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Alex Ovechkin has partnered with a Russian technology company to produce a movie, series or documentary about his NHL career.

Yandex and its streaming platform, Kinopoisk, announced the agreement Tuesday.

Ovechkin this past spring broke Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record and has scored 897 going into the final season of his contract with the Washington Capitals. Ovechkin, who turns 40 next month, has — along with his representatives — granted the rights to adapt his career to Yandex’s production label, Plus Studio.

The Moscow native who began his professional career in the Russian league, now the KHL, is expected to take part in commercials and serve as a Yandex ambassador as part of the deal.

Ovechkin has played his entire career with Washington since the Capitals drafted him with the first pick in 2004 and he debuted in 2005. He has been the face of the franchise since, served as their captain since January 2010 and was playoff MVP in 2018 when he led them to their first Stanley Cup championship.

Introduction

The global Aqua Gym Equipment Market is witnessing strong growth, driven by a growing emphasis on low-impact fitness solutions and rehabilitation therapies. Projected to reach USD 1,163.4 Million by 2034, the market is set to grow from USD 668.3 Million in 2024, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.7% during the forecast period from 2025 to 2034.

Aqua gym equipment plays a crucial role in accessible and joint-friendly workouts, particularly for seniors, rehabilitation patients, and fitness enthusiasts seeking effective yet low-impact workout solutions. The increasing popularity of water-based fitness programs and the demand for safer exercise methods are key factors fueling the market’s expansion.

Key Takeaways

• The Aqua Gym Equipment Market is expected to grow from USD 668.3 Million in 2024 to USD 1,163.4 Million by 2034, with a CAGR of 5.7%.
• Cardiovascular Equipment led the product segment in 2024, with a 60.1% market share, driven by demand for low-impact aquatic workouts.
• Specialty Stores dominated the distribution channels in 2024, holding 48.6% of the market share.
• North America held the largest regional share in 2024, valued at USD 267.3 Million, representing 40.5% of the global market.

Key Market Segments

By Product

1. Cardiovascular Equipment: Dominated the market in 2024, accounting for 60.1% of the market share. This category is driven by the rising preference for low-impact workouts, which offer heart-healthy benefits.
2. Strength Training Equipment: Following cardiovascular products, strength training equipment offers resistance-based exercises in water, gaining traction in rehabilitation centers and specialized fitness studios.
3. Others: This category includes balance trainers and flexibility-enhancing tools, which are growing in popularity, especially among athletes and seniors.

By Distribution Channel

1. Specialty Stores: In 2024, specialty stores captured 48.6% of the market share, offering expert guidance and personalized services to consumers.
2. Department Stores and Supermarkets: These retail formats cater primarily to casual buyers, providing convenience and wider accessibility.
3. Online: The online sales channel is witnessing rapid growth, thanks to its vast product selection and competitive pricing.
4. Others: Fitness clubs and water parks also contribute to the promotion and usage of aqua gym equipment.

Drivers

1. Increasing Health Consciousness: Post-pandemic, people are more focused on their health and wellness. The demand for low-impact fitness solutions that promote overall health while reducing the risk of injury is driving the adoption of aqua gym equipment.
2. Rising Popularity of Water-Based Workouts: Water offers natural resistance, which makes it easier on joints, making aquatic exercises particularly appealing for the elderly, people recovering from injuries, and those looking for joint-friendly workout options.
3. Technological Advancements: New developments in aqua gym equipment, such as ergonomic designs and durable materials, are enhancing the overall appeal of these products and encouraging wider adoption.
4. Government Support: Several governments are promoting aquatic therapy as part of public health initiatives, helping to further integrate aqua gym equipment into rehabilitation centers and fitness facilities.

Use Cases

1. Seniors and Rehabilitation Patients: Water-based exercises offer a safe and effective way for seniors to maintain fitness and mobility, while rehabilitation patients can use aqua gym equipment to recover post-surgery or injury.
2. Fitness Enthusiasts: Low-impact, full-body workouts offered by aqua gym equipment appeal to fitness enthusiasts who are looking for effective alternatives to traditional gym exercises.
3. Sports Recovery: Athletes, particularly those in high-impact sports, use aquatic workouts to accelerate recovery, prevent injuries, and build strength without over-stressing their joints.

Major Challenges

1. High Initial Investment: The cost of specialized equipment for water-based workouts is one of the major barriers to adoption. Small gyms, wellness studios, and individuals may struggle with the upfront costs of setting up such facilities.
2. Maintenance Costs: Aqua gym equipment is exposed to water and chlorine, which can cause wear and tear over time. Regular maintenance and part replacements add to the long-term operational costs, potentially deterring some consumers.
3. Market Penetration in Emerging Regions: In some emerging markets, the high costs of both the equipment and the necessary infrastructure are limiting market growth.

