Sportstech & Member News

Advance Queensland, in partnership with the NRL and the ASTN (Australian Sports Technologies Network) is launching a 10-week NRL Magic Round Tech Sprint. The program will support up to eight Queensland-based innovative businesses as they collaborate with NRL subject matter experts to refine and adapt their tech to meet the needs of the NRL and its clubs. Each successful business will receive $AUD 25,000 in funding to participate. The program kicks off from February to May 2025, with the showcase event held during the 2025 NRL Magic Round week.

The Sporting News has announced a partnership with global sports streaming platform DAZN, which will see the digital website support commercialising DAZN’s content and channels in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, DAZN’s sports and entertainment content and channels generate more than 8 million long form, brand safe streams a month on YouTube, which can now be directly targeted through contextual ad campaigns.

The global value of sports media rights has broken the $US 60 billion barrier for the first time, boosted by the Summer Olympic Games and UEFA Euro 2024, according to the new SportBusiness Global Media Report. The total value stands at $US 62.6 billion for 2024, a 12 percent increase on last year’s figure of $US 55.9 billion, with the year-on-year growth propelled by the presence this year of several marquee global events. Soccer and American football dominate, together bringing in 54.5 per cent of the overall value. 

Leading activity tracking platform Strava has updated its API agreement, restricting user data on third-party platforms. Users can no longer publicly share metrics with connected apps, while developers are prohibited from utilizing the data for visualizations, coaching, or training AI. Strava counts 125 million users across 190 countries logging 40 million activities per week. For Strava, criticisms over privacy and experimental features like AI analysis warrant a tighter grip on the reins, shielding its wealth of data while keeping users engaged in its ecosystem.

Teamworks, a leading enterprise SaaS company serving 99% of Division 1 NCAA institutions, has announced the acquisition of Basepath, a leading NIL Operations Software that automates tasks, contracts, communication and finances for NIL stakeholders and student-athletes. Teamworks provides a consolidated tech stack to power every function within the Athletic Department. Specifically for NIL, 240+ D1 Universities and 100,000+ student-athletes have adopted Teamworks 'Influencer' to manage content, deals, and transactions. Basepath is used by more than 75 campuses and delivering over $100M payments to student-athletes.

Rookie Me has announced a new partnership with the Melbourne Central Basketball Association (MCBA), serving as the naming rights sponsor of the Melbourne Tigers representative program. As the Official High Performance Partner, Rookie Me will support the Tigers’ commitment to investing in athlete development through innovative technology and expert guidance in high performance, and strength and conditioning. 

Sportradar, a global sports data and technology company, has entered into a multiyear agreement with Major League Baseball (MLB) to augment the league's scouting of amateur baseball talent through its Synergy Coaching and Scouting solution. The partnership aims to transform the evaluation of player potential using Sportradar's advanced technological platform. The deal grants MLB and its 30 clubs access to an extensive range of player analysis and insights, with event coverage expanding from 3,300 to over 20,000 games (including college, international, and leading amateur leagues, including the MLB Draft League and high school events).

Australia's leading 200m runner, Gout Gout, is rewriting with record-breaking sprints that have shaken up the athletics world. This 16-year-old prodigy has not only set new standards but has a secret weapon that's amplifying his performance - VueMotion. Vuemotion, an AI-powered video assessment tool, is used by Gout's coach Dianne Sheppard and allows her to identify and address specific areas for improvement in real-time. VueMotion enables coaches and athletes to refine technique, correct imbalances and better understand movement.

Athletics Ventures, led by former AFL star Matt De Boer and basketballer Matthew Dellavedova is planning to raise at least $AUD 25 million for its early-stage venture capital limited partnership (ESVCLP). Athletic Ventures has backed the likes of Mexican-themed fast-food chain GYG, Ozempic seller Eucalyptus and electric golf buggy maker MGI.

Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) can confirm that its TV arm, Rainmaker, will produce programs for the Seven Network’s weekday AFL programming slate in 2025. Rainmaker has entered into a commercial partnership with Seven, which will see the production of three new shows each week. News and opinion driven ‘The Agenda Setters’ will air each Monday and Tuesday night, produced live from Rainmaker’s TV studios at SEN’s Southbank offices.

