Sports have been practiced and celebrated globally for millennia by people of all walks of life, but few athletes ever get the spotlight. Most athletes have little chance of gaining any visibility or recognition for their physical achievements, no matter how awe inspiring. But automation technology is now gradually changing that reality, capturing sports activity wherever it may be, and offering every player a place in the limelight.

Early sports primarily focused on war preparation. Over time, rock-, spear-, and stake throwing gradually made way for group activities involving a ball, including both men and women. And as ancient historical sources indicate, sport wasn’t just an exclusive activity for the strongest male athletes, but rather a fun pastime that anyone could engage in.

So, what happened? How come our world doesn’t celebrate all sports, and all athletes? Specific sports and players have traditionally commanded mass public attention. A century ago, the most popular sports were baseball, horse racing, boxing, and cycling. Back then, the NFL and NBA, which presently command TV ratings, did not even exist.

Societal change, guided by technological progress, a shift in public tastes, and new trends in media led to a change in the focus on sports as well. Cycling faded as a U.S. spectator sport as many people switched to cars for transportation and that in turn boosted the popularity of auto racing instead. The NFL’s popularity grew as TVs made it into practically every American home, where tens of millions saw how well the sport fit the new medium. And eventually media trends also had their influence. To engage a younger viewership, ESPN created the X Games, which both fed and created an appetite for more individualistic and so-called extreme sports. 

Individuality and visibility are what lead our society today, and that trend is both enabled and supported by technology, media and public focus. Social networks gave individuals worldwide a platform through which to share themselves with the world, leading to the democratisation of media presence, albeit via the Internet. New AI-based camera systems are now doing the same for sports and players globally as well.

Using this new technology, “people have the power” to democratize sports, affording visibility to more athletes, competing in a greater variety of sports, across a larger audience globally. Small colleges and high schools can use AI-powered automated cameras to stream and share their sports team’s events with far-flung audiences, including family members and talent scouts.

When it comes to systematized and automated exposure of niche, grassroots, and school sports – and, importantly, the athletes who compete at that level – Pixellot leads a revolution. Strategically located in the void below professional and popular sports production where more than 200 million sports events worldwide gain little to no exposure, Pixellot offers an alternative. The company’s camera systems are currently installed at more than 25,000 courts and fields across the world and offer athletic programs valuable access to automated game production and highlights, for training and commercial purposes

In the US alone, Pixellot enables live viewership of more than 100,000 games per month and has produced more than 2 million games, spanning the “Big Four” North American sports – football, basketball, baseball, and hockey – as well as soccer, softball, lacrosse, volleyball, and more.

Most notably, AI technology powers a virtuous cycle, encouraging audiences to want to see more grassroots sports events and a wider array of athletes. By providing an unprecedented number of streamed sports events, automation generates increased demand and creates opportunities for athletes to appear on screen before families, communities, and scouts at the next level.

Technology has a direct impact on the popularization of a wider variety of sports and plays an active role in democratising the sports world in general.

Yossi Tarablus, Associate Vice President Global Marketing, Pixellot

Founded in 2013, Pixellot is the world’s largest producer of live sports content. Today Pixellot’s AI-Automated technology solutions streamline production workflow by fully automating live sports capture, distribution, analysis, and monetization of over 150,000 games per month from +70 countries across the globe.

Sport is an industry unlike any other, a fact that is both a blessing and a curse.

On the one hand, it is an industry fuelled by passion, from the deep and almost unconditional love that a fan holds for their favourite sport or team. Any other industry would long for that kind of emotional engagement.

On the other hand, passion is something we cannot depend on. Sport has long relied on fans passing their affections from one generation to the next, and times are changing. With a world of digital entertainment options now available to global audiences, sport must compete like never before to earn its place in the hearts and minds of today’s consumer.

This requires sports organisations to build an understanding of digital engagement techniques, driven by data, to avoid being left behind. This is the premise of digital transformation, a term that has become hugely popular in recent years but one I still think is confused.

