Australian Sportstech News

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and VALD have announced a collaboration to advance musculoskeletal health technology solutions for physical therapy providers and their patients. Through this collaboration, APTA and VALD aim to expand access to advanced tools that improve assessment, treatment and outcomes across physical therapy. As part of this data and technology collaboration, VALD will leverage its innovative technology to elevate clinical outcomes and reinforce the value of physical therapy care.

The Liberty Hockey One League will remain live and free on 7plus Sport, with Hockey Australia and the Seven Network today announcing a long-term partnership extension. The three-year commitment will see Seven remain the home of hockey until the end of 2027. It follows a record-breaking 2024, during which thousands of Australians witnessed HC Melbourne and the Perth Thundersticks make history by winning the men’s and women’s crowns for the first time.

The India Sports Launchpad Program offers Queensland companies with an opportunity to expand networks, showcase capabilities, and drive exports in India’s sports market. Supported by KPMG India, this program combines virtual and in-market components to deliver essential market insights and connect participants with key Indian stakeholders, including professional sports clubs, organizations, and investors. The TIQ India Sports Launchpad Program will take place from March 2 to 8, 2025, incorporating the Australia-Gujarat Sports Forum and the Indian International Sports Summit.

Optus, Australia's No. 2 telecom carrier, is in talks to sell its sports streaming platform Optus Sport to media house Nine Entertainment, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported on Monday. A deal would let Nine's local streaming service Stan stream matches from the Premier League. Optus Sport has exclusive streaming rights to the Premier League, which AFR estimated to be worth A$100 million ($62.2 million) per year, and the FA Cup, another English football tournament, until 2028. Stan already broadcasts the UEFA Champions League football and the Wimbledon tennis tournaments.

Big Bash League team Melbourne Stars have partnered with marketing tech company Komo Technologies to launch an exciting predictor game in under 4 hours! The game gives fans the chance to test their cricket knowledge and get involved in the action. The solution provides valuable fan insights for the Stars' membership team to build on next season.

Tennis Australia has announced the startups that have been selected for their next edition of AO Startups. The new cohort - Volta, Oho, INTIX, Foodini, Scala Sports, Lumi and exar.live - bring the 2025 AO StartUps portfolio to twelve companies, making it the largest intake since the program’s inception. Companies participating in AO StartUps are provided the opportunity to prove their business models in real time and directly access proprietary intel and exposure at one of the world’s largest sport and entertainment events. 

Deakin University and VicHealth are joining forces to launch a world-leading research centre to explore interactions between our economy, commercial entities and health outcomes. Deakin and VicHealth will each invest $AUD 4 million over the next 5 years in the "VicHealth Commercial and Economic Determinants of Health Research Translation Centre". The centre's research will be used to create better health policies, healthier communities and a higher quality of life for Victorians.

ROUVY, the indoor cycling app that brings the world's most iconic rides to life using real video routes filmed on location, empowering users to ride, train, and explore anywhere from home, has announced that it has completed acquisition of fellow platform FulGaz from The IRONMAN Group. Athletes can now access the top 20 most popular FulGaz routes on ROUVY in addition to numerous courses from IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 races around the world.

International gaming marketing company, Livewire, is officially partnering with American video game publisher and developer, Zynga, to help brands reach gamers. Covering markets in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the partnership melds Zynga’s reach (a web made up of players based in more than 170 countries and more than 6 billion downloads) with Livewire’s next-generation attention platform. The move is expected to assist brands in engaging with audiences in the gaming space, via “rewarded video, playable ads, and custom integrations.

Garmin Health and WeGuide have announced the winners of the Australian and New Zealand Research Grant 2024. The research grant recognises pioneering medical and wellbeing researchers and innovative digital health startups. Three research projects from Edith Cowan University, Queensland University of Technology and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute were recipients. The winners will receive ten Garmin wearables for seamless data collection and the opportunity to use the WeGuide platform to facilitate participant engagement and data collection.

