🚀 Upside Weekly Recap: Newly Redesigned Upside Global Site,Upside Career Launch, Samsung Launches XR Glasses; Oura app debuts Cumulative Stress Feature; New SKUs Added to Database.

As a reminder, in July 2025 we announced our new AI based product comparison tool (Interactive tables, Upside AI Assistant) which is part of our Upside Tech scouting platform which is being trusted by 100+ teams (NBA, NFL, MLS, MLB, NHL, WNBA, Premier League, NCAA, national rugby teams, Top 14, Calcio, laliga, pro tennis..).

At Upside, we’ve built one of the most comprehensive performance technology databases in sports and tech with the top 500 products and companies in performance tech. From GPS tracking and recovery systems to strength training solutions and biometric monitoring tools, our platform covers the products shaping athlete performance today.

But technology in sports moves fast—new SKUs, product launches, and price changes are happening constantly. That’s why our team updates the database every single week, so that teams, practitioners, and decision-makers always have access to the most accurate and up-to-date information.

Our brand-new Product Comparison Tool offers a comprehensive comparison of over 500 performance products and companies across a wide range of categories (AMS, GPS, hydration assessment tools, cognitive training, velocity training systems, video analysis, sleep tech, etc..). Whether you’re evaluating vendors for AMS platforms, velocity training, or other categories, this tool allows you to compare pricing, specifications, customer bases, capabilities, funding, and more—all in one place.

Here is a screenshot of what our Upside AI assistant looks like:

Picture: Upside Global, confidential, October 2025

---

🚀 Official Announcement: Newly Redesigned Upside Global Site, with the introduction of Upside Career

This week we also unveiled our newly redesigned Upside Global site, with Upside Global now including three core businesses:

• Upside Tech Scouting: An AI-based platform designed to help sports teams discover and vet top technologies to boost performance, save time and money, and maintain a competitive edge.

• Upside Career: An AI-powered recruiting platform that connects sports organizations and technology vendors with ideal candidates.

• Upside Consulting: Focuses on accelerating business development for startups in elite sports by helping them expand into new markets/leagues and assisting with fundraising through a network of trusted teams and investors. Upside also helps teams with special projects focused on innovation, tech scouting, and so on.

As part of that, we officially announced this week at our Upside US Summit “Upside Career”—our new AI-driven recruiting platform designed to connect practitioners, teams, and startups in sports, performance, and technology.

What Upside Career Will Offer:

• Create a Career Profile – Showcase your experience, education, and unique skill set.

• Explore Job Listings – Browse open positions across elite teams, leagues, and startups.

• Upload Your Resume – Keep your credentials ready for rapid applications.

• AI Job Matching – Get matched to relevant roles based on your profile.

• Smart AI Introductions – Our AI assistant introduces candidates directly to employers.

• Connect with Teams – Communicate with hiring teams about opportunities and growth.

• Attend Job Fairs – Join Upside-hosted virtual and in-person career fairs.

Here is a video explaining how the Upside Career platform works:

We will soon allow candidates to create their profiles and for teams to post job opportunities. We are also in advanced conversations with top Universities to organize job fairs with top universities/NCAA organizations and teams in 2026. More details coming soon.

As a reminder, Upside Global is a network of 10,000 sports executives. The Upside Newsletter is sent 5 days per week to practitioners (Head of performance, HAT, Head of rehab, S&C coaches, PTs..) of all the NBA, NFL, MLS, MLB, NHL teams, 130 NCAA teams, top European soccer teams (Premier League, Calcio, Laliga, Ligue 1..), national rugby teams, tennis academies, top VCs, investors.

---

📩 Summit Recap Coming Soon

Next week, we’ll be sending out a full event recap including photos, videos, and highlights from all panel discussions and key moments—stay tuned!

---

📅 What’s Next for Upside

Join us at our upcoming events:

• 2025 Upside VIP Dinner – MLS Symposium | December 10 | Atlanta, GA

• 2026 Upside VIP Dinner – NBA Summer League | July 2026

• 2026 Upside VIP Event – Atlético Madrid Stadium | September 2026

• 2026 Upside Annual Summit | Date & Location TBD

We are working on organizing additional Upside events in the US and Europe in 2026.

---

Want to Speak or Sponsor an Upside Event?

If you’re interested in speaking or sponsoring one of our future Upside events, please contact us at: julien@upsideglobal.co

---

📘 New Products Added this Week to the Upside Product & Company Database

This week we added the following new specs/pricing changes, and new SKUs and products below to our database of the top 500 performance tech products and companies.

