International Sportstech News
Apple Secures Hydration Patent, Smart Ring Rumors Heat Up
Apple
Date: 25-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Apple recently filed a patent for a “wearable device with perspiration measuring capabilities” for its Apple Watches. The solution would be non-invasive and could measure perspiration, skin temperature and more to help consumers optimize hydration. The hydration-tracking feature could continue to improve on the already-beloved Apple Watch, and a potential new smart ring could disrupt that growing space currently dominated by Oura.
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Paris Saint-Germain Becomes First Soccer Team to Validate a Blockchain
Paris Saint-Germain and Chiliz
Date: 25-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
French soccer giant Paris Saint-Germain said it will become a network validator for the Chiliz Chain blockchain that hosts its PSG fan tokens, and use the money it generates to buy them back on a regular basis. Sports clubs have dipped their toes in crypto over the years through the creation of fan tokens, which can be used for sports memorabilia and experiences. However this is the first time a club is getting involved as a blockchain validator. Validators are entities that manage blockchain nodes, securing the network through functions including transaction verification and smart-contract authorization. In exchange, validators generate revenue from running a node.
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Comcast NBCUniversal announce 2024 SportsTech Accelerator 2024 cohort
Comcast NBCUniversal
Date: 24-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Today, 10 companies were accepted into the fourth class of the Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Accelerator, powered by Boomtown. The immersive six-month program will kick off in March. Since the first class in 2021, SportsTech alumni have achieved 132 pilots, partnerships, and commercial deals with consortium partners. This year's cohort includes Aquimo, Dizplai, Fobi, KYMIRA, Mantis-AI, Mobii Systems, StellarAlgo, Plantiga, ZATAP and Zoomph.
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Apple launches its first sports app
Apple
Date: 22-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Apple has launched 'Apple Sports', a free app for the iPhone that delivers real-time scores, key statistics, and live betting odds. At launch, users will have access to live data from the NBA, NHL, and MLS, among other leagues. The app, Apple’s first in the sports arena, is being released ahead of March Madness, offering real-time data for both men’s and women’s NCAA basketball. Other leagues will be added over time, including the NFL and MLB.
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Hudl, Snap! Partnership Follows Amateur Sports Data Revolution
Hudl and Snap!
Date: 22-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Sports video and data company Hudl recently signed a strategic partnership with Snap! Mobile to integrate Snap!’s fundraising tool into Hudl’s growing offering for amateur U.S. sports organisers. The deal signals Hudl’s recognition of the evolving challenges—and opportunities—presented to grassroots organizations as more and more elements of the athlete and supporter experiences move online.
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NBA demonstrates NB-AI concept at NBA Tech Summit
NBA
Date: 20-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
NBA commissioner Adam Silver demoed a potential future for how NBA fans will use AI technology to watch basketball action at the league’s Tech Summit Friday. The proposed interface is named NB-AI. Silver presented a situation where he could speak with an NBA trained digital assistant that had the powers to personalize a fan’s live game viewing experience on the NBA app. At one point, Silver asked the tool to take a live basketball game and recreate the action “as if it were a Spider-Man movie.” The result quickly recreated a play, turning the players into cartoon characters while adding dramatic music and digital effects more familiar to comic book fans than sports diehards.
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Sky's the Limit: How OpenAI's Sora Can Revolutionize Fitness Content Creation
Fitness Industry Technology Council and OpenAI
Date: 19-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Yesterday, OpenAI unveiled a groundbreaking innovation: Sora is text-to-video AI generator capable of crafting realistic videos up to a minute long. This tool is not just about creating videos; it's a leap into the future of content creation, particularly in the fitness industry.
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UEFA Champions Innovate select 3 startups for pilot projects for Champions League Final
UEFA Champions League
Date: 19-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Champions Innovate is a groundbreaking initiative that takes place in the months leading up to the Champions League final and brings together UEFA, commercial partners, host city authorities and startup companies. Each season, the startups are tasked with finding innovative solutions to specific challenges set by the host city. For the 2024 final at Wembley Stadium, the City of London proposed three challenges, each with the goal of enhancing the competition's social and environmental impact. Three startups – Pavegen, My Emissions and Pledgeball – were chosen to develop pilot projects responding to the challenges. Each was teamed up with one of three Champions League sponsors – PepsiCo, Just Eat Takeaway.com and Mastercard.
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WIT Raises Series A Funding to Supercharge Digital Experiences for Sports Teams and Brands
WIT
Date: 15-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
WIT, the digital activation platform across sports and entertainment, announced today that it has closed a round of Series A funding led by McCarthy Capital. Vaidhy Murti founded WIT in 2021 as a platform for sports teams to create immersive fan experiences to digitally engage with fans. Over the last two years, WIT has powered viral campaigns featured on ESPN and Sunday Night Football, to a custom arcade-style game mirroring the NFL’s Emmy Award-winning Super Bowl LVII halftime commercial.
