🔊 New Sportainment Company Raises $34M

📰 TOP STORY
Poolhouse Raises $34M From Several Notable Investors

Poolhouse, a new tech-enabled pool entertainment company, recently raised $34M from several venture capital firms and strategic investors from across the globe, including:

• Sharp Alpha

• dmg ventures

• Simon Sports

• EMERGING

• Active Partners

• David Blitzer

The concept was created by Steve and Dave Jollie, the founders of Topgolf. They will use the new capital to accelerate the company’s plan to revolutionize pool, as they have for golf. According to the press release, Poolhouse combines its patented technology with a vibrant, vintage Las Vegas-inspired ambiance, offering guests of all skill levels an engaging experience with a diverse library of interactive pool games.

Why Is This Important?

Sportainment, which this company is labeled as, has grown over the past several years. Sportainment is defined as “the fusion of sports and entertainment to create a more engaging and comprehensive experience,” and includes other companies such as:

⚽ TOCA Social
⚾ Batbox 
⛳ Puttshack 
🏓 PingPod
⛳ Drive Shack 
🎾 Chicken N Pickle 
⛳ Puttery 
⚾ Home Run Dugout 
🏏 Sixes Social Cricket
🏀 JumpShot Inc.
🎳 Bowlero Corporation 
🏎️ F1 Arcade

Why is this vertical booming now? Sportainment is a great way to experience different sports in an interactive, fun way. It provides a family-friendly atmosphere combined with dining. And at the core, technology is driving much of this, whether it’s precise tracking, detailed analytics, or gamified simulators. It’s simply an elevated version of “Eatertainment,” which has been around since the 70s and 80s when brands such as Chuck E Cheese and Dave and Busters arose. Sportainment, while relatively new, is reshaping how we experience dining and play, and it appeals to a diverse audience from seasoned athletes to casual players looking to try something new. Fans crave this type of experience more than ever, and despite the numerous options and competition, I don’t expect this trend to slow down anytime soon.

💰 MERGERS & MONEY MOVES 
The Miller Family Acquires Controlling Interest In Several Soccer Clubs

• Miller Sports + Entertainment Acquires Controlling Interest In RSL Football Holdings. The Larry H. Miller Company, also known as Miller Sports + Entertainment, announced they’ve finalized the acquisition of the controlling interest in RSL Football Holdings. They acquired the assets from former owner Ryan Smith. The purchased clubs include Real Salt Lake of the MLS, Utah Royals FC of the NWSL, Real Monarchs of MLS NEXT Pro, and the RSL Academy. Real estate assets bought include America First Field, Zions Bank Stadium, and Zions Bank Training Center (more here).

• Velocity Capital Management Invests $100M Into Unique Sports Group. Private equity firm Velocity Capital Management has unveiled the acquisition of a $100M ownership stake in Unique Sports Group (USG), a soccer-focused talent representation agency. UK-based USG currently represents several well-known players from the top-tier men's soccer leagues in England, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France, and has also recently expanded into cricket. Velocity’s sports portfolio also includes Elevate Sports Ventures, Parella Motorsports brand, and Videocites (more here).

• WSC Sports Acquires Infront Lab. WSC Sports, an AI-powered sports video content provider, has completed the acquisition of the Engines 365 fan engagement solution from Infront Lab, the technology arm of the Infront sports and media agency. The acquisition will allow WSC Sports to expand its tech offering with the Stream Engine OTT platform for streaming service management and the Content Engine social media content management system (more here).

• Futureverse Acquires Candy Digital. Futureverse, a metaverse technology and content company, has acquired Candy Digital, a digital asset content and NFT company. The goal is to bring AI to the forefront in the next chapter of immersive experiences for brands and sports entertainment. Financial terms were not disclosed. Futureverse raised a $54M Series A funding round in 2023 (more here).

• Strava Acquires Runna. Runna, a London-based coaching app that helps runners build personalised training plans, has been bought by US fitness giant Strava. Financial terms were not immediately disclosed, but the two apps are said to operate separately for now. Strava has more than 150M users in 185 countries, and was valued at $1.5B following a 2020 funding round led by Sequoia Capital (more here).

• Loti AI Raises $16.2M. Loti AI, an AI likeness protection technology company, closed a $16.2M Series A funding round. Khosla Ventures led the round. FUSE, Bling Capital, and Ensemble also participated. The company intends to use the funds for product development, market expansion, and the scaling of its systems to enhance protection for public figures, athletes, and individuals. Loti AI has strategic partnerships with major talent agencies WME and CAA (more here).

