Flutter Entertainment’s Startup Program: Apply NOW!

Last week, out of the blue, we spotted The 4th Quarter featured on one of Flutter Entertainment’s sites under “Friends of Flutter” (scroll down) - a nice surprise that led us to discover one of our longtime readers actually works at Flutter’s Emerging Tech Strategy Arm. They filled us in on Alpha Hub - Flutter’s new startup partnership program that connects game-changing ideas with their portfolio of global betting and gaming brands like: FanDuel, Sky Betting & Gaming, PokerStars, and Paddy Power.

Naturally, we wanted to share this exciting opportunity with you. If you’re an early-stage founder building or an investor who’s been pitched by a compelling company in this space - this opportunity could be the big break.

Who They’re Looking For:

  • Teams reimagining the User Journey in betting and gaming

  • Builders of Social and Community-First Platforms

  • Innovators in Sports Gaming & Arcade experiences

  • Wildcard Submissions - if it surprises us, it might just be the next big thing

What’s on the Table

  • Direct introductions to decision-makers across Flutter’s family of brands

  • Tailored mentorship from industry veterans

  • Commercial partnership pathways to fast-track your growth

🗓️ Apply by August 30🔗 Submit your application to Alpha Hub🕒 Deadline: 11:59 PM UTC, August 30, 2025

Got questions or want to bounce ideas? Hit us up - we’re here to help and can put in a word.

Sports-Tech Market Activity: Investors & Deals

Accelerators

  • NBA Africa, a league-backed growth platform, to fund 10 startups in upcoming iteration of Triple-Double Accelerator (Aug. 4th)

    • Applications open for second edition; 10 early-stage African startups to receive mentorship and financing

    • 2024 cohort awarded $200K in total grants, led by $50K to Tix Africa for event payments innovation, followed by Salubata, HustleSasa, and UBR VR

    • 2025 Demo Day set for December, backed by ALX Ventures and new partner ServiceNow [SBJ]

Venture Capital

  • Ten Thousand, a men’s premium activewear brand, receives backing from private financing firm Forza Capital in Series B funding (Aug. 6th)

    • Renewed backing follows Forza’s participation in TT’s $21.5M Series A in 2022

    • Brand growth driven by strong following among elite athletes, trainers, military professionals, and others [FinSMEs]

  • GameRamp, a game monetization platform targeting developers and consumer app companies, raises $5.4M in Pre-Seed funding (Aug. 5th)

    • Funds to support expansion into US and India markets and dual-product launch: Sentinel for real-time in-game monetization and Grow for embedded developer financing

    • Investment led by BITKRAFT Ventures; other investors include South Park Commons, Mixi, and DeVC, among others [Pocketgamer.biz]

  • Good Job Games, a Turkish mobile gaming studio developing casual puzzle titles, raises $60M in Series A funding (Aug. 4th)

M&A and Investments

  • NBA taps investment banks JPMorgan and Raine Group amid its exploration of new European league (Aug. 1st)

    • Aims to tap into under-monetized Euro basketball, holding <1% of $20B media market

    • NBA in talks with top clubs including existing basketball teams Real Madrid & Barcelona, and other clubs including Man City & PSG, alongside PE firms to back the venture [FT]

  • Disney trades NFL assets for 10% ESPN stake in equity deal, subject to regulatory approval (Aug. 6th)

    • NFL acquires 10% of ESPN, handing over NFL Network and RedZone

    • Deal drops Disney’s ESPN stake to 72% from 80%, with Hearst’s decreasing to 18% from 20%

    • ESPN also inks 5-year, $1.63B WWE streaming pact up from WWE’s prior $900M Peacock deal [SBJ][SBJ]

  • Sports Investment Bank Whitecap Sports Group launches women's sports M&A and advisory division (Aug. 6th)

  • PVF and MLV, rival volleyball leagues, unify pro landscape through $325M merger (Aug. 5th)

    • Combined league valued at $325M+, according to Sportico; follows PVF’s $40M fundraising round led by DeVos family and MLV’s $100M committed funding

    • All 8 PVF teams to compete under MLV 2026, targeting 10 teams by 2027; new Dallas team joins, Vegas on hold [SportsPro]

  • LOVB Nebraska, a pro LOVB volleyball team, unveils new ownership group and team rebrand (Aug. 5th)

  • Fox acquires one-third stake in motorsports-focused Penske Entertainment for up to $135M (Aug. 1st)

    • Acquisition valued at $125M–$135M, according to WSJ

    • Deal includes multi-year broadcast extension for IndyCar, now averaging 1.26M viewers per race [SportsPro]

  • Guenther Steiner, an Italian engineer and former Haas F1 team principal, acquires stake in Tech3 MotoGP team for €20M+ (Aug. 2nd)

    • Deal primarily backed by APEX Capital, managing investments for 100+ pro athletes

    • Steiner to assume operational control; current staff, riders, and French HQ to remain in place [Motorsport]

