Here at Vela Wood, we provide assistance to many of the country’s leading fantasy sports operators in all stages of financing and strategic exits, and in light of its widespread legalization, we are now seeing an uptick in sports wagering related deals as well. In recent years, hundreds of billions (and yes, that’s “billions” with a “b”) of investment dollars have been injected into these industries from virtually every type of investor. From friends and family to career investors, venture capital funds, investment funds, accelerators, casino enterprises, actors and even professional athletes– everyone wants a piece of the fantasy and sports betting pie.
Although more recently much of the investment community has turned its attention and resources towards legalized sports betting, fantasy operators continue to strike million or even billion dollar deals on a regular basis and we are often asked questions about past, present, and future industry deals. In response to the significant interest and regular inquiry of many of our fantasy and gaming clients, we have compiled a list of major industry investors and transactions below to provide a snapshot of historical industry investment.
All data was gathered from publicly available sources – either press releases, news articles, or deal tracking resources.
Got a deal that we should add? Please email us at info@velawood.com.
Fantasy Sports and Sports Betting Deals
Operator:Scientific Games Lottery
$381M (2021)
130+ retail customers in 50 countries
Summary of Consideration:
Total amount LBO; $5.825B in cash and an earn-out of up to $225M based on the achievement of certain EBITDA targets in 2022 and 2023.
Operator:The Score Media Ventures
$22M (2021)
4M MAU
Summary of Consideration:
The Score shareholders received $17.00 per share in cash and 0.2398 shares of Penn National common stock for each the Score share, which implies a total purchase consideration of $34.00 per the Score share based on Penn National’s 5-day volume weighted average trading price as of July 30, 2021. Current Penn National and the Score shareholders hold approximately 93% and 7% respectively, of the Company’s outstanding shares.
Operator:Golden Nugget Gaming
$128.2M (2021)
5M users
Summary of Consideration:
All stock.
Operator:The Action Network
$40M (2021)
1.6M MAU
Summary of Consideration:
All cash and debt free basis.
Operator:Bet.Works
Summary of Consideration:
$62.5M in cash and $62.5M in Bally’s common stock, which Bet.Works shareholders agreed to hold for at least one year.
Operator:Monkey Knife Fight
180K registered users and 80K depositing players
Summary of Consideration:
MKF received immediately exercisable penny warrants to purchase up to approximately $50M in Bally’s common shares (subject to adjustment) at closing, and contingent penny warrants to purchase up to approximately $20M in additional Bally’s common shares on each of the first and second anniversaries of closing, for a possible total of up to approximately $40M.
Operator:VSiN
NA
NA
Summary of Consideration:
Cash and stock.
Operator:Betcha Sports
Summary of Consideration:
$25M upfront in Vivid Seats Equity, $40M based on earnings and payable in a combination of cash and stock.
Operator:RotoGrinders
$8M (2018)
NA
Summary of Consideration:
$17.85M in cash and $3.15M in shares for a 60% stake. On November 4, 2021, Better Collective completed the acquisition of the remaining 40% share stake in RotoGrinders at a total price of $35.4M. The acquisition of the remaining 40% of the shares was paid through a $23.6M cash consideration.
Operator:USBookmaking
NA
NA
Summary of Consideration:
$12M paid 50% in cash and 50% in shares of the Company and potential additional payout of up to $41.8M through December 31, 2025.
Operator:DRAFT
NA
NA
Summary of Consideration:
$19M upfront, with a potential additional payout of $29M paid over a stipulated period of time per the terms of the deal.
Operator:Sleeper
3M active users
Additional Investors:
Rainfall, Telstra Ventures, Leonis Capital, Rabil Ventures and Klay Thompson also participated in the round.
Operator:Lineups.com
$7.5M (2020)
NA
Summary of Consideration:
Payable in cash in three instalments during a two-year period. An additional contingent cash payment of $500K is payable if certain requirements are fulfilled within three years of the transaction date.
Operator:Synergy Sports
Acquirer / Investor:Elysian Park Ventures
Acquirer / Investor:Mark Walter
$18.63M (2020)
Additional Investors:
Peter Guber, Todd Boehly, Eldridge and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round.
Operator:Vigtory
NA
NA
Summary of Consideration:
The purchase price was determined to be $10.3M, including $1.7M of Vigtory’s outstanding convertible notes and other liabilities settled by the Company on the closing date. This consideration does not include the $26.9M fair value of common shares issued to former employee shareholders of Vigtory that will vest over future service periods.
Operator:SportTrade
Pre-revenue
Additional Investors:
Jump Capital, Impression Ventures, Hudson River Trading, Tower Research Ventures, Jim Murren, former CEO of MGM Resorts International and Tom Wittman, former CEO of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange also participated in the round.
Operator:Underdog Fantasy
Acquirer / Investor:Kevin Carter
Acquirer / Investor:Blackrock
60K MAU
Additional Investors:
Mark Cuban, Kevin Durant, Jared Goff, Adam Schefter, rappers Future, Gunna, Nas, Kygo, The Chainsmokers and Steve Aoki, Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, gaming research firm Eilers & Krejcik, Bleacher Report’s Adam Lefkoe, the Action Network, FantasyLabs, RotoGrinders, and SimpleBet.
Operator:QL Gaming
300K free users and 10k paying customers
Summary of Consideration:
All cash.
Operator:Spin Games
NA
Summary of Consideration:
The Company will receive $10M in cash and $20M in common shares of Bragg, of which $5M worth of shares will be issued on closing, with the remainder over the next three years.
