By Ernest Granson
The world is awash in sports and not just the big five – Premier League, NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, and other leagues with substantial multi-platform viewership. We also have pickleball, bowling, surfing, Sail GP or sport fishing. And what about, sport climbing, footvolley, Muay Thai, World Chase Tag, flag football, chess, judo, ball hockey, field hockey or eSports? All of these sports and activities, plus many more, have their fans and followers.
For those fans, in past years, following their favorite sport was limited. Today’s technology, streaming in particular, has made it possible for video content to be disseminated wherever and whenever fans want to see it or hear about it. It’s no wonder that sports fans have migrated en masse to streaming as their primary source for live sports. According to Hub Entertainment Research, survey results from January of 2025, show that 69% of U.S. sports fans use Streaming Video On Demand (SVOD) to watch live games compared to 66% who watch games on broadcast networks and 63% on cable networks. That survey also confirmed that more younger sports fans choose this method of watching (ages 13-34: 48%, age 35+: 29%).
Venture Capital firm Relay Ventures (RV), headquartered in Toronto and with offices in Calgary and San Francisco, has long recognized this trend, drawing several sports oriented startups into its portfolio, including The Curling Group as profiled in this issue of Business Edge Magazine, and other companies including Home Team Network, Alt Sports Data Inc. and PressBox.
As company co-founder John Albright explains, those four companies and others fit into its sports, media, entertainment, gaming and gambling vertical on which he and two partners focus. The company has done about 20 deals in this space over the last 25 years and has been unusually successful, he says, compared to the normal VC odds of success. Building on its sports related portfolio, RV is launching a new platform, named Player 12, in which to invest and purchase ecosystems companies around new and emerging sports.
“These sports require specific services and solutions to generate revenue if they are to become viable,” Albright says. “It could be in streaming technology, ticketing, betting, venue management, fan engagement, content generation, merchandise etc. We call this the flywheel or the doughnut that surrounds the emerging leagues and the teams. To carry this further, whenever a new league launches, management positions have to be filled to operate the company. Somebody in the organization is responsible for revenue, i.e., the chief revenue officer. Where is that revenue going to come from? From sponsors, right? Someone has to take the lead to bring sponsors on board. Somebody has to integrate data from the league and teams to the relevant gambling sites to allow their fans to bet. Somebody has to build the sales force.”
Hand-in-hand with these responsibilities, founders of these startups must evaluate numerous essential service companies, Albright continues. “There’s the streaming company, the betting company, the venue company, the merchandise company and the content company. All of these service companies are knocking on the door of the startup with their own service product to offer. But what if they knock on the door and have eight products to sell instead, or maybe five if the team owners have already made some connections? With Player 12 we will be able to offer a ticket solution, a merchandise solution, a streaming solution, a betting solution and more. Player 12 will provide an end-to-end solution to the emerging leagues and teams that accelerates their revenue capabilities and captures fandom.”
“If you take into consideration the cost of some of the teams in these emerging sports, approximately the US$5 – 10 million range, how does the owner get a payback on that investment. How long does it take to become profitable? We want to solve that problem and we can do that by creating an end-to-end ecosystem. This is about investing and integrating the best of breed solutions and connecting them through SG & A (Selling, General, and Administrative expenses) as well as tech.”
“The Player 12 platform enables revenue and cost synergies amongst the emerging solution providers. That means one sales force instead of 8 to 10 selling multiple solutions to the same customers, one back office instead of 8 to 10, one tech platform, etc. We want to be a partner with the founders, and we want the founders to be partners with each other. This is a win-win situation.”
To be clear, there are specific requirements to be met by these leagues and teams, such as the professional triathlete league, snowboarding, surfing, rugby, badminton, professional female sports leagues and others. Number one on the requirement list is the global audience. The cutoff, Albright says, would be a global audience of 100 million globally. “Any smaller audience might be too difficult today. We know that at 100 million, the math works. The second condition is that the league includes the top 10 professionals in that sport. This is a must. Generating viewership and revenue depends on content and at the end of the day, that means signing up the best players in the world.”