Sportstech & Member News

Alignment Growth Management (Alignment Growth), an investment firm focused on growth-stage, privately-held media and entertainment companies, announced an investment in PMY Group (PMY), a premier international venue, events, and infrastructure technology solutions firm. PMY is a full-service technology solutions company that supports venues and major events to enhance their infrastructure, experience, and intelligence. Founded in 2009 with a focus on stadiums, the company has diversified to service more than 1,000 clients across 15 countries. The investment in PMY marks Alignment Growth’s eighth investment out of its inaugural fund. 

AQUAME has announced a partnership with Hess Cycling Team, a UCI Women's Continental Cycling Team. Commencing 2025 AQUAME will provide their innovative, data-driven hydration solution to support the Hess Cycling Team athletes. This partnership will allow the Hess team to prepare personalized hydration plans for training, racing and optimize post-ride recovery through AQUAME's detailed fluid intake tracking and hydration insights. With AQUAME, the Hess Cycling Team will gain a deeper understanding of hydration patterns and the impacts on their athlete’s performance and recovery.

etrainu has announced a new partnership with Sir Graham Lowe, marking the launch of "Kick for the Seagulls - Community Coaching", a comprehensive library of 12 online courses aimed at inspiring and developing the next generation of community coaches. The course series focuses on fostering essential skills, promoting teamwork and empowering volunteer community coaches to create a positive impact. The Kick for the Seagulls program is set to roll out later this year through Auckland Rugby League, providing accessible training resources for coaches.

TwinLabs.ai a leader in sports digital twin applications has launched a digital twin for the gym and fitness centre management industry. TwinLabs.ai has been working with the Tour De France to assist them manage the event through TwinLabs event management solution. TwinLabs has now expanded its market application to include gyms and fitness centres. The Gym Twin provides gym owners and managers with 'spacial intelligence'. Gym Twin uses all the tech that gyms already have including CCVT cameras and membership systems, and turn it into a 3D digital version of the gym complete with real-time data. Pilots are already running and have helped identify when the gym is busiest, spotted patterns in member usage, equipment configuration and help fine-tune everything from marketing and staff rosters to the playlist.

TGL presented by SoFi, the new tech-infused, team golf league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports in partnership with the PGA TOUR, has announced its inaugural season schedule. SoFi Center features 1,500 fans wrapped tightly around TGL’s field of play and creates a “greenside” fan experience similar to sitting courtside at an NBA game or on the glass at an NHL game.

Two Circles, a data-driven sports and entertainment business, has announced the agreement to acquire Spring Media Group. Spring Media’s media rights, live production and streaming capabilities will bolster Two Circles’ existing fan engagement services. The combined business will provide Two Circles with market-leading remote live production capabilities, a popular streaming platform and relationships with over 500 broadcasters globally, to provide over 950 rights holders and rights owners with global scale in managing fan relationships. This is Two Circles’ second significant acquisition agreement in recent weeks after the acquisition of KORE. 

The winners of the 2024 Australia & New Zealand Sports Technology Awards were announced during the Australian Sports Tech Week in Melbourne on 23rd November. The awards were presented in partnership with the Australian Sports Technologies Network and the Sports Tech World Series, organisers of the STWS Conference. Winners included Olly Timing, Nobody's Princess, Areto Labs, VADR, Rookie Me, Bar TV, Gravity Fit and SportsBlock. Founder of Sponserve (now part of KORE Software), Mark Thompson and Co-Founder of Australian Sports Technologies Network, James Demetriou were awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Cerebro Sports, a leader in basketball analytics and performance metrics, announced an innovative collaboration with Google Cloud to launch a new basketball AI chatbot available on 15th November. Combining Cerebro’s proprietary player statistics database with Google Cloud’s AI technology, the new chatbot will deliver real-time, stats-driven insights to basketball players, fans, and decision-makers at all levels of the sport across youth, college, and pro alike. The chatbot is designed to improve the way players, coaches, and fans interact with basketball data, offering unprecedented access to performance insights that can shape in-game strategies, training, scouting, and fan engagement. 

The LA Clippers’ $US 2 billion Intuit Dome is reshaping the NBA fan experience with advanced AI technology and sustainability initiatives. AI-powered biometric concessions streamline purchases, allowing fans to skip long waits, while the arena’s 270-degree Halo board provides an immersive viewing experience from every seat. In addition to AI, the venue is designed to be the first climate-positive arena in the U.S., featuring solar power and other eco-friendly initiatives.

