Sportstech & Member News

ASTN member iSports had a presence on both sides of the 2026 AFL Grand Final, with its technology supporting the Brisbane Lions and Fremantle Dockers throughout the season. The Brisbane Lions use iSports Rotations and iSports Team, while the Fremantle Dockers utilise iSports Rotations. iSports Rotations helps coaches manage player rotations and interchange strategies, while iSports Team provides tools to streamline team communication and management.

With both clubs competing in the AFL's biggest game of the year, it was a fantastic opportunity to showcase how Australian sports technology is supporting elite sporting organisations.

Bowerbird Industries is working with Para athletes to trial a new adaptive training and testing bike. Fully adjustable and designed for elite training, the technology allows athletes and coaches to test consistently, track change over time, and refine training with confidence. Supported by the Queensland Government’s Private Sector Pathways Program, in partnership with the QAS, Bowerbird is combining smart design with real-world application, demonstrating tangible benefits for athletes training at the highest level.

At leading broadcasting conference IBC, Layercake CEO Padraig O'Donovan spoke about a significant shift taking place across the industry with broadcasters are moving beyond their hesitation around cloud as they look for smarter, more cost-effective ways to produce and deliver content. Mr O'Donovan shared his perspective on what's driving cloud adoption, how the economics of broadcast are changing, and where Layercake's product Streamcake fits into that transition.

SportLogic is used across more than 1,000 racquet sport venues. The week SportLogic have launched SportLogic Play, a new app for players to discover venues, find available courts and book a game across tennis, pickleball, padel, badminton and squash.

To identify the companies across the globe using digital technologies to make healthcare more effective and accessible, TIME partnered with data firm Statista to research the World’s Top HealthTech Companies of 2026, evaluating metrics including financial performance, reputation, and online engagement. Queensland-based hydration biometrics sensor company has been named on the list.

CBS Sports and TNT Sports are now much closer to becoming a single entity after Paramount, the parent company of CBS, settled an antitrust lawsuit with a dozen left-leaning states. The settlement, though not yet announced, paves the way for Paramount's $US 110 billion acquisition of TNT Sports parent company Warner Bros. Discovery to move toward a closing, as the lawsuit had been the last major obstacle. Notably, Paramount will not be forced to sell any television networks or production studios acquired in the deal, including CNN, as part of the settlement.

The connected fitness giant, Peloton, unveiled three new treadmills and a host of AI-powered running features, marking one of Peloton’s biggest moves under CEO Peter Stern. Peloton is making its biggest-ever push into the running and treadmill markets, the company’s latest move to be known as more than just a bike company. This week Peloton unveiled three new treadmills, including a foldable model, along with a host of new AI-powered running features such as form-tracking.

SportsAI and IN SPORT have announced a strategic collaboration supporting the 2026 Queensland Murri Carnival broadcast through the IN SPORT App. As the Carnival’s Official Live Broadcasting Partner, IN SPORT will bring live coverage together with athlete storytelling, community stories and immersive digital experiences powered by SportsAI technology.

Ticketing and entertainment technology provider Fever has raised $US 250 million through a primary equity financing round led by major investment fund EQT. The brand claims this represents the largest-ever round completed by a live entertainment technology company. In addition to EQT leading the charge, Baillie Gifford, Point72 Private Investments and Australian venture firm Athletic Ventures also participated in the round. The raise follows three years of sustained growth at scale, during which Fever has more than tripled its revenue, remained EBITDA-positive, and strengthened its position across North America and Asia. 

Events management startup evatto has staged a $AUD 1.02 million pre-Seed round as it looks to expand offshore. The raise was led by Perth VC Purpose Ventures and will go towards product development, international expansion and fresh faces on the team. The Sydney startup is building an AI-powered enterprise platform for managing complex event programs, replacing the spreadsheets, emails and recycled templates that still are standard practice in the sector. evatto is already working with organisations including the Invictus Games and Canada Snowboard for events such as World Cups and the X Games.

Cricket fans across Australia will be able to engage with the game more than ever before with Cricket Australia signing a deal with Australian-developed audience engagement and data platform Komo Technologies. Rather than just asking fans to complete forms or surveys, the Komo platform will enable CA to give fans opportunities to participate in activities such as predicting, voting and playing along with the game as it happens - both on and off the field across international Test matches, ODIs, T20s and the Big Bash leagues.

