International Sportstech News

AXS has launched its new biometric authentication feature for its mobile app in what it claims to be a ticketing industry first. The feature aims to provide users with a secure way to access accounts and tickets while also reducing fraud. With on-device biometric authentication, users can log in to their accounts and access their tickets using their fingerprint or facial recognition.

Following the success of several law trials and innovations introduced to the 2024 Autumn Nations Series, this year’s Men’s, Women’s and U20s Six Nations Championships will continue to promote the changes in game approach. This will include ‘Touchfinder’, an evolution of the Smart Ball technology. ‘Touchfinder’ is intended to support the team of match officials, specifically assistant referees, in identifying exactly where the ball crosses the touchline, purely from kicks into touch. For the first time instrumented mouthguards will be applied to the U20s Six Nations. Sensors in the mouthguards monitor the frequency and magnitude of head acceleration during training and match play, and form part of the HIA process.

Gymshark, the fitness community and apparel brand, has announced the launch of its inaugural innovation programme, the Gymshark Innovation Lab, in partnership with corporate innovation specialist L Marks. As part of the partnership, Gymshark is inviting startups and innovators to bring their concepts to the Gymshark Innovation Lab, to help them bring these visions to life and become potential partners. Innovators and startups get the opportunity to pilot their concepts and visions in a new ten-week immersive programme. The Gymshark Innovation Lab will seek to unearth transformative solutions that enhance product performance and sustainability, optimize supply chain management and unlock pioneering innovations in robotics.

Neko Health has raised $US 260 million to expand a preventative healthcare service designed to detect cancers, cardiovascular disease and other conditions. The company, was co-founded by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and uses more than 16 medical devices to noninvasively check moles, the heart and more. Neko currently provides scans for around $US 372 from two sites in London and Stockholm. The company plans to use the financing to expand in the U.S. and Europe and invest in diagnostics. To date it has performed 10,000 scans, and has 100,000 people on a waiting list.

Bloomberg has reported that Meta plans to launch a version of its smart glasses aimed at athletes, with data tracking features designed to improve performance feedback. These sunglasses for athletes will reportedly be inspired by Oakley’s ‘Sphaera’ design and include a single camera placed centrally on the frame to reduce weight. This aligns with Meta’s partnership with EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of both Oakley and Ray-Ban, with whom they collaborated on their first smart glasses. While these new releases will initially focus on data tracking and performance metrics, Meta’s long-term vision includes fully functional AR glasses.

Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have conducted the first comprehensive study on gender-specific differences in running, considering various shoe and speed conditions. Their findings, which contribute to the development of optimized running shoes, have now been published. The study demonstrated that there are numerous differences in running biomechanics between female and male recreational runners. Together with research partners Fraunhofer IPA and PUMA, the University will continue to focus on the collection, analysis, and application of motion data in running and football, paying particular attention to sex-specific aspects.

Billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik has injected a further $US 827 million into streaming giant DAZN in a bid to become a major rival to Netflix. The businessman has now invested more than $US 6.7 billion in the London-based sports streaming service. DAZN’s revenue increased $US 2.86 billion in 2023, and its expected to pass $US 6 billion in 2025. The increase would be partly driven by extra income from its $US 2.2 billion acquisition of Australian pay-TV giant, Foxtel, as well as the $US 1 billion deal for rights to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

Springbok Analytics, a leader in AI-driven muscle analytics, announced the close of a $AUD 5 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Transition Equity Partners, with participation from the National Basketball Association, Cartan Capital, Boston Global (AUS) and other strategic investors. This funding supports Springbok's mission to advance muscle health analysis across human performance, life sciences, and longevity. Springbok Analytics has developed a first-of-its-kind, FDA-cleared AI technology that delivers automated, precise and comprehensive muscle health assessments from MRI scans.

Autograph and Future have announced their merger, combining coaching, AI-powered training, and athlete partnerships to expand access to training globally. Autograph, co-founded by seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, leverages technology for fan and professional athlete engagement. Future offers fully virtual personal training with real coaches, powered by wearable technology and AI. The merger integrates Autograph’s extensive athlete network and partnership ecosystem with Future’s personalized coaching platform. The entity will blend human expertise with AI-driven insights to improve virtual personal training.

APEX has announced that applications for Season 3 of the APEX Impact Program (AIP) are now open. The AIP focuses on supporting passionate founders who are building innovative early-stage technologies that could make a real difference in Sports, Media, & Entertainment. In Season 1 and 2, APEX worked with companies like Hexis, Traits Insights, VRTL, and LuckySeatz. The program provides introductions to APEX's sports community, strategic and commercial support and invest €250,000 to drive growth.