Source: Upside Product/company Database, Confidential, October 2025

---

Learn More About Upside Global

If you want to learn more about Upside Global and our services—including Upside Tech scouting platform, Upside Career, and Upside Consulting—please visit www.upsideglobal.co or email us at julien@upsideglobal.co.

---

Join Today

All these features—the product comparison tool, Upside AI assistant, are available through flexible membership options, including monthly and annual plans. The practitioner community and product review sections are free for all practitioners. So if you are a practitioner who wants to join our online community of practitioners please contact us at julien@upsideglobal.co and we will create your online exec profile.

---

📖 Upside Analysis of the Week

---

🔍 Recent M&A Deals Of The Week

Excel Sports Management majority-stake acquisition by Goldman Sachs (~US$1 billion)
The asset-management arm of Goldman Sachs is reportedly finalizing a deal to acquire a controlling interest in Excel Sports Management, valuing the talent-agency at around US$1 billion. (Source: Reuters)
Upside Take: This deal underscores how institutional investors continue to view sports ecosystem firms (talent agencies, representation, brand management) as vehicles for growth and diversification. The near-US$1 billion valuation reflects scale, global reach, and premium multiples in the sports-business intermediary layer. The risk: talent agencies are exposed to athlete performance, reputational risk, and regulatory scrutiny; effective integration and alignment between Goldman’s infrastructure and Excel’s talent-led culture will be critical.

Adapti signs LOI to acquire Levelution Sports
Adapti (OTC: ADTI) has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire Levelution Sports, a sports-technology/analytics provider; financial terms have not been disclosed. (Source: Seeking Alpha)
Upside Take: This acquisition highlights the ongoing strategic interest in sports-tech and analytics firms — rather than traditional team or league assets. For Adapti, buying a company like Levelution could bolster its product ecosystem with data/analytics capabilities, positioning the firm for growth in the intersection of sports + technology. The risk: Integration and monetisation of sports-analytics businesses are still challenging—realising value will depend on converting tech into scalable revenue.

---

📌 Big Picture / Significance

• The fact that a leading global bank is acquiring a major sports-talent agency shows how financial institutions are moving deeper into the sports value chain, beyond teams and rights.

• The deal signals valuation strength in adjacent sports services firms (agent/management, brand representation) not just franchise ownership.

• This transaction could act as a precedent for further consolidation in the sports-services sector (agencies, marketing firms, talent-management) especially as margins for teams tighten and rights grow expensive.

---

👀 Things to Watch Next

• Which other major agency or brand-management firms become targets for private equity or strategic buyers?

• How Goldman Sachs utilises Excel’s platform—Will the agency continue operating as stand-alone or integrate into a broader “sports asset” platform?

• Regulatory/league approval—While this is not a team purchase, athlete-representation deals can trigger attention around antitrust, league rules, and athlete compensation.

• Talent retention and culture—Post-deal execution will matter: will Excel maintain its competitive edge in attracting top athletes and securing high-value contracts?

---

⌚ New Product / Initiative / Structural Moves

• Audicin’s wearable aims to hack your recovery while you work (Source: Wareable)

• Samsung teases smart glasses and partnerships with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster (Source: Wareable)

• Samsung officially launches $1,799 Galaxy XR headset with Google and Qualcomm (Source: Wareable)

• Oura app update debuts Cumulative Stress and enhanced Cycle Insights (Source: Wareable)

---

⭐ Major Coaching / Practitioner Moves

⚽ Soccer / Premier Leagues

Al-Ittihad appoints Sérgio Conceição (Saudi Pro League)
Sérgio Conceição has been hired to lead Al-Ittihad on a contract through 2028, replacing Laurent Blanc. Conceição arrives with a track record in Europe and a reputation for a high-tempo, disciplined style. Reuters

CF Montréal names Marco Donadel permanent head coach (MLS)
After serving as interim for much of 2025, Marco Donadel was given the permanent job at CF Montréal this week. mlssoccer

Nottingham Forest replace Ange Postecoglou with Sean Dyche (Premier League)
After poor results, Forest moved quickly to sack Postecoglou and appointed Sean Dyche as the new manager. Capital FM

---

🏀 Basketball (NBA)

Phoenix Suns — Jordan Ott officially the head coach
Jordan Ott was named Phoenix’s head coach in the offseason and enters the 2025-26 season with a revamped staff and roster adjustments. Suns

