Rock League to Professionalize Curling for Underserved Int'l Fans and Growing U.S. Community

Rock League to Professionalize Curling for Underserved Int’l Fans and Growing U.S. Community

The Curling Group announced the formation of Rock League in late April. The professional curling league will debut in April 2026 on the heels of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. 

Its plan is to capitalize on the Games’ momentum and the rising interest in the sport Stateside, and to properly monetize a large, underserved international fan base that exists for it.

“There’s a billion-dollar opportunity here because curling has a massive global footprint. More than 280 million people worldwide engage with [the sport, including] 37 million in the U.S.,” Nic Sulsky (co-founder and CEO, The Curling Group) said. “With 200 clubs across 48 states and the fastest-growing segment of American curlers aged 21 to 40, the sport presents a uniquely valuable opportunity for investors and brands [alike].”

Curling has a surprisingly large —and rabid— international fan base.

“284 million people watched 10 hours of curling content last year,” Sulsky said.

No country consumes more of it than Canada (at least on a percentage basis). More than one in five Canadians tuned into an event last year.

“It’s [also] blowing up in Asia,” Sulsky said. “Japan, Korea, and China.”

And Europeans are increasingly embracing the sport too. 

“Especially in the U.K. and places like Scandinavia, Italy, and Switzerland,” Sulsky said.

But curling largely continues to fly under the casual sports fan’s radar here in the U.S—at least outside of the Olympics every four years.

“It's the most searched term on Google during [the Games]. Then, as soon as they are over, enthusiasm for the sport dies because there's nothing to keep the audience engaged and the momentum going,” Sulsky said.

The Grand Slam of Curling (or GSOC), the sport’s most important global series, has historically begun in the fall.

Rock League, which will run for six weeks in the mid spring, intends to fill that gap in the calendar. 

The Curling Group is the collective behind Rock League. It raised a ~$7mm seed round last September. Relay Ventures led the round.

TCG raised on the premise that there is a rare opportunity “to own an entire [Olympic] sport, from top to bottom,” Sulsky said. And that by doing so, the group could “help brands communicate with the massive global audience that exists for it.”

TCG’s first move was purchasing GSOC from Sportsnet in Spring 2024.

“It immediately made us the most important business [entity] in the sport,” Sulsky said.

The plan was to test and innovate with that property for two seasons before launching a new pro league in the spring of 2027. But the ‘24 season went so well that TCG accelerated its timeline.

1.5mm unique viewers tuned in to watch across GSOC’s app and website.

“Our season average was like one hour and forty minutes per user per view,” Sulsky said.

And all of that engagement came without the company spending to market its broadcast channels.

The traffic “was all organic social,” Sulsky said.

Things went equally well on the business side. Despite first taking control of the property last June, and having been saddled with some category exclusive deals it inherited, TCG managed to double revenues YoY.

“We will turn [GSOC] profitable [this] year for the first time ever,” Sulsky said.

Now with the backbone of TCG’s initial raise approaching profitability, the group is rolling out Rock League. It’ll feature mixed-gendered teams and the sport’s biggest stars.

The league is going to debut with six teams. There will be an Asia-Pacific team, two Canadian clubs, two European sides, and a U.S. squad.  

TCG will own them all at the outset and operate with a tour-based model. 

“We’re going to run Rock League like F1, a traveling circus,” Sulsky said. 

Like the international racing circuit, TCG commands a site fee to bring its show to town.

But sponsorships will be Rock League’s top revenue stream in ‘26. Its mixed-gender format appeals to a broad range of brands and potential partners.

Ticketing and hospitality are expected to be key income drivers too. Having accessible athletes should allow TCG to sell high-end experiences.

Last season, it hosted ‘Learn to Curl’ at the GSOC All-Star Game.

VIPs were there “watching the all-stars and we had a second sheet of ice for them to go on and learn to curl with current world champions,” Sulsky said.

Merchandising is also part of Rock League’s business plan.

“We want to create products that signify fandom for a particular team or athlete,” Sulsky said. 

Historically, curling ‘teams’ have simply been named after their ‘skip’, so commercial opportunities were limited.

But “we’re actually building team IP,” Sulsky said.

And gaming figures into the business plan too.

“We're going to launch live betting on the sport for the first time ever,” Sulsky said. “So, we will generate live data and gambling rights fees.”

Hope exists that domestic media rights fees will come as the property gains popularity. For now, TCG is focused on broadly distributing the new league across platforms and channels.

“We need to be able to provide eyeballs to sponsors outside of our own core DTC platform,” Sulsky said.

Leadership is actively working to identify potential partners in each of its key markets. TCG will also launch a FAST channel this fall.

“It only makes sense to create a destination for curling fans and our live exclusive partners to drive users to in between broadcasts,” Sulsky said. “FAST can be a great compliment for linear and live exclusive.”

Come 2028 (season three), once profitable at a league level, TCG plans to sell its franchises to ownership groups in their respective local regions.

TCG understands its biggest challenge is going to be changing perceptions amongst casual U.S. sports fans. 

“You talk to a typical American and they think curling is a hobby for smokers and drinkers,” Sulsky said. “They don’t realize these athletes are big and strong and train like crazy.” 

And they certainly, don’t view curling as a pro sport on par with football, basketball, baseball and hockey. 

But TCG is actively working to change that with an intentional content strategy.

“Short-form, snackable, across social platforms,” Sulsky said. “And influencers and big four athletes are helping too.”

George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson, and Jared Allen are all investors in TCG and avid supporters (and players) of the game.

TCG has also injected an energetic, party-like atmosphere into its live events and added an entertainment component that had been missing in the sport. For example, each curler now receives a pro wrestling-like ‘walkout’ introduction.

Except they don’t walk.

“We put a tunnel over the ice to let them slide through,” Sulsky said.

It encourages fans to dress up for competitions (as bananas since the most boring shot in curling is the ‘peel’), and every Saturday night hosts the Grand Slam of Karaoke.

"We put the curlers up in front of a live band and they sing for the fans," Sulsky said. "Over 15,000 people streamed the GSOK live during our last event."

U.S. fans will have the chance to take in the fun live when the GSOC makes its U.S. debut in Lake Tahoe this coming November.

Correction: We previously referred to the $7mm raise in September ‘24 as a Series A. It was in fact a seed round.

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