• Midnite Raises $10M. Midnite, a UK-based sports betting and online casino operator, closed a $10M (£7.7M) series B funding round. The round was led by major investors, including the online gambling private equity fund Discerning Capital, the Raine Group advisory and investment firm, and the igaming venture capital vehicle Play Ventures. Discerning Capital partner David Williams has also been appointed to the board of directors at Midnite following the investment (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
NFL Announces New Data Partner

• NFL & NetApp Form Partnership. This week, the NFL announced a new partnership with technology firm NetApp. Through the agreement, NetApp has been named as the official intelligent data infrastructure partner of the league. As part of the deal, NetApp will activate across the entire slate of the NFL’s 2025 International Games, being the presenting sponsor of the 2025 NFL London Games and the first-ever regular-season NFL game in Madrid (more here).

• Evolv & Cosm Form Partnership. Evolv Technologies announced a new partnership with Cosm, the immersive sports and entertainment company. The partnership brings Evolv’s advanced Express systems to Cosm’s first two locations, in the Los Angeles and Dallas metro areas. Express will help deliver the secure, fast, and convenient entry screening process at the Cosm sites for major events that patrons would expect at a professional sports stadium or arena (more here).

• ATP Tour & Bitpanda Form Partnership. ATP Tour, the top-level men’s tennis tournament, has announced a multi-year global partnership with cryptocurrency brand Bitpanda. The deal sees Bitpanda become an official partner of the ATP Tour, and an official partner for the tour’s ATP 500 tournaments in Munich, Halle, Basel, and Hamburg; and ATP 250 events in Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Mallorca, and Geneva from 2025. Bitpanda users will also gain access to exclusive benefits throughout the ATP Tour season, including ticket giveaways, player meet-and-greets, and special content linked to the tournaments (more here).

🔊 ATHLETES & OTHER NEWS
Notable Cricket Star Invests In Sportswear Brand

• Virat Kohli Invests & Partners With Indian Sportswear Company. Indian cricket star Virat Kohli has reportedly rejected a lucrative extension with Puma to sign with and invest in sportswear startup Agilitas. The batsman, who holds the record for the most One Day International centuries and is the highest run-scorer in Indian Premier League (IPL) history, will also purportedly serve as both brand ambassador and co-creator at Bengaluru-based Agilitas (more here).

• How An Influential Businesswoman & A Former NFL President Are Changing Women’s Sports Investment. Mellody Hobson has been investing for a long time, but only recently has she found herself in the spotlight. Alongside Jason Wright, former president of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, they are shifting women’s sports through their new investment firm Project Level (more here).

• From Stadiums To Sidelines: How AI Is Reinventing The Future Of Sports. Pro sports franchises are undergoing a seismic shift powered not just by athleticism but by algorithms, infrastructure, and intelligent automation. Across the NFL and beyond, teams are rethinking how they engage fans and optimize performance by turning to AI, cloud platforms, and smart infrastructure. Whether enhancing stadium operations or redefining how athletes train, the digital transformation of sports is rapidly becoming one of the most compelling frontiers in technology (more here).

• Sports Investors Are Betting On Growth Despite Tariff Wars. In the world of high finance, tariffs rarely get the spotlight for their second-order effects. They’re cast as macroeconomic chess moves — levers of diplomacy, tools of retaliation, or bulwarks of domestic protectionism. But beyond the noise of headlines and hearings, tariffs have a funny way of influencing where capital flows (more here).

• Luka Modric Becomes An Investor & Co-Owner In Swansea City. Real Madrid and Croatia legend Luka Modric has become an "investor and co-owner" with a minority stake in Championship side Swansea City. The 39-year-old midfielder has joined Andy Coleman, Brett Cravatt, Nigel Morris, and Jason Cohen in the ownership group. That cohort purchased the shares of former majority owners Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan last November (more here).

• Standard Chartered Launches Sports Investment Fund. Standard Chartered has launched a new alternative investment fund dedicated to sports, offering its ultra-high net worth and high net worth clients exposure to one of the fastest-growing alternative asset classes. The fund, unveiled under the bank’s Global Private Bank, will be managed by a prominent global alternative investment manager focusing on opportunities across sports, media, and entertainment (more here).

🎙️ PODCAST INTERVIEWS
Investing Insights From The Top Family Office In Sports With Brian Kopp

Brian Kopp is a Partner at Ryan Sports Ventures and the Founder of Stretch 4 Advisory.

Through Stretch 4 Advisory, Brian provides strategic business services to sports technology and data companies, including Riddell Sports, Wilson Sporting Goods, Peak Performance Project, and FastModel Sports.

In this episode, we discuss:

‣ The biggest changes in sports technology over the past 20 years
‣ Emerging leagues and what Ryan Sports looks for when investing
‣ How sports-focused founders can stand out when pitching investors

Check out the full episode here: Apple | Spotify | YouTube