VANAD Group, a global family-owned enterprise with over 1,500 employees, has acquired SciSports, a market leader in sports technology, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. SciSports, headquartered in Europe with operations in North America, empowers football organizations with actionable insights to enhance performance and strategic decision-making. The company collaborates with players, clubs, and federations to support strategic decision-making and team development. SciSports will leverage VANAD Group’s financial strength and strategic guidance to enhance its technology offering, scale operations, and expand its footprint in both Europe and North America. 

Sports streamer DAZN is a contender to acquire Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation’s majority stake in Australian pay-TV business Foxtel, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR). The outlet reports that most of DAZN’s takeover interest has been focused on the sports rights owned by Foxtel. News Corp confirmed in August that its stake in Foxtel was up for sale. Foxtel has 3.22 million streaming subscribers and an additional 1.42 million cable subscribers. Of its streaming subscriber total, Kayo Sports, its over-the-top (OTT) sports streaming platform, accounts for 1.51 million – a seven per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase.

Playbk Sports, one of Australia’s leading provider of bespoke eLearning and fitness technology solutions, has partnered with the Brisbane Bullets to develop Bullets Assist, an innovative Learning Management System (LMS) designed to assist young athletes and educators in achieving success both on and off the court. Set to launch in early 2025, Bullets Assist will deliver dynamic and accessible learning resources to educators and young athletes across Queensland, fostering skills, passion and holistic development both on and off the court.

Sony has won the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) media rights for the 2024-31 cycle at a base price of $US 170 million via an e-auction process. It was an increase of 70% from the previous cycle where Disney-Star had the Asia Cup rights at $US 100 million between 2016-2023. Sony was the only participant as Jio-Disney did not turn up to the e-auction.

Women’s Elite Rugby (WER), the first professional women’s rugby league in the United States, has signed a landmark deal with Lumin Sports ahead of its inaugural 2025 season. The deal will see WER supply each of its six foundation teams with access to Lumin Sports. Lumin Sports is an Australian technology company that’s developed one app for performance monitoring, strength & conditioning programming as well as medical and team operation needs.

Premier League clubs have unanimously agreed that the Premier League will establish a new in-house media operations business. Launching for the start of Season 2026/27, the Premier League will bring all international media content production and distribution in-house. For 20 years, this service has been provided in partnership with IMG, operating as Premier League Productions (PLP). The two organisations will continue to deliver the next two Premier League seasons to broadcasters.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks NBA superstar has announced the launch of Build Your Legacy (BYL) Ventures, a venture capital fund that will focus on investments in sports, entertainment and technology. Antetokounmpo, the two-time NBA MVP from Greece, is hoping to help connect entrepreneurs with investors who will be able to grow their businesses. The fund has already invested in Unrivaled, the new women's 3-on-3 basketball league.

Disability and inclusion facilities access app Cérge has won the 2024 Queensland Sports Innovation of the Year. The awards were supported by QSport, the Queensland Government and QUT Sport. The award elevates Cérge's mission to make the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games the most inclusive and accessible in history, through the use of advanced technology.  

SLOCOACH has announced an official partnership with USA Flag to revolutionise the way Flag Football is coached, learned, and played. Together, they are building an educational and accreditation platform designed to empower coaches, officials, and players as they prepare for the 2028 Olympics. The online platform will provide world-class training resources to nurturing grassroots programs, making Flag Football more accessible, inclusive, and impactful on a global scale.

A passionate group of entrepreneurial fans, former players, and investors have teamed up to launch Fanstake, the first open and competitive fan-driven Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) platform. Fanstake enables college sports fans to directly influence athlete recruitment and retention by pledging money toward their favorite athletes' NIL endorsement deals. Fans can stake financial support to promising recruits, transfer players, or current athletes, with funds going directly to the athlete’s endorsement deal with Fanstake if they choose the fan's school. Fanstake has raised $US 3 million in a pre-seed round led by Susa Ventures and Will Ventures,.

