The European Sports Market for Investors Using Ecosystem Strategy to Unlock Growth with Danny Menken

In this episode of Berkida Podcast, I invite Danny Menken, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Athvance Capital, Co-Owner of Levels Fight League, Co-Founder of Exceed Boxing, Co-Founder of ve2.ventures, Co-Owner of Cascais SAD, Co-Founder of MediaMorph, and Co-Founder of Padelplay to explore how sports investment is evolving beyond traditional ownership models. Danny shares insights from more than two decades in sports media, entertainment, and investment, discussing Europe’s growing opportunity for value creation in sport. The conversation explores Athvance Capital’s ecosystem-driven approach to building interconnected sports businesses, alongside fan engagement, AI, sports technology, emerging sports, and the future of health and performance innovation. Today, he focuses on building sports ecosystems that combine intellectual property, technology, and services to unlock long-term value across multiple sports verticals. Key Takeaways: Why Europe represents one of the biggest opportunities for sports investment and value creation How ecosystem investing combines sports IP, technology, and services to drive growth Why traditional private equity models often fail to maximise value in sport How Athvance Capital is building scalable ecosystems across football, padel, combat sports, and emerging sports The role of AI and data in improving athlete performance and fan engagement Why fan monetisation in Europe still lags behind the US and what could change How media consumption and sports distribution are evolving in the digital era The investment potential of sleep, recovery, and performance technology Why ecosystem-based ownership models may define the future of sports investment Danny's predictions for the next phase of growth in the global sports industry Key Timestamps: 00:00 - Why Danny launched Athvance Capital and the opportunity in European sports 05:08 - Building sports ecosystems through IP, technology, and services 07:35 - Inside Athvance Capital and its sports IP strategy 13:05 - The football ecosystem and multi-club ownership model 18:07 - The rapid growth of padel and opportunities in the sport 21:21 - How AI-powered technology is improving player performance and fan engagement 22:46 - Why combat sports represent a major investment opportunity 24:41 - Emerging sports and the success of King of the Court 26:46 - Changes in media consumption and sports distribution 29:18 - Sleep technology, recovery, and the future of athletic performance 33:06 - Danny’s bold prediction for the future of sport 33:39 - Why ecosystem-based investing will shape the next generation of sports businesses Connect with the Guest, Danny Menken: Danny Menken’s LinkedIn:   / dannymenken   Athvance Capital LinkedIn:   / athvance-capital   Athvance Capital Website: https://www.athvance.capital/ Levels Fight League LinkedIn:   / levels-fight-league   Levels Fight League Website: https://lflmma.com/ ExceedBoxing LinkedIn:   / exceedboxing   Exceed Boxing Website: https://exceedboxing.com/ Sportworx LinkedIn:   / sportworx   Sportworx Website: https://sportworx.nl/en/ ve2.ventures LinkedIn:   / ve2ventures   Ve2.ventures Website: https://www.ve2.ventures/ Cascais SAD LinkedIn:   / csc-sad   Cascais SAD Website: https://wearecascais.com/ MediaMorph LinkedIn:   / mediamorph.ai   MediaMorph Website: https://www.mediamorph.ai/ Padelplay LinkedIn:   / padelplay-ai   Padelplay Website: https://www.padelplay.ai/?_abr=1&pb=0 Connect with the Host, Massimo Marinelli: LinkedIn:   / massimo-marinelli-803274   Follow Halford Media Advisory: LinkedIn:   / halford-media-advisory   Website: https://www.halfordmediaadvisory.com/ More from Berkida Ventures: Website: https://sites.google.com/view/berkida... Substack: https://theberkidabrief.substack.com/ LinkedIn:   / berkida-ventures   Email: [email protected] Follow the Podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3PMcmov...