True digital transformation is not about adopting new technology. It’s about systemic and cultural changes that are focused on extracting value over the long-term for the benefit of an organisation, its fans and its network of commercial partners.

Be fan-obsessed

To begin with, it is important to understand that fans, not technology departments, are key to success. We must avoid assumptions regarding what content to show, what platforms to create or which demographics to target. Sports fans are diverse, they are full of surprises and should always be given the chance to express their preferences.

By investing the time and resource into tracking individual fan preferences and analysing the data they share, organisations gain the intelligence that helps create worthwhile digital experiences. As we enter the world of web3, demand for these experiences will only increase, which means every part of an organisation, from the venues it operates to individual back-office processes, should be optimised for digital consumption and data generation.

There are three key areas where organisations can begin building this data-driven approach.

1. Direct fan relationships

Online streaming, mobile gaming and social media is defining how fans consume, purchase and interact; it is now an expectation that digital experiences are widely available.

Modern fan engagement should therefore be shaped around platforms that enable these constant, multi-channel connections, enabling single sign-on authentication and gathering first party data.

Whatever platforms you are using, more value can be extracted by analysing its data and comparing it to other parts of your ecosystem.

Using business analytics, you can build a complete picture of how fan communities are behaving, leading to better monetisation. Last season, we saw data-driven fan campaigns deliver up to 700% ROI for sports properties and deliver millions in direct sales.

2. Digital competition management

After years of relying on manual tasks, new digital tools can drastically cut the time needed to achieve objectives while bringing in a wider range of stakeholders than was previously possible.

With new digital tools comes data, which if analysed correctly can shed new light on how different processes are performing, opening the door to major new savings or future innovations.

3. Enhancing the value of content

This practice of generating data from all areas of the competition creates opportunities to apply new information to the content itself, helping to maximise its value.

Spectacular amounts of real-time data can be captured from live matches, which can then be shared with relevant stakeholders to speed up decision making and improve analysis, be it for coaching or wider business strategy. Meanwhile for broadcast content, the ability to incorporate new data can enhance storytelling and drive a new level of engagement with viewing audiences.

A data-driven future

With a data-driven approach like this, the value of technology comes to life, opening the door to major new savings, future innovations and of course, investment.

Whether you are running a single digital platform or a whole suite of services, it is essential that they can be connected to a single data-based ecosystem, allowing information about fans, competitions and content to be centralised. This is a process that can often require specialist guidance and ongoing support, but it is the step that will keep sporting organisations on the right track.

The story of sports technology is just getting started, so it is important that we lay the foundations right and seek the right support where needed. By creating systems and cultures that can incorporate new products and extract information over time, we will deliver the value required to maintain the passion of fans and deliver previously unimaginable returns.

Tom Woods leads Marketing and Communications at LaLiga Tech, the technology division of Spanish football’s premier division that is leading the digital transformation of sports and entertainment with a range of unique, modular technologies offered under a single data-based ecosystem.

By Hugo Sharman, CEO of StreamAMG

“Shall we start the bidding at £20 billion? I see a hand raised for £25 billion, and now that’s £30 billion on the phones…”

Whenever the topic of a Premier League OTT service is floated in the press, much like many things in the modern game, the conversation is about money. How much would the rights package be worth for the Premier League, and how much would football fans be charged compared to their current subscription packages?

Money will undoubtedly be a key consideration when, in my view, the Premier League launches ‘Premflix’. But positioning the proposition solely around value misses the possibilities OTT can provide.

Premflix could be the first great, reimagined OTT offering in sport, tailoring its product to suit the tastes and interests of niche markets whom all follow the action.

When Mo Salah scores a goal, many fans view it as sending Liverpool up the table, but for up to nine million others, it means their fantasy football captain has just earned them a precious 10 points, which could help them win the office mini-league.