Operator:SimpleBet
100K unique users
Additional Investors:
Aristocrat Technologies, the San Francisco Giants, MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren, former Starbucks chief Howard Schultz, New Jersey Devilsminority co-owner David Blitzer, and tennis legend Andre Agassi also participated in the round.
Operator:RotoWire
100k paid subscriptions, 17M unique web visitors
Summary of Consideration:
$20.5M upfront; $7.5M deferred over a two-year period following close.
Operator:Sports Betting Dime
$13.6M (2020)
1.2M MAU
Summary of Consideration:
An initial $11.0M upfront, together with up to $500K as reimbursement of SBD’s operating expenses per month from December 31, 2020, to the completion of the acquisition. A further $10.0M will be payable on the first anniversary of the deal, and then the final $3.7M after 18 months.
Operator:CBWG Sports
$4.6M (2020)
550K DAU
Summary of Consideration:
An initial $12M will be paid in cash and issue 8M new shares – at an aggregate value of $3.5M with a potential future contingent consideration of up to $9.5M, based on net revenue performance of the acquired business, payable over three years to the end of 2023.
Operator:Jambos Picks
Acquirer / Investor:David Ganek
Acquirer / Investor:Marvin Bush
Additional Investors:
Steve Duncker and other undisclosed investors also participated in this round.
Operator:Boom Fantasy
NA
Boom Fantasy portfolio of fantasy games have been played by nearly 3M users.
Additional Investors:
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Former MGM CEO Jim Murren, Eilers & Krejcik partner Chris Grove, ESPN analyst Adam Schefter, Golden Nugget Online Gaming and Rush Street Interactive also participated in the round.
Operator:Draftea
Additional Investors:
Sequoia, Bullpen, and Nigel Eccles, founder and former CEO of sports-betting giant FanDuel also participated in the round.
Operator:Jock MKT
Additional Investors:
Ryan Moore and Accomplice VC also participated in the round.
Operator:Metric Gaming
Additional Investors:
Existing investors also participated in this round.
Operator:Lucra
Acquirer / Investor:SeventySix Capital
Additional Investors:
Victress Capital, John Isner, Marc Lasry, Julie Ertz, Zach Ertz, and The 21 Fund also participated in the round.
Operator:Major League Fantasy
NA
NA
Summary of Consideration:
Cash and stock.
Operator:BetSperts
Acquirer / Investor:Verance Capital
More than 10M monthly visits across the Company’s properties during the 2020 football season.
Additional Investors:
Velo Partners, Parlay Capital Holdings, Thirtyfive Ventures, MLB players Evan Longoria, Adam Wainwright and David Price, NBA All-Stars Richard Jefferson and Chris Paul, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, Grammy winner Darius Rucker, entrepreneur and Atlanta Hawks owner Jesse Itzler and Eric Norlin of SK Ventures also participated in the round.
Operator:Starting Eleven
50K users
Additional Investors:
Fin Capital Angels and Permian Bank Capital also participated in this round.
Operator:StatHero
884% growth in annual revenue; 400% month-over-month growth in deposits.
Additional Investors:
NA
Operator:HypGames
Additional Investors:
DeepWork Capital and other undisclosed investors also participated in this round.
Operator:Compliable
$168K (2021)
7 customers
Additional Investors:
KB Partners also participated in the round.
Operator:Gaming Society
Additional Investors:
Other undisclosed investors also participated in the round.
Operator:PickUp
Acquirer / Investor:Connetic Ventures
Acquirer / Investor:Sharp Alpha Investors
Additional Investors:
SuRo Capital, Drive by DraftKings and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round.
Operator:ThriveFantasy
Additional Investors:
New York Angels members, Yolo Investments, Reflect Ventures and Stage 1 Ventures also participated in the round.
Operator:GridRival
100K users
Additional Investors:
ESPT Ventures, Sharp Alpha Advisors, Lloyd Danzig, Benjie Cherniak and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round.
Operator:Premier Turf Club
NA
NA
Summary of Consideration:
NA
Operator:SharpRank
15K active users
Additional Investors:
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, Sharp Alpha Advisors and Old Line Capital also participated in the round.
Operator:Ownersbox
Pre-revenue (2020)
Additional Investors:
Drew Brees participated in the round.
Operator:PredictionStrike
Additional Investors:
MaC Venture Capital also participated in the round.
Operator:Linestar
859K (2020)
NA
Additional Investors:
Funded via SeedInvest.
Operator:Blok Sports
Additional Investors:
Andre Reed and Marshawn Lynch participated in the round.
Operator:Snapodds
Additional Investors:
Undisclosed investors also participated in the round.
Operator:Kero Sports
Acquirer / Investor:Sharp Alpha Investors
Additional Investors:
Benjie Cherniak also participated in the round.
Operator:Match Bets
Additional Investors:
NA
Operator:Hedge
$500K (2021)
Additional Investors:
NA
Operator:Bettor Fantasy
Additional Investors:
NA
Operator:PrizePicks
Acquirer / Investor:Astralis Capital
Annualized re-occurring revenue topped $20M in May 2021.
Additional Investors:
Other notable investors in the round include Matt Ryan, John Collins, Next Play Capital Partner Hunter Hillenmeyer, Bet.Works Founder Quinton Singleton, SportsGrid COO Adam Kaplan, Former NFL Executive Vishal Shah, and ThePostGame led by Eric Herd, co-founder and CEO, and David Katz, co-founder, chairman, and former head of FOX Sports Digital and Yahoo! Sports.