Noom, a leading digital healthcare company committed to chronic disease prevention announced that it is expanding its in-app capabilities to include a revolutionary body scan feature. In partnership with Prism Labs, a cutting-edge AI and machine learning company, the body scan technology will provide Noom users with a new level of personalized health insights. Members can now complete a body scan by simply recording a 10-second video of themselves using the Noom app. The AI technology will analyze the footage to determine precise body composition measurements of the user’s body and provide a personalized 3D body avatar. 

As part of Sportstech Week in Melbourne, the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) facilitated a Women-Led Sportstech Design Masterclass. Leading female founders shared their journey and passion in building their sport-related startups. Founders included Kirsty Richardson - GravityFit, Saara Jamieson - Cool Beans Underwear, Michelle Walshe - CoachMate, Victoria Zorin - Nola, Maria Baker - Nobody’s Princess, Suzie Betts – Boob Armour, Marie Penny – Project Flock and Natalie Moore – Own Your Health Collective / MenoVest.

AO Startups accelerates elite founders through priority access to the AO and professional and community sport. It provides a unique opportunity for startups solving large problems in sport, health and entertainment to build, test or pilot on the world stage with Tennis Australia and the Australian Open. Applications for the 5th AO Startup close on 8 Nov 2024.

Russell Brands has announced a new partnership between SPALDING®, one of the leading basketball equipment brand in the world, and SportIQ (SIQ) Basketball, creator of the world's first official size and weight smart basketball. The partnership will combine SIQ's patented technology and mobile application with both the existing and upcoming lineup of SPALDING® basketballs, for an immersive, data-driven, and gamified experience for basketball players of all ages and skill levels.

Sportlight, a leading LiDAR and AI sports technology company, has announced a multi-year agreement with the Saudi Pro League (SPL) to become the league’s exclusive provider of player tracking and performance insights. The partnership will focus on early injury risk prediction, player development, and next-generation performance data analytics. Sportlight is already a leading performance insights provider for the majority of English Premier League clubs and is engaged in pilot projects with major teams across the NBA, the NHL and MLB. 

Endeavor Group Holdings is sending three business lines—events arm On Location, media rights division IMG and the Professional Bull Riders circuit—to subsidiary TKO Group Holdings in a $US 3.25 billion deal. TKO was formed a little over a year ago when Endeavor acquired WWE and spun it off into TKO Group with its UFC division. 

Concept2 is going beyond cardio. The rowing equipment maker unveiled StrengthErg, a machine using air resistance for strength training exercises, with units set to ship Q1’25. Delivering up to 1,500lbs of force in a rower-like frame, users train seated leg presses, chest presses, and rows while tracking progress through a synced app. Considered the gold standard in cardio-endurance, Concept2, spent two years developing StrengthErg, with the founders citing personal interest in strength training for longevity.

The NFL's Big Data Bowl is the annual sports analytics contest from NFL Football Operations with challenges members of the analytics community (from college students to professionals) to contribute to the NFL’s continuing evolution of the use of advanced analytics. The crowd-sourced competition uses data and technology to spur innovation that results in creating new insights, making the game more exciting for fans and protecting players from unnecessary risk. Powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), contestants use traditional football data and Next Gen Stats to analyze and rethink trends and player performance.

Sony has welcomed KinaTrax, a leader in research-grade markerless motion capture technology for sports that collects in-game biomechanical performance data on athletes, into Sony's sports businesses through a recent acquisition. Joining forces with Hawk-Eye, a Sony group company that forms an integral part of Sony's sports businesses, KinaTrax will bring its biomechanical and analytical expertise, as well as its markerless motion capture technology to Sony's portfolio. It is expected to further create synergy to maximize the use of sports data for athletes, teams, leagues and fans alike.

Refbook has signed as a technology partner for Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ), providing a specialist platform for officials across the federation’s high performance pathway and competition network. The online solution will provide the flexibility and functionality needed across all of New Zealand’s representative basketball, including the national mens/womens leagues and all junior championships. The partnership is a key part of the national body’s strategy for improving the development and tracking of technical officials nationwide.

Safe Transport Victoria has partnered with DECKEE to enhance the way Victorian recreational boaters can receive boating safety information. DECKEE is used by boaters all over Australia and tailors waterway rules and information on safety equipment to suit the user’s location. DECKEE is a free boating app packed with the maps, tools, alerts, and safety information needed for a safe and enjoyable day on the water.

