Sportstech & Member News

Launched in 2020, MyVenue provides a cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) solution to venue food and beverage operators in the sport, entertainment, and hospitality industries. The business services more than 140 venues across North America, the UK, and Asia Pacific. MyVenue uses Google Cloud and BigQuery to process and analyze data from thousands of POS terminals across North America, the UK, and Asia Pacific and additionally improved its scalability and flexibility. MyVenue processes up to 5,000 records per hour during peaks and supports 20,000 dashboard requests over a 12 hour period.

Streaming platform Free Live Sports has launched with a selection of 100+ live FAST (free, ad-supported TV) sports channels as well as rights to thousands of sports movies, docs, series and highlights. Free Live Sports launches with 68 channels, and another 34 are set to join the platform by the end of October. Some of the channels offered include Big 12 Network, Glory Kickboxing, PFL, Boxing TV, Motorsport.tv, PokerGo, Tennis Channel, Surfer, NitroCircus TV, Billiard TV and ChessTV.

Yahoo Sports and The Athletic have announced a partnership to create a new home for comprehensive women’s sports coverage. A women’s sports hub on the Yahoo Sports website and app will guide fans to written, audio, and video content produced by Yahoo Sports and The Athletic. Views of women’s sports articles on Yahoo Sports are up 253% over the last 12 months. In addition, seven of the top 10 most-viewed articles on Yahoo Sports in August were about female athletes.

Football Association of Wales have launched BE. Football Community. BE.FC is a combination of turn up and play sessions tailored to girls needs, and an App providing unique and bespoke content for teenage girls to access; to connect with their favourite football stars, learn new skills, gain badges and XP points and compete against their teammates. The App is also designed to house content to support girls through difficult life stages such as confidence, exam stresses and managing their menstrual cycle. Through a partnership with DMC Sport and Clubspark girls and parents can book onto sessions at https://play.faw.cymru. 

Outdoor swimming competition meets without timekeepers or touchpads can now be delivered with Olly Timing. Swimming Australia 2024 Club of the Year, Lane Cove Swim Club, based on Sydney’s north shore ran their entire Spring Carnival using Olly Timing on Saturday 13th October. Despite 30-40km hour winds and highly variable light conditions, Olly Timing’s world first computer vision powered swimming competition timing successfully recorded 991 times in over 5 hours of racing.

Pixellot, a global leader of AI-driven sports video technology has announced the launch of its next-generation portable sports camera - the Pixellot Air NXT. The FIBA-approved Air NXT comes with an array of enhanced features for a wide range of sports including Soccer, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Football, Lacrosse, and Field Hockey. The Pixellot Air NXT boasts a number of upgrades including new digital stereo microphones, smoother video powered by NVidia technology, and up to four times more storage. It also seamlessly integrates with Pixellot’s coaching, analytics, and OTT platform – a single eco-system for easy video and data management.

Queensland-based fitness engagement platform Coach Welly has announced a partnership with Fitness and Lifestyle Group's Goodlife Health Clubs and Fitness First Australia to bring innovative health and wellbeing offerings to employees across Government, Medical and Enterprise Business in Australia. The partnership strengthen Coach Welly's commitment to helping people measurably improve their health and wellbeing.

Drake Star, a sportstech investment advisory specialist, has released its H1 2024 Sportstech Report. With over $US 27 billion in disclosed value through 225 M&A deals, H1 2024 represented the strongest ever first half of a year (# of deals) with more than triple the disclosed deal value of H2 2023. Top investors focused on early-to-late-stage financings include Ryan Sports Ventures, Will Ventures, and Phoenix Capital Partners, while seed stage investment activity was led by Eberg Capital, Antler, and Elevate Ventures. The large pool of capital raised in 2023 in still largely undeployed and with growing investor interest in the sports tech ecosystem, Drake Star expect this pool to be put to good use in the coming year.

MyVenue is the first sports & entertainment point-of-sale solution certified by FreedomPay on Castles Technology's Portable Android Series POS devices. The all-in-one handheld POS device with MyVenue’s cloud-based solution is now live at multiple North American major league and college venues. The compact devices are the first fully integrated handheld POS with EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Vis) reader, printer, 4G, and Wi-Fi connectivity certified on FreedomPay’s P2PE-compliant (point-to-point encryption) payment gateway. FreedomPay is one of the world's leading independent payment gateways.