Fantasy football is just one aspect of the Premier League that is growing exponentially. It engages fans in matches they otherwise may not watch and puts the league at the front of their mind long before the weekend’s action.

Premflix could grow this universe even further. A brilliantly curated archive and near-live highlights clips could show fantasy players how their new acquisition just lost his clean sheet points. The ability to pick this up anywhere and place it within the Premier League’s own ecosystem gives them more control and provides an immersive experience to this group of fans.

OTT is already on this path. It’s less about the pictures and more about breaking through to what it can be with everything else at our disposal – on-screen data, social media, overlays, multi-lingual commentary, graphics and more.

Giving fans the power to customise what they see for their own tastes will take them deeper into the sport, unified across all their devices at a time convenient to them.

No need to work out if that goal has put you top of your mini-league. A graphic has popped up to show you’ll move ahead of Sarah, just so long as Brighton can hold on to that clean sheet… but there’s a penalty at the Amex.

The smart money is on Premflix being born into a single market when no broadcaster meets the financial demands of the Premier League. Yet Premflix doesn’t need to be the sole medium for fans to watch their teams for the proposition to make sense.

There are complementary models to live broadcaster distribution that could result in a much richer experience for fans, and no doubt it would be lucrative for the clubs, too.

The technology to bring forward an OTT service for the Premier League already exists. Fans are flicking between multiple Champions League group games and switching courts on tennis’ ATP Tour. What’s needed now is the courage and the vision to move football broadcasting into a new era.

Photo by Alamy.

Today, in the first of a new series of opinion pieces that we will be running from thought leaders in the sports tech industry, we hear from Mike Emery, CEO of Joymo, a streaming platform provider that enables sports right holders to monetize their IP by broadcasting their content direct-to-fans, connecting their events and competitions to a global audience. Joymo were shortlisted in the Best Broadcast Technology category at the 2022 Sports Technology Awards.

Direct-to-consumer streaming, and the technology it entails, has been one of the biggest growth areas in sport in recent years.

I speak to sport federations and rights holders every day of the week and it’s clear that there is a huge desire for each and every one of them to launch their own direct-to-fan broadcast platforms. But also, a lot of trepidation.

These discussions bring up several recurring themes on both sides. The concerns and considerations that federations and rights holders have about committing to such a fundamental shift in approach, and Joymo’s beliefs on the transformational role that D2C platforms can have on the long-term future of their sports.

Here I want to share my thoughts on the major factors influencing decision-making in the D2C streaming space:  

1.    OTT is just the start

OTT is possibly the most overused acronym in the sports industry. Every week we read about a new OTT streaming product entering the market. This is good on the one hand – as it’s the market we are in(!) – but OTT services should be only one part of a broader direct-to-consumer (fan) strategy that any organisation launching a streaming platform needs to consider. 

Ultimately, it’s an approach to content and IP that should be focused on engagement, data and, in the longer term, monetisation and additional products and services that your fans desire, based on research and insight from your audience. Too many see the OTT video streaming element as the endgame and a way of quickly making a buck by instantly turning a proportion of fans into subscribers. 

2.     Affordable solutions 

Cost is often viewed as the most significant barrier to building a broadcast platform. Last week saw the 20th anniversary since the MLB became the very first professional sports league to live-stream a regular-season game on MLB.TV.

Back then, it was an expensive and timely process to create an owned and operated service and the MLB created BAMTech to do it, which would be an inspired and hugely profitable move. In recent years, as technology has evolved and become more affordable, there are many more cost-effective solutions available to rights holders and it’s a key reason for the acceleration in the number of streaming services in sport.  

Joymo is one such provider and it’s our aim to democratise access with cost-effective products that don’t compromise on streaming quality, functionality or security. Our model takes the back-end/tech infrastructure build, that is a concern to many federations and rights holders, out of their hands and leaves them to focus on content delivery, marketing and maximising revenues around their content.