East Asia Super League (EASL), East Asia’s premier basketball league and entertainment experience has announced that global leader in fan tech Tradable Bits will be the league’s official fan engagement partner. As part of the long-term and exclusive agreement, Tradable Bits will expand the league’s growing base of new fans while deepening engagement with existing fans.

The Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) has announced a new partnership with leading online management platform revolutioniseSPORT (revSPORT) to expand fundraising opportunities and streamline operations for grassroots organisations. The partnership allows clubs using revSPORT to seamlessly accept tax-deductible donations from members during the registration process, through to the release of the membership donation add-on. From December, ASF’s fundraising platform will integrate directly with revolutioniseSPORT’s whole-of-sport system where its members manage operational data such as schedules, payments and registrations through one user-friendly interface.

Rosterfy's co founders, Bennett Merriman, Christopher Grant and Shannan Gove taking out both the Melbourne Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Technology) and Geelong Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Rosterfy is a workforce management platform mainly targeting major sports events and community groups, and particularly focussed on volunteer workforces. 

Unrivaled, the new pro women’s basketball league, signed an exclusive multiyear media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports. The new three-on-three league, which was founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, will begin its inaugural season in January. Games will air on cable networks TNT and truTV, as well as streaming platform Max. TNT Sports will also invest an undisclosed amount in the league as part of the media rights deal.

The Australian Sports Commission has welcomed the release of the Australian Government's National Sport Strategy, Sport Horizon. 
Bringing together the work of the sport sector, Sport Horizon provides a framework to focus our efforts and resources to drive improvement and better outcomes for sport over the next decade. The priorities will align with Australia’s National Sport Participation Strategy – Play Well, and Australia’s 2032+ High Performance Sport Strategy – Win Well. Sport Horizon sets a shared vision for the 'green and gold decade' highlighting six priority areas: Inclusion, Participation, Safety, High Performance, International Engagement, and Economy and Environment.

With an illustrious history, Vanderbilt’s baseball program has consistently been a force to reckon with in the NCAA. Known for their competitive edge, the Commodores are always seeking innovative ways to maintain their momentum. Recently Vanderbilt has integrated Catapult’s state-of-the-art athlete monitoring technology. This integration with Catapult aligns with three key themes: the use of technology in sync with S&C principles, harnessing data and analytics in baseball, and the introduction of Pitch Metrics to objectify the performance of athletes in baseball’s most influential position.

Two Circles, the data-driven sports and entertainment business, has announced an agreement to acquire KORE, a market-leading intelligence platform for fans and partnerships. The acquisition will enhance the company’s proprietary technologies and support its unique data-driven approach to growing the value of sports and entertainment for fans and rightsholders. Two Circles will serve more than 700 organizations active in sports and entertainment with the agreed acquisition.

Golf Australia has announced that they are partnering with CoachMate to help deliver the ‘MyGolf’, ‘Get Into Golf’ and ‘MyGolf Schools’ programs digitally to ensure that new golfers have the best experience possible. CoachMate is an app designed to save time and help deliver great coaching sessions on or off the course. This is done through easy-to-follow game based video content, group management and micro learning tips and tricks. Golf in Australia has enjoyed huge growth in participation numbers over the last few years highlighted by the 2022/2023 Golf Participation Report showing 3.5 million Australians played golf, representing 17.6% of adult Australians. In the same period, ‘MyGolf’ participation rose 22% year-on-year and ‘Get Into Golf’ increased 39% year-on-year.

Greenroom Digital has launched one of their most popular and successful fan engagement campaigns, the "Build your Dream Bag" with TaylorMade Golf Company. The campaign allows golfers to build their own dream TaylorMade Golf bag and win it. Greenroom's custom-built platform allows golfers to select products from their dream driver all the way down to their golf ball, generating a dynamic image for them to share across social to build awareness of the TaylorMade range. The campaign will not only grow their existing golfing database, but also deliver unique consumer insights into product preferences.

LeagueApps, a leading youth sports management platform, has announced that it has received a significant equity investment from Accel-KKR, a technology-focused investment firm. The investment by Accel-KKR will advance LeagueApps’ role in providing youth and local sports organizers with the tools, partnerships, and community they need to succeed on and off the field – helping them manage and grow their clubs, tournaments, leagues, camps, and facilities. Founded in 2010, LeagueApps currently powers thousands of youth and local sports organizations across eight different team sports, as well as programs by many professional leagues and professional teams.