New York Knicks — Mike Brown installed as head coach
Following Tom Thibodeau’s departure, the Knicks moved to Mike Brown as Thibodeau’s replacement. The move continues the league’s pattern of teams choosing experienced, defensive-minded coaches to maintain competitive windows. Yahoo Sports

---

🏒 NHL

Coaching & staff churn continues
Staff changes are surfacing early in the 2025-26 NHL season — e.g., the New York Islanders moved on from goalie coach Piero Greco after a short stretch. (reporting via local outlets). New York Post

---

⚽ MLS

Atlanta United parts ways with Ronny Deila
Atlanta United announced the club has parted ways with head coach Ronny Deila after a disappointing season. mlssoccer

MLS coaching tracker: multiple clubs formalizing internal hires
Several clubs have used interim promotions this season and are converting successful caretaker runs into full appointments (examples tracked by MLSsoccer). mlssoccer

---

⚾ MLB

Texas Rangers promote Skip Schumaker to manager
Skip Schumaker was officially named the Rangers’ manager — an internal promotion and continuity hire after front-office involvement during 2025. Reuters+1

Rays Assistant GM Carlos Rodriguez departs after 15 years
Longtime Rays executive Carlos Rodriguez left the organization this week, ending a 15-year tenure. DRaysBay+1

Other MLB notes: Several franchises have finalized internal extensions or retained interim managers (Pirates extended Don Kelly; Giants and Twins moves continue to ripple through the market). FanGraphs Baseball

---

🏫 NCAA (College Football / Basketball)

Florida fires Billy Napier (Football)
Florida dismissed Billy Napier after a 3-4 start; an interim coach has been named for the remainder of the season. This is part of a rapidly developing college-coaching carousel with multiple Power-4 jobs now open. ESPN.com

Broader NCAA signal: Multiple FBS and FCS programs have made midseason changes, reflecting escalating impatience among boosters and ADs. CBS Sports

---

🏉 Rugby

St Helens parted ways with Paul Wellens; Munster backs Clayton McMillan
Clubs oscillate between severing ties for missed objectives (St Helens) and doubling down with financial support for new coaches (Munster CEO publicly backing Clayton McMillan). Matt Ferguson is also linked to involvement with England A coaching. (previous reports updated). saudigazette

---

🔍 Big Picture — What’s New / Why It Matters

• Continuity + internal promotions remain the dominant theme across leagues. Teams prefer trusted insiders who can maintain cultural momentum (MLB Rangers; MLS/MLS clubs converting interims). MLB.com

• Boards and owners are more interventionist and faster to act. From England’s Premier League quick hires/fires to collegiate ADs pulling triggers midseason, decision-makers want immediate results. The Masters News

• Front-office churn (Rays) and coaching shakeups (Forest, Atlanta, Florida) will affect pipelines and recruitment. Expect scouting and developmental adjustments as new regimes stamp their philosophies. DRaysBay

---

👀 Things to Watch Next (highest leverage)

1. Who fills the remaining Premier League vacancies? (Forest’s path and ripple effects).

2. MLB offseason managerial dominoes — will veteran managers be poached/rehired? (Giants/Twins/Braves watchlist). FanGraphs Baseball

3. Florida’s replacement and the broader Power-4 coaching market — this will reallocate top coaching candidates across college football. ESPN.com

4. Munster’s recruitment under McMillan — will pledged support convert into marquee signings and sustained competitiveness? The Times of India

---

You may also like:

🩸Upside Analysis: Why Fewer Blood Tests in Elite Sports Are Better than Too Many

Blood analysis has emerged as one of the most powerful tools in elite sport. It can help teams detect overtraining, undertraining, early signs of illness, and nutritional deficiencies before they translate into missed training days or injuries. However, many teams fall into the trap of over-testing—running too many blood tests without clear decision-making frameworks. This creates unnecessary noise, athlete frustration, and wasted resources. The future of blood analysis lies not in more tests, but in fewer, smarter, and more integrated tests that directly inform performance and recovery decisions.

---

The Issue: Teams Run Too Many Tests

Elite organizations sometimes run broad blood panels weekly or even more often, without clear thresholds or intended interventions. This creates three core problems:

• Noise and false positives: More biomarkers mean more statistical noise. With dozens of analytes, abnormal values are expected by chance, leading to unnecessary concern or interventions (Mayo Clinic Proceedings).

• Athlete burden: Frequent blood draws can reduce athlete trust and compliance, especially when they don’t see actionable outcomes.

