Sportstech & Member News

Snapchat and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) have announced a two-year multi-region partnership that will see exclusive content shared on the social media platform. This includes a dedicated Olympics show featuring official highlights and behind-the-scenes content every day of the Games. There will also be a weekly Snapchat sports show called Beyond the Olympics, which will be localised for the France and UK, that showcases the best sporting content from WBD, including the biggest tennis, football and combat sports competitions.

MakerX, a leading digital product development firm, and Amerinda Advisory, a boutique strategy consulting firm, have announced a strategic partnership designed to drive the creation of innovative digital businesses and products. The alliance will combine Amerinda's deep advisory expertise with MakerX’s venture building, product design and software engineering expertise. This will empower corporates and startups to innovate and succeed, whether they are aiming for growth or navigating turnaround situations. 

F45 Training has become the first health and fitness operator to make its functional/HIIT group workouts available on Strava, the digital community with 125 million members. The integration between F45 Training’s LionHeart app and the Strava app allows members to automatically upload class type, average heart beats per minute, calories and location and can track their progress against others and themselves.

GameDay has solidified its partnership with etrainu, a premier provider of online education and compliance training. This strengthened alliance is set to bring about numerous benefits for both organisations and their clients. Technology users and sport administrators are increasingly turning to online learning to facilitate the implementation of large-scale software solutions. Recognising this trend, GameDay has formed a strategic partnership with etrainu to provide accessible in-house online learning resources. This collaboration ensures that any type of GameDay or Passport user can easily access educational content, significantly reducing the learning curve associated with new software.

For the 2024 season, Queensland Rugby League (QRL) – the governing body for rugby league in Queensland with nearly 500 clubs and over 20 leagues – will partner with Tidy Connect, the leading peak sports body solution by the Australian-based TidyHQ, to optimise its sports administration. 

Euroleague Basketball (EB) is joining forces with WSC Sports, the pioneer in AI-powered sports content technology, to provide digital creators with access to fully-licensed footage of its elite competitions. The continent’s two premier men’s basketball competitions, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the BKT EuroCup, will make available fully licensed footage through the WSC Sports For Creators Program, collaborating directly with creators to increase the online brand presence and engagement, while helping to reach new audiences outside of the existing fan base.

Sports technology company Feldspar is working on creating the 'world’s first sensor-enabled running track’. Feldspar, a UK-based sports technology company, say their work is well underway to create a smart running surface which will help athletes train by feeding them AI-driven real-time data in addition to giving fans the kind of insights and analytics that have never been available before.

The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has today announced the extension of its support from the Western Australia Government to develop and promote the WA sportstech and innovation industry in Western Australia. The arrangement includes a follow-on grant for a second year under the X-TEND WA Program, following a successful first year, during which ASTN delivered many tailored programs and activities to help grow the State’s sportstech ecosystem.

RCKT Co, a leader in sports marketing, content production, talent management, and social media, and Greenroom Digital, a specialist sports digital marketing agency, have announced a new strategic partnership focused on the Australian market. The partnership will leverage RCKT Co’s deep industry expertise in sports marketing, creative and production alongside Greenroom Digital’s cutting-edge digital, tech and data activation capabilities.

Linius Technologies has announce that the deployment of its sports solution, Whizzard, is now live with its customer Lone Star Conference (LSC). LSC, Linius’ second customer in the US college sports market, signed a 3-year agreement in April 2024 covering football and basketball. LSC will use Whizzard to curate highlights and for automated highlights of all games. 

Australian compression apparel company Cape Bionics will receive non-dilutive funding through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) as part of ANDHealth+, Australia's leading health accelerator. A total of $AUD 3.75M from the Australian Government’s MRFF will be invested into six high-growth potential digital health companies over the next 16 months, via a two-stage investment process, which include Cape Bionics. ANDHealth+ is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care MRFF Early Stage Translation & Commercialisation Support Program.

