FEATURED STORY
How Sports Teams Should Solve For ‘The Invisible Fan’ - Using AI
Photo: Ramp Economist Research Report of Corporate Spend on Sports Teams.
Hands down, the biggest structural issue in all of sports is “the invisible fan.”
The most daunting statistic is that SeatGeek told Sports Business Journal that venues know only about 40% of attendees.
This is no secret; sports teams are notoriously bad about knowing who their fans actually are.
Our take: the industry does not just need more fan data. It needs a unified fan layer that can actually be queried and used by commercial teams.
Despite having so many unique touch points spanning digital and live events, a team may know the original ticket buyer, but doesn’t fully know:
Who actually attended that game
Whether that person was a friend, client, or resale buyer
What they bought in the stadium (concessions or merchandise)
How that fan engages with the team on social media
To add fuel to the fire, arguably the hottest company in tech right now highlighted another invisible customer: the corporate buyer.
The preconceived thought might be that businesses spend on “autopilot” for sports teams tickets & luxury suites to wow clients and close deals. Data suggests that in football and basketball, companies often keep spending regardless of how the team is performing.
Baseball is the exception. There, corporate demand behaves much more like a real market, responding to wins, timing, and momentum.
Ramp, the $32B AI-powered financial operations startup, just dropped an economic research report revealing how corporations spend on sports teams tickets vs. the team’s performance.
In-house economist, Ara Kharazian, tracked $57M in corporate spend on sports teams and venues across 68 teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB - from 2022 to 2025.
When the Kansas City Chiefs went 6-11 last season, companies spent 2x as much on their tickets vs. when they did in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl-winning 2024 season.
The Las Vegas Raiders won three games, and companies still spent $2.1M taking clients and prospects.
The Washington Wizards are currently 17-55 with a few weeks left in the season and have amassed $700K+ in corporate spend.
However:
“That’s not the case in baseball. When the Cleveland Guardians’ win rate dropped 10 percentage points in 2023, corporate spend fell 78%. The next year, they improved by 10 points, and spend came roaring back, beating their previous record.”
The key finding: When an MLB team’s win rate improves 1%, it’s associated with a 4% lift in corporate spend on tickets. When a franchise has a 10% improvement in win rate, it translates to 37% more corporate dollars funneling in.
While the baseball angle is compelling, the bigger takeaway is that Ramp, a third-party company outside the traditional sports ecosystem, was able to uncover a customer-spend insight that many teams still may not have a unified view into themselves.
Fret not, this isn’t another pessimistic piece on what’s wrong.
We’re going to cover:
How AI & MCP (Model Context Protocol) Can Fix This Gap For Sports Teams
Why Emerging League & Team Operators Should Use This As A Cautionary Guide
↓
LEAGUES & TEAMS
Photo: IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru sells for $1.78B to a consortium that includes Blackstone and David Blitzer’s Bolt Ventures.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru sold for ~$1.78B to a consortium led by Blackstone in a landmark IPL deal (Mar. 24th)
Buyer group includes Blackstone (first direct sports team investment), David Blitzer’s Bolt Ventures, Aditya Birla Group, and Times of India Group; deal covers both IPL and Women’s Premier League teams
Reflects new institutional capital inflow into global cricket; pending approval from BCCI and league regulators [Sportico]
DHS’s FEMA awards $625M in security funding to U.S. FIFA World Cup host cities after lengthy delay (Mar. 18th)
FEMA will distribute funds across 11 U.S. host cities via reimbursements, unlocking critical resources for law enforcement and event security just months before kickoff
Funding follows delays tied to DHS budget disputes, with additional $250M allocated for state-level security measures including drone surveillance [FOS]
NFL owners to vote on Raiders succession plan giving Silver Lake's Egon Durban majority purchase option in a team sale process (Mar. 19th)
Owners also voting on Davis selling ~7% to Durban and Michael Meldman, impling team valuation near $10B; Davis currently has no interest in selling the team