• Resource inefficiency: Broad panels are expensive and time-consuming for medical staff, siphoning budgets away from interventions with clearer impact (e.g., sleep optimization, recovery tech).

---

Why Fewer Tests—and the Right Tests—Matter

• Sharper signal: Fewer but carefully selected biomarkers (such as creatine kinase, cortisol, testosterone:cortisol ratio, and salivary IgA) provide clearer trends tied directly to training load and recovery (PubMed Central).

• Athlete-specific insights: Longitudinal monitoring relative to baseline matters more than population norms (Frontiers in Sports).

• Actionability over curiosity: Every test should map to a clear action—whether that’s altering training load, adjusting nutrition, or triggering recovery modalities.

---

Blood Analysis as the “Secret Sauce”

Blood analysis is now considered a hidden competitive advantage. Done well, it allows teams to:

• Detect overtraining through markers like reduced testosterone:cortisol ratios (Scientific Reports).

• Spot undertraining by identifying blunted immune or hormonal responses.

• Predict illness risk through salivary IgA monitoring (Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research).

By integrating these signals with load and sleep data, practitioners can intervene earlier and keep players available.

---

Key Stats

• Illness absences: In elite soccer, median illness absence is 3 days per episode, showing the importance of preventive monitoring rather than blanket testing (PubMed).

• Role of illness in male professional football: Not a major contributor to time loss (Bjørneboe J, Kristenson K, Waldén M, Bengtsson H, Ekstrand J, Hägglund M; Br J Sports Med. 2016;50(11):699-702). (Source: PubMed)

  Key details:

  • The study covered 73 European professional football teams over four seasons (2011-2014), with 1,261,367 player-days recorded.

  • They found 1,914 illness episodes recorded.

  • They reported a median of 3 days absence per illness episode.

  • Illness incidence was 1.5 per 1000 player-days.

---

Key Studies (with URLs)

1. Blood-based biomarkers for managing workload in athletes (Source here)

2. Emerging load-sensitive biomarkers (IL-6, HSPs, etc.) (Source here)

3. Hormonal aspects of overtraining (systematic review) (Source here)

4. Testosterone–cortisol ratio & stress in athletes (Source here)

---

Why AI and AMS Integration Is a Winning Formula

Modern Athlete Management Systems (AMS) enhanced with AI are crucial for making blood analysis actionable:

• Integration over silos: Biomarker data layered with GPS, wellness, sleep, and training load creates a holistic picture (Source: Orreco + Kinduct partnership). Please note that Kinduct is now part of Teamworks.

• Predictive insights: AI can detect patterns (e.g., CK spike + low sleep + poor IgA) that precede soft tissue injuries.

• Translation to staff: Dashboards translate complex data into simple green/amber/red flags and recommendations.

---

Case Studies

• Orreco × Orlando City SC (MLS): Orreco’s BioMarkers 3.0 platform provides targeted blood analysis, helping the club individualize training and recovery (Orreco case reference).

• Atlanta Hawks (NBA): Orreco helped Hawks players integrate biomarker insights into training load and recovery, reducing overtraining risk (Source: Orreco NBA partnership).

• England Women’s National Team (Lionesses): Used Orreco’s FitrCoach and FitrWoman to integrate menstrual cycle, blood markers, and training load to optimize performance (Sky Sports report).

---

Future of Blood Analysis (5–10 Years)

• Less invasive monitoring: Move from venous blood draws to finger-prick, saliva, or sweat sensors for continuous data (NIH Roadmap).

• AI-driven digital twins: Personalized models predicting how an athlete will respond to training and nutrition.

• Context-aware alerts: Smart algorithms filtering “expected” changes from true red flags.

• Federated learning: Clubs sharing anonymized biomarker data to improve global reference ranges while keeping competitive IP safe.

---

Recommendations to Teams

1. Define the question before testing. What decision will this test influence?

2. Adopt lean testing menus. Use broad screens in preseason, then shift to targeted readiness markers in-season.

3. Build individual baselines. Track changes relative to an athlete’s own norm, not population averages.

4. Integrate with AMS. Make biomarkers part of the same workflow as GPS and sleep—not standalone reports.

5. Educate athletes. Explain why fewer, focused tests are more accurate and less intrusive.

6. Measure ROI. Track reductions in injuries and illness against testing protocols to prove value.

---

Conclusion

Blood analysis has enormous potential in elite sport, but more testing is not better testing. Oversampling creates noise, false positives, and athlete fatigue. The winning model is to focus on fewer, more meaningful biomarkers, integrate them into AI-powered AMS platforms, and link them directly to actionable decisions. Teams that adopt this approach will maximize player availability, reduce wasted resources, and stay ahead in the performance race.