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Alter Launches DNA-Personalized Fitness Platform
Alter
Date: 14-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Five years in development, Alter has launched a personalized fitness platform using DNA to tailor exercise, wellness, and stress management programs. Founded by Blake Johnson and Scott Cohen—the team behind billion-dollar orthodontics startup Byte—Alter’s approach revolves around genetic predisposition. Combining digital fitness with personal diagnostics, Alter hopes its screens will become an everyday portal to health optimization.
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Industry Veterans Launch Wellnify.ai to Revolutionize Wellness Through Gamification
Wellnify
Date: 14-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
A visionary leap in community wellness, Wellnify.ai has been launched by founders of successful sports technology startups Kinduct Technologies and TheProgram.ai. Founded by industry veterans Travis McDonough, Brendon Ferguson, Jeff Johnson, and Duncan Addison, Wellnify.ai aims to transform the habits of community members through an engaging and interactive digital ecosystem.Wellnify.ai has been built leveraging the power of gamification, the science of behavior change, and the pillars of engagement.
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Kabata Smart Dumbbells take out 2023 Good Design® Award
Kabata
Date: 13-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Kabata has been named a 2023 Good Design Winner in the Sports & Recreation spac. Kabata is the first intelligent dumbbell system that uses data analytics and predictive AI to enhance a workout by automatically adjusting weights between workout sets while also delivering custom workout programs and activity tracking via a connected mobile app.
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Wilson announces plan to sell first 3D printed airless basketball
Wilson
Date: 9-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Wilson Sporting Goods has announced the release of the Wilson Airless Gen1, the first-of-its-kind 3D printed airless basketball, that does not need to be inflated. The basketball nearly fits the performance specifications of a regulation basketball, including its weight, size, and rebound.
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ESPN, FOX, Warner Bros. Discovery launching joint sports streaming service late 2024
ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery
Date: 8-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery are forming a new joint venture to launch a sports streaming service in the fall of 2024. This will include the companies’ portfolios of sports networks, certain direct-to-consumer sports services and sports rights. Subscribers will have access to linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV and ESPN+. It can also be bundled with Disney+, Hulu and/or Max.
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NBA to unveil LED glass basketball court at All-Star weekend in Indianapolis
NBA and ASB GlassFloor
Date: 8-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
The NBA announced on Monday that it will unveil an all-glass LED court for the upcoming All-Star weekend in Indianapolis. The social media announcement included a video mock-up of the court that promises to display design and colour changes, live replay and video content, stats, animations and interactive games for fans during timeouts.
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StatusPro raises $US20m to build an XR sports gaming empire
StatusPro
Date: 6-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
StatusPro has raised $20 million in funding from Google Ventures and others to build its XR sports gaming empire.New York and Miami-based StatusPro wants to take sports gaming into the realm of virtual reality, and it has already launched its NFL Pro Era and NFL Pro Era II titles for platforms such as Meta Quest 3, PlayStation VR 2, Pico, and the Steam Store. NFL Pro Era has surpassed a million users.
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STRN release white-paper on development of a sports technology quality framework
Sports Technology Research Network
Date: 6-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
The Sports Tech Research Network has released a white paper that introduces a standardized, evidence-based framework which can be adopted by sports technology stakeholders to assess the value, usability, and quality of technology. Developed in collaboration with 48 experts across the sports industry, the Sports Technology Quality Framework consists of 25 measurable features grouped under five quality “pillars”: i. Quality Assurance & Measurement, ii. Established Benefit, iii. Ethics & Security, iv. User Experience and v. Data Management.
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Building a digital athlete: Using AI to rewrite the playbook on NFL player safety
NFL and Amazon Web Services
Date: 2-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Just as National Football League (NFL) players train and practice to constantly improve, the NFL continually seeks new ways to make the game safer for its players, and more exciting for fans. A key element of this effort is development of the Digital Athlete, a joint effort between the NFL and Amazon Web Services (AWS) that represents the next generation of player health and safety for the league.
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PGA and NBA use Apple Vision Pro to improve broadcast experience for fans
Apple, PGA and NBA
Date: 2-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
More than 600 apps and games designed to take advantage of the unique and powerful capabilities of Apple Vision Pro will be available this Friday, February 2. With the NBA app on Apple Vision Pro, basketball fans can stream up to five broadcasts live or on demand with Multiview, keep an eye on real-time player and team stats, and effortlessly glance at other games and scores. PGA TOUR Vision, the first golf app developed for Apple Vision Pro, takes fans directly onto the greens of the world’s most iconic courses.
