🔊 Meet The Soccer Tech Company That's Raised Over $250M

📰 TOP STORY
TOCA Football Raises Another $35M In Funding

TOCA Football (TOCA), North America's fastest-growing soccer training and entertainment company, secured $35M in new funding this week. The round consisted of $15M in equity funding and $20M in debt financing from JP Morgan Commercial Banking. The new capital will fuel TOCA Social's international growth and expansion of TOCA's soccer training technology. They also announced that they have extended their official partnership with the MLS through 2036, further cementing their role as a driving force in the sport's ecosystem.

Why Does This Matter?

Technology is reshaping the fan experience and athletic performance, and TOCA is one of the premier companies leading this charge. Since its inception, they have raised over $250M in funding to build an international brand to disrupt and innovate the soccer experience. The company was founded by former professional soccer player Eddie Lewis in 2016 and currently has 39 total locations across the US and UK, with plans to expand into Mexico and other areas of Europe. Here’s a futher breakdown:

• The company currently has two main offerings: TOCA Social and TOCA Soccer

• TOCA Soccer is a tech-enabled training facility for players of all ages and experience levels with 37 locations across the US

• TOCA Social is an immersive soccer experience combined with food and drink offerings, and the company currently has locations in Dallas, Texas (opening soon), and London, England

• Individual investors in TOCA include notable people such as Jim Kavanaugh, founder and CEO of World Wide Technology; Bill Anderson, former chairman and CEO of Anderson Holdings, founder of First Beverage Group, and founder of June Street Capital; Jared Smith, co-founder of Qualtrics; and chess grandmaster and soccer enthusiast Magnus Carlsen; and England Men's National Team captain Harry Kane

With the World Cup on the horizon and the growth of the game throughout the US, TOCA is well-positioned and capitalized to lead and transform the next generation of players across the country. The combination of their partnership with the MLS and emphasis on youth soccer is ideal for building a strong pipeline to the pros and shifting the dynamics of soccer in the US.

💰 MERGERS & MONEY MOVES 
Arctos Acquires Stake In Another Pro Sports Team

• Arctos Acquires 8% Stake In Los Angeles Chargers. Arctos has become the first private equity firm to have ownership stakes in multiple NFL teams after acquiring 8% of the Los Angeles Chargers. The team will remain majority owned by Dean Spanos and his family, who own about 61%. Arctos becomes the latest party to join the Chargers’ ownership group, after Tom Gores, the owner of the Detroit Pistons, bought a 27% stake last year. Arctos also owns a stake in the Buffalo Bills (more here).

• New York Liberty Raises Capital At A $450M Valuation. The New York Liberty has raised capital from a group of investors at a record valuation for a professional women’s sports franchise of $450M, according to The Athletic. The total size of the shares sold in the team’s capital raise is a percentage in the “mid-teens,” according to one of the sources. It is unclear how many investors are part of the capital raise, and the deal is still subject to league approval. The funding will supposedly go towards the construction of the team’s new practice facility (more here).

• Blue Pool Capital Invests In Asian University Basketball League. Blue Pool Capital, the family office of Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai, has led the Seed round for the newly launched Asian University Basketball League, which features schools and players from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The AUBL will debut as a tournament in Hangzhou, China, from Aug 18th-24th, offering two dozen games. The size of Tsai’s investment isn’t being publicly disclosed, though a spokesperson said the deal is in the millions of dollars (more here).

• Liveheats Raises $1.3M. Liveheats, an Australian digital scoring platform, has raised $1.3M in funding to accelerate its global expansion and product development. Founded by Chris Friend and Fernando Freire, the platform helps event organizers build events, collect entries and payments, and organize athletes into heats, schedules, or start lists. It also allows judges to score the event directly on phones or tablets and lets users see public scores, results, and rankings in real time on the web and via livestreams (more here).

• IMG Academy Acquires SportsRecruits. IMG Academy, a Florida-based prep school and training academy, announced the acquisition of SportsRecruits, a college sports recruiting service. The acquisition brings SportsRecruits alongside IMG Academy's NCSA College Recruiting to create an even more robust college sports recruiting network to help student-athletes and their families navigate the ever-evolving college sports landscape. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. (more here).

• Strava Acquires The Breakaway. Strava, a world-leading fitness community app, has announced the acquisition of The Breakaway, following its acquisition of Runna last month. The Breakaway uses AI to create personalized training plans for cyclists working toward specific goals. This acquisition supposedly pushes Strava to a $2.2B valuation (more here).

• Nazara Technologies Acquires Curve Games. Nazara Technologies has acquired Curve Games for £21.7M ($29M). The acquisition was made to strengthen the India-based gaming and sports media firm as it continues to build "a diverse portfolio of businesses" through mergers and acquisitions. It said that the "publishing capabilities" of Curve will allow it to grow globally and support cross-platform IP development for PC and console (more here).