Own Your Health Collective have launched their innovative MenoVest on mainstream television in Australia this week. Launched on Nine's Today Show in partnership with Over The Bloody Moon the MenoVest simulates symptoms of menopause. The product complements Own Your Health Collective's menopause workplace training that offers men in particular a glimpse into the often-unseen realities of menopause.

ASX-listed venture capital fund Bailador Technology Investments has increased its stake in people management software platform Rosterfy, investing an additional $AUD 3 million. In the 18 months since Bailador backed Rosterfy with $AUD 9.8 million in April last year, the platform has doubled its users to 3 million, including the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and US Superbowl, with the countries it operates in growing by 75% to 35.

Launched in 2020, MyVenue provides a cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) solution to venue food and beverage operators in the sport, entertainment, and hospitality industries. The business services more than 140 venues across North America, the UK, and Asia Pacific. MyVenue uses Google Cloud and BigQuery to process and analyze data from thousands of POS terminals across North America, the UK, and Asia Pacific and additionally improved its scalability and flexibility. MyVenue processes up to 5,000 records per hour during peaks and supports 20,000 dashboard requests over a 12 hour period.

Streaming platform Free Live Sports has launched with a selection of 100+ live FAST (free, ad-supported TV) sports channels as well as rights to thousands of sports movies, docs, series and highlights. Free Live Sports launches with 68 channels, and another 34 are set to join the platform by the end of October. Some of the channels offered include Big 12 Network, Glory Kickboxing, PFL, Boxing TV, Motorsport.tv, PokerGo, Tennis Channel, Surfer, NitroCircus TV, Billiard TV and ChessTV.

Yahoo Sports and The Athletic have announced a partnership to create a new home for comprehensive women’s sports coverage. A women’s sports hub on the Yahoo Sports website and app will guide fans to written, audio, and video content produced by Yahoo Sports and The Athletic. Views of women’s sports articles on Yahoo Sports are up 253% over the last 12 months. In addition, seven of the top 10 most-viewed articles on Yahoo Sports in August were about female athletes.

Football Association of Wales have launched BE. Football Community. BE.FC is a combination of turn up and play sessions tailored to girls needs, and an App providing unique and bespoke content for teenage girls to access; to connect with their favourite football stars, learn new skills, gain badges and XP points and compete against their teammates. The App is also designed to house content to support girls through difficult life stages such as confidence, exam stresses and managing their menstrual cycle. Through a partnership with DMC Sport and Clubspark girls and parents can book onto sessions at https://play.faw.cymru. 

Outdoor swimming competition meets without timekeepers or touchpads can now be delivered with Olly Timing. Swimming Australia 2024 Club of the Year, Lane Cove Swim Club, based on Sydney’s north shore ran their entire Spring Carnival using Olly Timing on Saturday 13th October. Despite 30-40km hour winds and highly variable light conditions, Olly Timing’s world first computer vision powered swimming competition timing successfully recorded 991 times in over 5 hours of racing.

Pixellot, a global leader of AI-driven sports video technology has announced the launch of its next-generation portable sports camera - the Pixellot Air NXT. The FIBA-approved Air NXT comes with an array of enhanced features for a wide range of sports including Soccer, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Football, Lacrosse, and Field Hockey. The Pixellot Air NXT boasts a number of upgrades including new digital stereo microphones, smoother video powered by NVidia technology, and up to four times more storage. It also seamlessly integrates with Pixellot’s coaching, analytics, and OTT platform – a single eco-system for easy video and data management.

Queensland-based fitness engagement platform Coach Welly has announced a partnership with Fitness and Lifestyle Group's Goodlife Health Clubs and Fitness First Australia to bring innovative health and wellbeing offerings to employees across Government, Medical and Enterprise Business in Australia. The partnership strengthen Coach Welly's commitment to helping people measurably improve their health and wellbeing.

Drake Star, a sportstech investment advisory specialist, has released its H1 2024 Sportstech Report. With over $US 27 billion in disclosed value through 225 M&A deals, H1 2024 represented the strongest ever first half of a year (# of deals) with more than triple the disclosed deal value of H2 2023. Top investors focused on early-to-late-stage financings include Ryan Sports Ventures, Will Ventures, and Phoenix Capital Partners, while seed stage investment activity was led by Eberg Capital, Antler, and Elevate Ventures. The large pool of capital raised in 2023 in still largely undeployed and with growing investor interest in the sports tech ecosystem, Drake Star expect this pool to be put to good use in the coming year.