Fremantle and Melbourne are among the first AFL clubs to have joined forces with analytics company Traits Insights as clubs look to power ahead by gaining an advantage with how they use data and new technologies. Traits is a player profiling platform used towards talent identification by recruiting and list management teams, as well as by coaching staffs to develop players already at clubs.

Dribl from Australia and Koach Hub from Singapore are combining their strengths to bring the best in football administration, league management, player data, and fan engagement. The partnership officially kicked off at the Laos Football Federation's Youth League which is under the FIFA talent development scheme.

Leaders of CrossFit, Sweetgreen, Thrive Market, Athletic Greens, Momentous, Pendulum, Plunge and dozens of other health and wellness companies are joining together to an advocacy group to share stories of how Americans are using healthy food, exercise and other root cause actions to reverse chronic conditions. The key message of End Chronic Disease is simple: Americans are entitled to choice in where their healthcare dollars go – and that choice should include medically incentivized food and exercise interventions.

The ATP has announced the approval of in-competition wearable devices for players across the ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour, starting from 15 July. The initiative ushers in a new era of innovative data-led performance analytics and injury prevention in tennis. Wearable devices will generate cutting-edge insights for players from physical metrics such as heart rate and high-intensity load data, enhancing their analysis of matches and training sessions. ATP has approved both STATSports and Catapult devices and will centralise all data into ATP Tennis IQ – Wearables, an intuitive new dashboard for players.

Longevity-centered health platform, Function Health, has secured $53 million in a Series A funding round that attracted a slew of celebrities and wellness experts. The health platform, co-founded by Dr. Mark Hyman, offers 100-plus lab tests across all areas including heart, thyroid, hormones, brain, cancers and fertility (five times more than the average physical, according to Function) and provides detailed and actionable insights from doctors for $US499 per year, or $US42 per month. Results are stored so members can spot health trends over time and easily share the results with doctors. 

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has thanked the Australian Government for their record $283 million investment in sport over the next two years which lays the foundation for sustainable success in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond. The $283 million investment will support athletes, coaches, and support staff over the first two years of the four-year cycle to the LA 2028 Games and includes the biggest ever Paralympic spend to address systemic and structural barriers to performance for para athletes. Together, total investment in high performance sport will be $489 million over the next two years.

Garmin Health, a leading provider of digital health solutions that leverage the data and insights of the Garmin (NYSE: GRMN) product ecosystem, today announced the 7 finalists for the 2024 Garmin Health Awards. The annual event celebrates the world’s most innovative solutions that successfully combine the power of Garmin wearable technology within health and wellness programs to create long-term benefits. This year’s finalists will present their solution in person at the 2024 Garmin Health Summit, which is set for September 24-25 in Prague. The finalists include two Australian companies - G2go in the Human Performance category and Metluma in the Women's Health category.

Next Level Racing and The Boeing Company have launched the Next Level Racing Flight Seat Pro Boeing Military Edition. The new Flight Seat Pro Boeing Military Edition is the newest addition to the Official Boeing Licensed range of flight products alongside the Boeing Commercial Edition and Boeing Military Edition Flight Simulator cockpits.

Pimax has announced an official Virtual Reality partnership with Next Level Racing®, with the two leading brands in racing and flight simulation immersion collaborating on live event experiences. VR headsets now allow enthusiasts to experience racing and flying as if they were truly behind the wheel of a GT3 race car, or in the cockpit of a Boeing 747. The partnership will focus on live events activations and exhibitions around the world, whilst creating exciting VR content for simulation enthusiasts. 

Nix Biosensors, the leading provider of cutting-edge hydration monitoring technology, has announced the launch of their groundbreaking app, Nix Pro. Building on the success of their individual athlete-focused app, Nix Solo, Nix Pro is designed for group hydration monitoring of sports teams, labor groups, and tactical organizations dedicated to increasing safety and improving performance among their respective groups.

Healthcare practitioners across Australia will now be able to increase their knowledge about the assessment, management, and treatment of sports related concussions, thanks to a new, free online course launched by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). The Concussion in Sport for Healthcare Practitioners online course runs for 120 minutes and is available through the Australian Sports Commission Learning Centre. The course is available to all Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registered healthcare practitioners.

