🔊 How This AI Company Could Revolutionize Sports Judging & Competition

📰 TOP STORY
X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom Announced Seed Raise For AI-Powered Sports Judging Company

X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom is a decorated athlete who has successfully transitioned into being a sports executive. This week, he made his next major move.

Along with Josh Gwyther, Google’s former Head of AI Solutions Architecture, they announced the launch and Seed raise for The Owl AI, an AI platform designed to judge and referee sporting events.

S32 led the round with participation from Menlo Ventures and Susa Ventures.

The funding, according to Bloom, will be directed toward research and development, scaling, and proof-of-concepting with potential sports league clients.

Features of the platform include:

• Delivering competition footage to produce objective scores and predictions

• Live, on-screen commentary in 40 languages outside of English

• Insights, analysis, and data for coaching use

Why Does This Matter?

It’s incredible to see how technology, especially AI, is transforming sports from so many angles.

Honestly, I hadn’t considered this specific problem before.

But when you step back, it’s clear that bias and subjectivity can significantly influence the outcome of competitions.

AI doesn’t have bias. It doesn’t have opinions.

It analyzes facts and data. Nothing more, nothing less.

In theory, that means more predictability, more transparency, and a more level playing field.

It’s also important to clarify that this technology isn’t meant to replace judges or referees, but rather to support them in making the most accurate calls possible.

Sports are fueled by emotion. But emotion can lead to human error.

The mission to “modernize and elevate how sports are judged, experienced, and understood, using the power of AI” reflects a broader shift toward fairness, objectivity, and innovation, one where athletes, fans, and the entire ecosystem ultimately benefit.

💰 MERGERS & MONEY MOVES 
Athlete-Driven Community Raises Funding For Expansion

• Pro Athlete Community (PAC) Raises $7.6M. Pro Athlete Community (PAC), the leading global education and community platform for current and former professional athletes, announced the closing of a $7.6 million oversubscribed Series A funding round led by GSV Ventures with participation from Maveron and select strategic investors. The new capital will accelerate PAC's growth and ability to deliver tailored education, career support, and industry access to its rapidly expanding membership (more here).

• WIN Reality Acquires Blast Motion. WIN Reality, a leading VR training and AI-powered swing analysis platform for baseball and softball, has acquired Blast Motion, a global leader in swing sensor and motion analysis technology across baseball, softball, and golf. Blast Motion is used by 36 professional baseball teams, over 300 college programs, and thousands of high school and youth athletes. Its platform is also trusted by elite softball players and more than 200 professional golfers, making it a leader across multiple sports. Financial terms were not disclosed (more here).

• Gravyty Acquires Athlete Network. Gravyty, the leading provider of AI-powered engagement solutions for higher education, announced the acquisition of Athlete Network, a platform designed to foster lifelong connections between student-athletes and athletic alumni. With this acquisition, Gravyty will integrate its advanced fundraising and engagement solutions into Athlete Network's ecosystem, helping athletic departments modernize development efforts as they take on increasing responsibility for donor engagement and fundraising efforts related to athlete revenue-sharing opportunities. Financial terms were not disclosed (more here).

• Volo Sports Acquires ZogSports. Volo Sports, the largest provider of community-focused, tech-enabled social recreational sports and curated events in America, announced the acquisition of ZogSports, the country’s second-largest social sports platform with over 120,000 players. The transaction was facilitated by Bluestone Equity Partners, Volo Sports’ largest investor and strategic partner. Financial terms were not disclosed (more here).

• USTA Ventures Invests In EDGE Sound Research. USTA’s strategic investment arm, USTA Ventures, has invested in EDGE Sound Research, an audio innovator with cutting-edge technology that redefines how sound is captured and experienced. EDGE’s technology holds significant potential to enhance how fans experience tennis in-stadium or at home, aligning with one of USTA Ventures’ objectives of exploring innovations that can improve the tennis fan experience. Financial terms were not disclosed (more here).

• Seven7 Acquires Stake In CCM Hockey. Seven7, an investment firm founded by former NHL players Martin St. Louis and Jeff Hamilton, announced a co-investment with Nordic private equity firm Altor in CCM Hockey, a Canadian hockey manufacturing company. CCM, founded in 1899, is a prominent designer, manufacturer, and marketer of high-performance hockey equipment, accessories, and apparel. In January, Northleaf Capital Partners also announced an investment alongside Altor in CCM. Financial terms were not disclosed (more here).

• Jets Owner Woody Johnson Acquires Stake In Crystal Palace. Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets, has agreed to purchase John Texton’s 43% stake in Premier League team Crystal Palace for somewhere between $220 million and $260 million. Johnson bought the Jets for $635 million in 2000, an NFL record at the time. He now adds a second professional sports franchise to his portfolio. Texton is also an owner of several other clubs, including Olympique Lyonnais (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
San Antonio Spurs Announce Digital Currency Partner

• San Antonio Spurs & Ledger Form Partnership. The San Antonio Spurs have signed a multi-year jersey patch deal with French digital assets firm Ledger. The Spurs will debut their new Ledger-branded jerseys at the NBA draft this week, where they will be presented to their first-round picks, the companies said in a statement. Ledger is based in Paris, and the Spurs have long had a huge following in France, with players like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw having played for San Antonio before the team drafted Wembanyama in 2023. Financial terms were not disclosed (more here).

