Sports Tech Businesses Deemed ‘the Ones to Watch’

Today The STA Group revealed the winners of the category stage of the 2021 STA Startups Awards, with the line-up featuring young companies reflecting all aspects of the sector – including an equine wearable device.

The Startups, which attracts entries from around the world, was judged by a panel of industry-leaders (see them here)

The categories and winners are:

• Super-Early Stage Startup of the Year
  • Footsapp – Fitness and Participation
  • Recast – Broadcast
  • Steed Equine Monitoring Solutions – Wearable

• Early-Stage Startup of the Year
  • Imagine AR Inc – Fan Engagement
  • Iterpro – Elite Sports Performance
  • Mobii Systems – Broadcast

• Established Startup of the Year
  • Bleachr – Broadcast
  • Horizm – Commercial Performance
  • Kayezen, LLC – Elite Sports Performance

• Scale Up
  • Blazepod – Elite Sports Performance

Rebecca Hopkins, STA Group’s CEO, said ‘Whilst the pandemic was a hugely challenging time for many young businesses, the sports tech start-up sector remained buoyant as technology emerged as such a powerful force in helping get sport to fans. The category winners we are celebrating today were chosen in part due to the power of their proposition but also because of the robust way their businesses have been built – meaning they are great all-round companies. We congratulate them as they go forward to compete for ‘Startup of the Year’ prize’.

The STA Startups comprises two elements and the category stage is the first. The companies who emerge successful at this point are invited to compete for The STA Startup of the Year award. This is determined in a ‘Dragon’s Den’-style pitch event which will take place in December.

For more information about The STA Startups or The STA Group, visit www.sportstechgroup.org

STA Group Innovation Partner, Capgemini, has become Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup France 2023 and joins World Rugby as its Digital Transformation Partner. This is a three year-partnership that will help the growth of the sport across the globe and is a natural next chapter in Capgemini’s rugby story. They’ve produced a video explaining a little more behind their involvement – watch it here

Huge congratulations to our Olympic and Paralympic Judges

When it comes to excellence, our judges don’t just judge your work, they go out and pick up accolades themselves!

We were absolutely delighted to see Hannah Mills, Hannah Cockroft, Oliver Townend, Asha Philip and Shona McCaullin excel at the games, with Hannah Mills earning herself in the history books as the most successful female sailor in Olympic history.

Our Team GB athlete judges have show what they are made of…now it’s your turn. The Sports Technology Awards open for entries on 9 September, and with new categories including Blockchain, Crypto and NFTs, Content and Media, and Femtech, as well as perennial favourites fan engagement, broadcast, digital and rights holder, there’s a category to suit everyone.

Entries close on 30^th November and there’s an Early Bird discount on offer until 7 October so if you like a bargain, act now!

For more information please contact Tanya Power here

STA Access Innovation: Technology Insights and Coaching for Senior Sports Leaders

To run a sports organization successfully, senior executives need to understand many different and new technologies like never before, which is why The STA Group has created Access Innovation.

Technology is the single greatest force changing every aspect of sport. Its influence spans an ever-growing list, at the top of which are revenue and results.

What Is Access Innovation?

Access Innovation is a member-only resource for leaders in sports, which equips them with the information to navigate the important technologies which shape today’s sports industry.

Aimed at c-suite and directors in sports governing bodies, federations, clubs, franchises and government organizations, Access Innovation members gain exclusive access to a year-round series of virtual sessions and an online resource portal.

Devised to aid executives in supporting the development of their organizations via improved professional knowledge, Access Innovation equips sports leaders with the questions they should be asking their teams about the technologies they want – or should be adopting.

By acquiring the confidence to scrutinize technology, understand tech-led strategies and establish realistic returns, Access Innovation ensures members are far better placed to advise and lead their organizations.

Access Innovation Events

Each month, Access Innovation members can access a live session on a specific technology. The session is curated by a range of brand-agnostic experts who understand technology and have applied it within their organizations.

For more information please contact us here

UEFA, WWE, Bleachr, F1 and STATsports Take Home Trophies

London: on 6 May the winners of the coveted Sports Technology Awards’ trophies were revealed.

In a virtual event, attended by leading sports brands including the PGA, Chelsea FC, Star Sports and Vodafone, the Awards, which took place virtually, celebrates tech-led innovations in all sports and attracts entries from over 30 countries and 50 sports.

