Entertainment Social Arena #5 – Social Sports Explosion – Part 1

AI Constructed Brief

The evolving sports social entertainment sector, driven by “Sportainment” and SSE, is experiencing rapid growth through immersive active experiences like cricket, baseball, and soccer simulations. Key trends include venue expansions, innovative gamified sports tech, and strategic investments, notably in chains like SIXES, Batbox, and TOCA Social, which blend physical activity with social dining. The sector is expanding globally, with significant developments in the US, UK, and Asia, integrating VR, projection tech, and active play to appeal to younger audiences. This shift reflects a broader move toward experience-led venues that combine active participation, entertainment, and social engagement, presenting lucrative opportunities for investors aligned with the growing “active entertainment” wave.

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New Sports Social Entertainment – Part 1

Active entertainment has been a growing aspect of the social entertainment landscape. What some observers have labelled these latest developments as “Sportainment”, it has become a defining aspect of the Competitive Socializing boom. We look at the leading developments and operations.

While the term “Sportainment” may be trending – the best definition of this sphere of the business is the growth in Sports Simulation Entertainment (SSE). There are numerous developers incorporating SSE into their hospitality entertainment mix – along with those that are adding “Gamification” to traditional sports and leisure activities.

In the recent NIQ market report they outlined the new era of “Experience-Led Venues” – split between 18-and-35-year-old consumers, 13% of those surveyed visited sports stadium, being the third fastest growing channel. Sports consumption reflected in the popularity at social entertainment spaces with “Watch Parties” – gatherings to watch coverage of coverage of latest events on facility based giant scenes. But many want to participate in the sports activity than just watch and this is where the Sportainment aspect of social entertainment features.

An example of the “Active Entertainment” aspect of the competitive socializing scene is represented by venues such as SIXES Cricket Bar (‘SIXES Social’). A chain of now 16 venues that offer unique cricket batting cages supported with a projection screen and game experience. The concept has recently announced their first ‘SIXES Cricket Bar’ in an actual cricket stadium, bringing the Sportainment to within 1st Central County Ground, Hove, UK. SIXES has received new investment and has looked to expand their brand and undertake an ambitious roll out plan. This new investment has seen SIXES recently release a new game mode for their batter cage projection systems, now players able to “Field” – catching the launched ball and aiming to hit the various score targets within the cage enclosure. The need to broaden the entertainment offering beyond just hitting balls and offering a rounded experience to prove more compelling to a wider audience.

An interesting development from the team behind SIXES, the operation converted their previous Westfield White City mall venue from the cricket into a baseball theme. And with that announced the launch of their new chain called ‘Moonshot Social’ – an immersive baseball concept. The new baseball experience employs the baseball cage (“batters box”) powered by the same immersive technology from tech firm Batfast (a provider for both brands) employing what the company calls special soft balls – reminiscent of what was seen with ‘Home Run Dugout’ (covered later). At this first site, secondary entertainment includes American Pool, and some amusement skill games. With a menu featuring gourmet hot dogs, classic ballpark snacks.

Speaking of Batfast, the developer of a sports training system, (like TOCA Football we will mention later), the Batfast system additionally offers several digital ball games, including cricket, baseball, tennis and lacrosse. The platform offers a projection and ball tracking system, married to a physical ball launching mechanism. Originated for coaching, the system has been applied across numerous entertainment venues. Along with their partnership with SIXES / Moonshot Social, Batfast have installed their solution in Altitude Trampoline Parks, Tenpin, Sluggers, Tiger Strikes, Gravity MAX, Haven Holiday Parks, SPARKX, Roxy Lanes, and SportsPlus sites, with some 130 systems deployed globally. Latest partnership sees the Batfast platform incorporated into the new “Cinetainment” operation at The Light Hundersfield. This venue, as we discussed in our previous coverage, offers a batting cage experience based on this technology. Along with numerous social and conventional entertainment offerings.

Sports training and performance analysis platforms have migrated into becoming “Phygital” entertainment platforms, from training athletes towards entertaining patrons. Alongside Batfast, we have Sports Coach Simulator promoting their SSE range of projection sports experiences. Along with installing their sports experiences in entertainment venues of all kinds, they have also seen their platforms deployed in marketing and brand promotion pop-ups. Some in the States see these developments as a greater pivot in the entertainment sector, to a “Batting Cage 2.0.” approach, building on the popularity of active play.

Home Run Dugout (HRD) has been on a major roll out project since its successful showing at IAAPA’24 – the company along with their 22-bay flagship location at Katy-Houston, Texas, has started a new era for immersive entertainment to deploy their ‘Batting Bay’ areas in actual sports stadiums – comprising sims and hospitality. Recently opening a site at the ‘Dell Diamond’ stadium in Round Rock. Another HRD “Batting Bay” placed at the ‘Globe Life Field’, Texas. A variant of the stadium approach saw HRD reveal plans to install at the ‘College Baseball Hall of Fame’ – launching their “Batting Bay” at the venue comprising their soft-toss pitching machine and large projection screen enclosure – offering their immersive augmented reality gameplay. The corporation has announced plans for incorporating their “Batting Bay” at the ‘Chase Ace Golf’ venue in Bossier City, Louisiana – first of its kind installation at a golf shooting venue, planned to open in summer 2025. Along with another first of its kind installation at ‘OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark’, in Oklahoma City.