Business Opportunities

1. Expansion into Home Fitness: The growing trend of home fitness, especially post-pandemic, is creating demand for compact, affordable aqua gym solutions that can be used in home pools.
2. Smart Equipment: The integration of wearable technology with aqua gym equipment, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, offers a potential area for growth. These devices can track performance metrics like heart rate and calories burned, making the workouts more engaging and personalized.
3. Eco-friendly Products: The increasing focus on sustainability presents an opportunity for manufacturers to innovate with eco-friendly materials and energy-efficient designs, appealing to environmentally-conscious consumers.

Regional Analysis

North America

In 2024, North America led the global market with a share of 40.5%, valued at USD 267.3 Million. The region’s dominance is driven by high health awareness, the rising adoption of water-based fitness programs, and a well-established fitness infrastructure.

Europe

Europe shows significant growth potential, supported by an aging population and a widespread adoption of water-based rehabilitation programs. Public health initiatives promoting physical well-being have also boosted demand for aqua gym equipment in the region.

Asia Pacific

The Asia Pacific region is rapidly growing due to increasing urbanization, a burgeoning middle class, and rising health consciousness. Countries like China, Japan, and Australia are witnessing a surge in fitness club memberships, driving demand for aqua gym equipment.

Latin America

The market in Latin America is progressing steadily, with Brazil and Mexico leading the way in fitness adoption. Growing awareness about health and wellness is fostering interest in alternative fitness solutions like aqua workouts.

Recent Developments

1. Startup Investment in Aqua Rehabilitation: In November 2024, a UK-based startup secured £500k to develop innovative aqua rehabilitation technology aimed at transforming recovery therapies.
2. Acquisition in Fitness Sector: In January 2024, PROMOUNTINGS® acquired AQUA TRAINING BAG®, expanding its presence in the combat fitness and training equipment market.
3. Partnership for Growth: In February 2025, Waterland Private Equity partnered with WellNess to expand a premium fitness club chain in France, focusing on innovation and international growth.

Conclusion

The Aqua Gym Equipment Market is poised for significant growth, fueled by rising health consciousness, technological advancements, and increasing demand for low-impact fitness solutions. With a strong focus on user-specific needs and environmental sustainability, the market presents numerous opportunities for businesses. The integration of wearable technology and the expansion of home-based fitness solutions offer further avenues for innovation and growth in the coming years. As the global market continues to expand, aqua gym equipment will play an essential role in promoting safer, more effective fitness routines across diverse demographics.

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ESPN Bet and Penn Entertainment are introducing a more personalized and integrated experience to their app.

The new “FanCenter” feature, powered by ESPN and ESPN Bet account-linking technology, will provide a personalized hub on ESPN Bet, allowing fans to wager on their favorite teams, players and ESPN fantasy football rosters.

The new features will be available prior to Week 1 of the NFL regular season, which kicks off on Sept. 4.

“It’s taken us a little more than a year to get here,” ESPN Exec Dir of Product Management Chris Jason told SBJ, “but we do think this is truly the first thing we’ve done together that really is differentiating and worth highlighting.”

Upon linking accounts, fans will be able to wager on their fantasy team rosters in multiple ways, including starter prop bets and personalized parlay options.

“It really is a first-of-its-kind feature for bettors,” said Aaron LaBerge, CTO & Head of Interactive at Penn Entertainment. “You’re not going to see anything like this anywhere else.”

ESPN Fantasy Football set a record last year with over 13 million participants. And, according to ESPN Research, fantasy players are about three times more likely to place bets than non-fantasy players.

“If you’re a fantasy player and a sports bettor, this product is really a dream for you if you check the boxes on both of those things,” LaBerge said. “We’ve been thinking about a product like this for the last 25 years.”

Account linking debuted on ESPN Bet in November, while “Mint Club” debuted in April 2025.

ESPN Bet had just 3% of the U.S. handle share as of May, according to SBJ data. Competitors DraftKings and FanDuel combine for 71.5%. ESPN Bet is legal in 19 states and D.C.

As part of a 10-year, $2B deal between ESPN and Penn, both sides have an opt-out clause after the third year in 2026. That makes this is an especially important NFL season for ESPN Bet and Penn, and a critical time to deliver a new integration.

“Both sides of this partnership made it very clear that we expected to compete for a seat at the podium [among the top sports betting companies],” Penn Entertainment President & CEO Jay Snowden said during a Q1 earnings call in February. “We’re not on pace to do that right now. Our expectations as we’re moving through 2025 are that we’re continuing to show improvement in the sports betting business.”

