🔊 Allwyn Drops $1.6B On America’s Fastest-Growing Fantasy Sports Platform

This week, it was announced that Allwyn International AG, a lottery-led gaming entertainment company, and PrizePicks, the largest daily fantasy sports (“DFS”) operator in North America, have entered into a definitive agreement for Allwyn to acquire a majority stake in PrizePicks.

Allwyn has agreed to purchase an approximately 62.3% stake in PrizePicks for an expected initial cash consideration of $1.6 billion, implying an upfront enterprise value of $2.5 billion.

If PrizePicks achieves certain performance metrics over the next three years, additional cash consideration under the agreement could raise the implied enterprise value to a maximum of $4.15 billion.

Why Does This Matter?

At first glance, it looks like just another sports M&A headline.

But it’s deeper than that.

It’s a sign that fantasy sports has evolved from a niche product into one of the most valuable entry points in all of sports & entertainment.

And legacy players are willing to pay top dollar to own the fan relationship.

In a world where technology is increasingly democratized, fan engagement is the new moat.

Platforms like PrizePicks don’t just offer games. They build daily habits, direct distribution channels, and first-party fan data.

In other words, Allwyn isn’t just buying an app.

They’re buying a direct relationship with millions of highly engaged US sports fans and the behavioral insights that come with them.

Furthermore, deals like this effectively reset the market for fan-focused sports tech companies.

When a $10B+ global operator is willing to write a billion-dollar check for a platform like PrizePicks, it signals that these businesses are no longer “nice-to-haves.”

They’re now critical infrastructure, essential tools for growth, retention, and monetization.

But make no mistake, the real play here is owning the top of the fan funnel.

Fantasy sports is the entry point, but once you control that relationship, you can layer on higher-margin products and offerings.

The future is about who controls fan attention and how that control translates into billion-dollar empires.

For founders, it’s proof that building products around engagement and habit can lead to massive exits.

For investors, it’s another signal that sports tech is moving from niche to necessity.

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• Epic Padel Raises $10M. Epic Padel, a Virginia-based padel operator and investor, closed an oversubscribed $10 million Seed round led by NowaisWorld and Stryde Ventures, with participation from 305 Ventures, High Water Venture Partners, Lane Holdings, Off Court Ventures, Silverback Capital, and athletes like Omar Nour, Tre Boston, and Nicklas Bäckström. Founded in 2023 by Maryam Al Muslehi and Hala Sarkis, Epic Padel is building a vertically integrated padel platform combining club operations, early-stage investments, and tech-enabled infrastructure. The capital will fund the launch of 4–6 new clubs across Virginia, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and Utah, transforming underused spaces into community sports hubs (more here).

• Pro Padel League's LA Beat Acquired For $10M. David Eisen, a former tennis player and Managing Partner at Ten (Transportation Equipment Network), has acquired Pro Padel League’s LA Beat for about $10 million. This is the largest direct investment from a single owner into a PPL club since the league was founded in 2023. Eisen acquired the Beat from team founder Christ Ishoo, and he is purchasing the team without any outside investors. The new ownership group has plans for a major rebrand, introducing new color schemes and logos, along with revamped content creation (more here).

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• New England Patriots Sell 8% Stake In Team. Robert Kraft and his family, the majority owners of the New England Patriots, are selling an 8% stake in the team to two separate parties at a valuation of $9 billion. The groups acquiring the 8% stake are Sixth Street, which has a deal in place to acquire 3% of the team, and Dean Metropoulos, principal of Metropoulos & Co. investment firm, is buying the other 5%. Since purchasing the New England Patriots in 1994, owner Robert Kraft and his family have owned 100% of the team (more here).

• San Francisco 49ers Sell 3.2% Stake In Team. The York family and the San Francisco 49ers have agreed to sell a 3.2% stake in the franchise to Pete Briger Jr. of Fortress Investment Group. Briger's investment is structured at the same valuation as the May 2025 sale, placing the 49ers' total worth in the $8.5 – 8.6 billion range. In May, the franchise sold approximately 6.2% of its equity to three Bay Area families: the Khosla, Griffith, and Deeter families. The York family, led by Jed York, still retains majority control of the team (more here).

• Baltimore Orioles Sell Stake In Team. Mark Ein, a Maryland-based venture capitalist and entrepreneur, added a minority stake in the Orioles to his growing athletics inventory that includes the NFL’s Washington Commanders, Premier League’s Leeds United, and the Mubadala Citi DC Open tennis tournament. The size of Ein’s stake in the Orioles is not known. He’s the newest investor to join an ownership group led by private equity billionaire David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group, with whom Ein has a close relationship. When Rubenstein’s group purchased the Orioles last year, it was valued at $1.7 billion (more here).

• Charlotte Hornets & Judi Health Announce Partnership. The Charlotte Hornets and Judi Health, a rapidly growing force in the health technology industry, have announced a long-term multi-year deal which will see Judi Health become the Exclusive Jersey Patch Partner of the Charlotte Hornets. Hornets Jordan Brand Swingman jerseys, featuring the new Judi Health patch, will be available at the Hornets Fan Shop on Oct. 21st. Judi Health will also serve as the presenting partner each year of the team’s City Edition uniform unveiling. The Hornets did not have a jersey patch sponsor a year ago, and used MrBeast’s Feastables the previous season (more here).

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• Los Angeles Sparks Announce Record-Breaking Practice Facility. The Los Angeles Sparks announced plans to build a training and practice facility in El Segundo, California, scheduled to open in 2027. The Sparks plan to build a 55,000-square-foot facility with a budget of $150 million, the largest investment to date in the history of women’s sports for a single team. The facility will include two WNBA regulation basketball courts, an outdoor spa pool for recovery and pre-hab/rehab, dedicated nap rooms, flexible wellness spaces for yoga and meditation, hydrotherapy and spa suites, a circular locker room designed to foster team unity, a weight room, and training spaces (more here).

• Ball Brothers Become Equity Partners In Betr. Betr, the real money sports gaming app company, announced that it added Lonzo and LiAngelo Ball as equity and content partners. The partnership allows the two NBA players to bring their podcast to Betr’s media business arm. Betr, founded by entrepreneur Joey Levy and professional boxer and influencer Jake Paul, did not disclose the financial terms of the equity investment. They also plan to rebrand and launch the Ball podcast through Betr Media ahead of the upcoming NBA season. The Ball brothers will deliver at least 40 podcast episodes per year (more here).

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• Geoff Molson & France Margaret Bélanger Join Toronto Tempo Ownership Group. Geoff Molson and France Margaret Bélanger, two of the most influential figures in sport in Quebec and across Canada, have joined the Toronto Tempo’s ownership group, the team announced this week. Bélanger and Molson join a powerhouse roster of Tempo owners that includes Larry Tanenbaum, Serena Williams, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, and Lilly Singh. The financial terms of their investment were not disclosed (more here).

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Harrison Brown.

Harrison Brown is the Co-Founder & CEO of HEADCHECK Health.

HEADCHECK Health is an end-to-end concussion management solution to help teams and organizations with concussion protocols, athlete recovery, and risk mitigation.

HEADCHECK Health's clients include professional sports leagues, such as the MLS and the CFL, as well as collegiate and high school athletic departments, national sports governing bodies like Volleyball Canada, grassroots sports organizations, clinics, and hospitals.

In this episode, we discuss:
‣ How he became passionate about concussion prevention
‣ What HEADCHECK is doing to improve concussion management
‣ The common misconceptions around concussions in youth sports

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