Sportstech & Member News

LEAD Sports and Health Tech Partners (LEAD), a globally recognized venture corporation in the sports and health tech sectors, has announced the launch of LEAD ONE, a new direct investment vehicle focused on pre-seed companies. This initiative marks a strategic evolution from LEAD’s previous accelerator model, tailored to meet the dynamic needs of the global early-stage venture market. With an annual allocation of $US 1 million, LEAD ONE aims to invest in 10 companies each year.

Australian compression wear brand 2XU teamed up with LA-based District Vision to launch a limited-edition collection inspired by the world’s toughest foot race, the Badwater 135 ultramarathon.The Badwater 135 is widely recognized as the world’s most challenging foot race. 2XU and District Vision set out to create gear capable of withstanding these extreme conditions to support ultrarunner and 2XU athlete Harvey Lewis to cross the finish line for a 13th time. The collection features nine new pieces from 2XU, including tops, bottoms, and accessories, paired with District Vision’s ultra-lightweight sunglasses.

As our Olympians and Paralympians take on the world in Paris, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) will be home to a team of analysts working around the clock to give our athletes an extra edge against their competitors. The AIS Paris Performance Analysis Hub will see collaboration across sports, disciplines and organisations in the high performance system to ensure our athletes perform at their best and to fast-track development of world-class practitioners. There will be 20 performance analysts, nine data analysts/engineers and five Paralympics Australia staff working in the Hub across the Games with practitioners coming from national sporting organisations, the AIS and the national institute network.

Skip, a wearable tech startup that began as a secretive project inside Alphabet, exited stealth this week to announce a partnership with outdoor clothing specialist Arc’teryx. The deal is the first to bring Skip’s technology to market: “powered pants” that utilize a soft exoskeleton. The tech, called MO/GO, short for “mountain goat,” is a hybrid soft/rigid system designed to assist wearer mobility and boost the wearer while walking. Rather than actually walking for a person, it provides a 40% energy assistance to the quadricep and hamstring, while offloading work from the knees.

A highly regarded scientist and tech innovator from The University of Western Australia has won a prestigious international award for her achievements in bridging the gap between biomechanics research and practice in sport. Professor Jacqueline Alderson, Director of Technology at the UWA Tech & Policy Lab, has been honoured with the Geoffrey Dyson Award, the highest honour of the International Society of Biomechanics in Sport (ISBS). Professor Alderson has been a pioneer in applied machine learning for health and sport applications and in envisioning blue-sky research and development programs, such as for digital human twins.

AC Milan has joined with the Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR) in a partnership that will see the Italian club utilise a data-first approach to evolve its consumer understanding. It is hoped that the collaboration will allow the AC Milan to better know and engage with fans to ultimately unlock new revenue streams. KAGR, a world-renowned leader in data and advanced analytics.

Catapult Sports has launched the new Catapult Athlete mobile app for athletes that includes the ability for the data collected during a training session to upload directly to OpenField Cloud. This is especially useful when training or playing away from team facilities and staff as it allows a more comprehensive data set for longitudinal reports on athletes regardless of where they are in the world. Athletes will see summary data for both activities they have uploaded via the app and activities that were completed with a team.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR, in collaboration with Globalsat, is set to redefine the EuroLeague experience with the installation of the ASB GlassFloor, the Full-LED video sports surface officially endorsed by the EuroLeague. This groundbreaking flooring will make Panathinaikos the first team to regularly host EuroLeague games on this cutting-edge court, marking a significant milestone in basketball history.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced the renewal of its partnership with The Walt Disney Company and new agreements with NBCUniversal (NBCU) and Amazon under which ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video will telecast NBA games beginning with the 2025-26 season and running through the 2035-36 season. The NBA App will be a universal access point – seamlessly directing fans to every national game on Disney, NBCU and Amazon platforms.

The Women’s Super League (WSL) has moved from OTT platform, The FA Player to YouTube for streaming live, free-to-access matches. The UK broadcast rights for the bulk of WSL matches are currently owned by Sky Sports and the BBC, with Sky showing 44 live games and the BBC airing an additional 22 games each season. All other games (66 matches in total) were previously streamed live on The FA Player. These games will now be shown on WSL’s YouTube channel instead of The FA Player. 

In another groundbreaking innovation by ECAL, set to revolutionise digital calendar communications, ECAL has unveiled it’s ‘Native Language Translations AI’ service. In collaboration with Microsoft, and as part of its Calendar AI toolbox, ECAL’s ‘Native Language Translations AI’ feature delivers smart, personalised events content in the user’s preferred native language, directly into their calendar. The service covers 248 countries, 49 languages, intelligently translated, with key nouns such as sporting team names, venue names, and brand names preserved. 