Toca Football, Inc., a soccer experience company, has raised approximately $USD 100 million in Series F funding. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its global growth by investing in new technologies, upgrading its TOCA Soccer training centers, and opening additional soccer-themed TOCA Social entertainment venues. TOCA Soccer operates 39 tech-enabled soccer training centers in North America. TOCA Social is a new soccer-themed entertainment and dining venue, operating in London and Birmingham.

In mid-September 2024, Newcastle based live-streaming company BarTV Sports marked a significant milestone, having given back over $AUD 1 million to local grassroots sporting competitions through their innovative subscription model. More than 20 competitions have signed on with BarTV Sports’ subscription service since its inception, making the company one of the most prolific live streaming organisations in Australia. Popular with sports like rugby league and with an emphasis on promoting women and juniors, the company has grown year on year, producing more than 8000 matches so far in 2024.

The best and brightest in world sport will again travel to Victoria in 2025 for SportNXT Melbourne – Victoria’s sport business summit. Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos today announced the three-day event will return to Melbourne next March bringing a host of high-profile speakers from around the world to discuss the latest in the business of sport. The SportNXT summit brings attendees from a wide range of organisations including previously, the NFL, the Walt Disney Company, NBA and Australian Sports Commission. The 2024 summit welcomed almost 1,000 attendees and included an issues rich program including the latest in sports technology.

Springbok Analytics, a life sciences muscle analytics company, announced that it has received FDA 510(k) Clearance for MuscleView™, its AI-based muscle health analysis of MR images. Springbok's technology comprehensively measures musculoskeletal structures from a wide range of MR systems, strengths, and sequences, producing personalized 3D visualizations and analyses of muscle health including individual muscle volume, left-right muscle asymmetry, bone volume and intramuscular fat percentage. Springbok is providing a new way for life sciences, elite sports and human performance organizations to deliver precision medicine to the individual at scale.

Seven West Media’s community sport streaming platform Streamer saw more than 4.3 million minutes of local sport watched on the platform in September. The September tally was up 110% year-on-year, continuing the growth of the grassroots platform since its launch in early 2022. Australian Rules football, netball, hockey, skateboarding, school athletics and curling were some of the sports featuring in 188 matches broadcast in the final month of the winter sporting season.

Rosterfy, the world’s leading volunteer management software provider  has unveiled the launch of its revolutionary Volunteer App Years in the making, the Rosterfy Volunteer App marks a significant milestone in the company’s mission to innovate by making volunteering more accessible, encouraging more people to connect to causes they are passionate about. Available to Rosterfy customers and their volunteers and designed with the volunteer experience at the forefront, the Rosterfy Volunteer App will change the way volunteers find, apply and engage with their opportunities.  

SportsTechX, a leading global research firm specializing in the sports technology sector, has announced its new role as the "Official Research Partner" at the International Sports Technology Association (ISTA). Through this collaboration, SportsTechX will provide ISTA and its partners with comprehensive custom research services, offer data driven reports, and thoughtful market analysis covering emerging buyer trends, investments, and market dynamics within the expanding sports technology sector. 

Liveheats has signed a landmark deal with the largest youth action sports organization in the world - USASA United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association. USASA will be using Liveheats as its operating platform for membership, event registration, draws & startlists, live scoring, national rankings and more. Over 5,000 athletes compete in over 500 events through USASA.

Zwift has unveiled its most significant racing update yet, the Zwift Racing Score, designed to make its virtual cycling platform more competitive, fairer, and accessible than ever before. The Zwift Racing Score introduces a new ranking system that reflects each rider's current fitness and racing skill. This ensures participants are matched with others of similar abilities, making races more competitive and allowing riders to steadily climb the ranks. The Zwift Racing Score is a value ranging from 0 to 1,000, with higher numbers reflecting superior fitness and racing ability. It factors in both a rider's power data – based on their best 30-second and 10-minute efforts from the past 90 days – and their finishing positions in races.

Australian Oztag is excited to announce a partnership with etrainu, an innovator in online learning solutions, to launch The Hub, a new digital platform designed to streamline referee accreditation and training. This partnership will standardise accreditation for referees within Oztag. With over 5,000 referees set to use the platform, Oztag will seamlessly combine on-field assessments with online learning to streamline the referee accreditation process. This will support their growing membership base of 150,000+ players. 

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Katy Perry’s AFL Grand Final performance is another signal that the use of mixed reality in Australian sports presentation is on the rise. A consortium including Champion Data, Mushroom Events, Silent Partners Studio, Vizrt, NEP Group, Inc., and Seven Network, joined forces with Katy Perry to help deliver a groundbreaking transformation to the Telstra pre-match entertainment at the 2024 AFL Grand Final in front of more than 100,000 fans. Daylight often presents significant limitations to the in-stadium entertainment spectacle, but by using cutting-edge “Virtual Camera” and Augmented Reality technology to deliver dynamic, automated graphic scenes, Katy Perry’s electrifying performance was elevated to new heights. 

