Industry research
Scope
US
Companies
45
Table of contents
Report collaborator:
Kim Chua and Ye Chen, Partners at OC&C Strategy Consultants, provided expert insights for this report. They have a wealth of experience in the sports and sports technology sectors. Read the full interview here
What does the Sports technology market landscape look like in the US?
The US sports technology market exhibits varied levels of consolidation across segments. The athlete performance and health, venue and fan engagement and sports content technology segments are broadly fragmented, with some players holding dominant positions within specific niches. For example, within the sports content technology segment, Hudl holds ~99% share of the youth and high-school sports video capture and analysis niche. Herein, incumbents face competition from diversified technology players such as Apple (US), Alphabet (US; Fitbit), Sony (JP) and Samsung (SK), as well as large generalist ticketing platforms such as Live Nation Entertainment (US; Ticketmaster) and eBay (US; StubHub). Additionally, the betting and fantasy sports infrastructure segment is highly consolidated, with DraftKings and BetMGM holding ~35% and ~22% of the 2025 US market, respectively. Across these segments, many players continue to expand their presence and broaden their product offerings through strategic M&A. For example, Teamworks has made >11 acquisitions between 2022-2025, to broaden its platform offerings. To compete, the long tail focuses on particular sports, specialized product offerings and through exclusive league and team partnership agreements. For example, SportsVisio targets basketball and volleyball sports, DVSport specializes in playback software used for reviewing and analyzing sports performance and WHOOP has partnered with WorldTour cycling teams and the NFL.
What is the level of investor activity in the US's Sports technology industry?
Investor-led interest has been significant, with ~68% of identified assets backed by financial sponsors (as of November 2025). Herein, sponsor-led interest mainly stems from (i) the adoption of advanced technologies (e.g. AI, machine learning and IoT) that enhance fan engagement and improve viewership, (ii) the rise of competitive sports where teams and athletes depend on precise performance-tracking systems, (iii) growing public sector investment in US digital infrastructure (e.g. 5G, WiFi 7) and modern sports facilities and (iv) the increased push for monetization as rising sports rights costs drive leagues, teams and media companies to adopt revenue-generating sports technology. On the other hand, deterring factors for investors include (i) regulatory uncertainty as growing scrutiny of sports betting platforms, biometric tracking and fan-data systems adds complex compliance burdens and limits monetization, (ii) constrained budgets that restrict adoption of hardware-intensive wearables and sensor technologies with uncertain returns and (iii) rising tariffs and supply-chain delays that elevate production costs, slow innovation cycles and reduce the pace of new technology adoption across the US sports technology market.
What are the key ESG considerations in the US's Sports technology industry?
ESG topics in the US sports technology market primarily revolve around environmental and governance matters. Environmental concerns mainly relate to rising electronic waste from short-lived hardware (e.g. wearables, sensors), reliance on non-biodegradable materials and high energy consumption associated with cloud processing and AI-enabled data systems. To address this, incumbents adopt circular design principles and sustainable practices, including take-back and recycling programs, use of recyclable materials and efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of digital operations through renewable-powered cloud providers. Governance topics mainly relate to data privacy, including risks of large-scale breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive biometric information. To manage this, incumbents strengthen cybersecurity frameworks, implement end-to-end encryption and anonymization protocols and ensure compliance with evolving data-protection regulations.
Technavio (December 2024) estimates that the global sports technology market generated ~$17.5bn in revenue in 2024 and forecasts it to reach ~$43.2bn by 2029 (+19.8% CAGR 2024-2029)
The global smart stadium (i.e. technologies to enhance fan experience) market was valued at ~$8.0bn in size in 2024 and is expected to grow to ~$38.0bn by 2033 (+18.9% CAGR 2024-2033; Deloitte, November 2024)
The emergence and adoption of advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning, computer vision and IoT continue to drive improved efficiency, optimized operations, enhanced fan experiences and higher viewership. To illustrate, AI-based analytics in sports broadcasting have boosted viewer retention by ~30%, while AI-powered video analysis has enhanced game-analysis efficiency by ~50% across professional sports (interviews by Gain.pro; Gitnux, April 2025; Ohio University, October 2024)
The rise of competitive sports, with the need for advanced performance-tracking technology, has become a major driver of the US sports technology industry as teams and athletes pursue more precise tools to guide development and gain an edge. To illustrate, reports by the American College of Sports Medicine and the International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching cited that athletes using wearables saw a ~22% improvement in performance, while data analytics reduced injury rates by up to ~30% (interviews by Gain.pro; EMB Global, January 2024; Turning Data into Wisdom, July 2024)
Significant investment into the US digital infrastructure (e.g. 5G, WiFi 7 in stadiums) supports the growth of the sports technology industry. Additionally, the US government allocates substantial funding toward modern sports facilities and recreation projects (e.g. ~$3.7bn American football stadium in Washington, D.C.), which in turn drives the adoption of advanced sports technology across venues (ESPN, November 2025; Government Market News, October 2025; Ruckus Networks, August 2025; Capacity Global, May 2025)
Regulatory uncertainty driven by growing scrutiny of sports betting platforms, biometric tracking and fan-data applications, will continue to create complex, patchwork compliance obligations. These stricter rules on data use and in-venue digital systems could slow technology rollout, limit monetization opportunities and raise compliance costs for operators and vendors (Al Jazeera, October 2025; Richmond Journal of Law and Technology, March 2025)
Highly constrained budgets will limit adoption of hardware-intensive wearables, sensor systems and recovery technologies that require substantial upfront investment and even after these costs, returns are expected to remain uncertain as performance and safety gains will be difficult to quantify or attribute directly to the technology (interviews by Gain.pro; ScienceDirect, June 2024)
Rise in tariffs on imported electronic components (e.g. sensors for wearables) and supply chain delays raise production costs and extend lead times for US sports technology players. This creates broad pressure across the market as higher costs slow innovation cycles and limit the pace of new technology adoption (Global Dynamic Supply, October 2025; QYR, July 2025; Interline, February 2025)
With the full report, you’ll gain access to:
Detailed assessments of the market outlook
Insights from c-suite industry executives
A clear overview of all active investors in the industry
An in-depth look into 45 private companies, incl. financials, ownership details and more.
A view on all 86 deals in the industry
ESG assessments with highlighted ESG outperformers