The NBA has launched the sixth edition of its startup program NBA Launchpad. Over the past five years, 27 companies from 9 countries have come through the program and collectively closed 100+ deals with NBA and WNBA teams, with many direct partnerships with the league. Priority areas include fan connection, media, officiating, player health and wellbeing, youth basketball and Asia sports experience. Applications close 16th October.

From 2027, CoachMate will help the NRL create a connected digital journey around its school programs - supporting teachers to confidently deliver rugby league at school, giving children opportunities to continue engaging with the game at home, and creating clearer pathways towards local clubs and ongoing participation. The experience will be built around the NRL’s own programs, pathways, coaching philosophy and brand, giving teachers access to the tools and resources they need to create a great rugby league experience for their students.

Rico Rogers, founder of Box Altitude, a business focused on oxygen chambers for sleep and training, has launched a new app called Oxygen Coach. The app brings altitude exposure, training and recovery data together, helping athletes track their own response over time. Athletes can follow accumulated hypoxic dose, compare it with published protocols and explore how exposure could build towards race day.

Clubland Australia has been named winner of the Emerging Exporter category at the 2026 ACT Chief Minister's Export Awards. Clubland builds the digital clubhouse and the Supporter CRM together, and looks after them, so clubs stay connected to their people while we carry the operational burden. 

etrainu’s global headquarters in Brisbane’s CBD was officially opened this week by Queensland Premier David Crisafulli MP. It was also there that CEO Paul Hoon announced etrainu’s multi-year agreement with the U.S. Center for SafeSport. “I can feel the optimism in our State and to have etrainu choose to invest in Queensland is an incredible endorsement, because it’s clear this will have a major impact on thousands of people.” the Premier said.

Layercake, the company behind the intelligent media workflow platform Streamcake, has announced the appointment of Jon Marquard as Director and Chairperson. Jon Marquard is one of the media industry’s most experienced strategic operators, with a career spanning global sports rights, digital transformation, and large-scale commercial partnerships worldwide. Jon was COO at Fox Sports and the Ten Network, and led long-term partnerships with Optus across the English Premier League and major FIFA and UEFA competitions.

Layercake has been shortlisted for Best in Broadcast Distribution at the SportsPro Media Awards 2026. The company is recognised alongside Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, Sport 24, Dyn, WSC Sports and ATP Media in this category.  The company is working on making media and broadcast operations simpler, more flexible and easier to manage in the cloud.

Aussie sports fans have been watching on intently when the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Australia hit Melbourne last week. But sports marketers and sporting codes should be scrutinising it through a different lens – there is so much to be learnt from the NFL’s approach to the fan experience, broadcast and the commercial engine that makes the NFL one of the most valuable sports properties in the world. The NFL has more than 10 major technology partners across a range of categories from AI to Cloud, Cybersecurity and many more. A quick scan of major Australian codes shows none has a true AI partner, and most don’t have a technology partner at scale.

Leading Queensland education technology company, etrainu, has signed a landmark agreement with the U.S. Center for SafeSport to deliver the organisation’s online safeguarding education across the US Olympic and Paralympic movement. The multi-year agreement was announced by etrainu CEO Paul Hoon at the opening of the company’s global headquarters in Brisbane’s CBD. After a global tender process, the Queensland-founded and headquartered company has been appointed to provide online learning solutions that will facilitate and distribute the organisation’s safeguarding education across all National Governing Bodies under the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Tottenham Hotspur are taking a more hands-on approach to finding their next generation of commercial partners, launching a venture platform which will bring growing businesses inside the club before they reach the traditional sponsorship stage. Hotspur Labs, created with The Players Fund, will target venture-backed companies between Series A and Series C and give selected businesses access to Tottenham’s audience, technology and commercial infrastructure.

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has opened applications to 'The Park', its virtual innovation hub designed to connect technology-driven companies with the Australian sports sector to tackle key challenges and unlock system-wide value. In 2026, the ASC, in partnership with Built has provided funding to support the grants given to successful applicants. Through a six-month co-designed program, 'The Park' will bring together selected technology firms, national sporting organisations / departments, and the ASC to accelerate solutions from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 to TRL 8+. Key challenge areas include; i. harnessing data, AI and machine learning, ii. next-generation wearables, iii. digital twin technologies, iv. brain performance innovation and v. material science in sport. Applications close 9th October.

The 2026 NRL Telstra Premiership season delivered its ninth consecutive year of audience growth on Kayo SPORTS, a DAZN company, with average audiences increasing 9% year-on-year (YoY), making it the most watched ever on the platform. Across the regular season, 6.4 billion minutes were streamed on Kayo SPORTS, with the season also becoming the most watched ever across all Foxtel Group platforms including FOXTEL, FOXTEL Go, FOXTEL Now, Kayo SPORTS and BINGE. 

Melbourne’s epicentre of live events is partnering with global ticketing provider AXS to deliver a world-class ticketing experience for year-round events outside the Australian Open (AO), making it easy for fans to access world-class sport, music and entertainment. As a global ticketing provider, AXS powers the world’s most iconic venues, including The O2 in London, Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Cricket Australia has given the green light to private investment in the Big Bash Leagues, confirming the launch of the sale process for the Melbourne Renegades. Cricket Australia Tuesday confirmed it would invite bids from private owners for a 100 per cent stake in the Renegades, with new ownership in place for the 2027-28 WBBL and BBL seasons.

When you're managing a high-performance program across dozens of athletes at varying ages, scattered across the country, the margin for miscommunication is enormous. For AFL Talent Programs, the answer wasn't adding more staff or more spreadsheets, it was bringing everything into one place. Since transitioning to the new Teamworks unified mobile app, an app that combines Hub, Strength & Conditioning (S&C) and Athlete Management System (AMS) apps, the program has seen a meaningful shift in how coaches, physiotherapists, high performance staff, athletes and even athlete families work together.

Stan Kroenke’s deal to buy the Los Angeles Angels capped a summer with an unprecedented level of action in sports M&A, with more than $US 30 billion in franchises trading hands in the four biggest U.S. leagues. Since the start of June, sale agreements have been reached for the Seattle Seahawks ($US 9.6 billion), the Los Angeles Lakers ($US 12.5 billion), the Minnesota Timberwolves ($US 4.5 billion) and now the Los Angeles Angels ($US 4 billion). The Lakers sale, should it close, would be the most expensive team sports deal ever. There are a number of reasons why sports M&A appears to be accelerating. Major U.S. leagues have scarcity value, and there are tax benefits that come alongside their acquisitions. More recently, some investors—like Lakers buyer Joshua Kushner—are looking at sports as an area of the U.S. economy that might be more insulated from the pending upheaval from advances in AI. 

Smart ring maker Oura has filed for a US initial public offering (IPO).  Revenue climbed 74% to $US 1.21 billion over the first nine months of the fiscal year. Bloomberg reported that the listing could value Oura above $US 16 billion. The product is a sensor-equipped ring worn on the finger. Optical sensors read blood flow, heart rate, body temperature and movement through the night. The app then converts that into daily sleep, activity and readiness scores.

Sportz Interactive has acquired Magnifi, an AI-powered video clipping and content platform, as the sports technology company looks to expand its FanOS product stack and international presence. Sportz Interactive has been operating for more than 24 years and works with over 150 leagues, federations, broadcasters and teams globally. Magnifi's technology is designed to identify, clip and distribute sports moments in near real time, an area that has become increasingly important for broadcasters, leagues and digital platforms looking to push highlights quickly across multiple channels.

A new Australian research project is combining advanced composites, embedded electronics and surf safety innovation to develop smart surfboard fins designed to deter sharks. A new collaborative project involves the Australian Composites Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (ACM CRC), FCS, Gowing Bros Ltd, UNSW Sydney and the University of Wollongong. The initiative will develop smart composite surfboard fins capable of integrating shark-deterrent technologies directly into the fin structure. 

ASTN, with the support of the South Australian Department of State Development, is presenting the South Australian Sportstech Showcase at SportNXT, putting SA's sportstech sector in front of the sport, business and investment leaders gathering in Melbourne. The companies exhibiting include Cellr, CME, MyVenue and Your Brain Health.

