International Sportstech News

The integrated fitness platform acquired Assault Fitness and RPM Training, elevating its equipment offering. Utilized in CrossFit, pro sports, and the US military, Assault is a leading manufacturer of self-powered bikes, treadmills, and rowers, while RPM’s gear and apparel are popular in the functional training space. After raising $US 15m in 2022, they closed a Series B investment last year. Then, FitLab partnered with Nike to launch the apparel giant’s fitness studios. Next, the company will debut the first XPT studio — a performance wellness center offering ice baths, sauna, and breathwork.

Samsung’s Galaxy Ring, its latest wearable, is launching with health-tracking features including heart rate and sleep monitoring while also giving users a score of their readiness for the day. The ring, which is fitted with sensors, will be able to give readings on heart rate, respiratory rate, the amount of movement made during sleep and the time it takes a person to fall asleep once in bed. All of that will be accessible through the Samsung Health app.

Apple recently filed a patent for a “wearable device with perspiration measuring capabilities” for its Apple Watches. The solution would be non-invasive and could measure perspiration, skin temperature and more to help consumers optimize hydration. The hydration-tracking feature could continue to improve on the already-beloved Apple Watch, and a potential new smart ring could disrupt that growing space currently dominated by Oura.

French soccer giant Paris Saint-Germain said it will become a network validator for the Chiliz Chain blockchain that hosts its PSG fan tokens, and use the money it generates to buy them back on a regular basis. Sports clubs have dipped their toes in crypto over the years through the creation of fan tokens, which can be used for sports memorabilia and experiences. However this is the first time a club is getting involved as a blockchain validator. Validators are entities that manage blockchain nodes, securing the network through functions including transaction verification and smart-contract authorization. In exchange, validators generate revenue from running a node.

Today, 10 companies were accepted into the fourth class of the Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Accelerator, powered by Boomtown. The immersive six-month program will kick off in March. Since the first class in 2021, SportsTech alumni have achieved 132 pilots, partnerships, and commercial deals with consortium partners. This year's cohort includes Aquimo, Dizplai, Fobi, KYMIRA, Mantis-AI, Mobii Systems, StellarAlgo, Plantiga, ZATAP and Zoomph.

Apple has launched 'Apple Sports', a free app for the iPhone that delivers real-time scores, key statistics, and live betting odds. At launch, users will have access to live data from the NBA, NHL, and MLS, among other leagues. The app, Apple’s first in the sports arena, is being released ahead of March Madness, offering real-time data for both men’s and women’s NCAA basketball. Other leagues will be added over time, including the NFL and MLB.

Sports video and data company Hudl recently signed a strategic partnership with Snap! Mobile to integrate Snap!’s fundraising tool into Hudl’s growing offering for amateur U.S. sports organisers. The deal signals Hudl’s recognition of the evolving challenges—and opportunities—presented to grassroots organizations as more and more elements of the athlete and supporter experiences move online. 

NBA commissioner Adam Silver demoed a potential future for how NBA fans will use AI technology to watch basketball action at the league’s Tech Summit Friday. The proposed interface is named NB-AI. Silver presented a situation where he could speak with an NBA trained digital assistant that had the powers to personalize a fan’s live game viewing experience on the NBA app. At one point, Silver asked the tool to take a live basketball game and recreate the action “as if it were a Spider-Man movie.” The result quickly recreated a play, turning the players into cartoon characters while adding dramatic music and digital effects more familiar to comic book fans than sports diehards.

Yesterday, OpenAI unveiled a groundbreaking innovation: Sora is text-to-video AI generator capable of crafting realistic videos up to a minute long. This tool is not just about creating videos; it's a leap into the future of content creation, particularly in the fitness industry.

Champions Innovate is a groundbreaking initiative that takes place in the months leading up to the Champions League final and brings together UEFA, commercial partners, host city authorities and startup companies. Each season, the startups are tasked with finding innovative solutions to specific challenges set by the host city. For the 2024 final at Wembley Stadium, the City of London proposed three challenges, each with the goal of enhancing the competition's social and environmental impact. Three startups – Pavegen, My Emissions and Pledgeball – were chosen to develop pilot projects responding to the challenges. Each was teamed up with one of three Champions League sponsors – PepsiCo, Just Eat Takeaway.com and Mastercard.

WIT, the digital activation platform across sports and entertainment, announced today that it has closed a round of Series A funding led by McCarthy Capital. Vaidhy Murti founded WIT in 2021 as a platform for sports teams to create immersive fan experiences to digitally engage with fans. Over the last two years, WIT has powered viral campaigns featured on ESPN and Sunday Night Football, to a custom arcade-style game mirroring the NFL’s Emmy Award-winning Super Bowl LVII halftime commercial.

Five years in development, Alter has launched a personalized fitness platform using DNA to tailor exercise, wellness, and stress management programs. Founded by Blake Johnson and Scott Cohen—the team behind billion-dollar orthodontics startup Byte—Alter’s approach revolves around genetic predisposition. Combining digital fitness with personal diagnostics, Alter hopes its screens will become an everyday portal to health optimization.