The winners

• Best Broadcast Technology, WSC Sports: Creating Automagical OTT Experiences
• Best Sports Participation Technology, BRS Golf by GolfNow
• Best Elite Performance Technology, NV Play Cricket | Game Changing Software
• Sports Technology Partnership of the Year, PT SportSuite, Bristol Sport
• Best Digital Technology, The Bleachr App feat CrowdVIEW Live
• Best Sports Action Analytics, Coursetrack
• Best Injury Prevention or Rehabilitation Technology, STATSports Sonra Watch
• Sustainability in Sport, Galvin Green
• Best Technology for Good, Pitchero, Track and Trace
• Best Fan Engagement Technology, Sport Buff Next Generation Fan Engagement
• Best Use of Esports by a Sports Brand, Motorsport Games, 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual
• Equipment or Wearable of The Year, SunGod, Vulcans™
• App of the Year, Chelsea FC, The 5th Stand
• Best Operations, Commerce and Security Technology, Ticketmaster Sport COVID-19 Response
• Best Sports Business Analytics, F1 and Flamingo, AI & Sponsorship in F1: Finding the Marginal Gains
• Best Use of Technology by a Brand, WWE ThunderDome
• Best Use of Technology by a Broadcaster, Star India, IPL 2020
• Capgemini Sports Technology Innovation of the Year, Hawk-Eye Live at the US Open 2020
• Governing Body of the Year, UEFA

Stars in attendance included racing driver, Mark Webber, Double Olympic Champion Triathlete, Alistair Brownlee, South African International and Rugby World Cup Winner, Bryan Habana, former International Footballer turned tech entrepreneur, Louis Saha and multi-Olympic champion sailor, Sir Ben Ainslie, who announced a new partnership between his charitable initiative STEM Crew, part of the 1851 Trust, and The STA Group, owners of the awards.

Sir Ben’s charity works to inspire more school children to study STEM subjects using sailing to engage with pupils. The purpose of the partnership is to motivate the wider sports industry, especially its tech visionaries, to support STEM Crew’s work – potentially finding their colleagues of tomorrow.

Many of this year’s award-winners were initiatives that were created to tackle challenges presented by the global pandemic, most notably the work of Ticketmaster Sport, Star Sports India, WWE and F1. Another key trend amongst entries were how the number creating environmentally sustainable work in the sector.

Rebecca Hopkins, CEO of The STA Group, said ‘We’ve experienced unprecedented times but Covid has made sport use technology to solve new problems in innovative ways. As a result, the calibre of entries has been truly staggering in vision and creativity. Our judges love seeing the cutting edge of sport but this year has been like no other; the was the industry has responded is a source of great pride to all concerned. Indisputably, technology has put sport in a great place to do exciting things both now and when the world eventually returns to normal.’

For more information about the Sports Technology Awards and the STA Group visit www.sportstechgroup.org

More information about the Awards can be found at www.sportstechnologyawards.com

The STA Group is delighted to announce that Sir Ben Ainslie, one of the most successful sailors in the sport’s history, will be our keynote Q&A guest at the 2021 Sports Technology Awards ceremony.

Ben has won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four Games held between 2000 and 2012, and is one of only two Britons to ever win the America’s Cup, sailing for the USA.

The next challenge will be to lead INEOS TEAM UK to its third consecutive British America’s Cup challenge, in the bid to win sports oldest international trophy.

Ben acknowledges the fundamental role technology has played throughout his career, though never more so than in his latest America’s Cup campaign.

In a live Q&A, Ben will share his competition stories as well as his experience, insights and opinions on how technology is shaping modern sport from the vantage point of an athlete, skipper, team principal and investor.

This will be a fascinating session for anyone with a passion for sports and the important role technology plays within it.

Thanks to our friends at Reactoo, the 2021 Sports Technology Awards ceremony will be the most tech-forward, virtual awards event in sport. Book your virtual table and enjoy a ground-breaking, unique and innovative experience that promises to be highly entertaining AND great marketing for your business https://bit.ly/3f1EKIr

‘Covid Might Have Forced Sports’ Hand to Innovate, but Thanks to Technology,

the Industry’s Response has been Magnificent’

The challenges of the past year have been far reaching and the sports industry has certainly felt the force of the pandemic. With this backdrop, we couldn’t be prouder to reveal this year’s Sports Technology Awards shortlist. It features 117 brands, 30 sports, 19 sports bodies, 10 broadcasters and nine tournaments, along with a myriad of technology brands of all sizes. Moreover, it is an overwhelming testament to the underlying dynamism of our sector that so many organizations have responded to the crisis with visionary innovation.

As one of our judges observed ‘covid might have forced the industry’s hand to innovate, but …the industry’s response has been magnificent’.

