Photo Creds: Sports betters at BetMGM on Super Bowl LVIII Feb. 2024
Like it or Not: Sports-Betting is Here To Stay
Whether you’re a die-hard fan of a particular team or a risk-embracing bettor that swears that a certain pick is a “lock”, you’ll be intrigued with how this novelty is trailblazing legislation, sports leagues, and TV viewership. While sports-betting has been a topic of controversy, 85% of Americans support the Supreme Court decision to end the federal sports-betting ban. We wanted to present some cold-hard facts that might surprise you.
U.S Sports betting hit $100B+ in wagers handled in 2023!
1 in 5 Americans say they’ve bet on sports in the last year, with 49.7M people having bet this past year
Gaming operators so far have generated $300B in total handle and $25B in gross revenue
Record-breaking $185.6M was bet last week on Super Bowl LVIII in Nevada ALONE!
Beat the previous high on Super Bowl of ~$6M in 2022
FanDuel alone took on 14M bets totaling to $307M & 2.5M active users
Innovative sports-betting technology startups like PrizePicks, Betr, Sleeper, and UnderDog Fantasy are leveraging ‘daily-fantasy sports’ to bypass strict ‘sportsbook’ legislation and allowing users to bet on player performance rather than team success. This, in addition to innovative content creation partnerships, has amassed ridiculous user counts at break-neck speeds. With continued deregulation and record-high viewership, sports-betting has already formed tidal waves.
Weekly Startup Spotlight
With the context above, we wanted to parlay it into two early-stage startups that are pioneering in the space:
Winible - Ever thought your sports-betting picks were good enough to do it as a full-time job? The first-ever, creator monetization platform for cappers (those who study & sell picks), to launch online, build a community, and sell their sports-betting picks. With the sports-betting industry surpassing $90B and creator-economy hitting $250B in market size, this Hollywood & Silicon Valley founder team is looking to capture this intersection.
Founders: Noah Traisman, Daniel Sands, Teddy Jungreis
Funding: Raised $4.02M from an undisclosed group of investors in 2023
Novig - Commission-free sports betting is finally here. As the first and only sports-betting company to come out of Y Combinator, Novig is disrupting the traditional sportsbook by peer-to-peer betting with your friends or against their proprietary market. Users set their desired odds or take the most competitive prices on the market. With no house & no vigor (the bet’s fee), users truly earn all their winnings. Valued at $33M, the platform is only available in Colorado with the team looking to expand to new states.
Founders: Jacob Fortinsky, Kelechi Ukah
Funding: Raised $6.4M seed round in 2023, led by Lux Capital and participation from Joe Montana, Y Combinator, Paul Graham, Soma Capital, Rebel Fund, Palm Drive Capital, Bayhouse Capital, and other prolific angel investors
Sports-Tech Market Activity: Investors & Deals
Venture Capital
Odyssey, a mushroom-infused energy drink brand, raised $6M (Feb. 13th)
Expanding to retail stores + developing new beverage flavors
New investors include Richard Laver from Rocket Beverage Group [Athletetech]
Spacegoods, developer of mushroom/nootropics blends & drinks, raised £2.5M in seed funding (Feb. 14th)
Investment was led by Five Seasons Ventures; other investors include Redrice, Slingshot Ventures, and G-Fund [FinSMEs]
Groover, a music promotion platform based in Paris, raised $8M in a Series A Round (Feb. 13th)
Creating an all-in-one platform by integrating services such as marketing, coaching, & career development
Investment was led by OneRagtime, Trind, Techmind, and MozzaAngels [FinSMEs]
WIT, a sports focused digital activation platform, raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A Round (Feb. 14th)
Investment was led by McCarthy Capital [FinSMEs]
Overworld, first-game studio specialized in multiplayer RPG, raised $10M in seed funding (Feb. 15th)
M&A and Investments
DraftKings Acquires Jackpocket, leading lottery app, for $750M (Feb. 15th)
The acquisition helps DraftKings expand into the digital lottery vertical
Acquisition funded 55% in cash and 45% in common stock [Global Newswire]
Jim Ratcliffe acquired 25% of Man United (Feb. 13th)
His stake is currently valued at $1.64B [SBJ]
Brady is on track to acquire 7% of the Las Vegas Raiders (Feb. 11th)
The NFL Finance Committee will consider his investment on March 4th or 5th [SBJ]
Infinite Reality, creator of immersive experiences using VR, acquired Ethereal Engine, developer of virtual multiplayer social experiences, for $75M (Feb. 12th)
Acquisition will help Infinite Reality expand its digital creation offerings across variety of platforms [VB]
CVC Capital Partners is the likely candidate for German Soccer media rights partnership (Feb. 13th)
Will acquire an 8% stake for at least $1.07B in the league subsidiary that holds Bundeslinga media rights [SBJ]
Photo: ESPN buys Wynn Resorts Sports-Betting License in NYC for $25M
Strategic Ventures
ESPN and College Football Playoffs agree to a six-year , $7.8B extension for Playoff’s broadcast rights (Feb 13th)
Contingent on finalizing details of the new 12-team format [FOS]
ESPN Bet acquired Sports Betting License in NY from Wynn Resorts for $25M (Feb 14th)
NY is the largest US sports betting market, but has one of the highest tax rates (51%) on gambling operations [FOS]
TNT Sports launches new Sports Ventures division (Feb 14th)
Will include Golf Digest, NBA Digital and NCAA Digital, and will also invest in new sports ventures [SBJ]
Nextiles, a developer of smart fabrics & wearables, launches new AI-powered feature for its throwing sleeve (Feb 14th)
Personalized Intensity Zone, scoring how hard an athlete throws [Nextiles]
Tiger Woods & TaylorMade partner up to launch “Sun Day Red” golf apparel brand (Feb 12th)
Will sell golf apparel & expand to lifestyle footwear in the near future [ESPN]
Seven Seven Six Capital & Wheelhouse team up to launch Mantel, a community platform for sports collectibles (Feb 13th)
Other investors include Courtside Ventures, Switch Ventures, and Cosmic Venture Partners [SBJ]
MLB to use Nike Vapor jerseys for the 2024 season (Feb 13th)
High-performance fabric drawn from 90% recycled sources & infused w/ Dri-Fit ADV tech [SBJ]
Job Board & Opportunities: Week February 16th
Every week, the job board is personally curated for openings that are not widely posted. Spanning business development to software engineering and everything in between - entry level jobs to senior leadership - here’s to those looking for new opportunities in 2024: