ASTN Member News

Foxtel Media has announced a landmark expansion into the metaverse, launching the Kayo SPORTS Stadium on Roblox. The initiative marks a first-of-its-kind joint venture between Foxtel Media and gaming marketing leader Livewire, with development handled by Gamefam. In a commercial move, the AFL, Cricket Australia, and Supercars have all signed on as inaugural partners. Kayo SPORTS Stadium allows fans to interact with their favourite sports through dedicated zones, each featuring two bespoke mini-games.

Broadcast coverage of the NBA is regarded as being among the most innovative in the live sports industry. The league’s national domestic broadcast partners – NBC, ESPN/ABC, and Amazon Prime Video – have all introduced a range of new on-air graphics, different camera angles, and unprecedented positions for commentators and analysts during the 2025-26 season. Through a multi-year partnership NBC Sports Regional Networks is utilising Sportradar’s GameFrame technology to enhance live coverage of the NBA. GameFrame uses AI to turn player-tracking data into on-air graphics and statistics, alongside animated replays, shot maps, and other customised digital features.

TidyHQ, a leading compliance and governance platform for sports organisations, has announced a partnership with the Ovens & Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL). The majority of OMFNL clubs already run their day-to-day operations on TidyHQ. However, OMFNL has now implemented TidyConnect, a solution that links the league and its clubs together on the same platform - the same source of truth.

Fencing Singapore has signed a five-year agreement with revolutioniseSPORT to support the next phase of growth and digital transformation for fencing in Singapore. As the national body for a growing community of more than 5,000 fencers, Fencing Singapore continues to invest in systems and structures that can scale with participation while maintaining strong governance and operational efficiency.

Griffith University and Swimming Australia have entered a bold new partnership to ensure the Gold Coast’s Para athletes have access to the world’s best training environment in the lead up to Brisbane 2032 and beyond. The tailored three-year program supports and elevates para athletes and aims to reduce barriers for participation and talent identification and enhance performance pathways for para athletes.

PMY Group deployed its AI-powered crowd intelligence platform, Optic, at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. The platform uses CCTV, ticketing, accreditation, point-of-sale, event management systems, and LiDAR sensors to anonymously measure crowd movement and behavior, delivering real-time data to event operators through dashboards. 

Taiwan's ASPN Sports Tech Accelerator has received a record number of entries in version 3 of the program. The program received over 80 applications from 27 countries, setting a new benchmark. The final selection of startups advancing to the Kickoff Bootcamp on June 3 is expected to be announced in mid-May.

Education provider, the Australian Fitness Academy has partnered with Australian health and wellness platform 3D Measure Me to transform how personal trainers can track their clients' progress. The partnership introduces a new standard in progress tracking education, combining body measurement and composition insights with clear, visual outcomes that clients can easily understand. The 3D Measure Me app will be integrated into AFA's nationally accredited Certificate III and IV in Fitness program, as well as its internationally delivered Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) course in Singapore and Malaysia.

Venues Ōtautahi, New Zealand’s largest venue, event, and culinary services management company, has deployed MyVenue’s point-of-sale (POS) solution at four venues. One New Zealand Stadium, which officially opens this weekend by hosting the Super Round of Super Rugby Pacific, will use 200 MyVenue-powered POS devices to serve fans across concessions, premium clubs, and suite locations. A further 100 devices will operate across Wolfbrook Arena, Hagley Oval, and Christchurch Town Hall.

Melbourne-based basketball stats and highlights startup, Superstat, has announced that it has launched in the US. Superstat uses AI and computer vision to analyse basketball game footage, providing automated stats, highlights and insights.

Coachbetter has announced a partnership with Adelaide United Football Club and supporting their Junior Development Program. Coachbetter is the unified operating system for grassroots football clubs that connects club operations and coaching in one system. The Coachbetter solution supports the Academy's coaching staff with tools and insights that help them strengthen their programs and deliver an even greater experience for their players.

‍In the world of professional soccer, a hamstring injury can derail a season, and a reinjury can be devastating. For Jamie Blair, Performance Coach for Charlotte FC Crown Legacy second team, finding a way to not just heal the injury but fundamentally correct the underlying movement flaws was essential. By integrating VueMotion into his technology suite, Jamie successfully guided a Charlotte FC player through a hamstring rehab, correcting movement patterns to ensure a rapid, robust, and lasting return to the pitch.

A new executive education program designed to shape the next generation of sports industry leaders is set to launch in June 2026, offering participants a rare blend of academic insight and real-world application at the highest level of global sport. The Executive Edge in Sport, delivered by the Global Institute of Sport (GIS) in partnership with the Rotman School of Management Executive Programs, will provide current and aspiring leaders with the tools needed to navigate an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving sports landscape.

Layercake has announced a strategic integration between its Streamcake platform and Ceeblue’s Media Fabric, a leader in real-time video streaming technology, to deliver end-to-end streaming solution combining advanced workflow automation with ultra-low latency delivery. The integration enables customers to deploy, manage and scale live video workflows with sub-second end-to-end latency. 

Layercake, the company behind the intelligent media orchestration platform Streamcake, today announced the formalisation of its integration with Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, as a core capability within its platform. By combining Bitmovin’s encoding, playback and analytics capabilities with Streamcake’s orchestration and automation engine, Layercake enables organisations to design, deploy and operate complete media workflows across the entire content lifecycle, from ingest through to delivery and playback.

Marvel Stadium and General Manager, Scott Fitzgerald, has been shortlisted for two awards in TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2026. This includes Venue of the Year (Marvel Stadium) and Executive of the Year (Scott Fitzgerald). The Venue Of The Year Award recognises the venue that deserves recognition for their outstanding performance over the past 12 months. The Executive Of The Year Award is awarded to the sports venue leader, pioneer or visionary that has consistently over-delivered.

PitchCast has announced its integration with PlayCricket, enabling enhanced digital coverage and engagement for grassroots cricket. The collaboration allows clubs and competitions to seamlessly capture, stream and share matches, providing richer data and content experiences for players, fans and administrators.

Tiparra, the Australian digital engagement platform helping clubs, events, venues and destinations build their own branded mobile experiences, announced the release of several major new features designed to deepen audience engagement and unlock stronger commercial outcomes for sporting organisations. This includes fan offers, fan-generated content, prediction activities and flexible news feeds.

ASTN will be holding a networking event in Perth on the evening of Wednesday 29th April focusing on The Future of Fan Engagement and Stadium Experience. The expert panel includes Cassandra Calleja (The Sports Networker),  Matthew O'Sullivan (Fremantle Dockers), Chris Andrich (VenuesWest) and Dr Martin Schlegel (ASTN - Australian Sports Technologies Network). The panel will explore how technology is reshaping the way fans connect with sport— inside and beyond the stadium.

Leading sports streaming technology company Layercake has won the SPORTEL Pitch Perfect Innovation Contest in Singapore, as part of the SPORTEL Conference. Layercake's solution, Streamcake, reduces infrastructure costs to ultra-low latency live event delivery for sports.

WearOptimo’s hydration sensor, in the first human trial, has achieved initial proof of concept has already outperforming the clinical gold standard of blood draws. The results caught global attention and led to deeper collaboration with Rolex through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, which supports explorers, scientists and organizations creating practical solutions to global challenges. Rather than chasing the consumer market straight away, founder Mark Kendall focused on where the technology could save lives and drive change - mining, defence and elite sport.

ASTN has delivered two masterclasses to SportWest and its members in Perth. The sessions focused on educating sports organisations on the fast-evolving development of technology and AI in sport. The masterclasses introduced a roadmap to help build capacity and capability in the digital transformation journey as well as provide an overview of AI in Sports and an introduction to a responsible-use framework and AI tools. 

In a stadium or live environment, AI should do two things: it should improve operations (time, cost, reliability) and lift commercial outcomes (conversion, per-cap, premium utilization). Both depend on reliable data across the venue. If the inputs aren’t trusted, the outputs won’t be either. According to PMY Group, where AI becomes particularly interesting in stadiums and venues is in connecting the physical environment with digital insight. The biggest opportunity is using real-time signals so operators can act during a live event, not after.

Supercars has partnered with Champion Data and WORKS to deliver new data-driven storytelling through a new fully integrated broadcast graphics package across the Supercars Championship 2026 season. Created in close collaboration with Champion Data's design agency WORKS, the project includes a complete visual overhaul for the 2026 season, spanning on-screen graphics, openers, animations, transitions, track maps, touchscreen integrations, and commercial assets.

Champion Data have announced the appointment of Travis Auld as Chair of the Board. Travis brings a wealth of leadership experience across elite sport and major events. He currently serves as CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and previously held senior roles at the AFL, Gold Coast Suns, and Essendon Football Club.

EngageRM has announced it has been enrolled into Microsoft’s FastTrack Portfolio Partner program, a strategic collaboration framework designed to accelerate customer success and ensure architectural excellence across Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform and Microsoft Copilot Studio implementations. It means EngageRM is currently the only sports technology company globally participating in Microsoft’s FastTrack program. 

The NRL and Advance Queensland are collaborating on a three-year Innovation Partnership that aims to help the NRL solve some of their pressing challenges through Queensland innovations. The NRL Magic Round Innovation Partnership aims to support Queensland-based businesses to refine and adapt their technologies to meet the needs of the NRL, its clubs and/or its partners, and address real-world industry challenges. In 2026, the partnership will deliver the NRL Magic Round Tech Showcase during Magic Round on Friday, 15 May 2026. Queensland-based organisations are invited to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to exhibit under one of two streams. Applications close 30th March.

FrogBox is set to enter the New Zealand market bringing automated video capture, live streaming and shareable highlights to community cricket across the country. The expansion builds on the recently announced partnership between Frogbox and PlayHQ which will see the two platforms working together to deliver an integrated competition management, scoring and streaming experience for cricket communities.

