The convergence of sports, media, and technology has created a lot of opportunities.
As a result, several new leagues are popping up across the world.
In the past 10 years, there have been over 20 leagues started in over 15 sports.
While this is great for underrepresented fans and sports, the unfortunate truth is that most of them won’t survive long-term.
Here are 10 leagues we believe have a good chance and why:
Unrivaled Basketball
Co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, Unrivaled Basketball is a new 3v3 women’s professional basketball league that is set to launch in January 2025.
With the recent boom in women’s basketball, the league has already generated a ton of social impressions and engagement plus they’ve already surpassed projected financial targets.
With a strong leadership team and a superstar lineup of players, this league has the foundation to last a long time.
TMRW Sports
Golf has been booming since the pandemic and the anticipation for TMRW Sports is as high as it’s ever been.
Founded by Mike McCarley, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy, TMRW Sports aims to create new ways to connect sports fans with technology and culture.
The league is already valued at $500M and has a strong cap table.
This plus their unique approach to a sport growing in popularity is a recipe for success.
Pro League Network
If there is one thing fans like doing, it’s betting and Pro League Network is building out the perfect ecosystem for it.
Pro League Network owns, produces, monetizes, and distributes several super-niche sports including:
- SlapFIGHT
- CarJitsu
- Tyre Wrestling
- STR33T
If they can continue to generate unique, entertaining ideas and content, they’ll be around for a while.
League One Volleyball
League One Volleyball (LOVB) was founded in 2020 by Katlyn Gao, Peter Hirschmann, and Olympian Kevin Wong as a network of youth volleyball clubs across the US.
In September 2022, they raised $16.75M in a Series A funding round, headlined by Billie Jean King and Kevin Durant.
A year later, the company raised $35M in a Series B round led by Lindsey Vonn, Jayson Tatum, and Candace Parker.
Pro volleyball has never seen a league like this before yet the sport is growing in popularity amongst young women and has a ton of athlete star power backing it.
Major League Pickleball
Pickleball is all the rave these days.
One of the fastest-growing sports in the US is headlined by a well-put-together league in Major League Pickleball (MLP) that has only been in existence since 2021.
The league has 24 co-ed teams that are backed by some of the best athletes, entertainers, and businesspeople in the world.
Given that pickleball appeals to the masses, has an easy learning curve, and is not too taxing on the body, we’re willing to bet that the MLP will be growing like crazy over the next couple of years.
United Soccer League
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, but has yet to take off in the US.
The United Soccer League (USL) is one of the leagues that will help change that for both men and women.
Founded in 1986, the United Soccer League is the largest and fastest-growing pre-professional and professional soccer organization in the country.
It has seven divisions with over 150 teams and is growing YoY.
With the World Cup coming in 2026, the USL is one league that is without a doubt going to boom.
Drone Racing League
I know what you’re thinking. Drone racing?
But get this…
There is a reason that Infinite Reality bought the Drone Racing League for $250M.
Founded in 2015, DRL claims to reach more than one billion annual digital video views and a global broadcast footprint of 320 million households through top sports networks and streaming distribution agreements.
The league also previously received investments from notable sports, media, and technology entities, including:
- RSE Ventures
- Liberty Media
- Exor
- ISOS Capital
- WWE
- T-Mobile Ventures
- CAA Ventures
- Lux Capital
- Lerer Hippeau
- Courtside Ventures
- Sky
- Hearst Ventures
Immersive experiences are just getting started and DRL is well positioned to be a leader in this category.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) was only founded a little over a year ago but already has hundreds of thousands of followers across Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Right after the league’s inaugural year ended, there was talk of adding 2 expansion teams for the 2025-26 season.
The league already has great traction in Canada, where hockey is most popular, but we wouldn’t be surprised if we start to see that success trickle down to North America as well.
Kings League
In just a year since its inception, the Kings League recorded higher viewership than La Liga and the Premier League on TikTok, making it the most-watched football league on the platform.
The league, which is a seven-a-side soccer league, was founded by legendary soccer star Gerard Pique who had a vision of leveraging content creators and their audience to create a unique fan experience for soccer.
Content creator-led leagues are interesting because there is already a built-in audience and distribution which is half the battle.
If you can get and sustain attention in sports, you’re well on your way to building a successful league.
Grand Slam Track
Michael Johnson is one of the greatest track stars of all time.
But his legacy will likely be tied to his next venture Grand Slam Track.
The brand new league will host four annual Slams in 2025 and has a total of $12.6M prize money across the events.
Olympic track athletes are widely known for not making a ton of money despite their popularity and appeal.
This model flips track and field on its head by bringing together the world’s fastest athletes for a chance to win big bucks.
Given that sprinting is one of the oldest, most beloved sports globally, Grand Slam Track could be onto something.