Euroleague Basketball has announced the completion of the selection process for the 2024 Euroleague Basketball FanXP, a pioneering initiative in partnership with SPORTBIZ EUROPE. The Euroleague Basketball FanXP competition focuses on enhancing various aspects of the basketball experience, including Content Creation, Fan Engagement, Fantasy Sports, Gameday Experience, Digital Solutions, Venue Management, and New Businesses. Over the next five months, startups will strive to align with these criteria and showcase their expertise. A total of 16 candidates have been selected from 12 countries.

VueMotion CEO Ryan Talbot has arrived in Austin, TX! Together with his wife Steph, Ryan has relocated from Sydney to Austin to continue growing VueMotion's customer base in the great USA. Ryan has joined the Capital Factory and is excited to work out of this impressive startup co-working facility. Ryan said "I've been thrilled by the warm welcome I've received from everyone I've met at the Capital Factory. Being located in the USA is an incredible opportunity to introduce more athletes and coaches to VueMotion's human movement analysis platform. I'm very happy to be in closer timezone as many of our valued customers and partners!"

The Wollemi Capital Group Syndicate (WCGS), and the National Basketball League (NBL), have formed a consortium to acquire a majority interest in the WNBL following the completion of the 2024/25 season. Basketball Australia will maintain a minority interest in the League. Under the new ownership structure, the consortium will take control of the league, with the NBL to operate the WNBL, from April 2, 2025.

SLOCOACH has partnered with Netball NSW to develop The Resource Centre. The platform is an online hub that provides access to the latest training content, courses, and live sessions allowing a space that coaches, umpires and athletes can continue to learn and grow no matter where they live. Within the platform there are various interactive session hubs that enables participants to be able to listen and learn from Netball NSWs most experienced coaches and umpire coaches. 

TMRW Sports, which is focused on building progressive approaches in sports, media, and entertainment, has announced the closure of its Series A investment round. The round was co-led by Dynasty Equity. TMRW Sports was founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Mike McCarley. TMRW Sports’ first project is TGL presented by SoFi, a new team golf league that fuses advanced tech and live action with six teams of PGA TOUR superstars and will launch in January.

The NCAA x Meta have announced a new 'NIL Empower Program', a collaboration that will help women maximize their name, image and likeness endeavors throughout their time as college athletes. Participants will have the opportunity to form direct relationships with Meta experts, who will provide product and business best practices. The program will include education on building a community, using social media safety resources and preparing for the future. Corporate partner Invesco QQQ will assist the NCAA in building a financial literacy and career development session.

Helmet House has announced a partnership with Quad Lock as its exclusive U.S. powersports distributor, a collaboration marking a significant milestone in Quad Lock's North American expansion. Quad Lock is renowned for their market-leading smartphone mounts, cases, and accessories designed for motorcycles, cars, cycling, running, and everyday use. This deal will enhance Quad Lock’s presence in the U.S. motorcycle market and maintain its focus on providing an exceptional consumer experience. Helmet House will distribute the full range of Quad Lock solutions to powersports retailers, covering various activities including motorcycling, cycling, and UTV.

What if consumers could achieve their fitness goals with personalized, AI-powered workout planning and guidance for less than the cost of a weekly cup of coffee? That’s the idea behind Zing Coach, a fitness app backed by health tech company Palta, which just raised $US 10 million in equity and debt financing in a Series A funding round. Zing Coach will use the funding to enhance its technology and features, enter new markets and expand its team.

Centre Court Capital (CCC), a venture capital firm backed by the Sajjan Jindal Family Trust and specializing in sports tech and gaming, has led led an undisclosed Series A investment round in Quidich Innovation Labs. Quidich, a sports broadcast technology company founded by Rahat Kulshreshtha and Gaurav Mehta, has been focusing exclusively on sports, especially cricket, since 2019.

