ASTN Excursion 2025 to the USA
For further details on delegates, please download the US Excursion brochure here.
The stop in Los Angeles comprised of visits to the Intuit Dome, including a behind-the-scenes tech tour of the LA Clippers arena led by the Intuit Dome’s VP of Technology and the resident tech provider, Globant. Business meetings saw some members of the group meet Drake Star Capital and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. Las Vegas commenced with the NRL Business Summit and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ISTA, SEIcon and ASTN in order to build a cross-continent collaboration at the intersection of entertainment and sport. Attendance of the rugby games at Allegiant Stadium was followed by a visit to The Sphere.
New York provided a platform for meetings with Venture Capital, attendance at the SBJ Tech Awards and participation in SBJ Tech Week ‘State of Industry’ conference. In Boston, delegates were among the more than 2,500 attendees of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Amongst a host of ideas, insights and knowledge gained from the attendance, meetings and discussions some of the key takeaways for sportstech globally:
Sport & Entertainment
In North America, fan experiences are linked to entertainment venues, in contrast, for example, in Europe where a focus is placed on the performance on the pitch. Fans, sponsors and partners are viewed as customers as many leagues, clubs and federations try to establish a holistic 360-view of the fan as a customer.
Women’s Sport
As women’s sport grows from a participation, competition and event perspective, Michele Kang, founder of Kynisca, shared her vision of transforming women’s sports by building the world’s leading women’s football organisation. Kang emphasised the view of sport as a subsector of the entertainment industry as she outlined her strategy to invest in all aspects of performance, media, and analytics before seeing profitability. "'Shrink it & pink’ it is not the answer” for Kang, who has invested into ASTN member company, IDASports. However, at the same time women’s sports are still facing headwinds as corporate sponsors ask for discounts, or venue development lags behind male sports.
Collaborative Innovation
NBA’s launchpad, NFL’s Innovation Challenge or FIFA’s Innovation Program are some of the most prominent examples of how leagues, federations and clubs around the globe try to engage with the innovation community. ASTN’s engagements with the NRL Magic Round and AFL Gather Round showcase examples of how these innovative engagements can be implemented in Australia.
Corporate Engagement
As Prof. Randhawa from The University of Sydney outlined in the 2024 ASTN Sports Innovation Report, “in global hotspots of innovation, corporate engagement is not just a boost – it is fundamental to the vibrant growth of the sportstech industry”. Engagements like Comcast’s Sportstech Accelerator, Telefonica, T-Mobile or Verizon are just some examples how idea sourcing, product platforming or joint developments can be facilitated. Unfortunately, ASTN continues to identify a lack of similar understanding and engagement across corporates in Australia.
Stadium Technology
Ranging from biometrics, cashless concessions and merchandise to interactive in-stadium polling, stadium technology is evolving from clandestine surveillance to an opt-in, incentive-driven adoption. At the same time, haptic display devices enable vision-impared spectators to experience the arena excitement in completely new and inclusive ways.
VC Investment
Australia continues to produce significant innovations not only in high-performance sport but also across sports and entertainment, as well as mass participation and active living. The long-standing advocacy work by ASTN that embraces knowledge translation from and to adjacent industries is of significant interest to US-based investors. As such, the attraction of further investment into Australia by, for example, enhancing fund-to-fund initiatives is seen as pivotal to bridge the still-existing gap domestically.
Some final thoughts, delegates have taken away from the US Excursion.
- athlete driven content as part of the creator economy
- assisted officiating and automated review
- collaborative partnerships linking sports with startups
- immersive experiences at the intersection of sport and entertainment
- automation being integrated into workflows
- positive and sensory fan experiences
- convergence of physical and digital experiences
- simulation using digital twins to devise operations
- Use of AI to automate and shorten workflow processes
- AI-powered user-created content fostering engagement
- Localize content by providing AI-powered multi-lingual experiences
- Automated and contextualized content creation
- Content curation as basis for personalization
- Digital twin and simulations to enhance player safety
- Simplifying way-finding in stadiums and venues
- Transformation of sporting events into entertainment settings