Ladder, the number one iOS app for strength training, announced it has raised $US 15 million in Series B funding led by Point72 Ventures and ADvantage VC. Ladder has also secured a $US 90 million growth investment from General Catalyst’s Customer Value strategy, to provide financing for customer acquisition costs. Following last year’s $US 12 million Series A raise, Ladder is on track to achieve 200% growth and reach 150,000 paid members by the end of 2024.

Hockey Australia has extended its partnership with SportsLink Travel, continuing its commitment as the non-exclusive Travel and Tour partner of Hockey Australia. SportsLink Travel’s all-inclusive, world-class travel package experiences saw hockey fans enjoy a stellar, action-packed 2024, with the opportunity to witness the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras at the peak of their game at international tournaments, including the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

Michael Jordan is putting money into Courtside Ventures, a VC fund focused on sports, lifestyle and gaming. The billionaire has invested in Courtside’s current round. In June, Courtside filed its plans to raise $100 million for its fourth fund. Courtside was founded in 2016, back when sports-focused funds, particularly in early-stage investing, were rare. The group currently has three funds, more than 100 investments and $200-plus million in assets under management. 

More details have emerged regarding King Salman Stadium, a planned 92,000-capacity stadium in the Saudi capital of Riyadh that has been designed by Populous. Plans for the project were first announced in July, and fresh images have now been released. The stadium is scheduled to open by the end of 2029 and would be used during the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which Saudi Arabia is set to be awarded hosting rights to. Populous is also working on other stadium projects in Saudi Arabia, including Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, King Fahad International Stadium and Aramco Stadium.

Smart ring maker Oura has hit a $US 5 billion valuation after raising a $US 75 million Series D from US continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) giant Dexcom. The two companies also announced a strategic partnership that will integrate products including Dexcom’s CGMs and Oura’s ring — which track users' sleep, physical activities and health data — and app. In June, Oura announced that it has sold 2.5m rings, and said it expects to see annual sales double in 2024 to roughly $US 500 million.

Traits Insights is barely two years old, but already the analytics startup is helping world-class sporting clubs gain a competitive edge and has attracted the attention of elite athletes globally. The company’s software platform helps professional sports teams translate complex performance data so they can identify players’ strengths, develop talent and make informed strategic decisions. Traits’ momentum has earned it backing from well-known investors, including venture capital fund Artesian and APEX Capital, a group comprised of professional athletes who invest in sports ventures. The APEX fund is backed by a group of 100 elite athletes from across the UK and Europe.

The Al Ain Chess and Mind Games Club, powered by Checkmate Live, has launched the E-chess Championship a global, multi-stage chess tournament with a $US 60,000 prize pool and a Grand Final in Al Ain, UAE, on December 22, 2024. Players can register for free, and compete across four regions of the world. Online Qualifiers start November 23-24 & November 30 - December 1.

Endeavor Group will sell its sports data businesses, OpenBet and IMG Arena, to management-led group OB Global backed by Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel for about $US 450 million. Both IMG Arena and OpenBet were put up for sale in August. IMG Arena delivers live streaming and data feeds for more than 65,000 events across multiple sports. Selling off non-core businesses like IMG Arena and OpenBet is a necessary move ahead of Silver Lake’s deal to take Endeavor private. Last month, as part of that larger deal, Endeavor agreed to sell its On Location, IMG and Professional Bull Riders businesses to its TKO Group Holdings in a $US3.25 billion deal.

TOD, the sports and entertainment streaming platform in the MENA region and a beIN Media Group company, has appointed LiveLike to enhance the TOD streaming platform. TOD and LiveLike will be implementing interactive and immersive experiences that aim to transform how fans connect with sports and entertainment. Launching early in 2025, this collaboration leverages gamification, loyalty, rewards, and live interaction to deliver a new streaming experience.

Whoopi Goldberg, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner and international streaming media company JungoTV, have announced the launch of All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN). It is the first global media channel dedicated exclusively to showcasing women’s sports. The international network is available on VIZIO WatchFree+ (United States), Jio TV and Jio TV+ (India), Evision (UAE/Saudi Arabia), and Jungo Pinoy (Philippines). AWSN's goal is to have the largest distributed female sports network in the world, digital or broadcast. The channel launches with live WNBL basketball and Hockey One League women's games on 13 November. AWSN already has content deals with UEFA, FIBA and a number of international women's soccer leagues.