The 2021 shortlist is

App of the Year Bleachr Chelsea FC LiveScore Mile Positioning Solutions SportMember Stadion and Paris St Germain Best Broadcast Technology Dejero NV Play Spiideo StreamAMG Timeline Television WSC Sports Best Digital Technology Bleachr CSG NV Play Sport Buff Sportskred Wildmoka Best Elite Performance Technology NV Play Platysens Spiideo Sports Data Labs Stats Perform STATSports Best Fan Engagement Technology ESL UK: Weavr Consortium Fanbase Filmily and Wasserman Scorz Sponix Tech Sport Buff Best Injury Prevention or Rehabilitation Technology IMPACT Gumshields NuroKor Premedit STATSports VKTRY Gear Best Operations, Commerce and Event Management Technology Spotlight Sports Group SwipeStation Synamedia Table Tennis England Tappit Ticketmaster Sport Best Sports Action Analytics Arccos Golf Coursetrack Decathlon IBM Infosys Metrica Sports Best Sports Business Analytics Deltatre and DFL Formula 1 and Flamingo Goodform Nielsen Sports Videocites Best Sports Participation Technology Federation of Sport at Altitude GolfNow Inrange Golf PlayerData World Academy of Sport and International Tennis Federation WWE

Best Technology for Good Invizion Landmrk Pitchero PT SportSuite and Bristol Sport Foundation Singular.live Skoda UK VictoryLab Best Use of Esports by a Sports Brand DFL and ESL Extreme Networks Formula 1 Motorsport Games Sport Buff Super League Triathlon Best Use of Technology by a Brand AELTC Infront X and NASCAR Infront X and PGA Tour Stadion and Team GB UEFA Vodafone WWE Best Use of Technology by a Broadcaster beIN MEDIA GROUP Bleachr BT with Sunset+Vine ELEVEN Star Sports India Capgemini Sports Technology Innovation of the Year     Discovery and Eurosport Hawk-Eye Lumen Motocaddy Move-AI OnePlan                                          Equipment or Wearable of The Year I-Ball Laser Can Motion Metrics Playermaker Sportcor SunGod Vald Performance Governing Body of the Year DFL PGA European Tour The AELTC UEFA WTA WWE Sports Technology Partnership of the Year DFL and AWS Engage Digital Partners Infosys PT SportSuite and Bristol Sport WTA WWE Sustainability in Sport Fanbase Galvin Green Paddle Logger SunGod Ticketmaster Sport VITEC

 

The Group will be holding a virtual awards ceremony on May 6^th but plans are in place to hold a celebration dinner at The Londoner, in the Autumn, once it is fully safe to network.

The brand data contained on this page is an external submission and has been taken in good faith; as such The STA Group is not responsible for the accuracy of the information. However, since The Group wishes only to convey correct intelligence, if you have any concerns over the copy presented above, please contact tanya@sportstechgroup.org

Event planning, design and management tool suite excites judges as

‘outstanding tech for sports post-covid era’

 

London: Today (16^th February 2021), The STA Group announced that event management technology, OnePlan, had claimed the Startup of the Year accolade in its STA Startups Awards, securing $50,000 valued advisory from awards’ partners, Sightline Ventures.

OnePlan’s proposition combines all other mapping and visual planning tools, giving event planning teams a single, full plan and ‘shopping list’ of what an event space needs for a secure, safe experience. OnePlan is intuitive, easy-to-use and affordable, and simplifies and enhances every step of the planning process.

The award was made following a nine-way competitive live pitch, which featured the STA Startups category winners. The pitches were made to a judging panel including Hayley Parsons, serial entrepreneur and Founder and former CEO of Go Compare, Simon Muderack, Executive Chairman, Scarlets Rugby former CEO and President, Hansen Technologies, Martyn Ryan, Partner, Sightline Ventures, Rory Burghes, VP Accelerated Solutions Environment, Capgemini and Rebecca Hopkins, CEO, The STA Group.

Rebecca Hopkins explained why the judges chose OnePlan: ‘We were presented with propositions from nine diverse, exciting young companies which reflected key opportunities in the sports industry today. Every company showed an impressive level of sophistication and vision, which was demonstrated by the calibre of their communication, company structure and business thinking.’

‘Ultimately, we chose OnePlan as their proposition was a compelling mix of cutting-edge technology, product market fit, vision and potential. We could have happily worked with any one of the shortlisted businesses but live events, post-covid, have a clear need for OnePlan’s technology.’

 

For more information about the Startups or the STA Group, visit sportstechgroup.org

For more information about Sightline Ventures, visit www.sightline.ventures

For more information about OnePlan, visit https://www.oneplanevents.com

Our Tips for Drafting the Best Submission

As the entry deadline for the 2021 Sports Technology Awards looms and you add the finishing touches on your forms, we are getting a lot of similar questions about what can make your submission stand out.