Genius Sports has announced the launch of its fan activation platform FANHub, the only omnichannel marketing platform custom-built to reach and engage sports fans. Capitalizing on 20+ years of experience in data collection, curation, and activation and harnessing direct global relationships with 400+ leagues and teams including the NFL and NCAA, Genius Sports created FANHub to give marketers an easy-to-use platform, which combines programmatic and social media buying capabilities built with a sports-first mentality.

PAM’s Smarter Navigation for the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix has been named a finalist for the AV Fan Experience Award at the TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Awards 2024. This award recognizes the best in integrated audio, video, display, and digital sensor technology to enhance fan engagement. PAM has been recognized alongside other projects such as BMW Park, Intuit Dome, and Sphere Entertainment Co. Winners are announced on December 3 at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester

Broadcasting tech company Layercake has been shortlisted for the SportsPro 2024 OTT Awards in the Best Startup Category. The OTT Awards is a celebration of the trailblazers in the world of sports broadcasting and streaming, spotlighting the platforms, content creators and innovations that are redefining the way sports is consumed worldwide. Layercake provides two broadcasting and content asset solutions which include Streamcake and Mediacake.

BetMGM, a leading sports betting and iGaming operator, has announced that it is teaming up with sports gamification and content provider GTG Network (GTG) to deliver customized content and betting insights for sports fans. The multi-year agreement will roll out in phases, beginning with direct-to-consumer content followed by in-app product integrations. BetMGM will use GTG’s proprietary content engine to launch the partnership, harnessing trillions of data points to share valuable market insights, player statistics and win probabilities for MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, college basketball and college football. BetMGM’s emails, social media and blog, The Roar, will feature GTG-powered player and team insights. The partnership will eventually expand to cover all major sports.

SpeedSig, a Perth-based sports data analysts software solution is revolutionising the way athletes and teams monitor injuries while leveraging pre-existing motion capture technology. By combining complex algorithms with a user-friendly interface, SpeedSig provides teams with actionable insights that enhance player performance while reducing the risk of injury. After a trip to the US in early 2024 several US College and NFL teams signed on as his first clients, which has caused a domino effect that paved the way for greater market access.

DMC Sport & Netball New Zealand have announced the continuation of their partnership for a further 4 years that will see DMC Sport provide solutions for the futureFerns programme as well as the Silver Ferns merch. DMC Sport are specialists in game development and participant engagement and will deliver the entry-level Woolworths futureFERNS programme through to Silver Fans fans. 

OneFootball, a leading digital football media platform, and Major League Soccer (MLS) announced an agreement to showcase MLS to a wider international audience. This new program OneFootball becomes an official content distribution partner for MLS worldwide. The partnership will grant OneFootball access to MLS highlights, covering hundreds of MLS matches, MLS NEXT Pro matches, and MLS NEXT matches per season. he partnership will also leverage OneFootball’s video player network, which includes the newly announced co-branded content hub with Yahoo! Sports

VueMotion has been nominated as a finalist in the 2024 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence. Since their inception in 2021, these awards continue to spotlight pioneering companies that are driving innovation - including within this all-important Health-tech category.VueMotion powers better quality movement in sport and health with world-leading Computer Vision & AI. Other finalists in this category include Navbit, Artrya Ltd and nuroflux.The winner will be announced on 30th October 2024.

The FIA has announced that it has entered into an Official Licensing agreement with Next Level Racing – a global manufacturer and distributor of industry-leading simulator seats and cockpits. Next Level Racing will deliver FIA Official Licensed Products in over 50 countries, with the latest gear available both commercial and private customers maximising the potential reach for this growing motor sport discipline.

Sunshine Coast schools will be able to embed sports tech teaching into their curriculum through a partnership between industry and Council. Sunshine Coast Council has joined forces with Sports Tech College to provide students a stepping stone into the emerging multibillion-dollar industry. Mayor Rosanna Natoli said the collaboration would make a sports technology, sports digital and sports innovation curriculum available to the region’s primary and secondary schools, with council funding the program over the next three years.

Sportstech companies Vue Motion and 1080 Motion have collaborated to improve athletic movement analysis. This combines both kinematic and kinetic outputs to test a range of athletic-based movements. 1010 Motion are leaders in robotic technologies for neuromuscular testing and training in sports and rehabilitation. Vue Motion specialises in development of video and data analytics for athletic movement using computer visioning, AI machine learning and augmented reality. The technologies are crucial for decision making when it comes to interventions for improving performance, injury prevention and rehabilitation. 

The rise of weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy has added momentum to Australian fitness technology company Evolt which has just raised $20 million in fresh capital to drive international growth ahead of a potential stock market listing. The Gold Coast-based Evolt, formerly known as Evolt 360, has secured $20 million in fresh capital backed by existing investors Regal Funds and Washington Soul Pattinson. Its bioimpedance scanners are registered with the FDA and TGA, while they are also CE approved for distribution in the European Union. Evolt has revealed that it conducted more than 2.3 million scans in FY24, representing a 57 per cent increase on the previous year.

MLS announced the six companies selected for the second edition of the MLS Innovation Lab, a pioneering initiative shaping the future of sports and the league's continued growth. The project identifies and nurtures cutting-edge startups and advanced technologies, and the new cohort will enhance the league's key priority areas of fan engagement, on-field performance, and media technology. Select organizations will also be invited to present to MLS executives and owners at the second “Future of the Game Showcase” during the 2025 MLS All-Star Game in Austin.

Synergy Fitness, a pioneer in strength equipment manufacturing since 1976, has announced its merger with South Korea's leading fitness equipment brand, DRAX Inc. The two companies have joined forces under the new name DRAX Fitness Australia, marking a major step in expanding their presence and enhancing their product offerings across the global fitness industry. Over almost five decades, Synergy Fitness has built a strong reputation for high-quality, durable strength equipment that serves commercial gyms, sports facilities, and fitness centres worldwide.

VALD, a global health technology company and the system of choice for musculoskeletal (“MSK”) health professionals has announced a significant growth equity investment from FTV Capital. The undisclosed investment will enable VALD to grow its global team into new markets, launch new product offerings and capabilities, and continue to utilize AI to create unique applications for the company’s industry-leading, proprietary dataset of tens of millions of MSK health records. VALD also serves blue-chip sports customers including over 75 percent of all major league US sports franchises (e.g., NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS), over 90 percent of Power 5 NCAA colleges, 20 Premier League teams.

A total of $AUD 8.5 million in grants have been awarded to 12 quantum technology projects led by 5 Queensland-based universities as part of the Department of Environment, Science, and Innovation's Queensland Quantum and Advanced Technologies Strategy. The Quantum 2032 Challenge aims to accelerate the development of quantum and advanced technologies products and applications, attract investment and foster collaboration, build a skilled quantum workforce, accelerate decarbonisation efforts, and promote quantum-based innovations to support the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Projects focused on athlete performance theme including concussion diagnosis, wearables technologies, hydration and anti-doping as well as large-scale event-based themes including transport, communications and security.

After doubling customer deployments in the past 12 months, MyVenue has been named the 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards (SA) winner for Outstanding Growth. MyVenue supports more than 140 venues across Australia, the US, Canada, and the UK using our next-gen POS solution. Their growth has been underpinned by proactive product development, ongoing investment in cybersecurity, and building support capacity.

German healthtech EGYM has raised approximately $US 200 million of growth capital at a valuation of over $US 1 billion from L Catterton, a leading global consumer-focused investment firm, and Meritech Capital, a leading Silicon Valley technology-focused venture firm. The investment will support the continued expansion of the EGYM Wellpass corporate wellness network and further development of innovative digital solutions, smart strength equipment and tech-enabled products for data-driven and personalized training, allowing fitness club operators to deliver a distinctive experience to its members.

Uplift Labs has built a reputation with movement analysis software widely used by college and professional sports teams.With just a pair of tripod-mounted iPhones or iPads, the company’s Uplift Capture software can use sophisticated computer vision techniques to track how athletes move, evaluate their performance, and offer guidance to avoid injuries. The company is offering a new app—simply called Uplift—designed for individual athletes. The app allows users to track their jumping performance which can be used as part of tracking their overall athletic performance.

As part of its mission to bridge the worlds of sports and crypto, the Chiliz Group is launching Chiliz Sports an independent division that will focus on leveraging the Group’s position as a pioneer in sports and blockchain to foster business opportunities between sports and brands. The Chiliz Group launched of the Socios.com platform and the first Fan Tokens in 2018. Over 70 organizations across nine sport verticals relying on them to grow, engage with, and reward their digital communities. In 2023, Chiliz took a further step in its mission with the launch of the Chiliz Chain. The Sports Blockchain currently hosts a growing ecosystem of over 150 brands and organizations from sports, crypto, and beyond, all of which work together to drive and promote innovation.