Nike athletes traveling to Paris will have recovery technology on their feet thanks to the new Nike x Hyperice boot, a collaboration between Nike and Hyperice that features heat and air compression for feet and ankles in the form of a high-top boot. To make it all work, the shoe includes Hyperice’s Normatec bladders bonded to warming elements to distribute heat throughout the shoe’s upper. Designed to push heat into muscle tissue, the boot can assist with both warmup and recovery. 

Over the past few days, the Connected Ball "Fussballlliebe" has been reported on worldwide. It is the first Official Match Ball produced for the UEFA European Football Championship tournament that incorporates Connected Ball #Technology, enabling match officials to make accurate decisions faster. The innovation contributes to UEFA's semi-automated offside technology. As demonstrated during the match Belgium-Slovakia, it can also help VAR officials to identify every individual touch of the ball, reducing time spent resolving handball and penalty incidents.

Kinomap – the platform & community providing the largest library of video footage from real-world locations for virtual cardio workouts – is now fully integrated within the one-and-only Technogym Ecosystem. The open-platform nature of the Technogym Ecosystem means that it seamlessly combines Artificial Intelligence, on-demand content, software, apps, fitness equipment and wearable devices.

SportsTechX have released a new report on Innovation Challenges faced by Sports Organisations. Some of the key trends from different stakeholders in the sports industry include;

- The Athlete - integrated solutiosn to manage various needs

- The Fan - enhancing the fan experience at home and in venue

- The Executive - improved operational efficiency and revenue opportunities.

World Sport Action has announced a new partnership with US Youth Soccer (USYS), the largest youth sporting organization in the United States with almost 2.5 million soccer players. This strategic collaboration marks a significant milestone for both organizations as they join forces to drive real-time participant data analytics and, starting in June 2025, revolutionize soccer administration, engagement, and participation through cutting-edge technology and automation.

Catapult Group, the global leader in sports technology solutions form professional teams has announced an exclusive multi-year agreement with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). Catapult will provide comprehensive athlete monitoring solutions to the world's most successful national team in FIFA's World Cup history.

After years of innovating the industry’s leading GPS sport watches–defined by long battery life, an incredibly easy-to-use interface, and robust training software, COROS announced today that it will bring the same formula to an all-new, solar-powered GPS bike computer, the COROS DURA. COROS DURA supports 120 consecutive hours of ride time with full GPS on a single charge. Also included with COROS DURA is a full training platform at your fingertips with the COROS app and desktop-friendly COROS Training Hub at no extra cost or monthly fee. 

Indian fantasy sports operator Dream Sports is shutting down its corporate venture capital unit, barely two years after it was launched. The company unveiled Dream Capital in August 2021 with a $250m commitment and planned to invest in gaming, sports and fitness startups in neighbouring areas to its core business, online fantasy sports platform Dream11. Dream Sports is India’s market leader in fantasy sports, having made more than $460m in revenue in 2022. But it is facing cash issues of its own due to the government imposing a 28% goods and services tax on industries including online gaming from this month. The move has led to businesses across the sector making heavy cuts to staff and operations.

The Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) has partnered with global talent management and activation platform VLAST, to launch a new app that connects athletes with commercial opportunities and streamlines communication across the QAS. The QAS Athlete App will provide QAS-supported athletes with access to important updates, exclusive offers from QAS partners, opportunities for paid appearances, training and education, and flexible work opportunities.

For two weeks in July, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) hosts Wimbledon. IBM has been partnering with the Club for more than three decades, enhancing coverage of The Championships and engaging fans with rich data-driven insights. This year, some of the most compelling stories of the tournament will be told with the help of IBM® watsonx™, the enterprise-ready generative AI platform. The new Catch Me Up feature, available in the Wimbledon app and website, provides AI-generated summaries for every singles player—describing what happened in their last match and the challenges they face in their next one. Users can personalize their Catch Me Up list by adding their favorite players. If matches are live or video highlights are available, Catch Me Up provides relevant links.

