International Sportstech News

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.

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. 

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

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.