Tennis Australia has announced the launch of Beyond Tennis powered by Infosys, an innovative free gaming app that blends sport, artificial intelligence, social media, and storytelling. Designed to captivate Gen Z, gaming enthusiasts, and tennis fans alike, Beyond Tennis allows users to step into the role of a player’s coach or agent, shaping the careers of AI-driven tennis players both on and off the court. Using advanced AI engines, users can guide their players’ training and strategy, while chatting with them in a life-like simulation, while watching their season play out in real-time on social media.

BindiMaps is providing the smart wayfinding solution for the Australian Open for the 4th year in a row. The solution particularly helps those that are vision impaired or use a wheel chair in navigating their way through the venues. The solution helps patrons find courts, explore food options or nearby facilities using maps and audio options. 

The Australian Open might look a little different this year if you’re livestreaming it on YouTube. That’s because the tournament has put an animated overlay on some of its matches to avoid broadcast licensing conflicts, making players look like Wii Sports characters. The technology, which the Australian Open first introduced last year, uses 12 cameras to process the silhouette of the human in real time, and stitch that together across 29 points in the skeleton.

News Corp’s $AUD 3.4 billion sale of Foxtel to DAZN could face heightened regulatory scrutiny as the UK-headquartered global sports streamer entertains investment interest from a unit of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. DAZN held talks with a unit of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund according to the New York Times. The talks could see the kingdom invest about $US 1 billion in DAZN and secure a stake of up to 10% of the global sports streaming platform. The stake could be announced within weeks, according to Bloomberg.

As part of Advance Queensland's Private Sector Pathways Inclusive Sport Tech Challenge last year, three innovative businesses are making significant strides towards a more inclusive sporting landscape in Queensland. BowerBird Industries takes the concept of fitness to a new level with the Virtual Handbike, seamlessly blending a physical handcycle with virtual training software Zwift. Able Digital Wellness offers a digital platform which allows users to explore various sports from the comfort of their homes. Whilst Cérge provides a communications platform to improve inclusiveness and inclusivity to sports facilities.

Tennis Australia has successfully raised nearly $AUD 50 million to launch AO Ventures, a sports and entertainment fund aimed at supporting tech-focused startups. With backing from notable investors such as Tanarra Capital's John Wylie and Wollemi Capital’s Robyn Denholm, AO Ventures plans to make around 20 investments and utilize the Australian Open as an innovation testing ground. 

Oho, a portfolio company of the Alice Anderson Fund, has just announced a five year deal with Tennis Australia to protect children in sport. The deal will see the startup’s accreditation screening and verification technology used to vet coaches, officials, athlete services, and event management teams at the Australian Open and across Tennis Australia programs nationwide. Co-founded by former World Vision CEO Claire Rogers, Oho now supports over 130 organisations across Australia, completing 2 million checks a year and thousands of corrective compliance actions. Oho has also been selected in Tennis Australia's AO Startups program.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has announced a new initiative in collaboration with the National Safe Boating Council to pilot interactive safety content through a free mobile app called DECKEE. The app is designed to keep boaters safe and informed. Over 1 million boat owners in Florida now have access to the benefits and safety features in the free DECKEE app. This includes detailed maps, facility information, official warnings, aids to navigation, and access to personalized equipment checklists, boating forecasts, regulations and resources.

Australian cycling apparel MAAP are entering the UCI WorldTour as the official technical supplier to GreenEDGE Cycling (Team Jayco AlUla, Liv AlUla Jayco, and Liv AlUla Jayco Continental Team) for the 2025 season and beyond in a multi-year collaboration. Partnering with Australia's premier men’s and women’s WorldTour teams builds on MAAP's history of supporting professional teams and riders. The partnership also brings together two iconic brands of Australian cycling, both with a shared mission of performance, innovation, and elevating the sport on a global stage.

