Sony's $100M Cosm Bet Anchors a Two-Deal Quarter in Sports Tech

Sony Pictures Entertainment put $100 million into Cosm in Q2 2026, the single largest sports tech investment of the quarter and the latest nine-figure boost for the shared reality venue operator, according to Sports Business Journal's quarterly funding roundup.

The deal came with a governance hook: SPE Chairman and CEO Ravi Ahuja took a seat on Cosm's board, and SPE plans to use the connection as a new avenue for its intellectual property. The obvious question — whether films and other Sony content could soon run on Cosm's curved LED walls — is grounded in precedent. SPE has a relationship with Netflix, which is only increasing its live sports focus, and Sphere-style exhibition content has already proven the concept works.

Cosm, named one of SBJ's 10 Most Innovative Sports Tech Companies in 2025, raised $250 million in 2024. It operates venues in Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta, sustained by sports deals across leagues and broadcasters. Detroit opens later this year. Cleveland follows in 2027.

A $200 million bet on cardboard

The quarter's other nine-figure move came from Collectors, the umbrella organization spanning sports memorabilia and trading cards. It shifted $200 million into Professional Sports Authenticators, the dominant card grading and authentication business in the hobby.

The money will fund expanded physical capacity as PSA wrestles with massive consumer demand. A portion is earmarked for technological enhancement of the grading process itself — a signal that even a physically constrained, hands-on business sees automation as the path to scale.

Athlete tracking stays hot

Biomechanic analysis and athlete tracking remain reliably fundable pockets of the industry, SBJ notes — the sector produces a notable round nearly every quarter.

GameRun, a movement and performance analysis platform that builds detailed player reports with AI, raised $4 million in April. Its capabilities have already drawn USA Baseball, which uses the tech for regional talent evaluation.

PlayerData, which began as a producer of GPS wearables, closed a $12 million round as it scales its product suite. Its tech is worn by every official at the FIFA Men's World Cup, and the company has helped Puma and Mitre develop a soccer ball with built-in GPS tracking.

Hexis, a personalized nutrition app, raised a $21 million seed round led by Apex Capital in June. Half of Premier League clubs use the platform, and it worked with 40% of the riders who competed in last year's Tour de France.

AI content keeps pulling checks

AI-powered or enhanced content remains an easier pitch to investors, and Q2 delivered two rounds worth watching.

Sportway, an AI streamer in the growing youth sports streaming sector, raised $22.7 million. The more interesting name attached to the deal may be its lead investor: Gamma Waves Partners, a firm that only emerged this year, co-founded by former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, entrepreneur Rocco Benetton and retired Italian star Giorgio Chiellini. The firm targets tech platforms with room to scale and is so new its website still lacks a portfolio page. SBJ flags it as an investor to watch in Europe.

PressBox pulled in a $2 million seed round in April. The AI content platform is building one-to-one fan personalization tools for rights holders, media partners and other sports content producers.

The rest of the quarter

SBJ also covered five additional rounds in Q2: VisioLab's $11 million Series A (April 21), PlayReplay's $12 million raise (May 5), SponsorCX's Series A to power AI capabilities (May 18), Edge Markets' $29 million Series A for gambling bank accounts (June 8), and Swsh's $4 million seed for a fan photo platform with audience insights (June 16).

The pattern across the quarter is consistent: legacy media money is buying its way into immersive venue experiences, incumbents in physical businesses like card grading are paying to modernize, and athlete data plus AI content remain the sector's most dependable fundraising categories. With Cosm opening two more venues by 2027 and Gamma Waves yet to deploy at scale, both stories will run well past Q3.