FloSports, a provider of live-streaming and on-demand niche sports programming, announced a $47 million Series C funding round, led by current investor Discovery.
The round, which brings FloSports to $75 million raised to date, also included participation from other existing FloSports investors WWE, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Causeway Media Partners, DCM Ventures, and Fertitta Capital, the investment firm of former UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta,.
FloSports, launched in 2009, has broadcast rights to more than 4,000 events across 25 sports like wrestling, track and field, soccer, softball, rodeo, cycling, volleyball, bowling and swimming in the U.S. and abroad. It also offers a library of more than 2,000 hours of on-demand content, including weekly studio shows, technique videos with Olympians, profiles of pro athletes, and original films. In 2018, FloSports signed more than 250 new or extended rights deals.
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The company charges $150 for an annual subscription. Some customers have complained that FloSports advertises a pro-rated monthly rate for its services and doesn’t adequately disclose that it bills on a yearly basis.
FloSports’ lineup includes events from CONCACAF, Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), United World Wrestling, the Colonial Athletic Association, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), Atlantic Hockey, Hockey East, the German Bundesliga, and Discovery’s Eurosport.
“FloSports aligns nicely with Discovery’s global direct-to-consumer strategy and provides us with opportunities to apply learnings to our own [over-the-top] products,” said Bruce Campbell, chief development, distribution and legal officer for Discovery, in a statement.
FloSports claims to have “several hundred thousand” subscribers, declining to be more specific. According to the company, net subscriber growth through the first quarter of 2019 was greater than all of 2018. The company said it will use the new funding to continue to buy up rights to “middle- and long-tail partnerships” as well as develop advertising capabilities.
“With this new round of funding from our investors, we will further enrich underserved sports communities by broadening our existing coverage and expanding into new verticals,” FloSports CEO and co-Founder Mark Floreani said in a statement.
The Austin, Texas-based company has 250 employees.