You may also like:

🏟️ Thank You for Making the 2025 Upside US Sports Tech Summit a Success! Announcing the Upside Career, an AI driven Recruiting Platform for Teams and Startups

Thank You for Making the 2025 Upside US Sports Tech Summit a Success!

What an unforgettable day at the 2025 Upside US Sports Tech Summit at the Amerant Bank Arena, home of the two-time Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.

This Summit would not have been possible without the incredible support of our partners, sponsors, speakers, volunteers, and the Upside team—as well as the exhibitors, pro teams, investors, and attendees who traveled from around the world to be part of this event. Thank you for helping us bring the global sports tech community together.

---

🌟 Highlights from the Summit

• Inspiring Speakers: 50+ industry experts—shared powerful insights shaping the future of sports.

• Speed Dating with Pro Teams: One of the most anticipated sessions brought together 27 innovative exhibitors and 30+ pro teams from the NBA, MLB, NHL, MLB, NWSL, UFL, USL, NCAA, WWE, tennis —5 minutes per team, real conversations, real deals.

• Unmatched Networking: Over 250 leaders across sports tech, venture capital, elite teams, startups, and performance connected to collaborate and innovate.

• Top-Tier Content & Innovation: 10 panels, 2 keynotes, and 27 cutting-edge exhibitors showcased the latest in AI, wearables, biometrics, rehab tech, performance analytics, fan engagement, and venue innovation.

---

🙏 A Special Thank You to Our 26 Sponsors

We’re deeply grateful for the support of our sponsors:

Kinmetrix, HigherDOSE, Winback, Maxxx Force, Kinvent, Multi Radiance, Vert, Orreco, VALD, Quantum Movement, Aris, Cerbrec Beyond Blood, BrainLit, Danu Sports, ActivBody, OxiWear, Myocene, Prism Neuro, Machina Sports, Respo.Vision, GameRun.ai, Summus Medical Laser, Box Altitude, ThermoHuman, KinetikIQ, Output Sports.

---

🚀 Official Announcement: Upside Career

We also officially announced Upside Career—our new AI-driven recruiting platform designed to connect practitioners, teams, and startups in sports, performance, and technology.

What Upside Career Will Offer:

• Create a Career Profile – Showcase your experience, education, and unique skill set.

• Explore Job Listings – Browse open positions across elite teams, leagues, and startups.

• Upload Your Resume – Keep your credentials ready for rapid applications.

• AI Job Matching – Get matched to relevant roles based on your profile.

• Smart AI Introductions – Our AI assistant introduces candidates directly to employers.

• Connect with Teams – Communicate with hiring teams about opportunities and growth.

• Attend Job Fairs – Join Upside-hosted virtual and in-person career fairs.

Here is a video explaining how the Upside Career platform works:

We will soon allow candidates to create their profiles and for teams to post job opportunities. We are also in advanced conversations with top Universities to organize job fairs with top universities/NCAA organizations and teams in 2026. More details coming soon.

---

📩 Summit Recap Coming Soon

Next week, we’ll be sending out a full event recap including photos, videos, and highlights from all panel discussions and key moments—stay tuned!

---

📅 What’s Next for Upside

Join us at our upcoming events:

• 2025 Upside VIP Dinner – MLS Symposium | December 10 | Atlanta, GA

• 2026 Upside VIP Dinner – NBA Summer League | July 2026

• 2026 Upside VIP Event – Atlético Madrid Stadium | September 2026

• 2026 Upside Annual Summit | Date & Location TBD

We are working on organizing additional Upside events in the US and Europe in 2026.

---

Want to Speak or Sponsor an Upside Event?

If you’re interested in speaking or sponsoring one of our future Upside events, please contact us at: julien@upsideglobal.co

---

Learn More About Upside Global

If you want to learn more about Upside Global and our services—including Upside Tech scouting platform, Upside Career, and Upside Consulting—please visit www.upsideglobal.co or email us at julien@upsideglobal.co.

---

Thank You

To our partners, sponsors, speakers, volunteers, exhibitors, pro teams, and the entire Upside team—thank you for your trust, energy, and dedication. Upside is more than an event—it’s a community shaping the future of sports and technology.

See you at the next Upside event!

— The Upside Global Team

You may also like: