#93 💪🏽 Innovative Tools for a Smarter Fantasy Football Season

News, features & insights from the world of Sports Tech. Every Week.

New season, new fantasy team! Across our team, we use a bunch of tools to help prepare for the new premier league fantasy season. Anything for bragging rights. Though jokes apart, this is a fast growing segment of Sports Tech so is worth taking a closer look.

As always, have a great weekend!

Dominate Your Fantasy Football League: Innovative Tools for a Smarter Fantasy Football Season

We’re pretty big fans of Fantasy sports here at SportsTechX, especially of the official Fantasy Premier League (11 millions players in 2023-24)

Like most mini leagues, there’s a lot of banter at the start of a new season, but that usually dissipates as the reality of missed transfers and falling overall ranks hit hard. The official game has introduced a new set of rules this season to help avoid that.

The game is definitely growing. It is one of the key ways that fans are looking to transition from mere spectators to more active participants in sports. In this case, as virtual managers. When advanced stats like nPxGI / 90 are driving fan conversations on X, then you know things are getting serious.

In this week’s article, we take a closer look at various tools, paid & free, that fans rely on to bolster their teams. Here are some of our favourites:

1. Fantasy sports assistants: Products like Fantasy Football Fix, Fantasy Football Hub & Fantasy Football Scout all broadly do the same thing. Using AI, they provide a comprehensive suite of tools and resources to help maximise points for your fantasy team. Helping with suggested transfers, points prediction, fixture analysis etc.

2. Specific Tools: Like Plan FPL which helps plan your team for weeks in advance. Or FPL Statistics which predicts which players price is expected to change. All in real-time.

3. Fantasy sports content: Newsletters like LazyFPL bring some of that content straight into your inbox. And if you’d like, also to your WhatsApp. And this is without going to YouTube where numerous content creators are now making a full-time living creating regular fantasy football content.

4. Advanced analytics tools: Understat, FBRef, Whoscored and others provide engaged managers with a whole bunch of data for them to dive into to unearth their new

5. New formats: Games like Sleeper Fantasy Football are gaining popularity because they stay away from the traditional fantasy sports format of selecting XI players every week.

Any or all of these could help your fantasy team. And if you’re using any others then please let us know. We’re always looking to gain an advantage.

The commitment to fantasy is real.

LIVE Webinar: Innovation in Sports Broadcasting

✅ Join in for insider insights about all our recent conversations around Innovations in Sports Broadcasting. With a special look at what we experienced first hand at the Paris Olympics 2024.

We take a look at the New Broadcast Innovations by Intel for Paris 2024 Games. Followed by details of a private tour at the International Broadcast Centre (IBC), from where the Olympics were broadcasted to the world.

We also spent the past month talking to innovators in sports broadcasting technology. In depth insights about VR and interactive multiview experiences, to real-time clips from streaming feeds to award winning, venture-backed, global AI-powered technology.

All of this summarised in a 60 mins sessions. So come join us next week Aug 29 @ 4pm CEST.

Top News from the World of Sports Biz & Tech

⚽ Sportboost + LaLiga’s #MEETLALIGAEASPORTS program has extended their application deadline until August 31. Startups which fall under any of these categories can apply: Fan gamification, interactive communities, generating new revenue streams, new graphics and visualizations & immersive training experiences for youth football. Apply here.

🎟️ The Athletic launched a new vertical for the world of sports memorabilia and trading cards. Readers can expect everything from explainers on the most sought-after collectibles to data-backed insight stories to news and analysis of the latest trends. 

🏈 The AFL has announced the launch of ‘Score Assist,’ a ball-tracking technology set to debut in the NAB AFL Women’s (AFLW) competition for the 2024 season. The new technology’s been developed in collaboration with the AFL, Sherrin, and leading sports tech companies Sportable and Intaneous. 

🎾 IBM and the USTA unveiled advanced Gen AI-powered features for the 2024 US Open, enhancing fan engagement and tournament coverage. Watsonx, IBM's AI and data platform, is at the heart of these innovations.

💪🏽 Yonex announced a new R&D facility, the Yonex Performance Innovation Center. Fully operational as of July 2024 in Nagaoka City, its strategically located next to its existing manufacturing site. 

🏀 FC Bayern Basketball permanently installed ASB GlassFloor’s LumiFlex LED court at home arena BMW Park, making it the world’s first event location to feature a full-LED video sports floor. (Hear from the CEO on our pod)

🏈 Oklahoma State football players will wear QR codes on their helmets starting this season to increase the team’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) program fund.

⛳ After a successful debut at the Travelers Championship on CBS, the PGA TOUR’s live drone tracer technology will continue to be implemented for all three FedEx Cup playoff events.

🏈 NFL team owners and executives are expected to meet in Minneapolis on Aug. 27 to discuss a framework that would allow PE firms to invest, and potentially vote on allowing institutional investors to buy into teams.

Money Talks:

💸 Fortuna Investments, a venture capital and advisory firm focused on high-growth industries, launched a Women’s Sports Investment Platform dedicated to providing resources to support women’s professional sports. 

💰 Women-focused gaming and esports community platform the*gamehers, raised an undisclosed amount from investment firm Dunhill Ventures.

💰 SportAI, a Norwegian B2B sports technology company, raised $1.8 million in seed funding led by Skyfall Ventures, including Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlson as a participant. 

💰 ALLCITY Network, the operator of multi-platform local sports networks, raised $12 million in Series B funding round led by public broadcast company, TEGNA.

💰 CricHeroes, a Sports Tech startup focused on grassroots cricket, raised an undisclosed amount in a Series B1 funding round, led by Venture Catalysts. 

🤝 Elevate acquired marketing and hospitality firm Zinc Agency, for an undisclosed amount, in a move to expand its footprint in the experiential premium hospitality space.

💰 Ipswich Town announced that Ed Sheeran acquired a minority stake in the Football Club.  

Latest from our channels

🎙 #217 3D Digital Venue: Management & Sports Venue Mapping Technology

This week on the SportsTech Allstars we have Francis Casado, Head of International Business Development at 3D Digital Venue.

• 3D Digital Venue helps venues modernize and simplify venue mapping, enhancing the online ticket purchase flow and improving event discovery for fans.

• Digital twins and virtual environments have become essential tools for venues to communicate and promote their spaces to fans and customers.

• There are revenue opportunities in creating virtual experiences and engaging global audiences through digital twins.

• The market for digital twins and virtual environments has evolved, with more sports entities and venues recognizing their value and adopting these technologies.

• The use of mobile technology and digital solutions in stadiums and venues is becoming increasingly important for enhancing the fan experience.

🔙 STX Article: Turn Gen AI Potential into Value in the Sports Tech Industry.

✅ STX Monthly: Last month’s sports tech dealflow, in case you missed it.

💪🏽 SportsTech AllStars Recap: Innovation in Broadcasting Tech