Elysian Park Ventures was established in 2014 as a sports-focused investment company. Their mission is clear: “Invest in the future of sports.” Their investments are guided by two principles:

・All investment themes are related to sports
・They always actively engage after investing

Their current portfolio consists of more than 70 companies. A notable characteristic is that approximately 20 of these companies collaborated with each other within the past year. Elysian Park Ventures offers not just an investment, but also an experimental ground for jointly creating the future of the sports industry. Their overwhelming strength lies in their direct access to teams. Mr. Adya explained: “When considering an investment, we are fortunate to be able to call Dodgers staff and immediately get their opinion. I can instantly answer the question whether ‘this product would be useful for the team.’”

A symbolic example is the Oura Ring. The Oura Ring is a ring-shaped wearable device that measures sleep, recovery status, heart rate variability (HRV), and other metrics. It’s suited for athlete performance management and has recently become widely popular among general users as well. When Elysian Park Ventures invested in Oura Ring, Dodgers trainers and coaches actually used it with players and evaluated its performance. The ultimate testing environment for consumer products is, needless to say, professional athletes. This thorough field verification is a powerful advantage that other investment funds cannot replicate.

The next topic Mr. Adya discussed was the trend of athletes becoming investors themselves. In the United States, the number of players investing in startups based on their own experiences has increased. Even with the Dodgers, an increasing number of players are beginning to make small-scale investments. Mr. Adya explained the background: “There are more and more cases where athletes invest in products they’ve personally used and seen results from. It’s interesting to see athletes become investors and become entities that drive businesses.”

The example highlighted to symbolize this trend was TGL (TMRW Golf League), the new golf league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, which has attracted attention because Shohei Ohtani is among the investment members. Mr. Adya spoke about the essence of TGL: “Tiger Woods is both an investor and a player. Investing in the sport they play and shaping its future — this is very unique, and I think it’s a positive trend for the industry.” Athletes investing in new ecosystems for their own sports and designing the future from a business perspective is a movement that should also be happening in creative industries such as film, manga, and anime.

When Mr. Miyata asked what the most successful deal among Elysian Park Ventures’ investments was, Mr. Adya named DraftKings. DraftKings is one of the largest sports betting companies in the United States, and for Elysian Park, it represents one of their largest deals in terms of both investment amount and returns. However, Mr. Adya’s explanation went beyond simply viewing it as a profitable deal. It was a massive return, and the appeal was that sports betting significantly increases viewing engagement.

Indeed, sports betting was legalized in the United States around 2017–2018, marking the beginning of massive market growth. DraftKings most skillfully captured that wave and rapidly increased its presence. As Mr. Adya explained, betting reinforces the reason to watch sports, and statistics clearly show that people who place bets watch games longer. In other words, DraftKings is not a service for placing bets but rather a service that changes viewing behavior itself. However, when Elysian Park Ventures first began considering the investment, one of their greatest concerns was the risk of fraud. When Mr. Miyata asked, “What were the key discussion points during investment consideration?” Mr. Adya replied, “One of the most important themes, in particular after the legalization of sports betting in America, was integrity.” Specifically, the following mechanisms were deemed essential:

・The existence of a third-party organization to detect fraudulent betting patterns
・A rapid investigation process when suspicious activity occurs
・A system to appropriately track information about bettors and target players
・A structure capable of taking strict legal measures when necessary

“Without these in place, we wouldn’t have invested a single dollar, and the leagues wouldn’t have permitted betting either.”

Because they understand the significant impact betting has on sports, technology to protect integrity was an absolute requirement. As an example symbolizing the relationship between betting and viewing behavior, Mr. Adya introduced TAPPP, an Elysian Park portfolio company conducting a pilot experiment in Latin America. An Elysian Park co-investment company conducted a test displaying panels where viewers could place bets instantaneously on the game broadcast screen. As a result, viewing time increased 4 to 6 times. Beyond the impact of the numbers, the fact that adding just one feature to the screen completely changes the viewing experience offers significant implications for the broadcasting industry as well. Mr. Adya added, “Of course, regulation is necessary. However, this is very interesting data showing that even small-scale betting has the potential to dramatically increase viewing engagement.”

Elysian Park Ventures has invested in the women’s volleyball league LOVB (Love Volleyball), and their newly announced investment target is the International Dance League (IDL). At first glance, one might wonder why a baseball team invests in volleyball or dance. However, the more I listened, the better I understood the rationality of their investment decisions. First, Elysian Park Ventures is not a baseball team’s investment company but an investment firm focused on sports in general. There are investment opportunities across all sports, and they actively look beyond baseball.

Why LOVB Was Chosen: The Same “Pyramid Structure” as Baseball
Mr. Adya explained that volleyball has a pyramid-like participation structure to baseball:

・Top level: MLB (highest level of professional)
・Second level: Minor leagues
・Third level: College, high school
・Forth level: Children first experiencing the sport

Volleyball has a similar structure, although LOVB started from the bottom of the pyramid rather than the top. They first focused on the base of the pyramid, targeting 35–40 club teams in local markets targeting young athletes just starting their volleyball training. Then, several years later, they launched a top professional league. Now they have LOVB developmental clubs that feed into LOVB’s professional league, creating an ecosystem. Elysian Park Ventures observed the similarities between baseball and volleyball, building conviction that this is a structure with a proven model that works.

Across Elysian Park Ventures’ 70 portfolio companies, approximately 15 handle critical functions for professional leagues such as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL:

・Content production
・Distribution technology
・Performance science
・Player measurement and assessment
・Media rights optimization

In other words, after investing in LOVB, Elysian Park Ventures can provide the functions necessary for its operation from their existing portfolio. This not only significantly reduces business risk but also represents a growth environment for startups.

