Sportstech & Member News

Epicore Biosystems, a digital health solutions company developing advanced sweat-sensing wearables to provide real-time personalized hydration insights for performance and safety, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have partnered to bring Epicore’s novel biosensing capabilities to the anti-doping world as a new drug detection method to complement existing urine and blood collections.

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.

GameDay, powered by Stack Sports, are delighted to announce that we have extended our working relationship with Basketball New Zealand for a further three years. Basketball NZ use GameDay’s market-leading product suite at a national level, providing it to all of their 35 affiliated associations. They are also able to adopt GameDay technology for a number of processes, including database registration, competition and event management.

Next week, LiveHeats competition and results platform will be powering the very first freeski / snowboard competition to run in Saudi Arabia - the Snowblast Cup at Al Malqa, Riyadh. The event will feature a range of distinctive winter experiences for visitors, aiming to promote the sport and create local and international skiing competitions. The global event features skiing and snowboarding performances, along with the participation of 30 world and Olympic champions in skiing sports.

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.

Five months ago, Confluent announced the Data Streaming Startup Challenge. This exciting new initiative aims to recognize and reward early-stage startups that are building innovative applications and redefining industries with data streaming and Confluent. ASTN member, TwinLabs.ai has been announced as one of three finalists in this inaugural challenge. TwinLabs.ai is a real-time SaaS digital twin platform that makes digital twins easy using AI. The TwinLabs.ai platform is initially focused on the sports and entertainment industry and can be used to monitor events and venues in real time, from venue asset utilization, festival crowds and race vehicle management to environmental impact.

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.

Utilised at the recently completed Australia Open, Stats Perform have built a model that uses millions of granular tracking data points to provide insight into how “predictable” a player is in any given situation and anticipate the zone their next shot may land in. The shot model is also tied to other predictions within a match like Stats Perform's point-win probability model, tournament predictor and player rankings.

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.

The Fremantle Dockers have launched an educational hub to help support education in Western Australian schools. This digital platform offers teachers free access to a variety of resources including lesson plans, curriculum links, interactive content, videos, and articles. Tailored for students from Pre-Primary to Year 6, the hub covers topics such as fundamental movement skills, healthy eating, physical activity, wellbeing, resilience, respect, and positive role models. 

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. 

Across the sports industry, various organizations have been leveraging Roblox to reach young audiences. In addition to popular US-based leagues such as the NFL, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA, international organizations have also activated on the platform including Manchester City, FIFA, Wimbledon, and F1 racing team McLaren. One sports organization that was relatively early to Roblox and that continues to build on the platform is Tennis Australia, the group responsible for hosting the Australian Open tennis tournament. Tennis Australia have just updated their AO Adventure experience on Roblox to coincide with their latest 2024 tournament,

Advance Queensland (an initiative of the State Government of Queensland) has launched a Private Sector Pathways (PSP) Challenge is aimed at finding innovative Queensland based organisations that can apply their solutions to enhance sport participation and performance for people with all forms of disabilities.

The winning proposal(s) will be selected based on its innovation, feasibility, impact, and alignment with the challenge objectives. The successful applicant will receive grant funding of up to $100,000 (excluding GST) through the Advance Queensland initiative, to develop and pilot their proposed solution for up to 6-8 months with QAS and Sport and Recreation stakeholders. $300,000 is available for this PSP Challenge, more than one applicant may be awarded a grant to participate. Applications close 26 March 2024.

Euroleague Basketball and SPORTPASS, a fan engagement and gaming platform, are collaborating to reinforce Euroleague Basketball’s gamification strategy. The collaboration announced today will create a Euroleague-themed gaming platform targeting the Gen Z fanbase, merging the thrills and culture of sports in a digital offering with a number of game experiences, rewards, in-game collectibles, and more.

EngageRM has announced an agreement with the Miami HEAT. The HEAT will leverage EngageRM's full suite of CRM modules, spanning premium sales and ticketing, partnerships sales and management, event management, and customer services management. 

HITIQ today announced it has executed an agreement with UK Sports Institute (UKSI), the United Kingdom's high-performance sports institute to supply its concussion management technology across the UK's elite sports ecosystem, expanding the Company’s global footprint. UKSI will implement HITIQ's CSX concussion management platform across 25 National Governing Body Sports Programs, onboarding 1,050 athletes. T

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.

ECAL has announced its partnership with World Athletics, the governing body for track and field worldwide, to deliver a sophisticated digital calendar experience aimed at engaging fans and participants across the globe, as one part of a larger digital transformation strategy. This new partnership with World Athletics reinforces ECAL’s digital calendar marketing solution as a ‘must have’ piece of the broader digital transformation puzzle, for leading sports federations wanting to implement a modernised digital solution stack to deliver an improved online and mobile experience, with greater engagement, enhanced communications, personalisation, user data and insights.

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.

Australian sportstech company, EngageRM, has just released its Ticketing Whitepaper focused on the sports & entertainment industry. The Whitepaper explores the implications of having access to real-time customer data during an event, which takes personalization to a whole new level, generating new revenue streams and optimizing the fan experience.

Tiparra has announced a collaboration with the ACT Brumbies, providing a new and improved Brumbies App for the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season. The upcoming 2024 Brumbies App will feature a host of enhancements designed to deepen fan connection and engagement, ensuring supporters have the best possible access to their team. 