  • Paramount and Skydance finalize merger in RedBird-backed deal (Aug. 7th)

    • Merger creates new Nasdaq-listed entity, ‘Paramount, a Skydance Corporation’, trading under PSKY ticker

    • Backed by RedBird Capital, with strategic focus on tech-driven content and global IP monetization [Paramount]

  • NFL’s Chicago Bears reach $8.8B valuation in internal stake transfer (Aug. 7th)

    • Transaction values team at $8.8B - up from Sportico’s $6.26B 2024 estimate

    • McCaskey and Ryan families to absorb late investor Andrew McKenna’s 2% stake; sale awaits NFL approval [Sportico]

  • Garmin acquires leading sports timing company Mylaps, launches branded marathon series with top wellness partners (Aug. 5th)

  • Cerebral, a digital mental health startup, acquires therapy group practice Resilience Lab to expand integrated care model (Aug. 5th)

    • Aims to unify psychiatry and therapy, addressing fragmented care and provider shortages

    • Joint platform serves over 100M commercially insured Americans across the US [Cerebral]

Photo Creds: Ten Thousand (activewear shown above) raises Series B funding from Forza Capital.

Strategic Ventures

  • Genius Sports, a sports data and betting tech provider, partners with Serie A and 18 top-flight European leagues via European Leagues Association in exclusive betting data, streaming, and tech deals (Aug. 4th)

    • Serie A: Exclusive rights deal through 2029 gains global rights to data and low-latency streams for Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa Italiana

    • Includes rollout of GeniusIQ AI platform for automated in-play data, visuals, and insights [SportCal] [SportsPro]

  • Global Gaming League, a celebrity-led esports league, partners with top triple-A publishers ahead of launch (Aug. 5th)

    • Secured licensing deals with Activision Blizzard, EA, Capcom, Ubisoft, Bandai Namco, and Tetris to feature renowned titles ahead of Aug. 23 debut

    • Over 250K signups for inaugural season featuring celebrity team owners including personalities like T-Pain, Nick Cannon, Flavor Flav, and Bryce Hall [GamesBeat]

  • OpticOdds, a real-time sportsbook data platform, partners with esports betting odds & analytics provider Rimble to launch esports and cricket content (July 31st)

    • Partnership targets high-frequency, high-margin wagering in alt sports markets, including esports and cricket

    • Aims to boost engagement and operator ROI without increasing operational load [GamingAmerica]

  • Meadowlark’s ‘Pablo Torre Finds Out’, a narrative-driven sports culture podcast, inks multimillion-dollar agreement with The Athletic in ‘seven-figure’ deal (Aug. 5th)

    • The Athletic also acquires Sports Gossip Show, targeting casual fans with off-field content and storytelling

    • Follows show’s DraftKings sponsorship end; adds to The Athletic’s push beyond traditional sports media [SBJ]

  • Xbox debuts ‘Gaming Copilot beta’ sidekick on Game Bar for PC Xbox Insiders (Aug. 6th)

    • Launch builds momentum ahead of ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X handheld debuts

    • Copilot uses AI and gameplay screenshots to deliver real-time, contextual support without disrupting play [GamesBeat]

  • PlayVS, a scholastic esports platform, launches ‘PlayVS College League’ to unify collegiate gaming (July 30th)

    • League aims to support North American middle school-college students; creates broadcast, management, and media career opportunities [EsportsInsider]

  • AdsAdvisor, a mobile marketing platform by My.Games, launches Business Modeling tool for mobile gaming studios (Aug. 5th)

    • New feature enables simulations of user acquisition scenarios, aligning revenue forecasts across iOS, Android, Huawei & more [PocketGamerBiz]

  • WSC Sports, a short-form sports video content distributor, unveils AI-powered tool to automate press conference content (Aug. 6th)

    • AI-powered tool indexes, edits, captions, and auto-dubs Q&A content for fast, multi-format distribution

    • Enables rapid repurposing of interviews and pressers across platforms, streamlining media workflows [WSC]

Job Board & Opportunities: Week of August 8th

Here are some cool roles we found and personally curated this week - enjoy!

1. Formula 1 - Commercial Operations Manager: 5+ Years of Experience

2. AMB Sports + Entertainment - Manager, Revenue Strategy & Analytics: 3+ Years of Exp

3. Activision Blizzard - Senior Analyst, Strategy: 2+ Years of Experience / $171K

4. Respawn Entertainment - Sr. Producer, Player Investments: 7+ Years of Exp / $183K

5. Scopely - Director, Slate Strategy: 6+ Years of Experience / $245K

6. Discord - Account Manager, Crossplatform Gaming: 6+ Years of Exp / $256K

7. ATP Tour - Director, Strategy & Analytics: 6+ Years of Experience

8. United States Golf Association - Managing Director, Finance: 15+ Years of Exp / $275K

9. Anduril - Gaming, Connected Warfare Director: 10+ Years of Experience / $343K

10. Zynga - Director of Product, Game of Thrones Legends: 7+ Years of Exp / $230K

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