3.     Owning your data

Ownership of first-party data is going to be absolutely critical for federations looking to future proofing their sports. Many have spent many years giving away their content for free on social media platforms that can deliver reach but do little to increase your knowledge or direct relationship with your consumers.

Ensuring full control over the rights and data on your platform. This will unlock deeper engagement and commercial opportunities with your fans for the long term. This should be a key consideration when choosing a partner to deliver your D2C platform as not every provider delivers full ownership of this data. 

4.    Using D2C to prove media value

We speak to a variety of federations; some have existing media rights partnerships, others only receive mainstream coverage during the Olympics, and some have never sold their content. 

For the first group, we find that often they are not addressing their core problem when they do sell rights. Many are too eager to auction off their IP in a long-term deal that will leave them worse off at the end of it, and no closer to their customers. A D2C video streaming strategy needs to be viewed as futureproofing and building direct relationships with your fans. 

Ultimately, the better you know fans the stronger your negotiating position and ability to dictate rights fees (and commercial deals) based on the data your audience provides you. 

And that goes for the second and third groups too. Viewing and consumption data can arm you with compelling evidence as to why a media partner should be interested in your content and the audience it brings to their channels.

5.    Creating new revenue streams

I mentioned earlier that D2C should not be seen as a quick revenue generating opportunity, despite the obvious opportunity that it enables. Turning supporters into subscribers is absolutely key but keeping them as engaged customers by providing the content and products they demand is essential for sustainable long-term success.

Added to the subscription revenue stream is the ability to sell inventory around your programming and platform in exactly the same way social media companies do with your content. The difference is, you are in complete control and can ensure you are partnering with brands that make sense to your audience.

6.    Ensuring safeguarding and security

In a world where data has never been so valuable and data breaches never more common, security and safeguarding is of huge importance to those that we speak to. It is essential that you choose a platform provider that guarantees built-in features to ensure athletes are safeguarded, GDPR stipulations are met, and data can be easily and securely managed. 

To find out more about Joymo visit joymo.tv.

Engage’s contribution to The Sport Technology Review came just before Facebook’s announcement around changing to Meta, which was a nice re-enforcement of the content we had written!

So, what has changed since? Crypto has been on a tumultuous rollercoaster, NFT stars shone brightly; and TikTok has shown just how quickly a new platform can capture the public’s imagination.

Taking these as key pointers, here’s what we’ve done, seen and think based on the last six months:

Taking crypto as a proxy for blockchain we now have a better understanding of what this is – and isn’t. The backend for digital transactions and NFT fulfilment is developing and evolving as we speak. To that end, we’re launching our first blockchain-based, owned and operated channel in Q3 ’22 in order to help our clients appreciate and leverage this area better. Being able to calculate long-term investment, navigate Smart Contracts, and understand governance and the potential of NFTs is vital. Done properly, IP owners and fans can be well rewarded.

Since November, when The Review was published, we have worked on client NFT projects in Racing, Cricket and Soccer. NFTs have gone through their first cycle and their application as a tool for couponing and creating fan loyalty is clear to see. But, with a concentration of ownership amongst a very tight demographic, we are someway off an inflection point. Mobile remains the best path to mass adoption so expect to see more experiences via mobile for NFTs over the next year. Like the evolution of phone apps, NFT’s will leap from novelty and/or investment, to something that is useful and of tangible value on a mass scale. 

Without doubt some of the ‘darling technologies’ of the pandemic are struggling in a recessionary and lower-liquidity environment. TikTok is not, ditto Reels and YouTubeShorts, largely as they are free at the point of use. Through our work on major tournaments, we’ve witnessed TikTok deliver more fan engagements than all other mainstream platforms combined. Our key assertion six months ago was that the future would be one where ‘digital communities are based around creators and shared ownership’. These channels are one small but significant step towards platforms that are either creator-led or directly compensate the creator financially.  

