What’s Driving Sports Betting and Tech Deals Right Now

Good morning, ! This week we’re looking at the Sports Betting market size, sports tech M&A deal activity, Sony's new multi-year partnership with ATP, and  Magic Johnson's entrepreneurial side.

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DATA DIVE

The House Always Wins (Because Football Does)

The global sports betting machine keeps leveling up, and the numbers are starting to look like they were drafted by a CFO on espresso. The market is projected to hit $298.1B by 2035, powered by a 10.3% CAGR and a fan base that increasingly treats betting as a second screen. Football alone commands 63% of global volume, a reminder that the world’s favorite sport is also its favorite vehicle for risk-adjusted hope. Meanwhile, offline channels still hold 58.3% of revenue—proof that bettors still enjoy placing wagers the old-fashioned way: in person, with questionable lighting. The real torque comes from live betting, AI-driven odds, and hyper-personalization, which together pump an incremental +3.5% CAGR into the ecosystem and turn every match into a micro-transaction buffet.

 Read the Full Report

MEDIA & SPORTS

Sony Serves an Ace in Turin

Sony just hit a down-the-line winner with its new multi-year partnership with ATP Media, debuting at the 2025 ATP Finals. The broadcast will feature Hawk-Eye’s HawkAR (for AR-enhanced stats) and HawkVISION (for athlete-perspective shots), turning tennis into a data-rich, cinematic experience.

The duo also teased a next-gen Tennis TV app (coming 2026) and a 5G camera system for live emotion-capturing content. Backdrop: the ATP Finals themselves are booming — now the richest non-Grand Slam event with a $15.5M prize pot and sellout crowds in Turin.

The takeaway: Sony’s tech muscle + ATP’s platform = a media experience Federer-level smooth — with AI, AR, and storytelling at the heart of tennis’ digital future. (More)

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INVESTOR CORNER

Big Ten’s Billion-Dollar Realignment

The Big Ten is courting a $2.4B private equity infusion—and rewriting the college sports investment playbook in the process. The deal, led by UC Investments, would spin off media and sponsorship rights into a new commercial entity, Big Ten Enterprises, in exchange for upfront capital and long-term equity.

Payouts aren’t even. Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State lead the top tier with $190M+ in upfront cash each, while Oregon and USC would net ~$145M, and others would land in the $100–$110M range. For Ohio State, that windfall helps sustain one of the nation’s most expensive athletic departments while locking in favorable revenue tiers through 2046.

The structure is familiar: it's private equity’s club deal model dressed in school colors. Value is pooled, risk is shared, and cash is front-loaded—mirroring recent trends in European football and Latin American soccer. Notably, Michigan and USC have resisted, potentially due to governance concerns (or lingering drama like “SignalGate”).

Why it matters: If successful, this could set a template for other conferences and turn college sports into a structured asset class. Equal revenue splits are out. Tiered monetization tied to media value is in. (More)

ENTREPRENEURS

Magic Johnson, the Blueprint Builder

Magic Johnson didn’t just retire from the NBA, he re-engineered the athlete playbook. Through Magic Johnson Enterprises, now valued at over $1 billion, he shifted athletes from being endorsers to full-fledged allocators. His thesis? Underserved markets were an overlooked goldmine. Starbucks stores, theaters, and community-centric assets became early proof points long before ESG turned corporate chic.
Today, he’s part-owner of the Dodgers, LAFC, Commanders, and Sparks, giving him influence across U.S. sports governance. And with EquiTrust Life Insurance, he controls one of the largest Black-owned financial services platforms in the country.
Magic’s empire is less celebrity empire-building and more institutional-grade diversification, making him the original athlete-CEO blueprint. (More)

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TECH & INFRASTRUCTURE

Consolidation’s New Personal Best

Sports Tech just posted a $32.2B half and 233 deals, keeping infrastructure teams busy building “end-to-end everything.” The fitness stack is rolling up fast: TSG’s $1.5B buy of EōS Fitness mirrors other HVLP moves, signaling a land-grab for recurring revenue. In media, Disney’s majority stake in FuboTV plus a fusion with Hulu + Live TV creates a distribution giant—bad news for standalone streamers. Youth sports software is quietly becoming a platform play, with Genstar–PlayMetrics–Stack Sports forming a category leader and IMG Academy adding SportsRecruits to tighten its athlete-development loop. And in event infrastructure, Valeas’ $110M deal for TicketManager adds muscle to enterprise ticketing. The through-line: buyers want platform density across the fan-to-athlete lifecycle. (More)

eSPORTS

The Back-End Betting on eSports

iGaming software providers are quietly reshaping the eSports landscape—not with flashy sponsorships, but with infrastructure. In 2025, these firms are powering a new generation of competitive platforms through AI, blockchain, and VR, transforming how fans play, watch, and wager.

The real play? Turning eSports betting into a seamless, scalable experience. Providers now offer turnkey platforms with fraud-resistant payments, localized UX, and real-time compliance monitoring—must-haves as global regulators tighten the reins on online gambling.

Blockchain, once a buzzword, now enables provably fair gaming and instant payouts, while AI personalizes experiences and flags bad actors. Meanwhile, gamification is being woven directly into betting interfaces: leaderboards, loyalty systems, and real-money tournaments that blur the line between gaming and gambling.

This matters. As eSports monetization matures, backend software isn’t just a tech stack—it's a competitive differentiator. The future of eSports betting won’t be built by teams or leagues. It’ll be architected by whoever owns the infrastructure. (More)

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