Digital Sports Agency LaSource Partners With Motion Capture and AR Startup Move.ai
By Joe Lemire
LaSource, a digital sports agency, has partnered with markerless motion capture and augmented reality startup Move.ai to help it break into the sports and entertainment industries.
Move.ai, which is based in London and can capture data from any camera, has completed proofs of concept in soccer and video games with similar projects planned for boxing and tennis. The hope is to apply its motion capture technology broadly in gaming, coaching, biomechanics and fan engagement, such as through Web3 and metaverse experiences.
LaSource co-founder and chief strategy officer Jean-Baptiste Alliot previously ran the UEFA Innovation Hub. Its CEO, Samuel Westberg, has broad sports and tech experience including time at Paris FC, Greenfly, LiveLike. Move.ai is the second startup to join its LeStudio programme.
English Soccer Club Crawley Town Signs Adidas NFT Deal
By Andrew Cohen
Wagmi United, the group of U.S. cryptocurrency investors that bought English soccer club Crawley Town F.C. earlier this year, is partnering with Adidas to create NFTs for the team that fans can collect to earn physical and digital merchandise from Adidas. The brand is also now the kit manufacturer and apparel partner of Crawley Town, the first EFL League Two club to strike such a deal with Adidas.
Crawley Town’s first NFTs will debut July 6, with the collection designed and produced in partnership with Adidas. NFT holders will be able to vote on key issues facing Crawley Town, such as deciding whether Wagmi United’s co-founders Preston Johnson and Eben Smith will keep their co-chairmen roles with Crawley Town if it does not earn promotion to League One by the end of their second full season as owners of the team.
Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey is among the investors in Wagmi United, which finalized its purchase of Crawley Town in April. The group aims for Crawley Town to be known as “the internet’s team.” Johnson is a former gambling analyst at ESPN while entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk is also part of Wagmi United’s ownership.
Major League Rugby Debuts Single-Screen Live Betting on The Rugby Network
By Andrew Cohen
Major League Rugby debuted live sports betting on The Rugby Network this past weekend during its final games of the season. Matches livestreamed on The Rugby Network included on-screen wagers from Australian sportsbook PlayUp for viewers to place real-money bets directly through their smart TVs or other streaming devices.
The live in-game betting experience was available to fans located in states with legalized online sports betting. Interactive sports betting company Tappp facilitated the single-screen betting experience for MLR. This past weekend’s betting integration came in addition to the free-to-play Pick&Go on-screen game that The Rugby Network debuted with Tappp earlier this season.
Major League Rugby announced its partnership in April with Tappp, which will leverage activity data from its Pick&Go game to create an enhanced free-to-play and real-money betting offering for MLR’s 2023 season. Tappp raised $10 million in April and is having discussions with several broadcasters and sportsbooks outside of PlayUp to launch similar watch-and-bet experiences later this year.
Predictive Fitness and TriDot Unveil Mark Allen Training Program for Endurance Athletes
By Tom Friend
Endurance athletes are now able to receive both personal and algorithmic intelligence coaching from triathlete pioneer Mark Allen, through the fitness company TriDot.
Allen, a six-time winner of the original IRONMAN triathlon event in Hawaii, has teamed with TriDot—a division of Predictive Fitness, Inc.—to unveil the TriDot Mark Allen Edition. The platform will provide endurance athletes with Allen’s and other coaches’ advice, alongside algorithmic intelligence that generates training programs in real time through wearables.
The algorithmic data is designed to improve athlete performance, monitor fatigue levels and reduce a competitor’s injury or illness risk. Predictive Fitness deploys AI, machine learning and predictive analytics to inform athletes, as well as the general public. Its subsidiary, TriDot, uses software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology to specifically optimize triathlete training.
Allen not only dominated the IRONMAN, but once went two full years without losing a race. He currently serves on the IRONMAN University Advisory Board and has been coaching for 25 years.
Toptracer Launches New Insights-Driven Game Called Toptracer30 to Offer Real-Time Feedback
By Tom Friend
Toptracer, a staple of the Topgolf experience due to its analytic capabilities, has launched a more versatile and advanced version called Toptracer30 that will grade a player’s performance level.
Toptracer30’s technology, which will be available at participating driving ranges, will allow customers to swing their clubs in 30 virtual golf scenarios—nine different type of tee shots and 21 unique approach shots—to calculate a final assessment based on distance, accuracy and greens hit while approaching.
Marketed as a “bridge’’ between a driving range golf and on-course golf, the Toptracer30 experience will also give golfers real-time feedback after each shot to help them navigate the digital par 4 and par 5 course. After the round of 30 swings ends, golfers will receive an estimate of their handicap based on their performance. As usual with Toptracer technology, metrics such as carry, distance and ball velocity will be available.
Unlike Topgolf, where balls are embedded with RFID chips, the balls used for Toptracer30 will be tracked with precise camera technology. NBC Sports has been deploying Toptracer technology since 2019 to track shots during PGA Tour telecasts, while Topgolf recently renovated a green-grass course next to their new facility in El Segundo that lets customers experience Toptracer tracking on the par-3 10th hole.
BaseballCloud Acquires Multi-Array Camera and Video Company Aqueti
By Juwan Watson
Data analytics and visualization company, BaseballCloud has acquired Aqueti, which uses and optimizes a multi-array camera imaging system and video to data collection. Last year, BaseballCloud acquired ball flight data company Yakkertech. This past April, BaseballCloud and Yakkertech signed an exclusive, multi-year partnership with the Frontier League, a professional independent baseball league, to handle their motion capture and distribution rights.
With the use of Aqueti’s patented lens and micro camera modules and proprietary data compression software, BaseballCloud is planning to deploy the Aqueti technology alongside a new multi-array Yakkertech system with the goals of ensuring data quality, visual acuity and reducing system costs.
Aqueti cameras capture the images which then become interactive digital streams that their technology allows multiple users to manipulate. Their premier Mantis camera, a 19-lens camera with processors that combine images into a 100-megapixel frame, allowing users to zoom in to reveal extraordinary detail.
Roblox Launches Wimbledon World With Digital Swag From Andy Murray, Ralph Lauren
By Andrew Cohen
The All England Lawn Tennis Club has partnered with Roblox to launch WimbleWorld, a new 3D virtual world on Roblox that’s modeled after the Centre Court stadium at Wimbledon. Fans can collect in-game ‘Wimblebux’ to redeem for items from Roblox’s virtual Wimbledon shop to customize their avatars with digital merchandise.
Items available in the game’s digital storefront will span virtual branded clothing from Wimbledon sponsor Ralph Lauren, virtual tennis equipment and a digital edition of tennis star Andy Murray’s 2022 AMC cap. Users can also interact with Murray’s avatar in WimbleWorld, which includes a leaderboard and several animated tennis courts for users to play matches amongst their avatars. Virtual screens inside WimbleWorld will also display video highlights from the real-life Wimbledon tournament.
The Roblox metaverse already spans a virtual world from Nike while the NFL sold league-branded digital helmets and jerseys as swag for avatars. Both UEFA and NASCAR have also launched games on Roblox, which has more than 50 million active users.
Strive Raises $6 Million in Series A Funding With Colts’ Jonathan Taylor Among Investors
By Tom Friend
Strive, which uses sensor-embedded clothing to both monitor and maximize athlete performance, has raised $6 million in Series A funding that was led by Future Communities Capital.
The Indianapolis Colts’ All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor also invested in the muscle-data company, which intends to direct the funds to its sales and marketing team to try to scale growth of its athlete and military consumers and to increase its presence in the industrial sector.
Other investors included former Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, the SeaChange Fund, SeedtoB Capital, Jas Ventures, Gaingels, Founders First, Macnica Investment Partners, fama Ventures, Biosphere Investment Group and ThinKuvate. The managing director of Future Communities Capital, Rohit Gupta, has also been named to Strive’s board of directors.
Strive’s innovative sensors—typically integrated into compression shorts—utilize electromyography technology to track the movements of an athlete’s hamstrings, glutes and quadriceps as a way to quantify load management and muscle fatigue. Teams such as the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL; Leicester City and Manchester City of the English Premier League; the Dominican Republic national baseball squad; and the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program endorse and use the platform. Les Spellman of Spellman Performance also used the Strive smart apparel to help players train for the NFL Scouting Combine.
As far back as 2018, Strive developed compression shorts with a pod connected to the waistband, complete with ECG, EMG, GPS, accelerometer and gyroscope technology. Since then, CEO Nikola Mrvaljevic has focused on muscle data, and the company has teamed with Kinexon to better analyze muscle recovery.
GameChanger Partners With U.S. Club Lacrosse, Will Handle Livestreaming, Scorekeeping
By Tom Friend
The expansive scoring app GameChanger has partnered with U.S. Club Lacrosse to handle all the organization’s scorekeeping, livestreaming, statistics and team management needs.
Through its website, U.S. Club Lacrosse informs approximately 10,000 teams across the country about tournaments, rankings, tryouts and clinics. With GameChanger on board, that will now include how to monitor and watch games in real time.
Owned by Dick’s Sporting Goods, GameChanger introduced lacrosse into its multiplying family of sports in 2021, along with football, soccer, ice hockey, field hockey, rugby and water polo. Originally developed for baseball and softball —then later basketball —the app has added both livestream and automated video highlights to its game coverage over the past two years, turning GameChanger into a quasi-recruiting site for college coaches.
French Soccer Star Kylian Mbappé Invests in NFT Fantasy Sports Platform Sorare
By Andrew Cohen
French soccer star Kylian Mbappé has invested in NFT-based fantasy sports platform Sorare and will become the company’s first player ambassador. Paris-headquartered Sorare previously valued itself at $4.3 billion when it raised $680 million last September.
Sorare, founded in 2018, has deals with more than 250 sports organizations to create player NFT trading cards that users collect to build lineups that compete in fantasy contests against other users. Its partners include top soccer leagues such as MLS, Bundesliga, LaLiga and the French Football Federation. Sorare has begun expanding outside of soccer after its deal in May with MLB.
Mbappé, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team, will see his philanthropic organization called Inspired By KM (IBKM) teach disadvantaged youth about opportunities presented by Web3 through training, conferences, equipment, and a diploma all provided by Sorare. Sorare will also auction a unique Mbappé digital card with all its proceeds donated to IBKM.
Tennis star Serena Williams joined Sorare’s board of directors as an advisor earlier this year. Earlier this month, Mbappé’s production company Zebra Valley announced a multi-year content creation partnership with the NBA.
No Comments Yet