Penn Entertainment has a Q2 earnings call on Thursday.

Have you noticed your Fitbit is registering you’re awake more during the night, with your graph now showing more awake events than it did previously? It turns out this isn’t a bug lingering from the recent major outage; it’s an intended side effect of a recent update.

That’s according to a note Fitbit shared with its community explaining that “Your sleep tracking just got more accurate.” Noting this is just the first in a “series of upcoming improvements” to sleep tracking.

Forget traditional mixed-use. Dallas-based House of Tangram is bringing something different to its 30-acre footprint inside Mansfield’s $2.5 billion Staybolt Street District: a sports- and wellness-anchored live, stay, and play ecosystem.

“We’re building a live-operating system for modern life—hotels with AI in their walls, convention centers reimagined, and retail that moves like culture,” said Shawn Ellis, founder and CEO of House of Tangram, in an announcement last week. “Think adaptive storefronts, curated activations, and brand-first experiences.”

Walkable public spaces in Mansfield’s sports district aim to connect hotels, residences, and immersive retail into one tech-integrated experience. Tangram’s goal: to build a “live-operating system for modern life.” [Rendering: House of Tangram]

At the center of that vision: three new hotels with personalized, AI-powered guest experiences, with technology driven by NuStudio.AI, a Dallas-based startup founded in 2023.

Co-founded by Krishna Nimmagadda, who also serves as House of Tangram’s Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, NuStudio’s platform uses an agentic AI model to help hotel environments adapt to each guest, down to the lighting, climate, and sleep settings.

“This project puts Mansfield on the national map,” said Nimmagadda, who co-founded and exited two AI companies before investing in North Texas land.

The hotels are just one part of the buildout. Tangram’s plan also includes two residential communities, over 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and a city-owned convention center designed for esports, medtech, and “high-performance” events.

“Staybolt Street isn’t just an entertainment and sports development—it’s a new operating system for the modern traveler, athlete, traveling professional, and event guest,” said Ellis. “From Carbon to Cache, we’re building highly intentional, category-defining experiences curated for the specific demographic.”

Construction is slated to begin in the summer of 2026, with completion targeted for mid-2028.

Let’s break it down.

The hotel trio

The hotel brands—Carbon, Cache Legitimate, and KUBO—launched under the House of Tangram flag, are designed with specific audiences in mind. Carbon Mansfield is built for traveling athletes and competitive teams. Cache Legitimate and KUBO cater to esports fans, digital nomads, and “creators on the move.” 

Ellis says the brand’s hospitality vision is to redefine the travel experience and help the industry evolve.

“We’re building a tech-native hospitality system from the ground up,” said Nimmagadda, Partner, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer at House of Tangram. “These aren’t just smart hotels—they’re dynamic, programmable environments that personalize how people stay, recover, and connect.”

Across the properties, a custom-built tech stack connects guest identity to a responsive operating layer. According to the company, the system connects guest identity to a responsive tech layer that learns from each stay with biometric check-in and adaptive room controls to personalize future experiences.

“Our vision combines hospitality, entertainment, and smart design—anchored by a world-class convention center and immersive technology,” he said.

A hotel engineered for athletes: Carbon Mansfield

A rendering shows the Carbon hotel, powered by Dallas startup NuStudio.AI’s technology, adjacent to Mansfield Stadium, anchoring the southern edge of the entertainment district.  [Rendering: House of Tangram]

The flagship property, Carbon Mansfield, will feature 288 rooms designed specifically for athletes and competitive teams. House of Tangram bills it as “the world’s first patented sports-centric hotel engineered for athletes and competitive teams.”

The description reads something like a high-performance lab in the guise of a hotel. The system, powered by NuStudio.AI, aims to optimize recovery times for traveling athletes.

The concept taps into a growing sports tourism market and aligns with a major investment rising right next door in the Staybolt District.

“Mansfield has always been known for sports and bringing a hotel concept that focuses on athletes next to our incoming Mansfield Stadium is a home run,” said Mansfield Mayor Michael Evans.

Mansfield is constructing a 166,000-square-foot multisport stadium, set to open in 2026 as the permanent home of North Texas SC, the MLS NEXT Pro affiliate of FC Dallas. The venue will also host elite youth tournaments, concerts, and regional events. It will be operated by REV Entertainment and FC Dallas Management, the stadium and soccer complex management affiliate of FC Dallas and a subsidiary of Hunt Sports Group.

Two programmable hotels designed for culture and creative flow: Cache Legitimate & KUBO

Next to Carbon, House of Tangram will debut a dual-branded hotel concept targeting esports fans, digital nomads, and creators.