MyVenue is the first sports & entertainment point-of-sale solution certified by FreedomPay on Castles Technology's Portable Android Series POS devices. The all-in-one handheld POS device with MyVenue’s cloud-based solution is now live at multiple North American major league and college venues. The compact devices are the first fully integrated handheld POS with EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Vis) reader, printer, 4G, and Wi-Fi connectivity certified on FreedomPay’s P2PE-compliant (point-to-point encryption) payment gateway. FreedomPay is one of the world's leading independent payment gateways.

Toca Football, Inc., a soccer experience company, has raised approximately $USD 100 million in Series F funding. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its global growth by investing in new technologies, upgrading its TOCA Soccer training centers, and opening additional soccer-themed TOCA Social entertainment venues. TOCA Soccer operates 39 tech-enabled soccer training centers in North America. TOCA Social is a new soccer-themed entertainment and dining venue, operating in London and Birmingham.

In mid-September 2024, Newcastle based live-streaming company BarTV Sports marked a significant milestone, having given back over $AUD 1 million to local grassroots sporting competitions through their innovative subscription model. More than 20 competitions have signed on with BarTV Sports’ subscription service since its inception, making the company one of the most prolific live streaming organisations in Australia. Popular with sports like rugby league and with an emphasis on promoting women and juniors, the company has grown year on year, producing more than 8000 matches so far in 2024.

The best and brightest in world sport will again travel to Victoria in 2025 for SportNXT Melbourne – Victoria’s sport business summit. Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos today announced the three-day event will return to Melbourne next March bringing a host of high-profile speakers from around the world to discuss the latest in the business of sport. The SportNXT summit brings attendees from a wide range of organisations including previously, the NFL, the Walt Disney Company, NBA and Australian Sports Commission. The 2024 summit welcomed almost 1,000 attendees and included an issues rich program including the latest in sports technology.

Springbok Analytics, a life sciences muscle analytics company, announced that it has received FDA 510(k) Clearance for MuscleView™, its AI-based muscle health analysis of MR images. Springbok's technology comprehensively measures musculoskeletal structures from a wide range of MR systems, strengths, and sequences, producing personalized 3D visualizations and analyses of muscle health including individual muscle volume, left-right muscle asymmetry, bone volume and intramuscular fat percentage. Springbok is providing a new way for life sciences, elite sports and human performance organizations to deliver precision medicine to the individual at scale.

Seven West Media’s community sport streaming platform Streamer saw more than 4.3 million minutes of local sport watched on the platform in September. The September tally was up 110% year-on-year, continuing the growth of the grassroots platform since its launch in early 2022. Australian Rules football, netball, hockey, skateboarding, school athletics and curling were some of the sports featuring in 188 matches broadcast in the final month of the winter sporting season.

Rosterfy, the world’s leading volunteer management software provider  has unveiled the launch of its revolutionary Volunteer App Years in the making, the Rosterfy Volunteer App marks a significant milestone in the company’s mission to innovate by making volunteering more accessible, encouraging more people to connect to causes they are passionate about. Available to Rosterfy customers and their volunteers and designed with the volunteer experience at the forefront, the Rosterfy Volunteer App will change the way volunteers find, apply and engage with their opportunities.  

SportsTechX, a leading global research firm specializing in the sports technology sector, has announced its new role as the "Official Research Partner" at the International Sports Technology Association (ISTA). Through this collaboration, SportsTechX will provide ISTA and its partners with comprehensive custom research services, offer data driven reports, and thoughtful market analysis covering emerging buyer trends, investments, and market dynamics within the expanding sports technology sector. 

Liveheats has signed a landmark deal with the largest youth action sports organization in the world - USASA United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association. USASA will be using Liveheats as its operating platform for membership, event registration, draws & startlists, live scoring, national rankings and more. Over 5,000 athletes compete in over 500 events through USASA.

Zwift has unveiled its most significant racing update yet, the Zwift Racing Score, designed to make its virtual cycling platform more competitive, fairer, and accessible than ever before. The Zwift Racing Score introduces a new ranking system that reflects each rider's current fitness and racing skill. This ensures participants are matched with others of similar abilities, making races more competitive and allowing riders to steadily climb the ranks. The Zwift Racing Score is a value ranging from 0 to 1,000, with higher numbers reflecting superior fitness and racing ability. It factors in both a rider's power data – based on their best 30-second and 10-minute efforts from the past 90 days – and their finishing positions in races.