Zhik, the high-performance sailing apparel brand, today announced the extension of their role as the Official Technical Partner to the United States SailGP Team. Through an extended partnership, the U.S. SailGP Team will wear Zhik-branded technical gear, including wetsuits and drysuits. SailGP, one of the world’s fastest-growing sports properties, launches its 2025 season in Dubai on November 23-24.    

The Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) is poised for an exciting new chapter, with the Wollemi Capital Group Syndicate (WCGS) and the National Basketball League (NBL) consortium finalising the agreement to acquire a majority interest in the League. The consortium will assume control of the WNBL on April 2, 2025, with Basketball Australia retaining a minority shareholding. This landmark agreement marks a transformative moment for women’s sports in Australia, setting the stage for unprecedented growth, investment, and opportunities in women’s basketball.

Athletes training at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) will use the best in fitness equipment and flooring thanks to a new partnership with AlphaFit. Established in 2012, the 100% Australian-owned family business manufactures gymnasium gear specifically made for the strength and conditioning and high-performance community.

Garmin announced its first UK-based retail store located in Southampton’s prestigious Westquay Shopping Centre.  The new retail store, which opened to the public on 6th November. The retail location showcases the company’s broad range of consumer electronics from smartwatches, cycling computers and golf devices as well as its products for cars and the marine industry.

Thee Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion has struck a deal around artificial intelligence (AI) with global technology giant IBM. Through a tie-up unveiled today, IBM becomes UFC's global AI partner. The deal involves the creation of an insights engine built by IBM’s data and AI platform, watsonx. The insights, graphics, and statistics – which will be IBM-branded – will be integrated into platforms such as pre-event programming, pay-per-view broadcasts, social media channels, and also in-venue video screens.

Catapult delivered a strong H1 2025 performance from its core SaaS verticals, with annualised contract value (ACV) growth of 20% year-on-year. ACV, Catapult’s leading indicator of future revenue, reached $US 96.8 million ($AUD 143 million). H1 2025 revenue increased to $US 57.8 million ($AUD 85 million), a 19% increase year-on-year. The result was driven by market segment expansion, new geography expansion and increased adoption of Catapult's New Video Solutions.

Fastbreak.ai, a leader in AI-driven scheduling solutions for the sports industry, is excited to announce its acquisition of SEQL, an innovative sports impact company dedicated to connecting youth athletes with life-changing resources from leading consumer brands, leagues, and cities. SEQL partners with top brands and organizations to provide student-athletes with free, high-quality media content, educational resources, and community-driven programs.

Sports league organization platform Volo Sports has attracted a $US 21 million investment from Bluestone Equity Partners to further its expansion, including through acquisitions. Volo Sports is the largest provider of social and recreational sports events in the US, organizing corporate and adult leagues as well as youth teams. The deal is the sixth investment for Bluestone from its inaugural $US 300 million fund launched last year.

The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) today announces its collaboration with the City of Perth to shine the spotlight on local sportstech leaders and highlight global trends in the industry during West Tech Fest 2024. With the support of a City of Perth , ASTN will host several industry events on 3rd December in Perth, focused on advancing the sportstech ecosystem. Activities will include an industry roundtable to explore growth strategies for Perth's sportstech sector, an investment pitching masterclass connecting startups with investors, and a networking event showcasing local sportstech companies while offering insights into global trends.

After winning the Inclusive Tech Challenge during the NRL Magic Round Tech Showcase Cérge's commitment to the Queensland Government, Advance Queensland and the Department of Sport, Racing and Olympic and Paralympic Games was to onboard 50 Sports Venues in 50 days. Cérge timed the start of the '50in50' with the introduction of new AI powered tools to support Site Consultants efficiently and consistently capture content. The solution aims to support confidence and participation for people with disability. 