Q Bio Inc., a pioneer in medical imaging technology secures $27M in strategic funding to propel its innovative Mark I full-body scanner towards market launch. Founded in 2015 by Jeff Kaditz, Dr. Michael Snyder, and Dr. Garry Choy, Q Bio is dedicated to revolutionizing medical imaging with innovative technologies like the Mark I scanner. Mark I eliminates the need for multiple scans by capturing extensive quantitative anatomical data in a single session. This data fuels the creation of “digital twins” and large biological models, offering unparalleled insights into human health.

Reddit has announced a new partnership program to enhance the fan experience. This program taps major sports leagues and aims to bring more  content to Reddit’s communities while also creating opportunities for advertisers to align with this content via video ads, AMAs (ask me anything), and other formats. Reddit’s first program partners include NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA TOUR, and NASCAR. Sports are one of Reddit’s most popular and fastest-growing (at +26% YOY) interest groups, bringing together highly engaged fans across over 1000 communities.

With applications ranging from athlete safeguarding to enhanced broadcast experiences and efficient energy management, artificial intelligence (AI) and technology innovations are set to transform some aspects of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, paving the way for future editions

Paralympics Australia has announced Deloitte as its official partner for its digital transformation program. Deloitte’s support focuses largely on the implementation of SportsCore, a sports CRM solution developed by Deloitte to provide best practice capability across stakeholder, supporter and fan management, and integration and process automation.

The NBA and WNBA reached an agreement with Disney, NBC and Amazon on a new round of TV deals worth $US 76 billion over 11 years, and the WNBA will earn $US 2.2 billion over the life of the deal—or $US 200 million a year, according to someone familiar with the agreement—which represents a 6x gain compared to its prior ESPN deal. The WNBA commanded only 1% of the prior TV deal but nearly 3% of the current one. The two leagues negotiated their TV rights together, but they have different term sheets. 

Bandit has released The Program, a free iOS app offering a comprehensive, AI-assisted marathon training experience. The Program generates a personalized 16-week training plan based on your selected race, goal finish time, and preferred weekly mileage (or the amount of time you have available to train each week).In addition to this, The Program offers an AI-Assistant Coach, which provides instant answers to training questions, expert guidance on running, strength, nutrition, sports psychology, and recovery and discounts on ASICS and Hyperice products.

INTIX has been selected as the exclusive ticketing provider for all Football Victoria run events, and the preferred ticketing provider for events occurring at the Home Of The Matildas venue. The partnership aims to unlock greater value from audience, reduce costs, streamline operations and increase communication fans & sponsors.

SportWest and ActiveXchange have extended their partnership to see the award-winning ActiveXchange for Sport platform remain in use across a number of State Sport Associations in Western Australia until at least 30 June 2027. As SportWest’s data partner for community sport participation and engagement, ActiveXchange delivers deep insights to help shape industry planning and prioritisation throughout metropolitan, regional and remote Western Australia.

ATP, Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) and Sportradar have teamed up to launch Safe Sport, a new service to address online abuse targeting professional tennis players. The collaboration breaks new ground by integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) moderation, education and investigation into a single service to protect athletes. The new service will be made available to the Top 250 ATP singles players and the Top 50-ranked doubles players, on a free and opt-in basis, starting this month. It combines AI technologies from Sportradar and its partner, Arwen AI, to scan players’ social media channels for toxic and abusive comments, spam and bots across 29 languages. 

In a move designed to revolutionize club fundraising, USA Fencing has partnered with iSponsor, a dynamic platform that turns everyday shopping into significant fundraising opportunities. This collaboration is designed to enhance the financial sustainability of fencing clubs by allowing them to focus more on developing the sport and less on funding concerns.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) today announced IMG ARENA, OpenBet’s sports data and streaming products arm, as its exclusive official Cricket South Africa Data Supplier and Betting Live Streaming Partner. IMG ARENA, in partnership with CricViz, will collect detailed data, both live and in-venue, for CSA’s domestic and international matches spanning a wide array of competitions, from bilateral series to domestic leagues.

Eventbrite has become the latest ticket business to partner with TikTok, allowing event creators promote their events and sell tickets. Eventbrite creators and TikTok users can add Eventbrite links directly to their TikTok videos thanks to a new integration. These links will help users discover event details and purchase tickets without leaving the app. It also allows event creators to promote multiple events simultaneously. 

Fanatics has announced the launch of Fanatics Collect, a new collectibles marketplace that will connect buyers and sellers of trading cards and memorabilia through fixed-price listings and auctions. Fanatics Collect launches with a comprehensive range of services for collectors. The Buy Now marketplace has been designed to make it quicker and easier for collectors to buy and sell cards at fixed prices. In addition to the Buy Now marketplace, collectors will be able to buy and sell through weekly and monthly auctions.

