In a significant move for the UK's sports technology sector, the company behind the popular Fantasy Football Hub has secured a multimillion-pound investment to fuel its expansion.
Major Investment for AI-Powered Platform
Scoreline, the sports technology group, is set to announce a substantial $6 million (£4.5 million) fundraising round later this week. Sky News understands the investment has been spearheaded by Nickleby Capital, a notable backer of the premium ticketing platform Seat Unique.
The funding syndicate also includes Dopamine Sports Ventures and Winforton Investments. This financial boost underscores growing investor confidence in the intersection of artificial intelligence, data analytics, and the massive global fantasy sports market.
From Football to Cricket: A Strategic Expansion
Scoreline's flagship product, Fantasy Football Hub (FFH), focuses on the English Premier League and boasts an impressive 800,000 members. Of these, approximately 60,000 are paying subscribers who access advanced, AI-driven tools like personalised player recommendations.
Capitalising on this success, the company is now launching Wickets.ai, a new platform aimed at the booming fantasy cricket market. This strategic pivot targets immense audiences, particularly around tournaments like the Indian Premier League (IPL), which reportedly attracts over 200 million fantasy players.
"This funding lets us scale our AI-powered platform from football to a global audience across more sports, starting with cricket," said Dr Thomas, a representative for Scoreline. "Our goal is simple: make fantasy easier, smarter, and more fun for every fan."
Validating a Growing Market
The investment is a strong validation of Scoreline's business model and technology. The company cites research indicating that fantasy sports enthusiasts spend up to seven hours per week researching their teams, with more than half prioritising their fantasy team's success over that of their real-life club.
"Scoreline has proven you can generate valuable fantasy sports insights at scale," said Saav Shah, Managing Partner at Nickleby Capital. "The combination of validated product-market fit, proprietary AI, and expansion into cricket makes this a compelling opportunity."
The deal also carries a star-powered endorsement, with Sky Sports pundit and former Manchester City defender Micah Richards listed as both an investor and ambassador for the company. According to industry projections referenced by Scoreline, the global market for fantasy sports games and content is expected to be worth a staggering $105 billion by 2033.