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.

MyVenue, a South Australian company that specialises in point-of-sale software, purpose-built for stadiums, arenas and hospitality venues, has grown its exports in the United States market to $7.3 million in the past year. The company, which started in 2020, secured its first customer in the US in 2021 – a minor league baseball stadium and since then, MyVenue has deployed its technology in 78 venues across the US, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia – including stadiums hosting the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins.

iReel, an Australian technology company at the forefront of revolutionising the sport and health industries through the power of generative AI and VR/AR, has announced that it has been accepted into Austrade's US Export Acceleration Bootcamp. The Bootcamp which runs from 15-26 May will equip iReel with foundations to expand its journey into the US.

The Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) as announced a new partnership with Cape Bionics, a pioneering leader in compression technology. Cape compression garments are sized to an individual athlete based on a 3D body scan, meaning each garment is completely custom fitted and unique to each limb. Each Cape garment is a Class 1 medical device. Cape have developed optimum compression regimes for travel, recovery, performance and rehabilitation

Bupa today announced the launch of a new $20 million Bupa Ventures Fund to support and invest in start-ups that are focused on developing innovative models of healthcare that enable better health outcomes. Bupa Ventures has been set up to support the early funding rounds of start-ups who are at the Seed – Series A stage of development.

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. 

Today IMG announced the launch of their new website www.imgvideoarchive.com for the IMG Video Archive service. It contains some of the world's best sports video content from leading sports federations. Linius is powering the new Advanced Search feature through our Linius Whizzard product. This feature allows users to find highly detailed, specific moments from this archive faster than ever, and to combine these moments into video projects and collections for a wide variety of use cases.

The Connected Health & Fitness Summit, a two-day event bringing together leaders from the top fitness and wellness brands, has named Coach Welly and Gainful as the winning companies of its prestigious Innovation Showcase. Winning in the Innovation Showcase’s Fitness & Fitness Tech category was Coach Welly, an Australian health tech platform offering an app that rewards gym members with personalized tracking and gamification software. World Gym Australia recently tapped the fitness engagement company to enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction in its 230-plus locations.

Australia’s Rosterfy is managing the 5,000+ volunteers at this year’s Super Bowl – for the eighth year in a row. The Aussie company is behind some of the world’s largest events, including South by Southwest (SXSW) and the London Marathon. Rosterfy’s cloud-based volunteer engagement platform automates the volunteer recruitment, screening, training and scheduling process. In 2019, Rosterfy launched in the US and UK. Today, the company is managing 3 million volunteers in 26 countries.

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.

Today, Catapult announced an inaugural league-wide partnership with the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). This collaboration marks a significant chapter in women’s hockey, empowering all six PWHL teams with Video Analysis solutions, enhancing game strategies and performance analysis.

A new cyber insights report from CyberCX has found that the global sporting sector faces an increasingly hazardous cyber threat landscape as a broad range of threat actors demonstrate intent and capability to target sporting organisations and major events, with Australia becoming an increasingly attractive target.

Play Today officially launches Golf Ai, the next generation Golf Ai service for the golf industry. Play Today is solving a centuries-long dilemma – how to make sense of the golf rules! Not only has the Australian-based company unlocked a complicated and nuanced problem, but they’ve gone a step further to enable frictionless and fun ways for consumers to interact with golf.

IDA Sports - an athletic footwear brand dedicated to prioritizing high performance and comfortable gear for women and girls - has announced the launch of its Spring/Summer soccer cleat line. These revolutionary soccer shoes are designed to empower athletes while addressing the unique challenges women and girls face, including ACL injuries. Beginning February 5, 2024, IDA Sports spring/summer 2024 shoes are available online for purchase on idasports.com and through select retail partners, including Dick’s Sporting Goods. 

Total Performance Data and tripleSdata have come together to create the world’s largest automated distributor of live horse racing performance data to racecourses, stakeholders, bookmakers, media and racing fans. The merger will result in the combined company supplying live and post-race performance data from over 100 racetracks in 11 different countries, 365 days a year.  

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.

ASTN member Gerford AI has been chosen as one of 10 global startups to present new technologies and potential solutions at the annual ICE365 Conference in London this week. Details of the selected startups are at: https://www.icegaming.com/features/fast-forward

A new world-first protective armour, designed for women, is set to be a "game changer" for female contact sports – hopefully prolonging careers and minimising injuries. The prototype works like an airbag, absorbing energy and using viscoelastic memory foam to push the impact back away from the player. Bond University players will test out the new armour in a three-stage clinical trial and a global retail roll-out will take place.

Next Level Racing has announced a new chapter in their collaboration with Microsoft Flight Simulator, as they launch the inaugural community fly-in event. This online gaming event is set to unite flight simulation enthusiasts from across the MSFS and Next Level Racing communities, as they embark on a virtual flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast. The event is scheduled to take flight on February 8th at 0200Z for two hours, offering participants the chance to navigate the iconic route, famed for its breathtaking scenery and challenging flight paths. 

Renowned for revolutionising the smartphone mounting space, Quad Lock has entered the action camera market, introducing two new adaptors to expand its mounting solution ecosystem. These new adaptors will empower users to capture and share their adventures with ease and confidence, helping to solidify Quadlock's position as the most intuitive mounting solution on the market.

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.