🔊 What Novig’s $75M Raise Tells Us About The Future Of Sports Prediction Markets

This week, Novig, a peer-to-peer sports trading and prediction platform, raised a $75 million Series B funding round led by Pantera Capital.

The round, which reportedly values the company at $500 million, also included participation from Multicoin Capital, Makers Fund, Edge Equity, and existing investors Forerunner, Perceptive Ventures, and NFX.

According to the press release, “the new capital accelerates Novig's next phase of growth, including onboarding more institutional liquidity. Novig will utilize the investment to deepen product innovation and growth loops, launching first-of-its-kind functionality that combines the best innovation of financial markets with the excitement of live sports.”

This latest investment brings Novig’s total capital raised to more than $105 million.

Why This Matters? 

The opportunity in prediction markets couldn’t be clearer.

Recent consumer demand (over $1.3 billion in cumulative volume traded on the Super Bowl alone) shows that this category has significant upside, and institutional capital is eyes wide open.

At the core, prediction markets allow users to express their confidence in real-world outcomes.

Unlike traditional sportsbooks, the prices aren’t set by a centralized operator.

They move on supply and demand.

As new information arises, users can trade in and out of positions in real time, similar to financial markets.

With the flexibility and gamification of these markets, trading volumes have consistently increased, reaching billions of dollars weekly.

Prediction markets are largely driven by sports-focused trading, but are also supported by activity around crypto, politics, culture, and more.

What this activity and Novig’s recent raise signal is that even though the space is nascent, there’s a major opportunity ahead.

Not just in the consumer platforms themselves, but in the infrastructure that supports them.

As capital continues to flow, we’ll start to see more companies emerge focused on data, analytics, compliance, and market-making, along with communities and tools built for more active participants.

Despite open questions around regulation and legality in the long term, prediction markets have the potential to drastically reshape how fans engage with live events and how capital intersects with sports, media, and entertainment.

Here’s a brief video on the current outlook, if you want to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxmHGCiqcsU

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• Pred Raises $2.5M. Pred, a peer-to-peer sports prediction exchange, raised $2.5 million in Seed funding led by Accel, with participation from BEF (Coinbase Ventures) and Reverie. The funding will be used to expand the team, improve liquidity, and global on-chain scaling. The platform is live in private beta, with traders joining through an invite-only program ahead of broader public access (more here).

• Marquee Raises $1.2M. Marquee, a Tel-Aviv-based sports tech startup, has secured $1.2 million in pre-seed funding to help professional clubs worldwide reduce costly player transfer mistakes. The round was led by AnD Ventures, with participation from Israeli tech figures including Wix co-founders Avishai Abrahami and Omer Shai, and former Maccabi Netanya owner Eyal Segal (more here).

• Serie A Acquires Majority Stake In Fantacalcio. Serie A, Italy’s top men's soccer league, has acquired a 51% stake in fantasy soccer gaming platform Fantacalcio. The total value of the acquisition is €18 million ($21.3 million), and values Fantacalcio at over $40 million. The current owners of Fantacalcio, Nino Ragosta and Luigi Cutolo, will remain in charge of the company, although Serie A will now hold a controlling stake (more here).

• Shelby Companies Limited Acquires Birmingham City Women’s Club. Shelby Companies Limited, a subsidiary of Knighthead Capital Management, an investment firm co-founded by Tom Wagner, has completed the purchase of the Birmingham City women's team. They now have a 97% stake in the women's club. The remaining 3% has been taken up by a group of prominent female business leaders and global sports executives (more here).

• Visa & Red Bull Renew Partnership. Visa announced this week that they have renewed and expanded its sponsorship of the two Red Bull Formula One teams until 2030. Through the deal, Visa will continue as the title partner of the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls and support the team’s F1 Academy program. They will also match Red Bull’s commitment to F1 Academy by supporting two cars on the grid for the all-female junior series (more here).

• MLS & Chime Announce Partnership. Major League Soccer (MLS) has announced a partnership with Chime, a San Francisco-based fintech company. Through a deal, Chime will become the MLS's official retail banking, credit card, and debit card partner. The company will also be integrated across key MLS moments and platforms throughout the season, with a presence at some of the league’s most high-profile events (more here).

• Airwallex & San Francisco Giants Announce Partnership. The San Francisco Giants and Airwallex, a leading global financial platform for modern businesses, announced a multi-year partnership. As part of the agreement, Airwallex will become the Giants’ official jersey patch partner across Giants uniforms this season, beginning with Spring Training. Airwallex will also serve as the Giants’ Official Financial Software Partner (more here).

• Chelsea & IFS Announce Partnership. Premier League club Chelsea FC announced that IFS, an industrial AI company, has become the club’s official jersey sponsor. As part of this agreement, IFS will be featured on Chelsea's front of shirt for the remainder of the 25-26 season, marking the beginning of a long-term collaboration that places advanced AI at the heart of performance, operations, and fan engagement for the club (more here).

• Apple & EverPass Media Announce Partnership. EverPass Media, a platform that delivers live sports content to commercial businesses, has announced a distribution deal for programming on the Apple TV streaming service. Through this deal, the full range of Apple TV sports programming will be made available on EverPass at no additional cost to subscribers. Apple's portfolio of sports rights includes Formula 1 (F1), live coverage of every MLS match, and MLB games on a Friday night (a weekly doubleheader) (more here).

• Steve Young’s HGGC Raises New $3.2 Billion Fund. Hall of Fame QB Steve Young’s private equity firm, HGGC, has announced a $3.2 billion raise for its fifth flagship fund. The fund was oversubscribed and secured investor commitments in approximately twelve months, exceeding its $2.5 billion target and original hard cap of $2.8 billion. The firm manages more than $10 billion and concentrates on middle-market transactions, typically involving deals of up to $1 billion (more here).

• Jozy Altidore Invests In OKC Soccer. OKC for Soccer announced this week that soccer legend and entrepreneur Jozy Altidore and his longtime business partner Alex Lee have joined the club’s ownership group. Altidore has become a burgeoning investor in sports properties, including the Buffalo Bills, as well as emerging leagues and teams such as TGL/TMRW Sports, SailGP, and BayFC. He also holds a C-Suite role with Sogility. Financial details around his investment and stake were not disclosed (more here).

• Cristiano Ronaldo Invests In Herbalife. Billionaire soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has invested $7.5 million for a 10% stake in Herbalife subsidiary HBL Pro2col Software LLC, a software-based health and nutrition technology that collects users’ health and lifestyle data and creates customized nutrition and wellness plans. Ronaldo has been a paid partner of Herbalife since 2013, but this marks his first publicly disclosed investment in the firm (more here).

• Thibaut Courtois Becomes Co-Owner Of French Club. Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has become the latest shareholder in Ligue 2 club Le Mans. Courtois joins tennis icon Novak Djokovic and F1 drivers Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen in their part-ownership of the Le Mans club. Financial details around his investment and stake were not disclosed (more here).

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Nic Sulsky.

Nic Sulsky is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Curling Group.

The Curling Group is a sports business venture dedicated to revolutionizing curling through strategic investments and a commitment to innovation and content production.

In 2024, The Curling Group acquired the Grand Slam of Curling event series, including global media rights.

In 2026, TCG will launch Rock League, the world’s first professional curling league, featuring six elite mixed-gender global franchises.

Rock League hits the ice in April 2026, with a mission to deliver world-class competition, drive innovation within the sport, and connect curling fans across continents.

In this episode, we discuss:
‣ How the idea for The Curling Group came about
‣ What they're doing to build awareness and bring in new curling fans
‣ The long-term vision for the league

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

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