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 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
Disney Scores Women’s Soccer Streaming Rights

• Disney+ & UEFA Form Streaming Rights Partnership. Disney+ streaming service has replaced DAZN as the UWCL broadcaster in Europe. As the only place fans can watch all live matches in the competition, coverage on Disney+ will launch in October 2025, marking a new era for the UEFA Women’s Champions League with the introduction of the 18-team League phase format. All live matches for Disney+ with commentary offered in multiple languages, alongside pre- and post-game programming (more here).

• Sporting KC & Verizon Form Partnership. Sporting Kansas City and Verizon announced a new partnership through the 2025-2026 MLS season, which will support community impact initiatives in the region and one of the top local tournaments for youth players from across the Midwest. Verizon will serve as an associate partner of Sporting Salutes, the club’s immersive military appreciation platform designed to honor past and present military members for their service across all branches of the United States Armed Forces (more here).

• F1 & Disney Form Partnership. Formula 1 and Disney are collaborating to provide experiences, content, and merchandise inspired by the Mickey & Friends brand from 2026. The partnership is focused on growing both fan bases globally across younger demographics. In recent years, Formula 1 said it has enjoyed an increase in younger fans in recent years, with data showing that more than 4M children aged between 8 and 12 now actively follow the sport across the EU and US (more here).

🔊 ATHLETES & OTHER NEWS
NFL Hall Of Famer Announced As Limited Partner For Cleveland Browns

• The Cleveland Browns Announce Charles Woodson As Limited Partner. NFL Hall of Fame DB Charles Woodson has been approved as a limited partner in the Browns’ ownership group, the franchise announced this week. An Ohio native and the state’s “Mr. Football” in 1994, Woodson is the first minority owner added since Jimmy and Dee Haslam became the team’s controlling owners in 2012. With the transaction approved, Woodson now owns 0.1% of the franchise (more here).

• Andy Murray Joins Redrice Ventures As Founding Member. Legendary tennis star Andy Murray will head up a group of athlete advisors as part of his new role as an associate partner at London-based Redrice Ventures. Redrice Ventures is a venture firm that supports founders creating premium consumer brands, platforms, and related B2B tech solutions (more here).

• Mellody Hobson Is Investing In A Big Sports Opportunity. Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly talk with Mellody Hobson, co-CEO and president of Ariel Investments, about her firm’s newly launched fund, “Project Level,” devoted to investing in women’s sports. In this conversation, Hobson tells the hosts why she decided to personally invest in the Chicago White Sox and the Denver Broncos, how F1 racer Lewis Hamilton taught her to speak more positively to herself, and what she learned from a specific seat at the table of the Starbucks Board of Directors (more here).

• USTA Will Invest $800M In US Open Facilities. The USTA unveiled plans for an $800M renovation of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which includes a top-to-bottom transformation of the US Open’s iconic center court, Arthur Ashe Stadium. This is the largest single investment in the tournament’s 145-year history and is set to be completed by the 2027 US Open. It will take place across three phases, without interrupting play or fan access for the upcoming editions (more here).

• TGL Adds Detroit-Based Team. TGL, presented by SoFi, the primetime golf league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports, announced the formation of its seventh team: Motor City Golf Club, representing Detroit and starting in TGL’s third season in 2027. Motor City Golf Club’s ownership group is led by Middle West Partners, which was awarded the opportunity to expand TGL’s footprint and is led by principals Michael Hamp, Peter Hamp, and Kevin Kelleher, who all have Detroit roots (more here).

• Gracenote Brings Sports-Centric Audio & Podcast Discovery To Connected Cars. Gracenote, the content data division of Nielsen, is helping automakers turn dashboards into personalized sports media hubs. The company has expanded its Nexus Auto platform to aggregate and surface sports-related audio, podcast, and video content, giving OEMs a new way to engage sports fans on the road. The initiative addresses a long-standing challenge in sports media with fragmentation (more here).

• NFL Says The League Could More Than Double International Games In The Coming Years. This week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is going to lean into international competition and could play as many as 16 games per season abroad in the next 5 years. The NFL currently has seven international games on its 2025 schedule, the most in its history, hosting matchups in Brazil, England, Germany, Ireland, and Spain. But Goodell said that’s just the start (more here).

🎙️ PODCAST INTERVIEWS
The Truth Behind Owning & Building A Sports Franchise With Ryan Harnetiaux

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Ryan Harnetiaux.

Ryan Harnetiaux is an investor and business strategist with 25 years in portfolio and asset management spanning both public and private markets.

He is the Managing Partner of Aequus Sports and the majority owner of Spokane Zephyr and Spokane Velocity

In this episode, we discuss:

‣ How and why he got into sports team ownership
‣ The harsh realities of owning a sports team
‣ The growth and potential of the USL

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