The Foxtel Group welcomed an agreement announced by its shareholders – News Corp and Telstra – that will see DAZN, a premier global sports streaming platform, acquire 100% of the Australian subscription television company. The deal will provide more international sports for Foxtel and Kayo subscribers and new opportunities to bring Australian sport to DAZN’s global audience. The transaction values the Foxtel Group as a streaming-led business with an enterprise value of $AUD 3.4 billion representing more than 7 x Fiscal 2024 Foxtel EBITDA. News Corp and Telstra will remain involved as shareholders in DAZN.

Australian independent provider of ticketing solutions, INTIX, has joined the AO StartUps programme. The Australian Open’s start-up initiative helps to accelerate businesses working in sport, health and entertainment to build, test or pilot solutions with Tennis Australia and tennis events. INTIX has been piloting its next-gen ticketing platform at the women’s Workday Canberra International 2025. The easy-to-use, full-feature online, membership, reserved seating and door sales solutions have been used by other sporting organisations in Australia, including AFL Victoria, Western Australian Football League, Queensland Rugby League and more. The full cohort of AO StartUp companies will be announced in the leadup to Australian Open 2025.

Racing and Sports, a leading provider of global racing data and trading solutions has announced that DAZN Bet has become the first UK operator to go live with Pragmatic Play's newly launched horse racing product. This release offers DAZN Bet users with best-in-class racing content, global data and innovative betting solutions.

The Las Vegas Raiders' has officially implemented PAM's Smart Navigation platform on their Mobile App and on the Allegiant Stadium Website. The platform provides more than just navigation, including premium experiences for fans, data-driven insights and enhanced in-venue revenue opportunities.

KOJO, a leader in the sport, entertainment and brand experience industries, has formalised a strategic partnership with CUE, a US-based leader in fan-first engagement technology. With KOJO, as CUE’s strategic partner across Australia and New Zealand, the collaboration promises to elevate fan experiences across major sporting, entertainment, and corporate events. KOJO will introduce CUE’s ground-breaking products to Australia and New Zealand. These include the popular FanSee live selfie cams, already a hit in the NBL, NRL and A-League, and AR Prize Drops that creates immersive sponsor activations.

Rip Curl’s Mirage3DP Boardshort has won the prestigious 2024 ISPO Award, recognizing outstanding achievements in the sporting goods industry. The award was presented at the ISPO Show in Munich, Germany. Developed in collaboration with Moon Creative Lab and Bilio, the Mirage3DP Boardshort sets a new benchmark for innovation and sustainability in surf apparel. The collaboration combines Rip Curl’s expertise in technical surf products, Moon Creative Lab’s innovative 3D printing materials and systems called ‘Variloom’, and Bilio’s expertise in complex soft goods design.

Under Armour, a global leader in athletic apparel, footwear and accessories, has announced a strategic investment in ISC Sport (ISC), becoming a major shareholder of the Australian custom teamwear provider. This landmark partnership unites two market leaders to revolutionise the teamwear landscape in Oceania. This partnership represents a pivotal milestone in Under Armour’s commitment to long term growth and expansion in the Australian market. ISC has built a strong reputation in Australia by serving over 2,500 amateur clubs, leagues and schools. As an official partner to major leagues and governing bodies, ISC connects with more than 800,000 athletes annually. 

Linius, a cloud-based solution that unlocks the value of video archives, has signed its first US NCAA Division 1 customer with Brown University. Brown University has deployed Linius Whizzard and Whizzard Highlights, its automated highlights extension. Brown is now able to curate videos and publish automated highlight reels for the 2024/25 men’s and women’s basketball season.

Zhik, the high-performance sailing apparel brand, proudly announces the extension of its partnership as the Official Technical Sailing Gear Partner of the Black Foils, New Zealand SailGP Team. SailGP, one of the world’s fastest-growing sports events, will kick off its 2025 season in Dubai on November 23-24, where the Black Foils, led by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, will be racing in Zhik’s elite technical apparel.

Brisbane-based gym franchise group Fitstop is planning to dramatically scale its US operations after teaming up with Australian Sydney-founded fitness studio software platform Hapana to support its membership base globally. Fitstop, which has 153 locations in Australia, New Zealand, the US and Singapore, sees Hapana’s technology as critical to enhancing its global rollout by empowering its existing mobile app, location operations and lead generation.