Freeletics, the leading provider of AI-based fitness and lifestyle coaching announces the launch of Coach+ Pilot, a pioneering, generative AI model to simulate an authentic, true-to-life personal training experience. The integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI will emulate a lifelike personal training experience with personalised dialogues for guidance, feedback, and motivation. The company has become the world’s leading provider of AI-based fitness and lifestyle coaching, with 57+ million users in over 175 countries.

Leading smart ring company Oura has released an AI health advisor through Oura Labs, the brand's in-app platform that allows Oura members to test experimental features. The advisor gives personalized insights, recommendations, and encouragement to get members on track to achieve their health goals. This includes customizable coaching intensity and focus areas, and a forum to chat with your coach, ask questions, share progress, and get recommendations based on your daily health data.

Audiences will be immersed in the Olympic Games like never before this summer as a new collaboration between Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) and YouTube is set to bring Paris 2024 to a diverse set of fans, further expanding the reach of Eurosport’s live coverage. The new content partnership will base a group of YouTube creators in the heart of the city to produce fresh and exciting new content, expanding the reach of the Olympics and its fandoms across Europe. 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that it has partnered with the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Saudi Arabia to host the inaugural Olympic Esports Games 2025 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This groundbreaking step follows the IOC’s recent announcement that the IOC Executive Board (EB) has established Olympic Esports Games. 

STWS have formed a partnership with Matchfy for Australia Sports Innovation Week (ASIW) 2024 to become the official accommodation partner for international and interstate delegates who will be travelling to Melbourne for the Southern Hemisphere’s largest and most respected sports innovation and technology experience. 

DECATHLON has launched DECATHLON PULSE, an investment arm and start up studio, designed to pioneer new growth engines and accelerate our purpose of 'moving people through the wonders of sport'. DECATHLON PULSE will build, invest in and acquire forward-thinking companies that are transforming the world of sport. Looking outward to identify additional markets and new business models. From product and sport to wellness and the circular economy. 

Samsung Electronics has announced the launch of the new Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Watch7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra. These new additions to the wearables portfolio are central to Samsung’s vision for Galaxy AI to enhance digital health, delivering personalized insights and tailored health experiences. Galaxy Ring delivers a straight-forward approach to wellness, offering health monitoring, tracking and personalized insights while worn comfortably on a finger, even while asleep.

WHOOP, the human performance company, announced a new body composition and weight trends feature that has been designed for seamless integration with WITHINGS, which is also a world leader in connected health and inventor of the first smart scale. The new feature gives members the opportunity to measure and manage advanced body composition and weight metrics, addressing the requests from nearly a quarter of WHOOP members who have cited weight management as a top motivator for their health journey.

According to reports, the NBA has agreed to terms on its new media deals, a record 11-years worth $76 billion.  A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that the networks have the terms sheets, with the next step being for the league's board of governors to approve the contracts. The deals, which set NBA records for both length and total value, go into effect for the 2025-26 season. Games will continue being aired on ESPN and ABC, and now some will be going to NBC and Amazon Prime.

Sportradar and European Football governing body UEFA have announced a multi-year extension of their existing exclusive betting data rights agreement, expanded to include the non-exclusive right to distribute data to non-betting media. In total, Sportradar can now offer more than 900 high-profile matches each season. UEFA and Sportradar will also extend their long-standing integrity partnership of 15 years.

Leading international sports agency TGI Sport has announced an agreement to acquire Supponor. Supponor’s AIR technology and experienced AI tech developers further bolsters TGI Sport’s Virtual Tech offering, whilst Supponor’s commercial and R&D teams add to the business’ leadership in tech development. Since 2020, the NBA, MLB, Formula 1, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, MLS, dozens of regional sports networks, and several others have begun using virtual ads in live broadcasts. TGI Sport is backed by Bruin Capital and Quadrant Private Equity.

Ticketek Australia has announced the introduction of Apple Pay on the Ticketek.com.au platform. In confirming the development, Ticketek Australia becomes the first major ticketing company in the country to offer Apple Pay’s one-tap payment option to customers.

Flowstate and competition management platform Liveheats have launched a strategic partnership with the goal of bringing automated video capture to the world of live events, introducing new data points to the Flowstate AI technology and enhancing the competitor experience throughout the action sports industry. Under the partnership, event organizers would be able to utilise the Flowstate platform for AI-driven video capture, as well as automation in tagging and sorting of video clips according to the relevant round, heat, athlete, or score - driven by Liveheats’ event data. 

Gridiron Australia (GA), the governing body for Gridiron (American Football) and now Flag Football in Australia, recently transitioned to the Assemble Sports platform, positioning the sport for an exciting phase of growth. For the first time, the sport has united the Gridiron community under a national, cohesive platform that caters to both tackle and flag football formats.