 

We are always delighted to help, so here’s a list of our top tips

1. Review the Category Criteria

This sounds obvious but by ensuring you truly understand what is being asked for you are not only likely to give stronger answers (and impress the judges more), you will be sure that you are entering the best award for your work

The entry form is very clear about what is being asked but if you aren’t sure – ask. We want to support you in securing the best chance of success

2. Mind your Language

We experience two issues here; we have entries from around the world and very occasionally things do get a little lost in translation. The other problem is when people cloud facts with hyperbole (avoid words like ‘tremendous’, ‘awesome’, ‘astonishing’ – if our judges feel it, they will say it!).

The word count on the form is low to help entries focus on key information, rather than non-fact embellishment. Finally, do your brand a favour and get a someone to review your form to ensure it is a clear, exciting read.

3. Better a Week Early than Half a Day Late

Entries really don’t take that long once you have the information. Set aside 30 minutes to review the entry form and understand what you need to prepare – including logos, support information from colleagues, payment method etc. Allow a week or two of email chasing and research to collate this, then, once you have gathered the information, set aside 90 mins to fill in the form. Doing this makes the process so much easier – and ensures you don’t incur late entry fees!

4. How to Manage Multiple Entries

Very reasonably, for many brands it is impossible to only choose one category. If you are going to submit work into several awards, we strongly recommend that you tailor your entry for each category.

There is a strong chance that judges will see your work in several categories – which is good – but we have noticed they tend to mark down if they see that no attempt has been made to relate the entry to the category; copy and paste is not your friend here! 

5. The Harder the Facts, The Better the Entry

Our judges all sign NDAs before they can see any entry information so anything you share with them is protected. We realize that you might be cautious with anything very commercially sensitive but, as a rule, numbers are better than percentages, percentages are better than endorsements, endorsements are better than nothing!

6. Being Shortlisted IS a Win

Brands that don’t celebrate being on the shortlist are missing a commercial trick – not least of all as it is really, really hard to make the cut. Sometimes the difference between the winner and the brand coming second is a tiny margin so if you make the shortlist, celebrate this as major success!

Our judges work hard at reviewing your submissions because they love what you do so if you have any questions about entering The Sports Technology Awards, just let us know. We believe that ‘as the tide rises so do all the boats’ so the better the entries, the better it is for everyone.

You can start your entry here 

Good luck! 

24^th November 2020

NEWS RELEASE

2020 STA Startups Winners Revealed

‘Game changing tech…’ spanning all aspects of sector from the winners

 

London: today (24 November 2020) The STA Group revealed the winners of its Startsup Awards categories stage, with awards being made in the categories of elite performance, fitness and participation, broadcast, data, venue technology, rehabilitation, fan engagement and esports.

The winners:

• Super-Early Stage Startup of the Year

• • Danu Sports wearable gait analysis (Elite Performance)
  • PlayerData performance tracking (Fitness & Participation)
  • Recast social video platform (Broadcast)

• Early-Stage Startup of the Year

• • Sports Data Labs in-game data capture, analysis and distribution (Data)
  • OnePlan event planning tool (Venue Technology)
  • Good Boost transforming swimming pools (Rehabilitation)
  • NuroKor BioElectronics wearables (Elite Performance)
  • Sponix Tech broadcast services (Fan Engagement)

• Established Startup of the Year

• • NV Play cloud-based capture, analysis and distribution for elite cricket (Elite Performance)

• Scaleup of the Year

• • BLAST esports media network (Esports)

The winners were chosen by a panel judges featuring many well-known figures from the worlds of sports, business and technology. This included international sportswomen Lydia Greenway, Ama Agbeze and Sally Gunnell OBE, as well as senior management from  Microsoft, Twitter, FIFA, TikTok, Tokyo 2020, Under Armour and Lululemon.

The Startups, which are presented in association with Sightline Ventures, a hybrid investment and advisory business, are a two-stage process; all winners from the categories stage go on to compete in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch for a grand prize of $50,000 worth of professional guidance, curated by Sightline Ventures.

The Partners at Sightline Ventures, said: ‘The winners at this stage were all very exciting companies and, as a group of industry experts, the judges felt that each business had the potential to offer truly game changing tech to the sports sector. We’re looking forward to engaging with each team at the next stage of the process – we have a great competition in prospect!’

Full details of the winners and wider work of The STA Group can be found at www.sportstechgroup.org/news/  Details for Sightline Ventures are at www.sightline.ventures/

ENDS

Editors Notes: The STA Group is a sports technology communications, events and consultancy business, operating at the heart of sport globally. Our mission is to ‘Inform, Inspire and Celebrate’ sports technology across the international sports sector. The STA Group’s brands include the STA Startups, STA PR, a dedicated sports PR agency, and the Sports Technology Awards, which is the leading annual global celebration of technology-led innovation across the international sports sector. visionaries. The Group’s Sponsorship Partner Family includes Ticketmaster Sport, Charles Russell Speechlys, EIS and Capgemini