ASTN, in collaboration with the Victorian Government Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions and Global Victoria, is presenting the Victorian Sportstech Showcase at the SportNXT Conference in Melbourne this week. 12 Victorian companies will be exhibiting, showing the breadth of what's being built within the State, including athlete performance, injury prevention, participation, streaming and more. The companies include 5stream, Cape Bionics, Control Bionics, FrogBox, HITIQ, MX3 Diagnostics, PlayHQ Sports, Rookie Me, Rosterfy, Solushin, Sports Buddy and Sports Performance Tracking.

The USTA and Kalshi announced a groundbreaking partnership, making Kalshi the first Official Prediction Market Partner of the US Open. The partnership comes amid the rapid growth of prediction market agreements across tennis and professional sports. Kalshi has millions of users, and tennis-related trading volume on the platform is up 25x YoY.

The Orlando Magic has announced that DAZN, the world’s leading sports entertainment platform, will serve as the Magic’s exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming partner for the 2026-27 season. Live games, alternative feeds, and original content through a new team-branded subscription service will launch on DAZN later in September. 

DAZN Media+ is taking sports fandom beyond the live broadcast with the launch of Club Kayo, a new creator-powered sports media ecosystem designed to put creators, communities and brands at the heart of Australia’s biggest sporting conversations. The ecosystem kicks off with four dedicated creator teams: Club Kayo Cricket, Club Kayo AFL, Club Kayo NRL and Club Kayo Motorsport. The dedicated creator squads will react to the biggest moments as they happen, sitting at the intersection of sport, entertainment and pop culture.

Leinster Hockey has announced a new partnership with GameDay, the sport technology platform, to advance the administration of hockey across the province for the 2026/27 season. The partnership is Leinster Hockey’s first with GameDay and will bring the association’s competitions, membership, player pathway and officials administration onto a single connected platform. It builds on GameDay’s relationship with Hockey Ireland, which began in 2021 and supports membership and competitions for the national governing body.

MOGL, an AI-powered athlete Influencer Marketing platform working with 30,000 athletes, has launched a free AI Athlete Assistant designed to help college athletes manage name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals from initial requirements through final payment. The launch comes as NIL payments are projected to reach $US 4.5 billion in the 2026-27 school year, up 60% from the previous year. The tool is built to address the administrative load NIL deals place on athletes who are also managing schoolwork, training, travel, and competition, where each deal can bring its own requirements, deadlines, approval workflows, and payment questions.

Recently launched BlackSun Private Equity, with principals from the world of politics, sports and entertainment, is launching its first fund with $US 1 billion raised so far. Ambitious projects include creating the new World American Football League, where players would own equity in teams, as well as Knockout Fights, a boxing and martial arts platform. The fund will also be looking at investments in media and entertainment, IP, fintech and commercial real estate.

Ultrahuman, an Indian startup best known for making smart rings, has raised $US 70 million in a new funding round that includes backing from Qualcomm's venture arm, as it looks beyond sleep and health tracking to build a ring that can run software on the device and eventually power everything from AI interactions to games. The round values Bengaluru-based Ultrahuman at $US 365 million. Ultrahuman is also working with Qualcomm on a new ring that will use the U.S. chipmaker's silicon.

Enhance, a Dubai-based personal training software platform for high-value, low-price (HVLP) gyms, has raised $US 18.2 million in equity and debt funding as it aims to scale in the U.S. market. Founded in 2018, Enhance provides software that’s designed to help gyms increase their personal training revenue. Globally, the company says it supports 15,000 personal trainers and over 500,000 booked PT sessions per month, while its revenue has grown at a 65% compound annual growth rate since 2019.

EverPass Media, a premier media and technology platform delivering premium live sports content to commercial businesses, has announced a multi-year commercial distribution agreement with Netflix that will bring Netflix's NFL content to commercial establishments nationwide. Through the expanded agreement, commercial venues will have access to Netflix's full NFL slate. The 2026 lineup includes the NFL's Week 1 Melbourne game, the first-ever Thanksgiving Eve game, two Christmas Day matchups, a Week 18 game and NFL Honors — the league’s annual awards show during Super Bowl week.

