According to the “Sports Tech Market 2025” annual update released by Drake Star on January 29, 2026, the sports technology sector recorded a historic year in 2025.

The industry saw approximately $200 billion in announced deal value across more than 1,000 transactions. Among these, M&A activity accounted for about $156 billion across 450+ deals, while private financings totaled $14.3 billion across roughly 500 transactions, with multiple indicators reaching all-time highs.

________________________________________

Key News Themes: Three Forces Driving the Capital Revaluation of Sports Tech

1) M&A dominates the narrative: mega-deals and vertical consolidation

Drake Star notes that M&A intensity increased significantly in 2025, with deal value more than doubling year-over-year under its tracking methodology. Consolidation was particularly evident across:

• Youth sports platforms

• Performance analytics

• Media rights

• Prediction markets

For the fitness and sporting goods equipment industry, this signals a structural shift. Capital is increasingly connecting the full value chain:

training data → content → events/communities → transactions/monetization

In this model, equipment is repositioned as the entry point into a data and service ecosystem, but pure hardware offerings may struggle to command valuation premiums.

________________________________________

2) Fewer deals, but larger checks: investors favor bigger, more certain bets

While the number of financings declined compared with the previous year, total capital raised more than doubled. The market recorded 23 financings above $100 million, the highest level in four years.

By deal count, the most active segments were:

• Wearables and performance enhancement

• Fan engagement and experience

By capital deployed, funding concentrated in:

• Fantasy sports

• Esports

• Betting platforms

This structural shift suggests the sector is moving from proof-of-concept to scaled platforms. Companies with strong ecosystems and recurring revenue models are more attractive to investors, while hardware-only or supply-chain-centric businesses may face margin pressure without data or service layers.

________________________________________

3) Institutional capital accelerates into sports tech

Drake Star reports approximately $12 billion in new sports-tech-focused funds launched in 2025, with capital allocated to sports and media strategies nearly doubling versus 2024.

Major private equity firms and institutional investors are:

• Launching dedicated sports funds

• Increasing allocations to media, data, and performance platforms

This reflects a clear shift: sports tech is now viewed as a core investment vertical, alongside gaming, AI, and digital media.

________________________________________

Market Signals: IPO window reopens and refinancing returns

On the public markets side, the report notes that the IPO window reopened in 2025, accompanied by a wave of debt refinancings across major industry players.

A representative example is StubHub’s approximately $800 million IPO, which signaled improving capital-market conditions for sports and entertainment platforms.

Meanwhile, sports asset platforms are expanding. CVC’s Global Sports Group consolidated major rights assets across leagues and competitions, illustrating a strategy built around:

rights aggregation → media and sponsorship leverage → long-term capital operations

This model is likely to further increase the financialization of sports content and audience traffic.

________________________________________

Industry Analysis: What the sports-tech boom means for fitness and equipment companies

1) Hardware is no longer the endpoint—it is the entry point

The surge in sports-tech investment is essentially a bet on three scalable business models:

1. Subscriptions and services

o SaaS platforms

o training content

o digital coaching

2. Data and analytics

o performance metrics

o injury risk monitoring

o training load management

3. Platforms and transactions

o ticketing

o rights and sponsorship

o betting and prediction markets

For fitness equipment companies, future competitiveness will depend not only on:

• cost

• structural strength

• reliability

but also on:

• sustainable data-capture quality (sensors, algorithms, calibration, anti-cheating)

• the ability to convert data into paid training outcomes

• integration with external ecosystems such as clubs, competitions, coaching systems, and health or insurance platforms

________________________________________

2) M&A is moving downstream—toward training scenarios and user entry points

Drake Star highlights consolidation in youth sports and performance analytics. This suggests two major implications for equipment manufacturers:

a) Youth, school, and home training will become critical entry channels

Demand will grow for:

• lighter, safer equipment

• compact functional and strength systems

• cardio devices integrated with data tracking

b) Performance and rehabilitation markets will increasingly overlap

Equipment will need to support measurable performance indicators such as:

• force curves

• velocity

• power output

• range of motion

• symmetry metrics

________________________________________

3) Supply-chain perspective: opportunities lie in standardized interfaces and verifiable data

As equipment becomes a data gateway, overseas buyers will increasingly focus on:

• sensor consistency and long-term drift control

• firmware and app lifecycle management

• cybersecurity

• standardized data outputs (power, speed, resistance)

• compatibility with third-party platforms

• compliance and privacy, especially for youth users

This will push the industry from a single focus on visible structural quality toward a dual-track competition model:

structural quality + digital quality

________________________________________

Outlook for the next 1–3 years

Based on Drake Star’s 2026 outlook—continued M&A acceleration, more active PE participation, and ongoing focus on AI, collegiate sports, NIL ecosystems, and performance analytics—the smart fitness equipment sector is likely to evolve along three main paths:

1) Hardware-plus-subscription models will further polarize

Only companies that convert training results into repeatable, subscription-based service loops will achieve valuation premiums.

2) M&A logic for equipment brands will resemble software companies

Future acquisitions may focus less on equipment manufacturers and more on:

• training content platforms

• performance-analysis algorithms

• club management systems

• coaching tools

3) System integration will matter more than individual SKUs

For manufacturers seeking venture or institutional capital, competitive advantage will lie in:

integrated training solutions

(equipment + data + content + service)

rather than single-product offerings.

________________________________________

Disclaimer

The core data and trends cited in this article are based on the summary of Drake Star’s “Sports Tech Market 2025” report, supplemented by publicly available media coverage of capital-market events and sports asset strategies. This article is intended for industry information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.