Vote set for March 29 annual league meeting in Phoenix; finance committee has already approved the option agreement [ESPN]
Fenway Sports Group scraps multi-club soccer ownership plans after exploring 25+ clubs (Mar. 20th)
FSG evaluated Bordeaux, Malaga, Getafe and a minority stake in Monaco before abandoning the strategy
FSG also reportedly passed on NBA expansion in Las Vegas due to cost; Penguins sale still pending [SBJ]
Monarch Collective makes its first WNBA investment with stake in Cleveland's 2028 expansion franchise (Mar. 24h)
Cleveland expansion fee was $250M; 10 new investors added to cap table; Rocket Arena to serve as home venue
Monarch's portfolio now spans Angel City, Boston Legacy, San Diego Wave and FC Viktoria Berlin [WNBACleveland] [SportsPro]
Michael Johnson to repay $500K to Grand Slam Track creditors as part of revised bankruptcy deal (Mar. 24th)
Revised plan cuts athletes' recovery from 85% to 70% of $7M owed; unsecured creditors to recover 14-16% of $13M
GST filed for bankruptcy in December after Eldridge Industries withdrew up to $40M in funding; 2027 relaunch still possible [TheTimes]
Haslams seek $50M in public funding from Columbus and Franklin County for potential NWSL bid (Mar. 24th)
Proposal calls for $25M each from city and county toward training facility at McCoy Park and stadium upgrades
City council majority currently opposed to capital spending; members more open to admissions tax and land-use alternatives [ColumbusDispatch]
Erling Haaland invests in Norway Chess to back the new Total Chess World Championship Tour (Mar. 19th)
Four-city annual tour to crown world champions in fast classic, rapid and blitz formats; FIDE-supported
Minimum prize pool of $2.7M per season; pilot tournament planned for autumn 2026 [ESPN]
Premier League to amend Squad Cost Ratio rules, allowing clubs to roll over unused spending room (Mar. 19th)
Clubs spending under 85% cap for two consecutive seasons can deploy up to 95% in year three penalty-free
Brighton-proposed amendment expected to pass unanimously via postal vote before summer transfer window [Guardian]
AFC scraps 2031 and 2035 Asian Cup hosting bids after FIFA requests shift to even-numbered years (Mar. 24th)
Tournament likely moves to 2032 and 2036, aligning with UEFA Euros and Copa America schedule
Australia, Kuwait, South Korea and Japan had all expressed hosting interest before bids were abandoned [AFC]
↓
STARTUPS & VENTURE CAPITAL
Photo: Pro Padel League raises $15M in its Series A funding round.
Pro Padel League raises $15M Series A led by Hornets owner Rick Schnall (Mar. 24th)
Round includes Left Lane Capital and follows $10M seed, bringing total funding to $25M as the league grows its 10-team footprint
Investment comes as padel gains traction globally (35M+ players), with rising U.S. adoption and franchise values now exceeding $10M [CNBC]
Recentive Analytics raises $45M Series B to scale AI-powered predictive modeling platform for sports (Mar. 18th)
Platform is used by leagues and operators (NFL, MLB, NWSL, ESPN) to optimize scheduling, pricing, and fan demand through multi-source predictive analytics
Round led by Wavecrest Growth Partners; AMB Sports & Entertainment's Arthur Blank also participated [SBJ]
Working Capital Partners closes Series A led by Patrick Whitesell's WTSL to scale athlete liquidity platform (Mar. 23rd)
Platform delivers $2B+ in structured capital solutions against guaranteed athlete contracts and music catalogs for athletes and musicians, respectively
Backed by WTSL, Pinnacle Bank and Steven Bornstein; expands institutional finance access for elite talent [Working Capital Partners]
idPair, a responsible gambling data platform, closes an institutional funding round led by Game Changers Ventures (Mar. 23rd)
Platform enables national self-exclusion across state lines; currently live with Nebraska, Wyoming and Massachusetts
Round size undisclosed; idPair joins Game Changers' portfolio alongside data firm Equipe [SBJ]
NurivaTech raises $8M Seed to launch SportFX, an AI smartphone biomechanics coaching app (Mar. 23rd)
SportsFX tracks 23 body points at 120fps; starts with baseball and softball and expanding across sports
Backed by Joe Girardi, Jason Kipnis, Adam Gase and Transition Equity Partners; subscriptions start at $16/month [SBJ]
Five Iron Golf closes Series E led by Coral Tree Partners to expand indoor golf and entertainment footprint (Mar. 17th)
Investment amount undisclosed; funds target new market expansion, tech upgrades and customer programming [Raising.fi]
↓
M&A AND INVESTMENTS
Photo: Private equity firms are currently bidding for the Wasserman agency (now called “The Team”).