A visionary leap in community wellness, Wellnify.ai has been launched by founders of successful sports technology startups Kinduct Technologies and TheProgram.ai. Founded by industry veterans Travis McDonough, Brendon Ferguson, Jeff Johnson, and Duncan Addison, Wellnify.ai aims to transform the habits of community members through an engaging and interactive digital ecosystem.Wellnify.ai has been built leveraging the power of gamification, the science of behavior change, and the pillars of engagement.

Kabata has been named a 2023 Good Design Winner in the Sports & Recreation spac.  Kabata is the first intelligent dumbbell system that uses data analytics and predictive AI to enhance a workout by automatically adjusting weights between workout sets while also delivering custom workout programs and activity tracking via a connected mobile app. 

Wilson Sporting Goods has announced the release of the Wilson Airless Gen1, the first-of-its-kind 3D printed airless basketball, that does not need to be inflated. The basketball nearly fits the performance specifications of a regulation basketball, including its weight, size, and rebound.

ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery are forming a new joint venture to launch a sports streaming service in the fall of 2024. This will include the companies’ portfolios of sports networks, certain direct-to-consumer sports services and sports rights. Subscribers will have access to linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV and ESPN+. It can also be bundled with Disney+, Hulu and/or Max.

The NBA announced on Monday that it will unveil an all-glass LED court for the upcoming All-Star weekend in Indianapolis. The social media announcement included a video mock-up of the court that promises to display design and colour changes, live replay and video content, stats, animations and interactive games for fans during timeouts.

StatusPro has raised $20 million in funding from Google Ventures and others to build its XR sports gaming empire.New York and Miami-based StatusPro wants to take sports gaming into the realm of virtual reality, and it has already launched its NFL Pro Era and NFL Pro Era II titles for platforms such as Meta Quest 3, PlayStation VR 2, Pico, and the Steam Store. NFL Pro Era has surpassed a million users.

The Sports Tech Research Network has released a white paper that introduces a standardized, evidence-based framework which can be adopted by sports technology stakeholders to assess the value, usability, and quality of technology. Developed in collaboration with 48 experts across the sports industry, the Sports Technology Quality Framework consists of 25 measurable features grouped under five quality “pillars”: i. Quality Assurance & Measurement, ii. Established Benefit, iii. Ethics & Security, iv. User Experience and v. Data Management.

Just as National Football League (NFL) players train and practice to constantly improve, the NFL continually seeks new ways to make the game safer for its players, and more exciting for fans. A key element of this effort is development of the Digital Athlete, a joint effort between the NFL and Amazon Web Services (AWS) that represents the next generation of player health and safety for the league.

More than 600 apps and games designed to take advantage of the unique and powerful capabilities of Apple Vision Pro will be available this Friday, February 2. With the NBA app on Apple Vision Pro, basketball fans can stream up to five broadcasts live or on demand with Multiview, keep an eye on real-time player and team stats, and effortlessly glance at other games and scores. PGA TOUR Vision, the first golf app developed for Apple Vision Pro, takes fans directly onto the greens of the world’s most iconic courses.

The Venue Barcelona has opened as a Music, Sports and Events Innovation Zone, a space and ecosystem where corporate-startup innovation, collaboration and creativity converge. The Hub is an innovation playground of 40000m2; a co-creation space of 1100m2; >2.000,000 Live Event Spectators and >150 Live Events per year.

Major League Rugby (MLR), which represents the highest level of rugby competition in North America, has announced Gilbert as the new official ball of the league. Additionally, thanks to a collaboration with Sportable, the leader in the development of wearable tracking technology and data analytics, each nationally broadcast game ball will be outfitted with a unique data tracking device that will measure speed, distance traveled and other unique metrics.

PlaySight nd Playbypoint have announced a partnership that will enhance the racquet sports experience for players worldwide. This collaboration will seamlessly integrate PlaySight’s cutting-edge video analysis technology with Playbypoint’s innovative court reservation system for racquet sports enthusiasts in the rapidly growing worlds of Pickleball, Padel, and Tennis.

The Lausanne based International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS), recently announced short – compact topical learning programmes for sport executives and managers to address the needs of the industry. Registration is now open for the short programme on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Sport, to take place from 19 February to 1 March. Participants will be equipped with the tools and mindset needed to manage innovation efficiently.

The Sport Data Exchange Singapore, SPORTDEXSG, is a digital platform that facilitates the sharing of data and insights between sport ecosystem players in Singapore and beyond. With the digital transformation that SPORTDEXSG will enable, companies can gain the capabilities to expand their business and strengthen their operations for greater sustainable growth in both the Singapore and overseas markets.