STEPN, the social lifestyle app has broken two Guinness World Records for remote running participation. A total of 42,656 STEPN members completed a remote mile. Records were broken for the most users to complete a remote one-mile distance in 24 hours and most users to complete a remote one-mile distance in one hour.

The West Coast Eagles and Playbk Sports have announced a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing the club’s connection with fans across the Western Australian community. Utilising tailored online programs to promote education and physical activity initiatives. 
Eagles Active, the club’s Learning Management System, will be at the heart of this innovation, serving as the home for all eLearning and online fitness products. Through Eagles Active, participants will have access to expertly designed content, whether they are teachers, students or young athletes working on their fitness and skills.

Australian fitness tech company Coach Welly has announced a partnership with fitness education leader International Fitness Academy (IFA). This collaboration integrates Coach Welly’s innovative Welly Rewards system into IFA’s programs, providing students with hands-on access to the latest in health and fitness education, technology and rewards. 

The Sporting News has announced a partnership with global sports streaming platform DAZN, which will see the digital website support commercialising DAZN’s content and channels in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, DAZN’s sports and entertainment content and channels generate more than 8 million long form, brand safe streams a month on YouTube, which can now be directly targeted through contextual ad campaigns.

Athletics Ventures, led by former AFL star Matt De Boer and basketballer Matthew Dellavedova is planning to raise at least $AUD 25 million for its early-stage venture capital limited partnership (ESVCLP). Athletic Ventures has backed the likes of Mexican-themed fast-food chain GYG, Ozempic seller Eucalyptus and electric golf buggy maker MGI.

Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) can confirm that its TV arm, Rainmaker, will produce programs for the Seven Network’s weekday AFL programming slate in 2025. Rainmaker has entered into a commercial partnership with Seven, which will see the production of three new shows each week. News and opinion driven ‘The Agenda Setters’ will air each Monday and Tuesday night, produced live from Rainmaker’s TV studios at SEN’s Southbank offices.

Sports streamer DAZN is a contender to acquire Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation’s majority stake in Australian pay-TV business Foxtel, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR). The outlet reports that most of DAZN’s takeover interest has been focused on the sports rights owned by Foxtel. News Corp confirmed in August that its stake in Foxtel was up for sale. Foxtel has 3.22 million streaming subscribers and an additional 1.42 million cable subscribers. Of its streaming subscriber total, Kayo Sports, its over-the-top (OTT) sports streaming platform, accounts for 1.51 million – a seven per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase.

Playbk Sports, one of Australia’s leading provider of bespoke eLearning and fitness technology solutions, has partnered with the Brisbane Bullets to develop Bullets Assist, an innovative Learning Management System (LMS) designed to assist young athletes and educators in achieving success both on and off the court. Set to launch in early 2025, Bullets Assist will deliver dynamic and accessible learning resources to educators and young athletes across Queensland, fostering skills, passion and holistic development both on and off the court.

Women’s Elite Rugby (WER), the first professional women’s rugby league in the United States, has signed a landmark deal with Lumin Sports ahead of its inaugural 2025 season. The deal will see WER supply each of its six foundation teams with access to Lumin Sports. Lumin Sports is an Australian technology company that’s developed one app for performance monitoring, strength & conditioning programming as well as medical and team operation needs.

Disability and inclusion facilities access app Cérge has won the 2024 Queensland Sports Innovation of the Year. The awards were supported by QSport, the Queensland Government and QUT Sport. The award elevates Cérge's mission to make the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games the most inclusive and accessible in history, through the use of advanced technology.  

SLOCOACH has announced an official partnership with USA Flag to revolutionise the way Flag Football is coached, learned, and played. Together, they are building an educational and accreditation platform designed to empower coaches, officials, and players as they prepare for the 2028 Olympics. The online platform will provide world-class training resources to nurturing grassroots programs, making Flag Football more accessible, inclusive, and impactful on a global scale.