Hockey New Zealand has officially launched on the free coaching and team management app CoachMate, marking an important step forward in supporting the country’s volunteer coaches and strengthening the delivery of community hockey. The launch forms part of Hockey NZ’s ongoing commitment to building a nationally aligned coaching environment that helps coaches develop, grow and inspire the hockey whānau.

The DGTO was introduced in 2022 and will head to a review next year. Many Australian game developers are hopeful it will continue to make an impact, and even be expanded for the years to come. Australia’s DGTO was introduced in 2022 as a means to reduce the tax burden on local Australian game development studios, in recognition of their contributions to culture and the arts. All studios with expenditure of $500,000 or above are able to claim a 30% refundable tax offset, with cost-savings transferred back to the business, to reinvest in new and more ambitious projects. Glinda Games was created to take specific advantage of the cost-saving offered by the DGTO, with the business built around supporting Australian developers.

LALIGA has joined as a partner of the GSIC powered by Microsoft's Groundbreakers Challenge. The Challenge is a platform designed to connect leading sports organizations with startups and technology companies capable of solving real industry problems. Illegal streaming continues to undermine the value of media rights, impacting leagues, clubs, broadcasters, and ultimately the sustainability of the sports ecosystem. LALIGA and GSIC are looking for innovative companies developing technologies that can help with this problem. Selected companies will have the opportunity to pitch live at the PEAK SportsTech Conference in Las Vegas in April, in front of global leaders from sport, media, technology and investment.

Layercake has partnered with the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) to deliver a unified digital ecosystem designed to support elite athlete development while strengthening community engagement.  The platform combines a dynamic public website with an integrated Learning Management System (LMS), providing more than 400 athletes across 45 sports with seamless access to training resources, education, and performance tools.

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) will host the Future of Sport Conference 2026, a one day industry forum exploring how technology, data, smart venues, and commercial innovation are shaping global sport in the lead up to Brisbane 2032. Speakers will include Matt Pasco (Las Vegas Raiders), Brenda Suh (SoFi Stadium & Hollywood Park), Travis Auld (Australian Grand Prix Corporation), Manny Spanoudakis (PMY Group), Stuart Morgan (Champion Data) and Ben Shields (MIT Sloan School of Management). The Conference is on 27th March. ASTN Members receive 20% discount on tickets. 

Defence, aviation, apparel, fitness, healthcare. On the surface, these industries appear to share little in common. Yet each now falls within the expanding remit of Bodd, the Melbourne-based start-up unlocking human body data at scale. In under 90 seconds, the Bodd scanner generates a detailed profile of its user, recording a suite of physical measurements such as body composition and shape, as well as health metrics including blood pressure and heart rate. In December, Bodd raised $AUD 15 million in an oversubscribed funding round, valuing the company at $AUD 110 million. 

ASTN has opened expressions-of-interest for the 17th cohort of the Accelerator Program. Queensland and Western Australian-based startups will have priority access to the program, thanks to support from Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) in Queensland and Meshpoints in Western Australia. Selected startups will receive approximately 20 hours guidance from a pool of experienced mentors, as well as dedicated workshops on themed topics including business story-telling, investment pitching, international markets and sports systems. Applications close 16th March. 

ASTN Member companies Cellr, Myriad Studios, SportsAI, SWAARM and LSKD are amongst the many exhibitors in the leadup to the NRL Games at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday, 28 February. In addition, NRL hosted player signing sessions as part of Ozfest, prize draws and ASTN and its member companies participated in the sports innovation and tech showcase.

Australian sports broadcasting innovator Layerckae has been shortlisted in two categories at STA Smarter Sports Awards for 2026. Layercake, with their solution, Streamcake, has been shortlisted in the Smarter Sports Broadcast and Production category and the Smarter Innovation of the Year category. The awards attract entries from 30+ countries. Winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony in May. 

Australian video-based swimming timing system Olly Timing, is embarking on international expansion including the UK. Olly Timing will be demonstrating at the Swim England Summit on 19th March. Olly supports organisers, officials and operators to strengthen operational resilience, manage volunteer workload and enhance the overall competition experience.

Twinlabs.ai and myFitApp have announced a partnership that combines myFitApp’s digital member experience with TwinLabs’ AI capabilities. The collaboration is focused on helping fitness operators better understand their data, move faster, and make smarter decisions, all without adding complexity. The solution positively impacts class utilisation, staffing efficiency, and member satisfaction.

ASTN is strengthening sportstech ties between Australia and New Zealand through a new collaboration with the team behind the Grit Works Queenstown Cycling Hardware Accelerator. Designed for early-stage cycling and outdoor hardware founders, the programme supports innovators to move from concept and prototype through to manufacturing-ready, globally deployable products. Founders will also gain exposure to ASTN’s broader sportstech ecosystem across Australia - expanding networks, expertise and commercial pathways. The 11-week accelerator kicks off on 27 April and is now open for applications.