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The Venue Barcelona to open as Sports, Music & Event Innovation Hub
The Venue Barcelona
Date: 1-Feb-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
The Venue Barcelona has opened as a Music, Sports and Events Innovation Zone, a space and ecosystem where corporate-startup innovation, collaboration and creativity converge. The Hub is an innovation playground of 40000m2; a co-creation space of 1100m2; >2.000,000 Live Event Spectators and >150 Live Events per year.
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Major League Rugby partner with Sportable and Gilbert on smart ball
Sportable and Gilbert
Date: 31-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Major League Rugby (MLR), which represents the highest level of rugby competition in North America, has announced Gilbert as the new official ball of the league. Additionally, thanks to a collaboration with Sportable, the leader in the development of wearable tracking technology and data analytics, each nationally broadcast game ball will be outfitted with a unique data tracking device that will measure speed, distance traveled and other unique metrics.
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PlaySight and Playbypoint partner to revolutionize bookings and video analysis in racquet sports
Playsight and Playbypoint
Date: 31-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
PlaySight nd Playbypoint have announced a partnership that will enhance the racquet sports experience for players worldwide. This collaboration will seamlessly integrate PlaySight’s cutting-edge video analysis technology with Playbypoint’s innovative court reservation system for racquet sports enthusiasts in the rapidly growing worlds of Pickleball, Padel, and Tennis.
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AISTS launches new sports innovation and entrepreneurship short course
International Academy of Sport Science and Technology
Date: 30-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
The Lausanne based International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS), recently announced short – compact topical learning programmes for sport executives and managers to address the needs of the industry. Registration is now open for the short programme on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Sport, to take place from 19 February to 1 March. Participants will be equipped with the tools and mindset needed to manage innovation efficiently.
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GSIC and Sport Singapore launch sports data exchange
Global Sports Innovation Center (powered by Microsoft) and Singapore Sport
Date: 30-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
The Sport Data Exchange Singapore, SPORTDEXSG, is a digital platform that facilitates the sharing of data and insights between sport ecosystem players in Singapore and beyond. With the digital transformation that SPORTDEXSG will enable, companies can gain the capabilities to expand their business and strengthen their operations for greater sustainable growth in both the Singapore and overseas markets.
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GSIC launches 2nd edition of GroundBreakers Open Innovation Challenge
Global Sports Innovation Center (powered by Microsoft)
Date: 29-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
ASTN partner, the Global Sports Innovation Center (GSIC) powered by Microsoft has launched its 2nd edition of the International GroundBreakers Sports Challenge. This initiative is at the forefront of driving innovation in the sports industry, inviting companies worldwide to address real-world hurdles faced by sports organisations across five key areas: Business Insights, Fan Engagement, High Performance, Fitness & Health, Media & Sponsorship and Smart Venues & Sustainability.
The Innovation Challenges from partner organisations are listed below. Applications close 18 March 2024.
https://groundbreakers.sport-gsic.com/
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NBA Launchpad Announces Five Startups For New Cohort
National Basketball Association
Date: 29-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
The NBA recently announced the latest cohort for its third Launchpad accelerator program. NBA Launchpad is the league’s initiative to source, evaluate, and pilot emerging technologies that advance the NBA’s top basketball and business priorities. The five startups selected include Reboot Motion, Plantiga, Tonsser, TextQL, and Dimension Studio.
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NBC Sports Next, Pixellot Team Up On Youth, Amateur Sports Live Streaming
Pixellot and NBC Sports Next
Date: 29-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
NBC Sports Next and Pixellot are expanding their partnership to bring livestreaming to youth and amateur sports venues around North America, combining the streaming and highlight editing capabilities of the former with the AI-automated game-coverage cameras of the latter. Pixellot is already being used at more than 10,000 U.S. high schools to provide AI-automated sports cameras and analytics.
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Minute Media acquires STN Video for $US150 million
Minute Media and STN Video
Date: 25-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Sports content unicorn Minute Media announced on Wednesday that it has acquired STN Video, a leading North American sports content distributor. The value of the deal is estimated at around $150 million. STN Video holds premium partnerships with every major league in the U.S. alongside an award-winning Online Video Platform. The acquisition of STN will bring additional technology capabilities, distribution and sports highlight content rights to its ecosystem of owned sports content brands, distribution partners and advertisers.
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ZIYNX and Opendorse launch NIL Partnership for female athletes
ZIYNX and Opendorse
Date: 25-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
ZIYNX, the innovative early career and NIL (name-image-likeness) marketing app for student-athletes, has launched a partnership with Opendorse, the leading NIL marketplace. The collaboration, driven by a shared commitment to empowering athletes at all levels of sport, is set to deliver one of the largest commitments to student-athletes in women’s sports since NIL’s inception in 2021.With almost 150,000 athlete users, Opendorse will support ZIYNX in sourcing the athletes who will then apply to NIL opportunities on the ZIYNX app by creating 24-second or less videos.