The Victorian Government is currently hosting its first in-person Sports Economy Trade Mission to the Gulf - Saudi Arabia and UAE. Comprising 22 Victorian organisations, the delegation includes state sport bodies and leading providers in; sports technology, stadium & venue design, event & facilities management, broadcast, high performance, data analytics & research, and esports & mobile gaming. Victorian organisations on the Mission include CloudMix / 5stream, Australian Sports Technologies Network, Basketball Victoria, Belgravia Leisure, Catapult, Cox Architecture, Deakin University, ECAL, Fortress, Hospitality Solution Group, Incognitus, The Kinetica Group, Kronos, MX3 Diagnostics, Netball Victoria, PMY Group, Rosterfy, Savy Soda, smartform architecture SportNXT Sport and Recreation Victoria.

Thule Group has signed an agreement to acquire Quad Lock, the global market leader in performance phone mount solutions, giving cyclists, motorcyclists and other adventurers access to their mobile phones while being active. Quad Lock has a turnover of nearly $AUD 200 million per annum, with sales to approximately 100 countries of which 75 percent is via e-commerce direct-to-consumer. The purchase price amounts to $AUD 500 million, or approximately SEK 3.6 billion, which corresponds to a multiple of 10x EBITDA.

MYLAPS Sports Technology and tripleSdata have announced a long-term partnership to offer real-time data insights in horse racing. tripleSdata, headquartered in Australia, is a leader in racing data innovation who provide fully automated, real-time technology solutions for animal racing. Their systems are deployed at premier venues such as Randwick and Flemington, as well as major events such as The Melbourne Cup and The Everest. The MYLAPS ProChip System offers a cutting-edge timing solution tailored for professional equestrian sports and high-speed racing.

Software platform PushPress has raised $US 20 million in a Series B funding round that will set the stage for the software company to become the go-to platform for gym owners. The funding will drive several key initiatives, including elevating member and mobile app experiences, as well as developing new products to help gym owners streamline every aspect of their business. Altos Ventures led the round, which included participation from StepStone and Mucker Capital. 

Australians are choosing to exercise alone or with friends or family instead of through an organisation according to new data from the Australian Sports Commission (ASC). The results, from the ASC’s national AusPlay survey, also show that volunteers contribute more than 145 million hours to sport each year. The latest results show 84 per cent of Australian adults are active and two thirds choose to do some of their activity alone. Walking, fitness/gym and running/jogging remain the most popular activities. Introduced in October 2015, the national AusPlay survey now collects data on over 600 different participation sports and activities and is the largest and most comprehensive survey of its kind in Australia.

The Beligan Pro League and its 29 clubs will use Shikenso's propietary AI-solution to assess sponsorship impact across broadcasts, print, online and social media. Shikenso’s analytics will track all channels—TV, online platforms, print, digital and social media. Sponsorship exposure will be identified not just visually, but also audibly, and textually. Shikenso has been developing its AI tracking solutions for seven years. The company has worked with partners like Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), Fuse and Sportfive on multiple projects, and collaborated with global brands such as Aldi, Red Bull, and Mercedes-Benz.

Sportstech research and investment advisory firm, SportsTechX, have launched the 2024 edition of their Global Sports Tech Venture Capital Report. The report provides a deep dive into the investment activity in the Global Sports Tech Ecosystem. Some important 2024  highlights include, i. nearly $US 10 billion in projected dealflow (investment + M&A), 9 New sportstech unicorns and 65% of all investment focused on solutions for fans.

London-based Bioniq, which provides personalised nutritional support based on blood biomarker data, has announced that the global soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo has financed an undisclosed investment amount in the company. With this investment, the total valuation of the company has reached $US 82 million. The company uses an AI-powered algorithm to assess an individual’s needs and creates a unique formula with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to address deficiencies. 

FIFA and Hawk-Eye Innovations have joined forces to establish the 'Football Technology Centre', a joint venture that will explore and develop emerging technologies in football with a focus on the generation of algorithms to automate the detection of on-pitch events for optimal decision-making. Besides the automated collection of event data, the link-up will involve the development of automated offside technology that instantly provides match officials with consistent and accurate information

Catapult’s MatchTracker is now being used to support UEFA's analysis workflow for this season’s club competitions, especially the UEFA Champions League. MatchTracker has been key in enhancing the analysis process by delivering live event and tracking data alongside video insights. This data serves as a foundation for UEFA’s technical analysts and observer group, helping them objectively frame and identify trends within each match while complementing their expert analysis.