Kiwi Fitness, a new AI-powered strength training app, is transforming how gym-goers approach fitness. The app provides personalized workout plans, real-time progress tracking, and adaptable training sessions, offering an alternative to traditional coaching—at a fraction of the cost. Kiwi Fitness uses machine learning algorithms to create tailored workout experiences for users. The app takes into account factors such as fitness goals, available equipment, and individual progress, delivering adjustments on the go to ensure optimized performance and results.

The Nix Bionsensors hydration monitor is a tool for monitoring hydration in real time and the UCI is now giving the okay for use during competition. According to the brand, this “milestone marks a significant achievement for Nix Biosensors, as UCI teams are now permitted to integrate the Nix hydration monitor and corresponding Nix Pro app into their hydration strategies during UCI races, whereas previously it was only permitted in training. Real-time hydration data empowers early intervention, allowing for adjustments to be made before performance-impairing levels of dehydration set in. 

FIFA has relaunched its Innovation Programme to seek technology driven solutions for a series of challenges. It is a platform the sees FIFA work with stakeholders to develop exciting innovations that benefit the global game. FIFA periodically publishes challenges detailing specific requirements that address a need within the game, with providers invited to pitch their solutions. The following challenges are currently open for applicants - skeletal tracking, football video support (FVS) system, goal-line technology (GLT), sustainable artificial turf, esports data capture for broadcast and future of fan engagement.

Courtside Ventures has announced an investment in Eternal, a new healthcare service tailored to lifelong athletes. Courtside will co-lead the $US 13 million seed round with Lightspeed Venture Partners. Eternal aims to keep athletes active, healthy, and performing their best for as long as possible. Offering a membership model, the company combines assessments, medical diagnostics, and ongoing guidance and accountability coaching to help athletes optimize performance, address injuries, adapt to hormonal shifts, manage long-term health, and achieve personalized athletic goals well into their later decades.

Apple Fitness+ is getting a fresh makeover in the Strava app. The two companies have announced a collaboration to revamp how Fitness+ integrates with the popular Strava fitness community. This more detailed workout summaries, Strava athletes appearing in Fitness+ content, and a free three-month trial to the service for Strava subscribers.

SURJ Sports Investment, Saudi Arabia’s leading sports investment powerhouse, has today announced a strategic partnership with U.S-based Enfield Investment Partners aimed at amplifying and advancing their investments into sport. The signing comes while Enfield Investment Partners unveiled a new global sports asset fund valued at more than $US 4 billion. The two companies will focus on investments across properties and assets including sports teams, leagues, media and wider sport infrastructure. The partnership will strengthen SURJ Sports Investment bilateral relationships with the U.S market. 

The planned streaming service Venu Sports has been scrapped before it even started. ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery announced they were pulling the plug on Venu. It had been expected to make available sports broadcasts from all three services as a mid-priced entry for cable cord-cutters who wanted more than a bare minimum of sports. Venu had plans for 5 million subscribers in its first year.

RoxOpt has announced that it has unveiled its AI-powered analytics platform, delivering personalized insights to elevate training, racing, and goal-setting for HYROX athletes and coaches. RoxOpt’s first product, HYROX Race Performance Reports, is powered by a proprietary AI simulation engine tailored to endurance racing. With HYROX gaining momentum as one of the world’s fastest-growing fitness competitions, RoxOpt provides athletes with actionable insights to improve performance, plan for future races, and achieve their next personal best.

Samsung Electronics announced a new partnership with Unrivaled, the groundbreaking professional women’s basketball league, to serve as its official technology and presenting partner. Founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, Samsung's smartphones (Galaxy S Series, Z Series), wearables (Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Ring), headphones (Galaxy Buds), and tablets featuring Galaxy AI, and monitors will exclusively power the league.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is launching a league-wide biomechanics program with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Motion capture labs will be installed at the training facilities of all 30 teams within a year. The protocols have been developed in consultation with the NBPA as well as sports medicine and performance experts. Provisions for the screening program were included in the current collective bargaining agreement, requiring players to participate in up to four assessments per season. The four tech vendors are Qualisys, BreakAway Data, Bertec and Theia. P3 is also on board as a consultant.

