The estimated growth is attributed to a continued push for better in-venue activations for fans, innovations related to player and team performance and the rise of esports technology. The research from Marketsand Markets, which focuses on the B2B space, found that sports tech’s expected high market share has much to do with the rousing adoption of smart watches and smart wristbands in the athlete performance space.
The report mentioned that the online sale of smart watches has grown immeasurably and specifically spotlighted Garmin’s running watch, the Forerunner 955 Solar, that includes solar charging with up to 49 hours of battery life in its GPS mode. Garmin’s Forerunner 935 smart watch, which prioritizes heart rate monitoring and workout analytics, is also a leader, particularly in the triathlon space.
Individual teams have also driven the rise of athlete performance technology due to their emphasis on wearable devices and sensors that quantify training, gameday decisions and injury recovery. MarketsandMarkets pointed to companies such as NormaTec, Rapid Reboot and Air Relax whose products improve blood flow and circulation in players.
Meanwhile, North America is expected to hold the largest sports tech share throughout the forecast, as venues such as SoFi Stadium have over 2,500 Wi-Fi 6 access points to create a more immersive fan experience. Connected stadiums are on the rise, with the report noting an IT network partnership between Cisco and Hollywood Park.
The sports tech boom has also given rise to VC firms such as KB Partners, which recently closed a massive $127 million early-stage sports tech fund, as well as sports accelerators such as Techstars. Jordan Fliegel, managing director of the Techstars accelerator in Indianapolis, told SportTechie earlier this year that sports tech funding in North America could reach $10 billion-plus by year’s end, which may turn out to be a conservative prediction.Macauley spent the past eight years as a C-level executive at Topgolf, overseeing its 750 venues across 31 countries and the Toptracer technology employed both in broadcasts and at driving ranges. Before that, the UK native spent 20 years at several telecommunications companies in the US.
Co-founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and NBC Sports Group’s president for golf, Mike McCarley, TMRW Sports plans a tech-infused venue and fan experience. Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm have both joined Woods and McIlroy in pledging participation at launch. Kay Chambers Mollica, who led partnership sales for US Olympic and Paralympic Properties, also joins TMRW as head of global partnerships.Though NFL games have been streamed within betting apps internationally for a while, this was the first instance of it being done domestically. The arrangement was made based on expansion of the partnership between the NFL and Genius Sports, the league’s exclusive distributor of official data and betting streams. For the rest of the 2022 season, the streaming will be limited to select weekly regular season and playoff games.
A press release announcing the news said the games would be streamed with low latency and be complemented by data-driven prop betting opportunities. Genius Sports will use machine learning to enhance the augmented live video Watch & Bet options.
Earlier this month, Bet99, a Canadian online sports gambling platform, signed a licensing deal with Genius Sports to
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