• PLL & ESPN Expand Partnership. ESPN has renewed its media rights deal with the Premier Lacrosse League and also made a minority investment in the league. The new five-year media distribution agreement begins in 2026 and includes rights to all of the PLL's regular season, all-star, playoff, and championship games. It also includes rights to games for the Maybelline Women's Lacrosse League, currently in its debut season, plus future PLL and WLL Drafts. ESPN’s ownership stake in the league was not disclosed (more here).

• USA Rugby & Wasabi Technologies Form Partnership. Wasabi Technologies, a hot cloud storage company, announced it has become the Official Cloud Storage Partner of USA Rugby. As the Official Cloud Storage Partner, Wasabi’s logo will debut on the front of the jerseys for both the men’s and women’s USA Rugby National Teams this summer and throughout the remainder of the 2025 season. This partnership also marks Wasabi’s first foray into a league-level sponsorship and further demonstrates Wasabi’s commitment to women’s sports nationwide (more here).

🔊 ATHLETES & OTHER NEWS
MLB Star Sues Athlete Investment Firm

• Padres Star Fernando Tatis Sues Big League Advance. Fernando Tatis Jr. is taking legal action to try to void the future earnings contract he agreed to as a minor leaguer while in his native Dominican Republic in 2017. The now-26-year-old San Diego Padres star is filing a lawsuit against investment company Big League Advance (BLA), which Tatis could owe approximately $34 million of the 14-year, $340 million deal he signed with the Padres in February 2021. BLA invests in up-and-coming players by offering minor leaguers one-time payments. In return, those players must agree to give the company a cut of their future MLB earnings (more here).

• Roger Federer Becomes Tennis Billionaire. Tennis legend Roger Federer has officially become a billionaire, joining the exclusive ranks of athletes who’ve parlayed sporting success into immense personal wealth. Over his 24-year career that ended in 2022, the 20-time Grand Slam champion earned $130.6 million in prize money. However, the bulk of his fortune has come off the court from lucrative sponsorships and an investment in a rising Swiss sneaker brand, On. Federer’s net worth is estimated at $1.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He now stands among legends like Michael Jordan, whose fortune hit $3.5 billion after selling his stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, and Tiger Woods, valued at around $1.36 billion (more here).

• Adam Silver Plans To Use AI After The NBA's Injury Surge. The 2025 NBA Playoffs were supposed to be a celebration of star power, and for the newly crowned champion Oklahoma City Thunder, they absolutely were. But the sour taste left behind by a wave of devastating Achilles injuries made it hard for the rest of the league to fully enjoy the show. Cuts and bruises aren't new to the league, but the sudden surge of this specific problem this season has everyone, from fans and analysts to coaches and executives, asking the same question: What's going on? (more here).

• NBA Approves Sale Of Minnesota Timberwolves & Lynx To Marc Lore & Alex Rodriguez. The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale this week of the controlling interests in both the Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx from Glen Taylor, whose ownership of the Timberwolves comes to an end after 31 years. In a $1.5 billion transaction that is expected to close this week, Lore and the three-time Major League Baseball MVP Rodriguez will serve as co-chairmen. Lore will sit as the Timberwolves’ governor while Rodriguez will become the alternate governor (more here).

• Golden State Valkyries Becomes WNBA’s Most Valuable Franchise. The Golden State Valkyries are the WNBA’s most valuable franchise ever, despite only being in their debut season. According to Sportico, the Valkyries are now valued at $500 million, setting a new record not only for the WNBA but for any women’s sports team. Owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber paid a $50 million expansion fee to launch the Valkyries as the league’s newest team in 2024 (more here).

• How Fanatics Is Helping Athletes In Life After Sports. Sports merchandising giant Fanatics is aiming to build a training camp for athletes to prepare them for life off the field. More than two dozen NBA, NFL, and NHL players participated in the company’s Athlete Immersion Program last weekend as part of Fanatics Fest in New York City. The program included three days of workshops on business, entrepreneurship, tech, and more (more here).

🎙️ PODCAST INTERVIEWS
Insights On Community Sports Tech Investing With Ashley Dewalt

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Ashley DeWalt.

Ashley Dewalt is the Co-Founder and Managing General Partner at The Collectiv, the sports industry’s first community-powered venture capital fund.

He’s also a Venture Advisor at Mercury Fund and was formerly the Managing Director at DivInc, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting diverse founders in sports tech, health tech, fintech, and other sectors.

In this episode, we discuss:
‣ His journey from athlete to business manager to investor
‣ Advice for founders building in sports
‣ Perspectives on the next big frontier of sports technology

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