#74 Saudi Arabian Sports Odyssey To Fuel a Tech Revolution

April 12, 2024

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Quick newsletter this week, which includes a guest article on how the Saudis are leveraging tech to fuel the future of sports. Happy Friday

Feature Story

Saudi Arabian Sports Odyssey To Fuel a Tech Revolution

Another guest article from CricHQ’s Sreedhar Venkatram. This time his focus is on the Saudi Arabia and how they are shaping the future of sports.

Saudi Arabia unveiled its Vision 2030 on April 25, 2016. Hailed as a ground-breaking and extraordinarily ambitious plan to create a creative, diverse, and world-class nation to realize the Kingdom’s immense potential for future generations.

Over time, nevertheless, concern and aspiration have accompanied the vision, goal, and insane investment. Ernst & Young’s 2021 report outlines the prospects that sports will present domestically and internationally.

Beyond the bickering, though, Saudi Arabia’s new fund passion for sports is spearheading an innovation that will drastically transform technology and shape the future of sports

We spent a bit of February and all of March talking to sports teams, leagues and organizations to understand the challenges around innovation. 

This was in lead up to a report we’re working on with Teamworks about the Key Innovation Challenges at various Sports Organisations. The report will consist of a survey of these leaders, going across sports, geographies and cultural backgrounds, alongside presenting key trends, insights from data analysed and case studies around Sports Innovation. 

Top News from the World of Sports Tech

 German remote access software provider TeamViewer launched a flagship initiative called SheSportTech that aims to encourage more women into sports technology, offering inspiration, training grants and access to unique experiences.

A first in the Premier League, fans at Brentford FC’s Gtech Community Stadium will be able to see in-game replays with augmented highlights including shot speeds, shot trails, player names and pitch maps, all to enhance the matchday experience. A product of their partnership with Genius Sports.

 Women in Sports Tech announced its 7th cohort of WiST Fellows, the non-profit’s fellowship program pairing college students with some of the biggest companies in the sports tech industry.

Mobile-focused esports organisation, Tribe Gaming, and telecommunications company AT&T have joined forces to convert an RV into a mobile gaming hub.

Leading wearable streaming platform ActionStreamer announced their integration in the inaugural UFL season, offering viewers a unique, player-perspective live stream experience directly from the field.

The Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and Cleveland Avenue, announced a partnership to establish the Footprint Center – a hub for innovation, sustainability, unique culinary experiences and a testing ground for cutting-edge technologies.

 German remote access software provider TeamViewer launched a flagship initiative called SheSportTech that aims to encourage more women into sports technology, offering inspiration, training grants and access to unique experiences.

A first in the Premier League, fans at Brentford FC’s Gtech Community Stadium will be able to see in-game replays with augmented highlights including shot speeds, shot trails, player names and pitch maps, all to enhance the matchday experience. A product of their partnership with Genius Sports.

 Women in Sports Tech announced its 7th cohort of WiST Fellows, the non-profit’s fellowship program pairing college students with some of the biggest companies in the sports tech industry.

Mobile-focused esports organisation, Tribe Gaming, and telecommunications company AT&T have joined forces to convert an RV into a mobile gaming hub.

Leading wearable streaming platform ActionStreamer announced their integration in the inaugural UFL season, offering viewers a unique, player-perspective live stream experience directly from the field.

The Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and Cleveland Avenue, announced a partnership to establish the Footprint Center – a hub for innovation, sustainability, unique culinary experiences and a testing ground for cutting-edge technologies.

Not Sports Tech but you should know:

The women’s NCAA championship game drew a bigger television audience than the men’s title game for the first time, with an average of 18.9 million viewers watching undefeated South Carolina beat Iowa and their superstar Caitlin Clark.

Paris 2024 is set to make Olympic history by achieving full gender parity on the field of play for the first time, with the same number of male and female athletes at the games.

WrestleMania 40 has been declared WWE’s most successful event. Its monumental gate shattered previous records by an astounding 78% and it also experienced a substantial surge in viewership, with a 41% increase.

Money Talks:

California based XR company Quintar raised $8.2 million in Series A funding. The round was led by SeventySix Capital and Cowles Company, with participation from new Indian SportsTech VC Centre Court Capital.

 Rafa Nadal announced a partnership with Playtomic, the leading app for booking padel and tennis courts, investing an undisclosed amount.

Latest from our channels

#199 UEFA Innovation Hub: Cutting-edge solutions for European Football

 In lead up to the Global Sports Tech Ecosystem Report 2024, this month we’re talking to new sports tech accelerator programs, initiatives and solutions. (GSTER is a single report covering the three major SportsTech regions i.e. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific- investors, programs, leaders, numbers everything).

Charles Frémont (UEFA Innovation Hub Manager), talks about his background as a lawyer, how he got into sports, about the UEFA Innovation Hub and how they select & work with startups, about the Champions Innovate Program, different sustainability initiatives this year, other projects coming up, EURO 2024 being the most innovative UEFA event and more. Watch the full video here.

 STX Weekly: Last month’s investment roundup, in case you missed it.

Sports Tech AllStars Recap: Innovation in Sports Organisations.

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