Emerald Media, a pan-Asian media and entertainment investment firm, is pushing into the sports technology space with an $80 million minority stake in Singapore-based Global Sports Commerce.
“The introduction of digital technology into the world of sports has helped amplify fans’ appreciation of the games and has helped to create an alternative source of revenue for clients, besides the games themselves,” Emerald’s Managing Director, Rajesh Kamat, said in a statement.
Here’s what you need to know:
-The aggregate $80 million includes growth capital and a secondary purchase of FidelisWorld’s stake in Techfront, one of GSC’s affiliates. The growth capital is intended to help GSC “develop next generation technologies for the sporting eco-system, and expand its operations in the fast-growing digital sporting solutions markets across the globe,” according to the statement. FidelisWorld, an Asia-focused private equity firm, is fully exiting the business as part of the deal.
-GSC’s business spans throughout Asia, Australia and Europe. Via a slew of subsidiaries, it provides technology-based solutions for sponsorship management, fan engagement, augmented reality, virtual reality, streaming, and drone-based data acquisition, among others. It’s worked with major sports properties like FIFA, the English Premier League, Formula 1, and Cricket Australia.
SportTechie Takeaway:
This is another sign of the growth and importance of the sports technology industry around the world. Emerald Media is backed by global investment firm, KKR, a giant whose business activities have been in real estate, energy, infrastructure and hedge funds, to name a few. KKR also recently invested directly in the sports world, taking part in WME IMG’s acquisition of UFC in 2016 along with Silver Lake Partners. KKR’s only prior connection to sports was its acquisition in 2011 of Academy Sports + Outdoors, a sporting goods and outdoors retailer.