ASTN partner, the Global Sports Innovation Center (GSIC) powered by Microsoft has launched its 2nd edition of the International GroundBreakers Sports Challenge. This initiative is at the forefront of driving innovation in the sports industry, inviting companies worldwide to address real-world hurdles faced by sports organisations across five key areas: Business Insights, Fan Engagement, High Performance, Fitness & Health, Media & Sponsorship and Smart Venues & Sustainability.

The Innovation Challenges from partner organisations are listed below. Applications close 18 March 2024.

https://groundbreakers.sport-gsic.com/

The NBA recently announced the latest cohort for its third Launchpad accelerator program. NBA Launchpad is the league’s initiative to source, evaluate, and pilot emerging technologies that advance the NBA’s top basketball and business priorities. The five startups selected include Reboot Motion, Plantiga, Tonsser, TextQL, and Dimension Studio.

NBC Sports Next and Pixellot are expanding their partnership to bring livestreaming to youth and amateur sports venues around North America, combining the streaming and highlight editing capabilities of the former with the AI-automated game-coverage cameras of the latter. Pixellot is already being used at more than 10,000 U.S. high schools to provide AI-automated sports cameras and analytics.

Sports content unicorn Minute Media announced on Wednesday that it has acquired STN Video, a leading North American sports content distributor. The value of the deal is estimated at around $150 million. STN Video holds premium partnerships with every major league in the U.S. alongside an award-winning Online Video Platform. The acquisition of STN will bring additional technology capabilities, distribution and sports highlight content rights to its ecosystem of owned sports content brands, distribution partners and advertisers.

ZIYNX, the innovative early career and NIL (name-image-likeness) marketing app for student-athletes, has launched a partnership with Opendorse, the leading NIL marketplace. The collaboration, driven by a shared commitment to empowering athletes at all levels of sport, is set to deliver one of the largest commitments to student-athletes in women’s sports since NIL’s inception in 2021.With almost 150,000 athlete users, Opendorse will support ZIYNX in sourcing the athletes who will then apply to NIL opportunities on the ZIYNX app by creating 24-second or less videos.

WWE and Netflix today announced a long-term partnership that will bring WWE’s flagship weekly program – Raw – to the world’s leading entertainment service. Beginning in January 2025, Netflix will be the exclusive new home of Raw in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Latin America, among other territories.

adidas Training and Bumble have unveiled a partnership to tackle intimidation felt at the gym, a barrier to training which impacts athletes at all-levels. Coming together to offer a new adidas interest badge (which members can add to their profile to let potential matches see their interest in fitness) the collaboration is designed to create space for next-gen gym enthusiasts to connect and realize the research-backed benefits of training, together.

Global Sustainable Sport understands that more than 1,000 amateur clubs have already applied for financial support for climate protection projects since the launch of UEFA's Climate Fund last week. Based on pre-tournament projections, about €7m will be made available for climate protection projects. Clubs can choose from a set list of projects in the fields of energy, water, waste management and smart mobility.

Samsung announced at Unpacked 2024 that it will soon launch the Galaxy smart ring. The Galaxy Ring announcement was made by Dr. Matthew Wiggins, clinical research scientist at Samsung Research, after a segment demonstrating a new Samsung health experience powered by Galaxy AI. The Samsung Health experience will include the ability to monitor for potential sleep apnea symptoms by tracking sleep patterns, blood oxygen changes, and maintaining heart rate alerts during sleep. 

Kinvent, the European leader in connected physiotherapy solutions, recently announced the securing of a 16 million euro investment during its third round of fundraising. This investment will enable the company to enter a new phase of acceleration, including market penetration in the United States in 2024, increased R&D projects, as well as massive external expansion.

Fastbreak.ai has announced the NBA as their latest customer and NBA Equity as a seed round investor as part of a long-term agreement. The NBA will incorporate Fastbreak.ai's solution into their scheduling process. As part of this agreement the NBA will also leverage Fastbreak.ai for scheduling the WNBA, G League, and the NBA2K League.

The partnership, which officially launched as of January 2024, will see the ESFA’s international teams trial the i-Brain technology and provide schools across the country the opportunity to learn more about how the technology can support their pupils in their schools’ football endeavours. The i-Brain system unlocks new frontiers in brain analytics, providing unparalleled insights for progress tracking and talent identification.

Nearly 28 million total viewers watched the first-ever exclusively streamed NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins on Peacock. Viewers flocked to Peacock, setting records for the most-streamed live event in U.S. history and driving the Internet to its largest U.S. usage ever on a single day and the largest Internet event ever, consuming 30 percent of Internet traffic during the game.

More details have emerged on Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, a new multi-purpose venue that will form part of Qiddiya, one of Saudi Arabia’s ‘giga-projects’ under its Vision 2030 masterplan. The stadium features an immersive design and “unique” technological features that will seek to enhance the fan experience. Global architectural firm Populous has designed the stadium, which Qiddiya claims will be the world’s first fully integrated venue with a combined retractable roof, pitch and LED wall.