CNBC has ranked the 75 most valuable athletic programs in the USA. The top of the list is dominated by SEC and Big Ten schools, due largely to each conference’s massive media rights deals. Ohio State University is the most valuable athletic program, worth an estimated $US 1.32 billion. The Buckeyes had $US 280 million in revenue in 2023, the most of any school. In aggregate, the SEC is worth roughly $US 13.3 billion, an average of about $US 832 million per school; followed by the Big Ten at about $US 13.2 billion, an average of roughly $US 734 million per school; the ACC at roughly $US 10 billion, or about $US 558 million per school; and the Big 12, at roughly $US 6.7 billion, or about $US 420 million per school.

Scrum Ventures, a San Francisco and Tokyo-based early-stage venture capital firm, announced the closing of its first vertically focused tech fund, Scrum Sports & Entertainment Fund I (SSE). The new fund, which closed at $US 68 million, invests in technology companies that support the growth of the sports and entertainment sector. SSE has already established a strong foothold in the sports and entertainment sectors, having made strategic investments in 16 promising companies.

Sportable, a global leader in sports data AI, is proud to announce the acquisition of Intaneous, a computer vision company specializing in transforming sports data into insights and visualizations that enhance the way audiences experience and understand sports. By combining Intaneous’ advanced computer vision and visualization technology with Sportable’s smart ball and player tracking solutions, the company is poised to offer a comprehensive end-to-end solution including automated augmented reality graphics, real-time sponsorship placements and automated highlights. This integration will deepen Sportable’s relationships in its core markets of football (US), football, rugby and Australian rules football while also enabling growth into new sports such as volleyball and tennis. 

Withings, a connected health company, unveiled Omnia, a concept for a personal health mirror that will give you a more holistic view of your health. Omnia features a mirrored interface equipped with voice commands, a 3D body model (digital twin), and a connected base with advanced health sensors. It conducts daily in-depth health scans by integrating data from Withings’ extensive ecosystem of devices—including smartwatches, scales, blood pressure monitors, sleep trackers, and even mattress and bathroom sensors—alongside weight, heart health, and metabolic health scans from its base.

Euroleague Basketball, the organiser of Europe’s premier professional basketball club competitions – the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the BKT EuroCup – and IMG, a global sports marketing agency, have announced the renewal of their partnership agreement. This extended collaboration will run through the 2035-36 season. Under the renewed agreement, IMG will continue to drive long-term growth for the league through media rights distribution, brand partnerships, strategic consulting, digital services, and streaming. IMG will also continue as the exclusive live events broadcast production partner.

As part of the Orlando Magic’s continuing commitment to innovation, the Magic will host the Orlando Magic Venture Challenge, Powered by LEAD, in collaboration with the DeVos family and LEAD Venture Corporation. Through the DeVos family and LEAD, the challenge will provide up to $US 750,000 in total investment capital to early-stage sports, health and wellness startup companies. The challenge will offer individual funding amounts between $US 50,000 and $US 200,000 for qualified startups. Applications open 6 January, with a six startups selected for a “Shark Tank”-style event on March 26 at Kia Center.

Disney is to merge its Hulu+ Live TV unit with sports streamer FuboTV, creating what is expected to be the second-biggest internet-based pay-TV outfit in the US after YouTube TV. The deal, which does not include the main Hulu service, will create a company with revenues of $US6 billion and more than six million subscribers across North America. The agreement paves way for planned Warner Bros Discovery, Fox and Disney sports streamer Venu. As part of the arrangement, the trio will pay $US220 million to Fubo, while Disney will provide an additional $US145 million loan in 2026. 

Therabody, a leader in wellness technology, has announced a strategic relationship with smartwatch provider Garmin to bring smarter recovery solutions to athletes to help better understand the ways to recover. The collaboration focuses on data integration, an AI-powered digital coach and scientific research to better understand the impact of recovery on performance.

Athletech News has analysed trends to watch in 2025, including the rise of longevity, the future of fitness wearables and strength training’s surge. The global wellness market is projected to grow to nearly $US 9 trillion in 2028 as consumers embrace new ways of living, moving and well-being. The rise of longevity services, GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and holistic wellness presents massive opportunities for the health and fitness industries. The popularity of strength training is reshaping the way gyms look, while the rise of AI begins to transform the way fitness brands do business.

Netflix has secured the exclusive US rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup for 2027 and 2031, marking the first time the tournament will appear on a streaming service. Netflix will produce exclusive documentary programming spotlighting the top players and their journeys. This continues Netflix commitment to premium live sports programming which has recently included the Jake Paul / Mike Tyson bout, NFL's Christmas double-header as well as WWE Raw on 6 January 2025.

