches in the wearable market. Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) COO, Jeff Williams mentioned:
“Apple Watch is an indispensable companion that helps millions of people with their health, fitness, communications, and safety. We’re introducing our best Apple Watch lineup, with incredible new capabilities and technological advancements, including a new double tap gesture, brighter display, on-device Siri, as well as our first-ever carbon neutral products. Whether users are upgrading from earlier models or buying their first, there’s never been a more compelling time to experience Apple Watch.”
Sports betting is another sub-segment in sports that has picked hype in recent years. According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the online sports betting market is projected to jump from $63.70 billion in 2023 to $109 billion by 2028, registering a compound annual growth rate of 11.34% between 2023 and 2028. Draftkings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) is the company that unleashed sports gambling to the masses. Draftkings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) allows gamblers to bet on games being played in the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and various other sports tournaments. During the second quarter of 2023, Draftkings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) posted strong results with revenue recorded at $875 million, a rise of 88% year over year. The betting company has increased its full-year 2023 revenue guidance to a range of $3.46 billion to $3.54 billion, expecting a growth of 56% year over year. Here are some of the comments from the Q2 2023 earnings call:
"We have continued to focus on powering our own same game parlays and differentiating our live betting content. We now have live same game parlays built in-house for most of the major sports, including NFL, NBA, MLB, college football and college basketball and added to our live markets for golf, tennis, and MLB. We are improving our product to have very fast philosophy with very high quality. In iGaming, we’re executing our two brand strategy while focusing on differentiating through more in-house content, including live dealer and jackpot offerings. Our persistent focus on product differentiation is already apparent in share trends. In the states, where we are currently live, we achieved OSB handle share of 35% and OSB GGR share of 32% in the quarter, which were the highest they have been since the COVID impacted second quarter of 2020."
Apart from that data analytics is really important in the sports industry. Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ:SRAD) is a growing company that offers sports data and analytics to sports federations, media companies, and bookmakers. Some of the leading partners of Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ:SRAD) from the sports industry include NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, UEFA, FIFA, Bundesliga, ICC, and ITF. On August 29, Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ:SRAD) announced that it has extended its collaboration with Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) for another four years. Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ:SRAD) continues to provide NASCAR with sports data and will now also deliver official betting data.
15 Most Innovative Startups in Sports
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Our Methodology
To find data for the most innovative startups in sports, we looked into several publications with the list of the most innovative startups in sports. We took the top ten companies from each list of Fast Company, Built In, Failory, Master Born, and Tracxn and checked their total funding, and shortlisted the top three startups from each list with the highest total funding. Our hypothesis is, the more innovative a startup is, the more funding it is likely to receive. To give an overall ranking to the list, we took the highest total funding as a base metric. For total funding, we sourced and cross checked our data from CB Insights, Crunchbase, and Growjo and Tracxn. The list is ranked in ascending order of the metric. Here is the list of the 15 most innovative startups in sports.
15 Most Innovative Startups in Sports
15. Athletes Unlimited
Total Funding: $30 Million
Founded in 2020, Athletes Unlimited is the first professional sports entity organized as a public benefit corporation. Athletes Unlimited aims to empower elite women athletes. Athletes Unlimited has obtained huge success and gained sponsorship including Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE), Gatorade, and Topps - to name a few. Athletes Unlimited is placed 15th on our list of the most innovative startups in sports.
Some of the leading tech companies improving the sports industry include Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ:SRAD), Draftkings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
14. MOJO Sports
Total Funding: $100 Million
MOJO Sports is uplifting youth sports. The company through its app provides young players with rewards that drive video game engagement. MOJO Sports offers custom practice plans through its tech-empowered coaches. MOJO Sports ranks among the most innovative startups in sports.
13. OneFootball
Total Funding: $141 Million
Founded in 2008, OneFootball is a media publication that covers over 100 football leagues in multiple languages. OneFootball has made it easier for fans to access the latest industry news on a single platform. OneFootball ranks 13th on our list of the most innovative startups in sports.
12. EGYM
Total Funding: $143.47 Million
EGYM is innovating the way to tackle major challenges of modern fitness and health facilities through its smart connected strength training equipment. EGYM is one of the most innovative startups in sports.
11. Tempo
Total Funding: $298.8 Million Tempo is an AI-powered home gym system that uses 3D sensors to examine user performance and workout data. Tempo is changing the fitness industry through its technology, making it easy and efficient for users to gain fitness. Ranked 11th on our list, Tempo ranks among the most innovative startups in sports.
10. ONE Championship
Total Funding: $336 Million
ONE Championship is a Singaporean-based mixed martial arts company that has emerged as one of the biggest martial arts platforms in the world. Unlike, UFC, ONE Championship is a go-to platform for newcomers to build their careers in mixed martial arts. ONE Championship is one of the most innovative startups in sports.
9. Xonic Golf
Total Funding: $382 Million
Xonic Golf is the first AI caddie tool that allows golfers to customize PCG professional quick fixes and tips. Xonic Golf's app allows golf players to analyze their shots and improve their next shot with the help of the AI. An inventive introduction to the golf sports market, Xonic Golf makes it to our list of the most innovative startups in sports.
8. MPL
Total Funding: $386 Million
MPL is an Indian esports and mobile gaming platform that allows users to play 60+ free games in various categories such as card games, puzzle games, arcade games, and fantasy sports, among others. Users can also win prizes by playing games in all the categories available on the platform. MPL is ranked 8th on our list of the most innovative startups in sports.
7. SeatGeek
Total Funding: $405.65 Million
Founded in 2009, SeatGeek is a leading mobile-focused ticket platform that allows fans to trade tickets for sports, concert, and theater events. SeatGeek through its technology has modernized the ticketing industry. SeatGeek ranks among the most innovative companies in sports.
6. WHOOP
Total Funding: $406 Million
WHOOP makes wearable devices to track human performance and help athletes with data and improve their physical skills. WHOOP allows users to understand the in-depth functioning of the body and cover up their lagging points. WHOOP ranks sixth on our list of the most innovative companies in sports.
While WHOOP is one of the most innovative startups in sports, some of the most prominent companies making strides in the sports tech industry include Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ:SRAD), Draftkings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