Hussey Seating Company, a global leader in spectator seating, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire select assets from Camatic Seating, an Australian-based competitor. The acquisition will be limited to Camatic’s intellectual property, trademarks, designs, and tooling on select seat products.  Camatic Seating previously was a dominant player in outdoor NFL and MLS stadium seating, completing high profile projects like the Seattle Seahawks’ Lumen Field, Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, Chicago’s Soldier Field, LA’s SoFi Stadium, Wimbledon’s All England Club, Melbourne Cricket Ground, and Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the launch of ICC Immersive, a revolutionary app designed to transform the way fans experience cricket. ICC Immersive invites fans to step onto the cricket pitch from the comfort of their homes, offering a virtual experience. Developed in partnership with Quidich, a leader in sports technology, this app debuts during the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and is available for Apple Vision Pro users. The app harnesses advanced tracking technologies and various data sources to create an authentic replica of the stadium environment.

chelon has acquired ThriveX, signifying that the emerging fitness equipment brand is bullish on the recovery space. ThriveX is known for its advanced recovery solutions such as cold immersion therapy systems, smart hybrid saunas and compression boots and is a leading contender for Beyond Activ’s Startup of the Year award. ThriveX, which launched last June in Singapore and reported over $600,000 in sales within months, has since expanded its reach to the U.S., UAE, India, Thailand and Russia. 

A new high-end health app, Compound, is promising to help men shed kilos and improve their health, with its initial cohort of 16 patients showing promising results. Compound is the fifth product from Australian telehealth provider, Eucalyptus. At AUD $995 per month for non-medicated members, or AUD $1,495 per month for patients prescribed GLP1 medications (like Ozempic, Semaglutide or Saxenda), Eucalyptus says Compound is the ultimate high-end online men’s health clinic. For the price, patients get access to testing, analysis and medial advice, supplements and coaching. 

Sports technology leader Hudl is on the verge of acquiring football analytics firm StatsBomb, as reported by The Athletic. Hudl, a premier performance analysis platform in the football industry, aims to consolidate its services in data, video, and analytics.  StatsBomb now covers over 100 football competitions worldwide, including three-quarters of Premier League and Championship teams, as well as two-thirds of MLS clubs. A significant draw for Hudl is StatsBomb’s potential to expand into other sports. In June 2022, StatsBomb introduced an American football product, leveraging their football analytics expertise to create a comprehensive college sport database. 

The Australia and New Zealand Sports Technology Awards (ANZSTA) have been launched for 2024, ANZSTA celebrates excellence and innovation in technology across the Sports, Media, Entertainment, Health and Technology ecosystem. ANZSTA are supported by the Australian Sports Technologies Network, and winners will be presented in Melbourne on Wednesday 23rd October during Australia Sports Innovation Week.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Members will vote on the creation of Olympic Esports Games at the upcoming IOC Session held during the Paris Games. The IOC is already in advanced discussions with a potential host, and an announcement can be expected very soon after the last formalities have been finalised.

Quantum 2032 Challenge projects will demonstrate quantum technologies that can provide innovative solutions and enhancements related to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It also encourages collaboration among quantum scientists, sports industry experts and partners. Proposals may seek funding up to $1 million and must define a project in Queensland which seeks to address challenges related to delivery of, or Australian athletes’ participation in, the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, through the application of quantum technologies, specifically quantum computing, quantum sensing or quantum communications.

Australian-based Outpoint Group has confirmed dates for its 2024 US Sports Venue Tour. The 10-day Tour from 19-28 October will incorporate NFL, NBA and NHL game day experiences as well as venue and high performance center tours including US Bank Stadium – Lions v Vikings (Minneapolis), Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle), University of Washington (Seattle), Chase Center (San Francisco), SoFi Stadium - Vikings v Rams (Los Angeles), LA Chargers High Performance Centre (Los Angeles), Intuit Dome (Los Angeles), Allegiant Stadium – Chiefs v Raiders (Las Vegas), Sphere (Las Vegas) and T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas). Up to 15 places are available for key sports decision-makers and influencers.