So, this is where we go full circle; the building blocks are in place, success is evident but, as yet, not all the dots have fully joined up. However, it will not take too many seminal moments for usable versions of Smart Contracts to converge with transferable blockchain-based currencies for something of real value to emerge. At that point we have lift-off.

Undoubtedly, once The 2022 Review hits the press, we will have an even better view of what Web3 will become, and how community will drive new economic value in our sector.

High performance sport is continually getting harder, faster and stronger.  As the need for performance optimization continues within the constraints of competition rules, welfare, and an increasing focus on sustainability. The individualization of equipment and apparel is also on the rise, in both the elite and consumer markets.

In November 2021, we released The Sports Technology Annual Review and Industry Power List, published in association with The English Institute of Sport. Within this, we shared an overview of tech innovation in the apparel and equipment sector,  and suggested the year ahead would be a significant one. We called it right.

Formula 1 introduced new regulations on technical equipment in a bid to reduce the performance gap between the front and back of the grid and make overtaking easier. And, so far, we have already witnessed far more wheel-to-wheel racing and overtakes in the first eight races than perhaps the whole of last season combined. 

While technical regulations across a whole host of sports continue to be redefined for the benefit of the participants and the viewing audience, equipment and apparel is continuing to play a significant role in improving individual performance at an elite level.

One key example is the Graphene Enabled Muscle Warming Jacket developed by The EIS for use at the Tokyo Olympics by champion gymnast, Max Whitlock. Whilst Japanese summer temperatures required most athletes to find ways to keep cool, indoors, fierce air-conditioning results in considerable muscle temperature reduction. When Max attended The Sports Technology Awards recently, he confirmed just how vital he found the jacket during the lag between call-up and performance.

In a deeper tech dive – and in much the same way that the Ineos 1:59 Challenge was tailored to propel Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge to a sub-two hour marathon in 2019 – the Pho3nix Foundation Sub7-Sub8 was an ambitious project to see what times triathletes could achieve.

On June 6, Kat Matthews, who only took up the sport in 2013 and turned professional 3 years ago, became the first woman to finish a full distance triathlon in under eight hours. Matthews stopped the clock in 7:31:54, completing the 3.8-kilometre swim, 180-kilometre bike, and 42-kilometre run in record time. 

Matthews swam in a specially tailored wetsuit – including maximum flexibility and mobility in the shoulder area, as well as buoyancy in the lower body – with the thickness of each neoprene panel designed to complement her individual swim style. 

Courtesy of high-tech swimming goggles, Matthews and her team were provided with live, in-vision stats on how fast they were going, comparative to the target, during the swim.

Matthews customised BMC bike was fitted with prototype Hutchinson Racing Lab tyres and USE poles were installed on a custom 18° wedge plate serving as aerobar extensions, helping Matthews hide from the wind and improve aerodynamics.

On the run, Kat used a yet-to-be-released Asics Metaspeed Sky+ shoe harnessing the latest in carbon-plate trainer technology, which allows runners to extend their stride length, conserving energy and allowing them to maintain pace in the later stages of a race.

Matthews feat is the latest example of the individualization and customization of equipment performance trends that we pointed to in our Annual Review. Pro athletes are no longer restricted to a selection of standard parts, and neither are consumers. 

Customization is already starting to trickle down to retail consumer apparel, creating an opportunity for the enthusiastic amateur athlete to optimize their kit according to their body shape, whilst enhancing the buying experience.

These trends are great news for the sport technology sector in general, opening up wider consumer audiences for an abundance of products that may previously only have been bespoke items for truly elite performers. 

Six months on from The Sports Technology Annual Review and as life returns to sense of normality, the importance of data and analytics is just as clear to see right across the sporting landscape. From a new professional football league, the USFL, emphasising how crucial it is to get its data in front of fans to create engagement and establish itself on the American sports landscape. To the use of historical data to generate ‘real-match’ cricket experiences in a virtual setting, thanks to our new Virtual Cricket In-Play product – the first in-play virtual-betting solution for the sport.

