The 4th Quarter: Latest In Sports Tech This Week, May 10th, 2025

Dick’s Sporting Goods Invests $120M in Unrivaled, Skechers Goes Private in $9B PE Buyout, New Job Board

May 10, 2025

*Photo Creds: Rocker B Ranch, an Unrivaled-owned premier baseball facility in Texas*

Unrivaled Sports Adds $120M to Its Youth Sports Empire

Youth sports is a $25B market in the U.S. alone - yet most of the infrastructure is still stuck in the past, with outdated facilities and clunky operations. Meanwhile, participation is soaring: flag football grew 30% last year, and girls’ sports are on a tear. Investors are waking up to the potential - modernize the infrastructure, integrate tech, and you’ve got a goldmine.

The youth sports market may not have the glamour of the pro leagues, or the billion-dollar media deals we usually cover - but it’s quietly becoming one of the most lucrative ecosystems in the game.

And Dick’s Sporting Goods just made a massive bet on its future.

Unrivaled Sports just secured a $120M investment led by DSG Ventures (the retail giant’s venture arm), with a roster of VC and sports heavyweights joining the party. This isn’t just a cash infusion - it’s a loud signal that youth sports are becoming a serious playground for sports-tech innovation and venture capital. With participation surging and technology lagging, Unrivaled’s big raise could be the spark that lights up this underserved market. Let’s break it down.

What is Unrivaled Sports Building?

Unrivaled Sports is quietly brewing an empire in youth sports.

Their strategy?

Roll up some of the most iconic operators & facilities in the game - think Ripken Baseball, Cooperstown All Star Village, and Under the Lights Flag Football. In just one year, they’ve stitched together a network spanning 30 states, hosting over 600K+ young athletes annually.

But this isn’t your typical venture capital moonshot you read about in our weekly newsletter, it’s a deeply strategic move - with Dick’s aiming to plug its sporting goods infrastructure & tech-platform (GameChanger) directly into Unrivaled’s powerful ecosystem and turn it into a merchandising & engagement engine of its own.

Why Dick’s Invested

This strategic move from Dick’s is letting the brand & products evolve from shelf to on the field. Now, the company has Unrivaled as its front-end plug-in for increased distribution for youth sporting goods, equipment, and more.

Plug-in-Play: Long gone are the days of chasing down local leagues for fragmented brand partnerships. With Unrivaled’s national scale, Dick’s can plug directly into the source - owning the retail layer for its 600K+ youth athlete ecosystem, from uniforms to equipment to sideline gear. The way we see it: Unrivaled is to Dick’s what broadband was to TV. It’s faster, cleaner, and way more efficient - Dick’s now has a direct line into the heart of youth sports.
“Mom & Dad, Let’s go to Dick’s!”: You might be hearing that more often if your kid’s in Little League. With “Powered by Dick’s” stamped on every baseball tournament, flag football game, and weekend practice, the brand is embedding itself deep into its core customer base: families. That kind of repeated exposure builds serious brand stickiness - so when it’s time for a family to surprise their kid with a new baseball bat, Dick’s is the first place they’ll think to go.
Data Mining Flywheel: Unrivaled is actively looking to integrate GameChanger - a Dick’s-owned tech platform for sports team management, streaming, and analytics - into its ecosystem. This move gives Dick’s access to a treasure chest of data: youth sports trends, team purchasing behavior, equipment preferences, and family engagement habits. With GameChanger in play, Unrivaled transforms into a real-time insight engine, powering Dick’s retail strategy from end to end.

What Will Unrivaled Do With $120M?

Unrivaled’s plans are as ambitious as they are practical. With this capital, they’re doubling down on three big moves:

Expanding Access: More facilities, more programs, more kids playing sports.
Acquisitions & Destinations: Snapping up or building new venues to bolster their portfolio.
Diversification: Branching into soccer, lacrosse, and basketball—sports with massive youth followings.

They’re already a force, but the growth story gets juicier. Take flag football: participation jumped 30% year-over-year, and Unrivaled’s hosting the NFL Flag Championships. They’re also making waves in girls’ sports, with plans for the first high school girls’ flag football national championship this summer. Led by CEO Andy Campion (a Nike alum), Unrivaled isn’t just scaling—they’re redefining what youth sports can be.

Dick’s may have just hit the jackpot with this one.

Sports-Tech Market Activity: Investors & Deals

New Funds

Yamaha’s corporate VC arm to begin deploying capital from $50M fund (May 8th)
- ‘Yamaha Music Innovations Fund I’, established April 2025, will begin investing this May — led by head of Crush Ventures, Andrew Kahn
- Core investment areas include early-stage startups within creative tools, interactive media, and community, among others [Yamaha]

Venture Capital

Epicore Biosystems, a digital health company that develops sweat-sensing wearables for personalized health insights, raised $32M in Series B funding (May 2nd)
- Fueling expansion into industrial markets in Australia, the Middle East, and Asia to enhance hydration health, wellness, and productivity among workers
- Investors include Alumni Ventures and Joyance Partners; other investors include angel investors [Athletech]
Kero Gaming, a real-time B2B micro-betting solutions provider to over 180 sportsbook operators and broadcasters, raises $3M in Series A funding (May 6th)
- Aims for rapid expansion through ramping up ‘algorithmically-curated’ odds feeds
- Investment led by SIG Sports; other investors include existing investors, among others [Covers]
Fuse Games, a Turkish mobile gaming studio, receives $7M in funding, backed by Griffin Gaming Partners (May 7th)
- Funding original IP development, investments in tech, and team expansion
- Investment led by Griffin Gaming Partners; other investors include Lakestar, NFX Capital, and Actera [PocketGamer]
MyVenue, a cloud-based POS system serving sports, entertainment, and hospitality venues, receives majority backing from Greater Sum Ventures (May 6th)
- Accelerating global expansion alongside R&D efforts and in-house software development [MyVenue]
FoodHealth (formerly Bitewell), a nutrition intelligence company that evaluates food intake across several metrics, raises $7.5M in Series A funding (May 7th)
- Company has raised over $20M in funding to date
- Core feature, ‘FoodHealth Score’, rates food based on nutrient density and ingredient quality
- Investment led by Reach Capital and Ulu Ventures; other investors include Supply Change Capital and ReThink Food among others [FinSMEs]
Simcoach Games, a healthtech platform that develops gamified job readiness content, raises $265K in Seed funding (May 6th)
- Developing a ‘trilogy’ of games geared towards job readiness for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities
- Investment led by Richard King Mellon Foundation [FinSMEs]

M&A and Investments

Unrivaled Sports, a youth sports venues and experience company, raised $120M in new funding round led by Dick’s Sporting Goods (May 6th)
- Delving into sports beyond baseball/football focus, including soccer and lacrosse
- Portfolio includes Ripken Baseball, Cooperstown All Star Village, operating across 30 states, hosting over 600K athletes annually
- Investment led by DSG Ventures; other investors include Dynasty Equity, Miller Sports & Entertainment, and LionTree [SBJ]
Function Health, a personal health insight company, acquires cancer-focused, full-body MRI scanning company Ezra to improve accessibility (May 5th)
- Follows Ezra’s $21M funding round early 2024; $41M total capital raised
- Launching FDA-cleared full-body MRI that reduces average scan time from 60 minutes to 22 minutes, driving cost down from $1.5K to $499 [Athletech]
Hundred Health, a personalized longevity startup, acquires blood-testing diagnostics company Bell Sant for expansive research dataset (May 6th)
- Transaction includes an all-stock agreement
- Plans to merge biodata, wearables, genetic insights, and blood tests for personalized health recommendations and insights [Athletech]
Eventshop, a fan-focused platform offering exclusive photos, collectibles, and immersive experiences, acquires AR company Interactive Images (May 5th)
- Focused on infusing AR-boosted products into commemorative ticket offerings
- Eventshop league partnerships include the NBA, NBPA, and the NHLPA, as well as collegiate programs [SBJ]
PE firm 3G Capital takes Skechers private through $9.4B deal (May 5th)
- Plans to pay $63 a share for all outstanding shares
- Adds to 3G’s portfolio of pro sports sponsoring companies, including Anheuser-Busch, Tim Hortons, and Kraft Heinz [SBJ]
Tripledot, an indie mobile gaming studio, acquires AppLovin’s mobile gaming division at $800M (May 7th)
- Known for major titles such as Woodoku and Solitaire.com, among others
- Tripledot to house 12 studios globally, with over 2.5K team members collectively
- Transaction includes half cash, half equity agreement, with AppLovin becoming a minority shareholder in Tripledot [VentureBeat]

Michael Strahan, Marc Lasry eye stake in New York Giants ownership (May 5th)
- Following last week’s news that former Giants’ QB Eli Manning was preparing a bid for his ownership group
- Current owners Mara and Tisch families, seek to sell 10% to roughly 2-3 wealthy individuals, rather than private equity firms [Sportico]

Strategic Ventures

Health insights wearable, WHOOP, reveals medical-grade hardware launches (May 8th)
- ‘Whoop 5.0’ and ‘Whoop MG’ target consumers beyond athletics and fitness, delving into longevity and wellness
- Featuring ‘Healthspan’, a measure that tracks age of pacing alongside a suggested ‘Whoop Age’ metric [SBJ]
Boardroom, Kevin Durant’s sports media company, partners with Yahoo Sports for sports business and culture content partnership (May 6th)
- Co-producing video series ‘Network with Rich Kleiman’ — featuring discussions about sports figures’ passions and ventures
- Marking the 12th new original show announced by Yahoo Sports since early 2024; Set to announce premiere this spring [Yahoo Sports]
SportAI, a SaaS racket-sports technique analysis platform, partners with sports camera system Save My Play to integrate technologies (May 6th)
- Follows SportAI’s roughly $1.8M seed funding led by Skyfall Ventures
- Sport AI also holds partnerships with racquet sports booking MATCHi and beach tennis and pickleball equipment manufacturer Shark [SBJ]
Cache AI, an athlete intelligence platform, partners with high school basketball tournament organizer Section7 for athlete evaluations geared towards coaches and players (Apr. 29th)
- Cache to provide real-time athlete evaluations powered by artificial intelligence, complimentary to all participating coaches and athletes [WRIC]
RWS Global, a live entertainment experience company, partners with NIL maximization firm OneTeam to help venues with alternative experiences (May 8th)
- Partnership tackles revenue-generating opportunities for inactive periods beyond gameday, season breaks, and action breaks [OneTeam]
Dream Sports, an Indian sports tech conglomerate, joins Microsoft to strengthen India’s gaming environment (May 7th)
- Dream Sports boasts a user base of over 250M; India housing an estimated 600M gamers
- Anticipated initiatives may target adaptive gameplay, AI-driven content generation, and personalization in difficulty adjustment, among others [Sports Mint]