Wasserman sale process launches with $2B-$4B price range; Permira, EQT and TA Associates among bidders (Mar. 19th)
Providence Equity, which owns ~60%, expected to sell; Casey Wasserman seeking ~$1B personally from deal [Sportico]
Danone agrees to acquire UK nutrition brand Huel for $1.2B, expanding into the high-protein health market (Mar. 24th)
Deal combines Huel’s fast-growing, DTC-led meal replacement brand with Danone’s global distribution and R&D capabilities to scale in “complete nutrition” products
Targets a $5.9B+ market, with Huel generating ~$284M revenue in 2024 and strong growth among health-conscious consumers [Reuters]
Playback team joins ESPN to build interactive sports media following platform shutdown (Mar. 17)
Disney clarified this was a talent hire, not an acquisition; team joins ESPN's product and technology division
Playback had struck live watchalong deals with NBA and MLB before shutting down late last year [Awful Announcing]
Seat Unique acquires P1 Travel to build a global premium sports hospitality platform (Mar. 23rd)
Capitalizes on surging demand for premium live experiences, with partnerships spanning 140+ rightsholders across sports and entertainment and 500K+ hospitality packages across 150 countries
Follows Seat Unique's October 2025 Circuit Hospitality acquisition; brands will continue operating separately [P1 Travel]
FCC approves Nexstar's $6.2B acquisition of Tegna, waiving 39% household reach cap (Mar. 19th)
Combined entity reaches 60%+ of U.S. households; DOJ also signed off; eight state AGs filed suit to block deal
Nexstar agreed to station divestitures and localism commitments as conditions of approval [NBC]
↓
STRATEGIC VENTURES
Photo: Netflix and NBC debut their MLB packages as the season gets started.
Netflix, NBC debut MLB packages Wednesday as league enters new media era (Mar. 25th)
Netflix pays $150M over 3 years for 9 games including opener, Field of Dreams and Home Run Derby
NBC's 3-year, $600M deal covers 25 Sunday Night Baseball games and exclusive Wild Card rights; first MLB deal since 2000 [Sportico]
Pacers Sports & Entertainment launches Fieldhouse Media Network, a first-of-its-kind retail media platform for sports (Mar. 24th)
Pacers unveil a fan data-driven media network reaching ~250M fans, built with Deloitte + Yieldmo to enable targeted, cookieless advertising
Extends sponsorships beyond game day into a year-round media business across 500+ publishers, turning fandom into a measurable revenue channel [Fever]
Lenovo and NVIDIA expand multiyear AI partnership targeting $60B global sports tech market by 2030 (Mar. 16th)
Three new AI solutions cover venue operations, performance intelligence and content data labeling
Lenovo already processes 650TB+ of live F1 data per race weekend; serves as FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Technology Partner [Lenovo]
UEFA eyes 2027 Champions League DTC streaming launch in Asia ahead of next media rights cycle (Mar. 20th)
Platform could debut in Indonesia or India, complementing or replacing traditional broadcast deals
Plans at early stage; follows Premier League's own DTC launch via Premier League Plus in Singapore [SportsPro]
Togethxr launches largest-ever activation at Women's Final Four with 28,000 sq ft Phoenix venue (Mar. 20th)
Togethxr will host a 3-day takeover at 28K sq. ft. Phoenix venue, backed by sponsors including Aflac, Dick’s, JPMorganChase and TJ Maxx
Activation blends fan experiences, brand pop-ups, and VIP programming, signaling growing brand demand around women’s sports tentpole events [SBJ]
EverPass becomes an exclusive commercial streaming home for NFL Sunday Ticket, replacing DirecTV (Mar. 18th)
EverPass becomes exclusive commercial distributor of NFL Sunday Ticket (YouTube’s $14B deal), replacing DirecTV across ~300K venues
Aggregates rights from Amazon, Apple, ESPN, Paramount+, Peacock + NFL, creating a one-stop streaming hub for sports bars [Sportico]
F1 renews multiyear deal with Fanatec as Official Sim Racing Hardware Partner for 2026 championship (Mar. 23rd)
F1 extends deal with Fanatec, powering official simulators across a 12-round F1 Sim Racing Championship ($750K prize pool) and launching new licensed hardware
Fanatec simulators will be deployed at all F1 Grands Prix + global fan zones, deepening the link between virtual racing and live event engagement [F1]
CSMG to conduct jersey patch valuations for College of Charleston, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's and Stony Brook (Mar. 18th)
Uses data-driven modeling (broadcast, digital, exposure, comps) to help programs price and structure a new revenue stream in college athletics
Follows CSMG's recent Arizona Athletics engagement; part of growing demand for independent sponsorship pricing in college sports [CSMG]
LPGA and Trackman expand broadcast partnership, deploying six tracing cameras starting this week (Mar. 18th)
Expands shot-tracing from 1-2 cameras to 6 per event under a 5-year Trackman deal, with plans for full coverage by 2027
All events now air live on linear TV, with added features like in-round interviews, signaling a push to elevate visibility and storytelling [SBJ]
WWE revamps auction platform with event-used memorabilia, opening with $58K Stone Cold sale (Mar. 19th)
Steve Austin WrestleMania 38 knee brace from his final match sold for $58,000 in debut auction
More exclusive items set for WrestleMania 42 weekend, April 16-20 in Las Vegas [SBJ]
↓
JOB BOARD
If you find our weekly job board helpful, join the T4Q Talent Network.
Now - here are some cool roles we found and personally curated this week. Enjoy!