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Netflix to become new home of WWE 'Raw' in $US 5 billion deal
Netflix and WWE
Date: 24-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
WWE and Netflix today announced a long-term partnership that will bring WWE’s flagship weekly program – Raw – to the world’s leading entertainment service.
Beginning in January 2025, Netflix will be the exclusive new home of Raw in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Latin America, among other territories.
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adidas and Bumble unite to help discover gym buddies
adidas and Bumble
Date: 22-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
adidas Training and Bumble have unveiled a partnership to tackle intimidation felt at the gym, a barrier to training which impacts athletes at all-levels. Coming together to offer a new adidas interest badge (which members can add to their profile to let potential matches see their interest in fitness) the collaboration is designed to create space for next-gen gym enthusiasts to connect and realize the research-backed benefits of training, together.
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Partners back Euro 2024 as Climate Fund launches
UEFA
Date: 22-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Global Sustainable Sport understands that more than 1,000 amateur clubs have already applied for financial support for climate protection projects since the launch of UEFA's Climate Fund last week. Based on pre-tournament projections, about €7m will be made available for climate protection projects. Clubs can choose from a set list of projects in the fields of energy, water, waste management and smart mobility.
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Samsung to launch smart health ring
Samsung
Date: 22-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Samsung announced at Unpacked 2024 that it will soon launch the Galaxy smart ring. The Galaxy Ring announcement was made by Dr. Matthew Wiggins, clinical research scientist at Samsung Research, after a segment demonstrating a new Samsung health experience powered by Galaxy AI.
The Samsung Health experience will include the ability to monitor for potential sleep apnea symptoms by tracking sleep patterns, blood oxygen changes, and maintaining heart rate alerts during sleep.
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Physio tech company KINVENT raises €16 Million
KINVENT
Date: 19-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Kinvent, the European leader in connected physiotherapy solutions, recently announced the securing of a 16 million euro investment during its third round of fundraising. This investment will enable the company to enter a new phase of acceleration, including market penetration in the United States in 2024, increased R&D projects, as well as massive external expansion.
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NBA partners with Fastbreak.ai to use scheduling platform
NBA and Fastbreak.ai
Date: 18-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Fastbreak.ai has announced the NBA as their latest customer and NBA Equity as a seed round investor as part of a long-term agreement. The NBA will incorporate Fastbreak.ai's solution into their scheduling process. As part of this agreement the NBA will also leverage Fastbreak.ai for scheduling the WNBA, G League, and the NBA2K League.
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English Schools’ Football Association announces new partnership with i-Brain Tech
i-Brain Tech
Date: 17-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
The partnership, which officially launched as of January 2024, will see the ESFA’s international teams trial the i-Brain technology and provide schools across the country the opportunity to learn more about how the technology can support their pupils in their schools’ football endeavours. The i-Brain system unlocks new frontiers in brain analytics, providing unparalleled insights for progress tracking and talent identification.
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NFL's first-ever exclusive live-streamed game breaks records
NFL and Peacock
Date: 16-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Nearly 28 million total viewers watched the first-ever exclusively streamed NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins on Peacock. Viewers flocked to Peacock, setting records for the most-streamed live event in U.S. history and driving the Internet to its largest U.S. usage ever on a single day and the largest Internet event ever, consuming 30 percent of Internet traffic during the game.
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Qiddiya unveils plans for ‘futuristic’ 45,000-seat stadium
Populous
Date: 16-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
More details have emerged on Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, a new multi-purpose venue that will form part of Qiddiya, one of Saudi Arabia’s ‘giga-projects’ under its Vision 2030 masterplan. The stadium features an immersive design and “unique” technological features that will seek to enhance the fan experience. Global architectural firm Populous has designed the stadium, which Qiddiya claims will be the world’s first fully integrated venue with a combined retractable roof, pitch and LED wall.
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GolfForever Raises $10 Million In Series A Funding
GolfForever
Date: 15-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
GolfForever, an at-home training system for amateurs and professional golfers, recently announced a $10 million Series A funding round led by Clerisy, a consumer growth equity fund.
Also part of the raise are world No. 1 and reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler and three-time PGA Tour winner Tom Kim, who join as equity investors as well as GolfForever ambassadors.
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Major League Soccer launches MLS Innovation Lab
Major League Soccer
Date: 15-Jan-2024 | Category: International Sportstech News
Major League Soccer (MLS) today announced the launch of MLS Innovation Lab, a program designed to shape the future of sports through the identification of cutting-edge startups and advanced technologies to help develop the next generation of athletes, enhance the fan experience and drive continued growth for the League and its Clubs.
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