“Cache runs on energy. KUBO runs on flow,” Ellis said. But both are built around guest experiences that adapt in real time. Picture robotic bartenders that know your drink preferences, drone delivery that anticipates your needs, and immersive media walls.

A convention center built to flex

A rendering of the Mansfield Convention Center shows digital art elements and programmable lighting integrated into the facility’s exterior design. [Rendering: House of Tangram]

House of Tangram will build and operate the city-owned, 33,000-plus-square-foot Mansfield Convention Center. Designed as a programmable space for esports, medtech, and high-performance events, it’s expected to attract a range of regional and national gatherings.

According to the developer, layouts can flex to accommodate stage setups, training sessions, and live demos. The convention center aims to complement the adjacent stadium and hotels, which could support coordinated planning across sports, hospitality, and tech-driven events.

Living, shopping, and playing inside the district’s connected ecosystem

The development includes two residential communities designed to extend the district’s responsive tech layer into everyday life. Mansfield City Manager Joe Smolinski said the district will be more than a hub for entertainment—it will be “the home for sport and athletes in the Metroplex.”

STEAM will offer 320 creative lofts with rooftop gardens, communal kitchens, and design features aimed at flexibility and community-building. Verona Gardens is set to add up to 400 wellness-first homes with features like hydroponics, pet studios, green roofs, and built-in climate intelligence.

Both communities are walkable to the stadium, retail, and convention center, and will connect into Tangram’s broader digital infrastructure.

Staybolt Street Retail is set to feature over 100,000 square feet of walkable storefronts curating “Texas-forward food, fashion, and cultural experiences,” the developer said.

On the entertainment front, the district also includes a multistory High 5 Entertainment venue with bowling, laser tag, virtual reality attractions, full-service restaurants, and a rooftop concert space.

The public-private play that brought it to life

House of Tangram, founded in 2020, calls the Mansfield project its largest development to date.

The developer secured its 30-acre footprint through a public-private partnership with Mansfield after what Ellis described as a collaborative process: “When the City of Mansfield reached out, we listened to what they needed and worked with the staff and council to curate what they asked for.”

The Staybolt Street Entertainment District as a whole is a 100-acre public-private partnership between the City of Mansfield and multiple development partners. At full buildout, it will include 750 hotel rooms, 700-plus multifamily units, a 166,000-square-foot stadium, 50,000 square feet of medical office space, and a wide mix of entertainment and retail.

An aerial perspective shows the full 100-acre Staybolt Street District vision, with hotels, residential, retail, and entertainment clustered around public plazas. [Rendering: House of Tangram]

With groundbreaking for House of Tangram’s portion of the district slated for next summer, Beck Group will serve as development manager and general contractor.

“The Mansfield project is bold in its scale and intentional in its design,” said Scott Lowe, chief revenue officer at The Beck Group, in the announcement. “It reflects how people live, travel, and perform today.”

Jason Moore, executive director of the Mansfield Economic Development Corporation, called the Tangram-led sport district development transformational: “We believe it elevates our regional identity, expands our hospitality and tourism economy, and creates a vibrant hub for commerce, entertainment, and innovation.”

That regional identity is already rooted in a deep sports and entertainment culture across North Texas. Arlington anchors the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers, while Fort Worth draws crowds to Dickies Arena and Texas Motor Speedway. The Dallas Mavericks play at American Airlines Center, and nearby Grand Prairie is home to Major League Cricket. Beyond entertainment, D CEO magazine recently dubbed North Texas the Sport Business Capital of the World.

Mansfield’s Staybolt Street project adds a new layer to that ecosystem, extending the region’s sports and tourism economy into southern Tarrant County.

Mansfield on the grow

Located 29 miles south of DFW Airport, 20 miles southeast of Fort Worth, and 35 miles southwest of Dallas, Mansfield is ranked No. 27 on U.S. News’ 2025 Best Places to Live list. It’s a growing North Texas city positioning itself as more than a suburb.

“Staybolt Street will be a gamechanger for the Mansfield community,” Mayor Evans said when the district broke ground in August 2024. “For a long time, Mansfield has had a reputation as one of the best places to live, and now it’ll be known as an exceptional place to play.”

The city is also involved in several large-scale projects, including the $1 billion Canals at Mansfield—a mixed-use development within a larger $1 billion 210-acre urban mixed-use community called The Reserve—and the MIC Innovation District for technology companies and startups. Mouser Electronics, a global distributor of electronic components and semiconductors, also operates its headquarters in the city, employing more than 2,600 people locally.

The Mansfield mayor says the House of Tangram sports district project aligns with the city’s goals to focus on the future and develop a strong economy. “This partnership will make Staybolt Street Entertainment District the place to be,” Evans said.

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