The Olympic Sport Quietly Entering Mainstream: Fencing
Some cool upcoming Profluence events followed up by a deep dive into a sport rapidly transforming, creating opportunity in the chaos.
📅 Upcoming Member Events
3/13 - RacquetX event
3/19 - Meetup before Yankees Game (Tampa)
3/20 - Chicago Cubs exec Bobby Basham coming to speak with founders about what they look for when working with companies
4/10 - Mitch Heath Q&A on building $1B Teamworks
4/20 - PEAK SportsTech event
🔗 Members can RSVP for events here
🎙 Podcasts
Joe Hollywood - Top WhatNot Collectibles Influencer
Miles Chamley-Watson & Leo Rifkind - Co-Founders, World Fencing League
Super interesting conversations covering an emerging sport and doing live-stream card breaks that turned into a 40+ employee business.
💬 New Members
Abhishek Jain - Kotofit
David Hodge - Green Side
Ghislain de Noue - Getsyp
Jason Aldridge - Turf Tank
Blamah Sarnor - Cultureriff
Leila Tanneche - HerSport Fund
🔗 Connect directly with new members here.
Fencing Ecosystem Breakdown
Fencing is one of the oldest Olympic sports in the world (since 1896 to be exact).
But despite its history and global participation…fencing is just NOW starting to be built for the modern sports economy.
Sensors, smart scoring systems, digital training platforms, and streaming are beginning to reshape how fencing is practiced, coached, and consumed.
The numbers may surprise you…
10+ million fencers worldwide
150+ national federations under the International Fencing Federation (FIE), which did ~$17m in revenue leading up to the Paris Olympics
6 Olympic medal events
Global fencing equipment market worth hundreds of millions annually
The U.S. has ~40,000 competitive fencers & youth fencing participation has grown significantly in the last decade
Despite its Olympic prestige, fencing remains a fragmented ecosystem.
That’s exactly where technology and innovation come in.
Let’s break it down 👇
The Fencing Economy
Fencing is a niche sport compared to soccer or basketball, but it punches above its weight in certain demographics.
Participation is strong globally in:
Europe
East Asia
United States collegiate athletics
In the U.S., fencing has become increasingly popular among private schools and universities, where it’s seen as both an Olympic pathway and a recruiting advantage.
The NCAA currently sponsors fencing with programs at schools like:
Notre Dame
Columbia
Princeton
Harvard
Penn State
Because the sport requires specialized gear and coaching, the economic layer around fencing is significant.
Equipment alone can cost…