🔊 The Scoop On Sony's New Sports Tech Acquisition

This week, Japanese tech giant Sony announced the acquisition of StatSports, one of the world’s leading GPS sports tracking companies.

Founded in Ireland in 2008, StatSports has grown into a global leader in athlete performance analytics, currently serving over 800 sports teams as clients, including teams such as:

The company’s wearable technology measures metrics like movement, heart rate, and sprint speed, and its products are now used not only by professional organizations but also by grassroots clubs and individual athletes.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Why Does This Matter?

At first glance, it appears to be just another wearable acquisition.

But if you dive deeper, it’s part of an intricate M&A strategy in which Sony can own the entire sports data layer.

Other companies have executed similar playbooks in other verticals as well, including:

The acquisition of StatSports gives Sony complete control across the full value chain of sports data.

The company’s portfolio already includes:

Now, by acquiring STATSports (wearables and real-time athlete performance), they have leverage from capture to consumption.

They can gather, analyze, and distribute every form of performance data, which gives them a unique value proposition to teams, leagues, and broadcasters.

This is vertical integration 101. Gain control over the full value chain, increase efficiency while also reducing costs.

This acquisition shows how sports data is evolving from a tool into a structural platform play and a full-scale infrastructure.

All in all, this is a win-win for both sides.

For StatSports, it gives access to scale, capital, and integration with a global tech ecosystem.

For Sony, it provides a deeper moat and a way to become the operating system of sports performance and data.

And in the long run, since data is the new oil, owning the data operating system means owning the future.

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• How Monarch Collective Scored Some Of The Biggest Early Deals In Women’s Sports. TechCrunch spoke with Kara Nortman, co-founder of Monarch Collective, the first fund dedicated exclusively to women’s sports. The two discuss Monarch’s unusual approach, where the team makes highly concentrated bets, then invests time that most PE firms would not. They also discuss whether the numbers work, where the revenue actually comes from (merchandise, sponsorships, ticket sales, media deals), and whether this boom is sustainable. A great segue into our interview with Monarch Co-founder Jasmine Robinson below (more here).

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Jasmine Robinson.

Jasmine Robinson is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Monarch Collective.

Monarch Collective is an investment fund focused exclusively on women's sports. So far, they've invested in teams such as Angel City FC, San Diego Wave, and Boston Legacy FC.

In this episode, we discuss:
‣ How she and Kara Nortman formed the thesis around Monarch
‣ Opportunities they’re most interested in and bullish on
‣ Advice for other women who want to invest in sports

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