Investment in the International Dance League
Investment in IDL (International Dance League) can be explained using the same structural similarities as LOVB and MLB:

・Dancers are athletes
・The league follows the same structure as sports: regular season → postseason → championship
・Olympic recognition
・Teams exist worldwide

Additionally, dance has a high affinity with pop culture. Dance is the #2 content category on TikTok and up to 33% of searches are dance-related, thus showing its massive cultural touchpoint.

Furthermore, like LOVB, IDL can be supported by Elysian Park Ventures’s existing portfolio, making horizontal expansion for growth easier, from league launch to operations, content production, and athlete care. In other words, their investment strategy is about nurturing the convergence area of sports × entertainment × culture with a long-term perspective. The investments in LOVB and IDL are interesting examples that symbolize the direction in which the sports business is expanding.

The next topic Mr. Miyata raised was the impact of AI on sports. In the U.S., MLB has partnered with Google, reflecting the vast amounts of data in television broadcasts. Meanwhile, in Japan, the sight of Ohtani returning to the bench after each at-bat and each pitch to check videos on his tablet is familiar. Mr. Adya explained how much AI has evolved behind the scenes in sports.

Deciphering 50+ Years of Pitching Data with AI
Twenty years ago, scouting reports were primarily done manually. However, now AI analyzes massive datasets, including 50+ years of pitching history, tendencies by count, and pitching data going back to college days. Analysis for Ohtani’s first at-bat could be: “In the first at-bat of the game with a 0–0 count, this pitcher throws a two-seam fastball 60% of the time.” By the second at-bat against the same pitcher, predictions can include the pitch type most likely to be thrown in that moment, taking into account pitch count, fatigue, and form changes.

Computer Vision Visualizes Form Deviations
By combining AI with video analysis, the following becomes possible:

・Release point deviations down to a few centimeters
・Form changes by inning
・Differences between early and late in games

Such details that are difficult to capture with the naked eye can now be analyzed. AI is already becoming an essential “digital coach” for players to improve their performance.

Future Prediction in Sports Becomes Possible
In American football (NFL), “Next Gen Stats” combines sensors attached to players with AWS. In the future, before a quarterback throws the ball, real-time visualization of probability displays, such as which of three passes has the highest success probability will become possible. This logic can be applied to baseball and soccer as well. For example, when a midfielder chooses between a short pass to the right or a risky long pass to the left, the pass success probability or probability of leading to a subsequent goal can be calculated. Such data will be used in game plan design.

The Game World is Beginning to Drive Real Sports
An example of how the gaming industry is influencing sports that Mr. Adya shared was EA’s soccer game EA FC that has in-game player ratings and in-game rankings. These are increasingly used as decision-making factors in actual contract negotiations and salary cap decisions. In other words, an era has arrived where games influence real player value.

How Far Can AI Go in Injury Prevention?
Finally, one of the areas where AI is most anticipated is injury prevention. By back-testing accumulated data on pitcher workload, it has become possible to identify under what conditions injuries are more likely to occur. Analysis now likely includes not just the number of pitches in the major and minor leagues, but also accumulation from high school and college days. This allows for teams and players to better load balance during growth periods. Mr. Adya said that building systems that identify warning signs before breakdown using AI’s power is in the future of not just baseball but all sports. Mr. Miyata commented: “Please use AI to help create an environment where Shohei Ohtani can play for a long time.”

Mr. Miyata’s final question was, “How do you view the Japanese market?” Mr. Adya responded, “Japan is an extremely important market.”

Size and Maturity as a Baseball Market
Elysian Park Ventures’ portfolio includes nearly 10 companies related to baseball. For those companies, the largest market is the U.S., but Mr. Adya stated that Japan is the second largest market because:

・Massive in both attendance and viewership
・Baseball culture in Japan has a longer history than in America
・Japanese players in MLB continue to increase, and the fan base is solid

Mr. Adya added that Japan has the potential for developing startup businesses centered on baseball.

Encounters with AI-Related Startups
Mr. Adya also had high praise for Japanese startups in AI, computer vision, and content generation by autonomous AI. He said he encountered multiple companies in Japan with technology that can be exported not just to the U.S., but worldwide. This is one of the reasons Elysian Park Ventures will return to Japan.

Market Size and an Ecosystem Poised for Growth
Japan has a massive market of 120 million people, yet its sports business and investment ecosystem is not as mature as in Europe and the U.S. That is why the growth potential is considerable. Mr. Adya said, “Over the next 10 years, I envision a future where the composition of investments will reverse from US: non-US = 60:10 to 10:60.” In other words, the global weight will shift outside the U.S. Within that shift, Japan is already positioned as a market with many connection points and a compelling reason to invest.

AI is significantly evolving sports across the layers of analysis, future prediction, and injury prevention. Japan, with both its baseball culture and AI technology, has become an attractive partner market for Elysian Park Ventures. These two themes encapsulate Elysian Park Ventures’ view of the future of sports.

There is significance in hearing about Elysian Park Ventures’ investment strategy at INTER BEE, a conference for television stations. Elysian Park Ventures’ approach poses the question to us:

“Do you have the vision to invest and collaborate beyond your own domain?”

This is an era where a baseball team’s affiliated investment company invests in a dance league, where athletes become investors, and data and AI redefine sports. The boundaries between media, sports, AI, and culture have begun to dissolve. This session demonstrated the frontlines of that transformation.