Global sports subscription heavyweight DAZN has signed a deal to acquire EverPass Media, the platform that delivers live sports content to commercial businesses. Through the acquisition, a platform called DAZN for Business is being launched, with EverPass to rebrand under that name once the tie-up is completed. The list of major EverPass shareholders – including RedBird Capital Partners, TKO, and 32 Equity – will now become DAZN shareholders.

InBudget’s intelligent event management platform supported Glasgow 2026 in redefining how major events are planned and delivered, helping to ensure greater efficiency and fiscal responsibility. The software platform supported the Glasgow 2026 Organising Company by integrating budgeting and reporting, procurement and contract management, project management, and risk and issue management in a single system designed specifically for the unique challenges faced by major event organisers. 

InBudget will support financial planning and reporting for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 as the Official Cost Planning and Budgeting Software Provider, helping to deliver the eighth edition of the Games at the NEC Birmingham and Sandwell Aquatic Centre from 10 to 17 July 2027. The software platform integrates budgeting and reporting, procurement and contract management, project management, and risk and issue management in a single system designed specifically for the unique challenges faced by major event organisers.

As part of Major League Soccer's (MLS) commitment to investing in new ways to deepen connections with supporters and turn growing interest into lasting fandom, it has engaged ECAL in a long-term partnership to deliver its official digital calendar solution for the League and MLS clubs. This includes smart, dynamic league schedules, club schedules, and single match alerts, with direct access to important broadcast and streaming details, ticketing, promos, major milestones and more – synced directly into the fans’ personal digital calendar of choice, for free. This builds on ECAL’s success across the league with clubs including LAFC, InterMiami CF, Austin FC, Portland Timbers and San Diego FC.

Rugby Australia has announce a multi-year extension of its partnership with Australian-owned high-performance hardware and accessory leader, PTP - continuing their support as the Official Fitness Accessory Supplier through to the end of 2027. The extension ensures that the Wallabies, Wallaroos, and Australian Men’s and Women’s Sevens teams will continue to be powered by PTP’s elite strength, core, mobility and recovery equipment across a vital upcoming cycle of international competition.

SAFE by Sports Buddy and OneSide Australia have announced a new referral partnership designed to help community sporting organisations strengthen how safeguarding is understood, implemented and managed in practice. OneSide helps sporting organisations understand their current safeguarding environment through Child Safety Gap Assessments, identifying strengths, risks and practical priorities for improvement. SAFE by Sports Buddy provides the digital infrastructure to operationalise safeguarding and complaints management. Both businesses are proudly Melbourne-based, with strong connections across community AFL, while remaining sport-agnostic and supporting sporting organisations nationally.

Sportradar, a leading global sports technology company creating immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors, and Euroleague Basketball have announced a multi-year extension of their data and audiovisual (AV) betting rights agreement. The rights were originally secured as part of Sportradar’s acquisition of IMG ARENA in 2025. The agreement renewal begins with the upcoming 2026-27 season and extends Sportradar’s exclusive global distribution of Euroleague Basketball official data and AV betting rights through 2031. The deal covers more than 650 games annually across EuroLeague and BKT EuroCup competitions. SportRadar's other basketball partners include NBA, WNBA, NBL Australia, NBB Brazil, CBA China, LNB France, GBL Greece, LBA Italy, and ACB Spain.

ASTN will be hosting a webinar titled "Ready-Set-Go Deploying AI Responsibly in Sport" on Wednesday 16th September at 4-5pm (AEST). Founder and CEO of Rolls Performance Lab, Shaun Rolls' will be joined by Stuart Morgan, Head of ML & AI at Champion Data, to explore what practical AI adoption looks like in sport, including secure private cloud and sandbox testing environments, deterministic AI to reduce hallucination risk in LLMs, protecting organisational IP and sensitive data and moving from AI experimentation to real-world implementation. 

Applications are now open for the Burnley FC Innovation Hub's second year, a six-month accelerator where selected startups pilot their products directly inside the club's Premier League operations. This year's focus areas are AI, sustainability and women's health and performance, a shift from year one's split between football performance and fan experience tools. The inaugural cohort placed Camb.ai, Mantis XR and Piing into live pilots with the club.