Health-tracking ring maker Oura announced it closed a $US 200 million Series D funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Dexcom. The investment raises the company’s valuation to $US 5.2 billion. The company has shared that it recently surpassed 2.5 million rings sold and has seen its member base and revenue more than double over the past year. The Oura Ring hosts a number of different sensors designed to monitor a wearer's health while sleeping or engaging in physical activities.

The Technology Golf League (TGL), co-founded by golf icons Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, is set to begin on January 7, 2025. This new league aims to modernize the sport, featuring six teams composed of top PGA Tour players. Matches will take place at the SoFi Center, a state-of-the-art venue with a 1,500-seat capacity. This custom-built arena features an IMAX-sized screen, around 24 times larger than traditional golf simulator screens. The venue also boasts a uniquely engineered green complex that can rotate a full 360 degrees, allowing players to approach holes from various angles. The matches will provide a blend of simulator golf and authentic short game experience with real grass teeing areas and actual sand bunkers.

In a remarkable achievement that underscores the growing importance of technology in sports travel, EventPipe has crossed a significant milestone by surpassing $US 1 billion in gross hotel bookings. This breakthrough highlights the company’s innovative approach to event housing and sports travel management. EventPipe has rapidly emerged as a game-changer in the event housing technology landscape, simplifying and streamlining accommodation bookings for sports events, tournaments, and travel management.

Spiideo, a global leader in sports video technology, has announced the acquisition of Signality, an optical tracking and sports data generation company. The integration of Signality’s automated, real-time data and analytics technology into the Spiideo platform will further fuel Spiideo’s data and AI-driven solutions for media companies, leagues, federations, clubs, and schools. With millions of hours of automated sports production annually, Spiideo is used by thousands of team and installed in more than 6,000 venues across 60 countries.

Investors continue to embrace fitness software firms as Europe-based bsport becomes the latest brand to receive a cash infusion. Barcelona-based boutique fitness software platform bsport has raised $US31.5 million in a Series B funding round. bsport serves around 2,000 gyms and fitness studios across Europe and North America, predominately small and medium-sized businesses. Its platform include class bookings, payments, staff management, sales and marketing, and member experience tools. 

Endorphins Studios has launched as a next-generation content production company for health and fitness brands. The company will create immersive and personalized content experiences for health and fitness brands and creators, including video and photo production, AI content creation, game design, interactive learning simulations, and experiences in virtual (VR) augmented (AR) and mixed reality (MR). Endorphins Studios comes as ChatGPT developer OpenAI just released Sora, a video-generating AI that can create “realistic videos” from text, photo and video inputs.

PlayOn, the all-in-one fan engagement platform for schools, and Pixellot, one of the world’s leading provider of AI-automated sports video and data solutions, has announced a new partnership to exclusively offer Pixellot's VidSwap™ coaching tools platform for free to all NFHS Network member schools. PlayOn operates the NFHS Network, the leading broadcast network for high schools. Nearly 10,000 schools partner with the NFHS Network to broadcast over 800,000 events annually. Footage captured on Pixellot cameras is processed and made available for coaches on VidSwap, providing detailed analysis and game breakdowns.  

The two startups for the second edition of Champions Innovate, UEFA's groundbreaking programme focusing on the promotion of active and healthy lifestyle around the 2025 UEFA Champions League final, have been announced. Mastercard will partner with FC Urban, while adidas will work with Equip Sport. Originally conceived by the UEFA Innovation Hub, Champions Innovate is a collaborative partnership between UEFA, the host city of the UEFA Champions League final as well as UEFA Champions League commercial partners. FC Urban and Mastercard will aim to explore innovative technological solutions to make access to sports more inclusive and equitable in Munich. Equip Sport and adidas will aim to leverage their technological expertise to make sports experiences, both planned and spontaneous.

Sony’s Beyond Sports is collaborating with ESPN, the NFL, Disney, and The Simpsons to produce The Simpsons Funday Football, a real-time animated alternate presentation of the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys on Monday, December 9, 2024. A combination of data processing and real-time visualization technology from Beyond Sports will insert well-known characters from “The Simpsons” into the game action while the Bengals and Cowboys play in real time.

New York Red Bulls is set to become the first major sports team to offer blockchain-based ticketing for all events through a wide-ranging partnership with Sports Illustrated Tickets. Starting with the 2026 season, Sports Illustrated Tickets’ primary blockchain event ticketing platform Box Office will power all events at the 25,500-capacity venue. Beyond seamless access, the Avalanche blockchain will improve fan engagement by transforming event tickets into dynamic digital assets, offering exclusive perks, personalized content, creating a next-generation event experience