TAB and ESPN have joined forces to launch a new podcast, 'ESPN Hoops & Hits', aimed at the burgeoning interest in American sports among Australian fans. The podcast aims to provide a local perspective on major US sports for Australian fans and punters. The podcast is a result of TAB's exclusive wagering partnerships with the NFL and NBA, and ESPN's local and US sports coverage. 

Tennis Australia have launched the AO Schools Block Buster Tennis Challenge in collaboration with the Australian Esports League (AEL) as part of its Minecraft Education Esports Program in Schools. The Challenge is open to Years 4-11 across the nation and is designed to inspire creativity and teamwork, emphasising STEM skills and sustainable design, and encouraging students to integrate eco-friendly features. The prize pool for the Challenge is more than $25,000, with winners to be announced in December.

Perth-based cycling equipment company, Cycliq has been recognized with a Good Design Award in the Product Design category at the 2024 Australian Good Design Awards. They were acknowledged as setting a new standard in cycling safety with its integration of a 4K camera and dual-lens LED illumination with its Fly6 Pro product. The advanced design was recognised for not only improving safety but also providing a valuable tool for recording and reviewing cycling experiences.

STEPN GO have announced the continuation of their collaboration with adidas through the launch of the STEPN GO x adidas Genesis Sneakers, an exclusive NFT collection. This is the second phase of a year-long partnership, following the successful April 2024 launch of the STEPN x adidas Genesis Sneakers, which saw the two brands collaborating to blend fitness and digital fashion. The new Genesis collection will be available exclusively on STEPN GO and through a raffle mint on MOOAR, FSL’s NFT marketplace. A total of 1,000 Genesis Sneakers will be up for grabs at 10,000 GMT per entry, with a refund provided for those who don’t win. The partnership highlights adidas’ commitment to exploring the future of wearables in the Web3 space, with more exciting projects to follow.

Xplor Technologies, a global leader in software, payments, and growth solutions for the fitness industry, has announced the official launch of Xplor Gym in Australia and New Zealand. This platform is specifically designed to streamline gym operations, enhance member engagement, and drive business growth for gyms, fitness centres, and health clubs across the region. Xplor Gym is used by over 2,500 gyms across 20 countries.

The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) have appointed sports production company JAM TV and global media services and facilities provider EMG/Gravity Media as the new production partners of the A-Leagues. The appointment follows a three-month tender process, and will see JAM TV and EMG/Gravity Media produce all Ninja A-League Women and Isuzu UTE A-League Men matches for the next two seasons for broadcaster Network Ten and Paramount+.

ActiveKIT (Knowledge | Innovation | Technology) is a call to action to ‘shift the dial’ on investment in the Active Industry to drive physical activity participation in Queensland. The initiative aims to encourage better utilisation of knowledge, harnessing innovation and leveraging technology to enable more Queenslanders to be physically active more often,. A total of 47 innovation solutions totaling $AUD 4.3 million in grants were awards in the Super Round of funding. There were a number of sports-tech related projects awarded grants which included GravityFit, Champion Life, Chicks Who Ride Bikes and Cinema on the Fly

Champions Innovate is a programme designed to solve modern, meaningful and relevant challenges identified by UEFA and the host city of the Champions League final. The UEFA Innovation Hub launched this program last season, culminating in a successful first edition around the 2024 final in London. The aim of the program is to foster collaboration between commercial partners, innovative companies and the city (and national association) hosting the climax of the European club season, with the objective of leaving a lasting, positive impact. This year the collaborative partnership program includes the City of Munich, the German Football Association (DFB) and UEFA Champions League commercial partners Mastercard and adidas.

Global sports broadcast platform, DAZN, has recently announced a partnership with Tradable Bits, a leading provider of fan engagement, data, and marketing solutions, to enhance sports telecasts in Taiwan. The companies will pilot a series of activations designed to increase viewers’ engagement with content before, during, and after sports events. Fans who interact with DAZN’s content by scanning QR codes that appear in telecasts will have a chance to be rewarded with prizes, merchandise, game tickets, and more.

Hudl will be the exclusive performance technology partner for Rush Soccer—which includes video, data and analytics on all of its 55,000+ athletes. Rush Soccer will integrate Hudl Focus Cameras, allowing member clubs the opportunity to capture and analyze every aspect of their games—whether home or away.