However, perhaps the clearest example of the wider impact – and value – of data and analytics, is the recent March Madness event in the US. We saw 4.3million views of Synergy Sports analytics enhanced videos, up 5% on 2021, which allowed coaches to study and analyse games more easily, helping them prepare for upcoming opponents. 1.6million of those video views were women’s games, up 18% on 2021.

Our powerful data analytics platform, Radar360, helps those in the sports industry find unique and interesting stats that form the basis of highly engaging stories; usage of Radar360 during the 2022 tournament was five times greater than in 2021.

Also, demonstrating how important data and analytics are for creating compelling stories, was the fact that 100% of Division 1 men’s tournament broadcasts used our OnAir graphics and our data, as well as leveraged our research team to keep their audience highly engaged during the month-long tournament.

Finally, sports data is crucial to enabling sports betting, which in turn is a key driver of fan engagement, and we saw an 85% increase in betting tickets processed by our technology for the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament compared to 2021.

March Madness 2022 was a success for the viewing audience. The audience for the final was up 4% over last year’s championship, helping the 2022 NCAA tournament increase its overall viewership by 13% compared to 2021, CBS Sports and WarnerMedia’s Turner Sports said in a statement.

Sportradar, June 2022

In our last opinion piece, we analysed the rapid growth in the volume of start-ups in the sport tech sector that saw more than $12.7 billion invested in sport technology firms during 2021. The sector is now worth in excess of $18 billion globally with investment and acquisition is occurring at record levels.

This development in the market means that it now feels like every start-up you meet tells you their exit strategy in the same breath as their proposition. This used to seem presumptuous but now being articulate as to who and why may want your business from the get-go can both positively influence company strategy and make you sound more backable.

Last year a 10-fold rise in the acquisition of young companies was reported, with buyouts very often being from another start-up. This can be significant element of a growth strategy as it can increase market share, diversify product range, eliminate competition, save on R&D or procure valuable talent.

Joining another business – especially a big tech brand – can offer both huge cache and cash, but start-up founders need to enter the relationship with realistic expectations, especially in regard to the new culture both they and their teams will be joining. Experienced buyers recognize the potential for culture clashes so often take a ‘softly softly’ approach to integration, less experienced ones may tread less carefully which is where tensions are more likely to emerge. In this instance, think carefully as to whether 1+1 really will equal 3.

Any wise start-up founder has a sense as to which team members, especially senior ones, can – and wish – to make the journey from spare room beanbag to a corporate boardroom. Whilst lockdown has altered some aspects of life in more formal environments, there are certain areas that will be non-negotiable. Which colleagues will embrace or resist that?  

Additionally. as a founder, it’s one thing to do the deal and find yourself in a new environment, but you also have to prepare for your baby to be found ugly by your new colleagues. It isn’t unknown, for example, that the incompatibility of backend systems ultimately proves so insurmountable that it makes more sense to redirect human and financial resource elsewhere in the business. The by-product of this decision is that the proposition you worked so hard to create is side-lined for wider company aims. Ouch.

You also need to consider how the new business operates, especially if it is going to have ramifications for your earn-out. You’ve worked hard building your dream, but it may be time to face up that the next two years will be about building someone else’s. If you find being part of a dynamic, status changing juggernaut exciting, great – but you may find the way it works much more restrictive or less nimble than you are used to.

Whilst it’s prudent to be wary, there is clearly plenty of upside to working for a well-funded investment partner. Conversely, if you’ve negotiated a total exit, then you’ll be in a strong position both financially and in terms of experience, which has significant value for your next role.

With a more challenging macroeconomic climate upon us than at any point in the past 10 years, exit strategies are brought into sharper focus, placing even more pressure on any founder’s decision making.

In the sports tech space, the outlook remains positive with outside investment maintaining record levels. It’s a great sector to be in, with plenty of opportunity for those who have the vision and the ability to execute.