Speaking of other developers in this sphere, and Batbox having recently closed a $7.3 million Series A fundraise. They look to grow their chain of “Topgolf-like” baseball venues, establishing their first US location (130,000-sq.,ft in Texas), aiming for a 2026 opening – with a goal to have 10 to 15 locations in the next three to four years. The system powered by the Strikezon platform – yet another system coming from a sports training background, that has focused on an entertainment and Sportainment future. The Batbox operation receiving new investment to roll out a chain of venues. Investors like EMERGING placing support in this project, as they have done with other social entertainment venues concepts as Flightclub, F1 Arcade and the concept Poolhouse.

Taroko Sports opened its first US entertainment venue, a baseball arcade, in Houston, Texas – 20,000-sq.ft of former retail space converted into a baseball arcade featuring 10 batting cages, pitching mounds, and a HitTrax swing suite. Along with darts, arcade and bowling, Part of a 36 venue Taiwanese chain, this is their beachhead into the US market. The company accelerated their development of US venues, with the soft opening of a second States side site in Arizona, including alongside the batting cages, interactive darts and amusement. Sources spoke that a third site has already been leased – the accelerated placement of venues based on the swing suite hardware an indication of the activities in Sportaintment business, and the attempt to establish a foothold. HitTrax another sports simulation and training technology provider venturing into social entertainment.

Another of the leading concepts in this sector are seen with TOCA Social – the interactive football and dining destination. First opening their concept for a soccer sim bay venue, with F&B at The O2 in 2021, with a second venue in Birmingham in 2023. Parent TOCA Football is known for the soccer sports training technology and developed the social entertainment concept to be rolled out as standalone venues internationally. Recently revealed by InterGame; the TOCA Football operation secured $35 million in new funding, including $15 million in equity in May 2025 – this also included $20 million in debt financing from JP Morgan Commercial Banking.

This capital focused on expanding international growth of the competitive socializing concept, along with investment into the football training technology. With this investment news came the announcement of a new partnership between Sandbox VR UK & Ireland and TOCA Social was revealed, towards developing a joint venue at the Westfield Mall in White City, London. Stated as blending social entertainment with VR, the new 30,000-sq.,ft., venue comprises 24 TOCA game boxes, along with Sandbox VR arenas, opened in July. The Stinger Report was invited to the venue in London’s White City – and was presented to the soccer entertainment bay experience alongside the free-roaming VR experience. Interesting bedfellows, supported by a professional team, the Sportainment platform is having to look beyond being a standalone experience and share space with other social entertainment applications.

Across the way from the new TOCA Social venue at White City, London and another active entertainment site has been entertaining guests. The Metrix soccer experience, defined by the company as  “Football Re-Coded”, offers both the interactive ball kicking experience, as well as other entertainments including VR with five core zones testing team skills. The platform has been employed as a pop-up branding offering drawing players, but now the team behind Metrix have thrown their hat into dedicated location-based entertainment, a competitor to the TOCA Social approach, including their own F&B element. The pop-up space at the London Westfield hoping to compete with their new neighbour. As well as looking at dropping the format into existing venues as an active entertainment element with ‘Metrix XP’ – seen with the new installation in the Gravity Active venue in Corby.

Looking across at the Asian market, and active entertainment has proven a strong entertainment medium with the core audience. Recently we have seen CA SEGA Joypolis – the operation of the indoor amusement and entertainment operation. Following the handing over of the innovative entertainment chain from SEGA amusement Japan to the new Chinese parent, we have seen the launch of a new version of the concept. The launch of JOYPOLIS Sport – adds to the interactive entertainment chain with a new indoor sports complex experience comprising over 20 different sports and activities. Activities that include digital gamification such as ValoJump from ValoMotion (covered later).

Physical activity (Active Entertainment) is also represented within the BANDAI NAMCO Experience VS Park indoor activity park. The company has rolled out over nine venues that comprise over 24 interactive and highly active experiences. Unique interactive experience that the company defines as all being “fun-filled” bring a new way to play. This includes the ‘Nigekiru’ face-off against on screen beats in a race to see who is fastest over a 10m sprint. Or the ‘VS Archery’ having guests showing their skills shooting at screen targets. The VS Park collects various multiple player experiences under one roof.

Other Japanese entertainment venue operators have incorporated an active entertainment component to their facility offerings. MIRAINO Capcom is a mixed-use entertainment environment that now includes Crazy BANet – an “Activity” zone of the venue comprising highly physical experiences including climbing walls and active enclosures. Over six Crazy BANet areas have been rolled out across the territory offering a unique activity space for players of all ages.

The Round 1 Bowling and Arcade chain in Japan has established themselves as a market leader and have developed their own active entertainment component to add to the mix. Under the Spo-Cha brand, as a companion to the Round 1 venues – these zones offer a sports challenge for young guests. A space full of highly active entertainment such as trampoline, climbing and ball sports. This was one of the first applications in the Japanese market for this kind of active play alongside conventional amusement. And Round1 has rolled this brand out across their US venues.