#69 Sports Tech Connect: India 2024 – What we did and what we learnt

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A long edition this week, seems like the world of SportsTech was quite busy.

As were we, especially in India. A full recap of the events we hosted is below. Along with more details about SportsInnovation, now only a couple of weeks away. We will be there for sure. Give us a shout if you will be as well. 

A busy and fruitful trip to India aside, and we have more content coming up on a fast developing SportsTech market, it is good to be back to business as usual. Ah Berlin, I missed you 

Feature Story

Sports Tech Connect: India 2024 – What we did and what we learnt

If you missed our previous updates, let us catch you up on what happened at Sports Tech Connect: India 2024. It was a lot more than exchanging business cards.

Our goal was to bring together key players in India’s sports tech ecosystem. Startups, investors, sports teams, and federations, all united by their excitement for the transformative power of sports technology in India.

SportsTechX, in partnership with Omidyar Network India, Indigo SportsTech, and the newly formed Match Ventures, hosted our first-ever invite-only networking series, SportsTech Connect: India. Over two Thursdays in February, in Mumbai and Bangalore, respectively.

In the article we highlight the key takeaways from discussions around four main areas ripe for innovation in the Indian Sports Ecosystem: Advanced Performance Analytics, The Growth of Fitness Technology, Enhancing Fan Engagement & Innovation in Broadcasting.

We certainly learnt a lot. If you want to as well then you should…

European Ultimate Federation and Solidsport enter long term agreement

European Ultimate Federation (EUF) and Solid Sport have announced a long term broadcasting partnership with the aim of revolutionising the broadcast and digital content landscape for EUF events, ushering in a new era of innovation and accessibility.

Top News from the World of Sports Tech

Tennis Data Innovations, Sportradar will supply augmented streams for all ATP Masters 1000 events that will include overlaying metrics covering ball position, speed, directionality and aggregate stats.

The NFL tested high-tech optical tracking to measure first downs electronically instead of using chains. The technology was developed by Hawk-Eye.

Aston Martin Aramco (F1) has teamed up with Memento Exclusives to offer limited edition state-of-the-art AMR24 Show Car Simulators, providing a rare opportunity for fans and gamers, and the closest thing to driving the real car.

 MVP Interactive will launch AllPass, a web-based platform that can serve sports teams as an internal ticketing solution to track game ticketing requests from executives, players and coaches.

Cleveland Golf released their AI based Launcher XL 2 Drivers which offer golfers enhanced distance and forgiveness.

 Spanish football giants FC Barcelona, launched a free global streaming service, Barca One OTT, that will feature over 1,500 hours of material from the Barca TV archives + latest Barca info, including live broadcasts, press conferences, and original content. 

 A RefCam which was attached to the referee’s headset, was used in a Bundesliga match for the first time that filmed the match from his perspective. The output will be made available by the DFL next week for a report “Referees Mic’d up – Bundesliga”.

 Strava announced new platform integrations with ŌURA and Open (U.S. only), which will provide athletes the opportunity to bring their passive health scores and progressive health practices together for a holistic view.

Big3, the US professional 3-on-3 basketball league, has announced a deal to stream live matches and other new content on X (formerly Twitter). 

 NODWIN Gaming, has joined forces with JSW Sports, a prominent Indian sports promoter, with the aim to launch new esports IPs, educate the market, and create platforms for brands and advertisers.

Swiss sports tech company Archinisis, specializing in performance analysis tools for individual sports, has added a new sport to their portfolio: Rowing. They are already being used by national teams for Paris 2024 prep, providing real time streaming and feedback, all with one sensor on the boat.

Not Sports Tech but you should know:

 In collaboration with BigHit, the ‘Bundesliga Dream India’ seeks to identify the best talent across the Indian subcontinent from the U13s and U15s, inviting them to spend a week with the youth academy of a Bundesliga club.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is being investigated over alleged interference in F1 race at 2023 Saudi Arabian GP, to overturn a penalty given to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

Saudi Arabia officially launched a bid campaign to secure hosting rights for the 2034 FIFA World Cup. We wonder who will win. 

The ATP Tour agreed a multimillion dollar partnership with Saudi Arabia’s PIF, in which the ATP rankings, year-end world No 1 award, will be branded by the PIF. 

Drake and LeBron James (part of Strategic Sports Group) will take a swing at golf, by investing in the PGA Tour.

Money Talks:

 Miami based sports gaming and sports media company, Betr, raised $15 million in equity funding led by Harmony Partners and 10x Capital. 

 A US based life sciences muscle analytics company, Springbok Analytics, received a $1.7 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance its rotator cuff muscle analysis technology.

 FanCave, a US based startup which enables fans to pledge money to get top recruits to come to their school, received $500k in Y- Combinator program.

A sports recovery business founded by rugby player Joe Gray, MyoMaster, secured £100 k investment on Dragons’ Den, from Gary Neville and Sara Davies.

Washington-based Home fitness company BowFlex was acquired by Johnson Health Tech for $37.5 million, having filed for bankruptcy.

Los Angeles based ticketing platform, EQ Tickets, received an undisclosed amount in funding from Sage Venture Partners for their launch.

 SportsTech innovation hub, Future of Sport Lab, announced a new strategic partnership with Relay Ventures, A Canadian venture capital firm, to invest in sports technology startups. Future of Sport Lab is also accepting applications for its 2024 Cohort.

 Mercury 13, a women’s football multi-club ownership group, acquired Como Women from Italy’s Serie A, committing to invest $100m in women’s soccer portfolios.

Major League Pickleball and the Professional Pickleball Association have closed their long-awaited merger, uniting the biggest pickleball entities and bringing in $75 million investment.

Upcoming Event: See you there

Sports Innovation 2024: The program is out

Hosted by the DFL, D.SPORTS and Spielmacher, SportsInnovation 2024 will take place on 20 and 21 March in the MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA in Düsseldorf. 

The highlight of the event are the four live games, or innovation games as they are called, in which the latest technologies and visions for the future will be demonstrated live. Three games will be played by football teams, the fourth will be an American football game. 

In addition to the innovation games, renowned national and international speakers will be appearing on two stages in the stadium. 

Some of the outstanding individuals who will be sharing their insights include Ari Kaplan from Databricks, David Lehanski from the NHL, Aaron Amendolia from the NFL, Julie Souza from AWS, Ben Ladkin from MLB, Shelly Palmer from The Palmer Group, Monisha Kaltenborn, Entrepreneur, Christina Chase from MIT Sports Lab, Steffen Merkel from the DFL and Christian Holzer from STS. This impressive line-up promises a wealth of knowledge and experience from different areas of sport and technology.

We will be at the event so if you’re going to as well then be sure to get in touch. 

Latest from our channels

 #191 Teamworks: The Operating System For Sports

Back after a break, The Sports Tech AllStars Podcast presents Teamworks: The Operating System for Sports, on this week’s episode.

We have Fee Beyer (Business Development Executive) and Hayden Gutry (Head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa) from Teamworks. We talked about how Teamworks operates, their recent launch in Germany, challenges they’ve faced in different markets around the world, their presence at the ⁠SportsInnovation⁠ event on 21st and 22nd March in Düsseldorf and what we can expect from them in the next 12-18 months. Watch the full video here. 

 STX Weekly: Last week’s newsletter and monthly dealflow round up, in case you missed it.

 Sports Tech AllStars Recap: VC’s in SportsTech 

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