LIGR Live has announced the continuation of its partnership with the Australia Football League (AFL). LIGR Live is the official graphics provider of the Coates Talent League Boys / Girls, Smithy's VFL and rebel VFLW competitions, transforming streaming and fan experience across 600 games in 2024 with cutting-edge broadcast technology. 

Pixellot announces its automated video solutions have received Software Approval from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Equipment & Venue Centre. The approved products include Pixellot Prime, Pixellot Show S3, and Pixellot Air NXT, catering to fixed and mobile installations. Notably, these three Pixellot’s products are the first to receive Software approval for automated video solutions, marking a significant milestone for Pixellot’s basketball technology.

FIFA has enlisted UBS to raise up to $2 billion for the expansion of its streaming platform FIFA+, Bloomberg reports. The world governing body is working with Switzerland’s UBS Group AG to raise $1 to $2 billion for the streaming platform that FIFA launched to offer a wide range of matches from around the world, and which to date has predominantly broadcast games from smaller markets and smaller member associations. Bloomberg writes that FIFA and UBS will target financial investors for a minority stake in the platform in the US and the Middle East.

GEOSNAPSHOT has been chosen as the media platform for the Perfect Game 2024 National Showcase. Perfect Game is a titan in the sports world, with an impressive annual portfolio of over 10,000 events, 150,000 games and 1.4 million players. GEOSNAPSHOT's cutting-edge technology and media solutions will empower Perfect Game to enhance their event coverage, offering high-quality, easily accessible photos and videos to players, families, and fans, highlighting our commitment to supporting elite sporting events with innovative digital media services.

Soaring sports franchise values, plus the booming ecosystem of technology, betting, and media companies that has followed, has sparked private equity (and other professional managers of large pools of money) to invest in a sports industry increasingly on Wall Street’s radar. The impact of technology, a key factor for Private Equity (PE) firm investment, cannot be overstated. As sports modernized through tech and began to resemble the tech companies that PE was traditionally interested in, tech elevated their potential as a coveted asset class.

New concept designs have been released for a proposed AFL venue in Hobart, which is set to become the world’s largest timber-roofed stadium. The 23,000-seat Mac Point Multipurpose Stadium is being designed by Cox Architecture. The design has been informed by modelling cricket ball trajectory data to ensure the stadium is capable of hosting top-level cricket as well as AFL games.

Notre Dame has joined the Comcast NBCUniversal Sportstech Program as its first college partner. Notre Dame will help select the 10 companies that will participate in the Program, provide guidance to them during the six-month program and have an opportunity to see first-hand any technologies that the University could incorporate into its athletics department. The firms each receive $50,000 from Comcast and Boomtown, a company that operates the accelerator. Notre Dame joins NBC Sports; Sky Sports; Comcast Spectacor; NASCAR; Premier League; PGA Tour; U.S. Ski & Snowboard, USA Swimming; and USA Cycling as partners.

Special Olympics Australia and Playbk Sports have announced the upcoming release of a new eLearning course, “Delivering Physical Education (PE) for Students with Intellectual Disability and Autism”. This online innovative course is available now on the Inclusive Sport Academy, Special Olympics Australia’s Learning Management System. Targeted at PE and classroom teachers in both mainstream and special schools, this course aims to enhance the sport and physical education experiences for students with disabilities and autism.

XV is excited to announce a partnership with BrainEye where we will work to accelerate the uptake of BrainEye’s eye-tracking technology (measuring, tracking and managing brain health) in community and professional sport as well as in the education sector. The application of the technology will aid in maintenance and management of athletes health and wellbeing, as well as the administration of safe sport.

Brisbane Bullets have become Teamworks first NBL Elite Partner in the APAC region. With Hub, AMS and Influencer included in this package, the entire club will benefit from the Teamworks 'elite' partnership package. This will help streamline operations and administrative tasks, facilitate seamless monitoring and tracking of performance data to facilitate the personalisation of performance programmes, and, their marketing and wider commercial team will leverage Influencer to drive brand growth while maximising the new high performance centre and its capabilities for the club and fanbase. 

Chiliz, the sports and entertainment blockchain leader, is excited to announce a new integration with PUML Better Health, the gamified health, wellness, and sports platform. This collaboration aims to bring Move to Earn and Fan Health to the Chiliz community. PUML enables users to connect their wearable devices and claim their steps each day, rewarding members with PUML, its in-app game coin. This game coin can be redeemed monthly into the native token $PUMLx which can be exchanged for CHZ and Fan Tokens.

Veritone has announced a content licensing agreement with Tennis Australia, the governing body of tennis in Australia and host of the Australian Open. The agreement enables Veritone to license archive match footage from the Australian Open to content buyers in North America. Veritone’s customer base is in advertising, documentary, editorial, arts and entertainment who will now be able to curate, source and license tennis media through the Veritone platform.