Zoltan Mesko

Sports tech M&A saw some decent uptick this past year. In sports performance especially. And the pace of consolidation is picking up fast. But the risks most people miss are not in the term sheet. So I hope this is useful & timely for those who are in the middle of an exciting transformational M&A moment.

14

Momentous Sports's Marley Hughes latest newsletter examines the behavioral economic impact of cashless transactions at sports venues using AMB Sports and Entertainment as a case study. His primary insight is that fans "spent significantly more while reporting higher satisfaction levels" is particularly compelling for #sportsbiz leaders given there is usually an inverse correlation between increases in price and fan satisfaction. I highlighted a similar dynamic when examining the increase in Major League Baseball (MLB) attendance during the 2023 season by spotlighting cashless transactions as catalyst for league attendance growth in a JohnWallStreet column. https://lnkd.in/gVCP9akk

17

1 Comment

This is a really interesting and insightful interview with Billy Beane and Luke Bornn about the evolution of data in sports, especially football. The observations on how data is reshaping team strategies and player recruitment is fascinating and will be of particular interest to many in my network.

21

1 Comment

Over the last two weeks, I put together two in-depth articles that show how we can use objective feedback to bring clarity to the two things pitchers chase most: velocity and command—with real examples. Links in comments.

24

4 Comments

Had a great conversation with Sterling Mack on a few undervalued trends in sports tech that don’t get enough attention. A lot of opportunity still sits in areas that aren’t getting the headlines… yet. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤. https://lnkd.in/gW_Ps2tK

5

1 Comment

Had a great conversation with David Lovejoy at Horizon Search on a variety of topics in the sports and entertainment industry. Love the title of the segment; Sports Revenue Playbook! Take a listen/watch!

21

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀: 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 It’s been nearly three years since ChatGPT’s debut brought AI into the global spotlight. Today, AI is everywhere. Yet in sports, adoption has only just begun. Some teams experiment successfully, but most struggle to scale AI across the entire organization. The result: isolated projects instead of streamlined processes, shared knowledge and scalable productivity. 📊 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 💰 $360B → $1.5T: expected global AI spending by 2030 (Economic Times) 🏀 $8.9B → $60.7B: projected growth of AI in sports by 2033 (Precedence Research) 👥 400M weekly active OpenAI users (TED) 📺 40% of sponsors & brands already leverage AI to commercialize audiences (Stats Perform) 🏢 79% of leaders say AI adoption is critical to stay competitive (Microsoft) ⚡ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴? 1️⃣ No clear strategy: AI is often treated as a tool, not part of a bigger vision 2️⃣ Skills gap: the tools exist, but teams lack confidence and training 3️⃣ Cultural resistance: skepticism and uncertainty slow adoption 🌟 𝗔 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 The San Antonio Spurs Sports & Entertainment have put AI on their agenda and, with a focus on ChatGPT, achieved an impressive 90% weekly usage rate among 150 employees. A strong signal that scaling adoption is possible with the right leadership and approach. 🧠 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 AI isn’t just a trend, it’s becoming the operating system for how organizations think, work and grow. For sports, the key question is no longer 𝘪𝘧 AI will be adopted, but 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. At XU Group, we help sports organizations turn knowledge into scalable learning and solutions across the entire organization. Want to know how? Feel free to reach out!

24

1 Comment

Genius Sports partnering with the Pac-12 Conference signals how valuable the data layer in college sports has become. Genius will serve as the exclusive distributor of official Pac-12 data to sportsbooks worldwide, while also supporting integrity, AI-driven insights, fan engagement, and performance analytics. My take: Data is moving to the center of the model. Every game produces a stream of information that can be packaged, licensed, and monetized across multiple channels. Sportsbooks depend on it. Media platforms build on it. Teams and coaches use it to improve performance. Control the data, and you control the ecosystem around it. The exclusive distribution piece is key. It creates scarcity and standardization at the same time. Licensed operators get trusted, real-time feeds. The conference gets a structured revenue stream tied directly to on-field activity. AI builds on top of that foundation. From integrity monitoring to advanced analytics and fan-facing products, the same dataset powers multiple layers of value creation. Bigger picture: College conferences are expanding beyond media rights into data rights. That shift opens new revenue streams without adding games or changing formats. Genius Sports is positioning itself as the infrastructure provider behind that transition. And deals like this show how quickly that layer is becoming core to the business of college sports. #SportsBusiness #SportsTech #CollegeSports #Data #SportsBetting

45

1 Comment

Although not a stand alone solution sports can be the accelerant to a companies rebranding efforts. Follow the case study below as a great example on how to engage with the PGA TOUR in this effort for a Fortune 500 company.

11

Elite high school sports “is going to be one of the more valuable media rights [categories] and nationally monetized [broadcast] products in the next 10-20 years,” Michael Schreiber (founder and executive chairman, Playfly Sports) said. A Playfly commissioned study estimated that annual TV and streaming media rights fees could range from $70 million to $135 million, with multimedia sponsorship revenues projected to be an additional $64 million and $84 million. 👇 #sports #sportsbiz #television #media #streaming #TV cc: JohnWallStreet Randall Friedman Jacie Brandes

29

3 Comments