🔎📈 2023 October Recap: Sports Tech Market To Grow by $29.95B by 2027. Patriots Go MR Mode. World Rugby Adopts Smart Mouthguards. $33.6M Raised From Sports Tech Startups, Up +211% from Sept 2023.
Dear Colleague,
October was another exciting month in the sports of sports and tech. At Upside, we are now 21 days away from our annual Upside Sports Tech Summit which will take place at City Field in New York on November 15, 2023. We are also actively working on our 2024 annual Upside Tech Summits in the US and Europe with more top teams, vendors and investors so stay tuned!
We are almost sold out so hurry up and get your ticket(s) to our NY Summit at Citi Field now.
If you cannot attend our NY Summit in person, no worries. You can now sign up here, email us and we will send you for free the recorded videos of the panels and keynotes by clicking on the link below:
Participating Teams & Leagues:
We have 50 speakers confirmed, and our speaking slots are almost all sold out and we only have one booth left, so if you are interested in sponsoring our event, exhibiting or speaking at our event click on the button below or email us ASAP at julien@sportsouncilsv.com before it is too late.
In the MLS, the MLS playoffs are now underway. Daniel Salloi converted Sporting Kansas City's decisive penalty kick to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes 4-2 in the tiebreaker after a scoreless 90 minutes on Wednesday in the Western Conference wild-card match. Elias Manoel also scored a hat trick for the first goals of his MLS Cup playoff career and the New York Red Bulls romped to a 5-2 victory over Charlotte FC on Wednesday in the Eastern Conference Wild Card game.
In the world of pro basketball, the NBA season just started last night. One of the biggest talks of the night was Wemby’s debut against the Mavericks. Wemby finished with 15 points in debut as Spurs lose. Wembanyama's performance was hampered by foul trouble, but he gave the soldout crowd of 18,947 quite the show in the fourth quarter before the Dallas Mavericks pulled away from Wembanyama's Spurs with a 126-119 victory.
In the world of American Football, the NFL season is now in full swing. It is still too soon to tell though which NFL teams are favorites to win the Superbowl this year. But right now the Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Chiefs, Jaguars, Falcons, Eagles, Lions, and SF 49ers are all leading their respective divisions.
In the world of pro rugby, it is now down to two teams. The defending 2019 World Champion Springboks will face the New Zealand All Blacks this weekend in the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. The Springboks beat England 16-15 in the semi finals while the the All Blacks beat Argentina 44-6.
In the world of pro baseball, the Diamondbacks will meet the Texas Rangers in a battle of two teams that had losing records in 2022 and lost more than 100 games just two seasons ago -- 110 for the Diamondbacks, 102 for the Rangers. It has to rate as one of the most unlikely matchups in World Series history.
In the world of pro golf, LIV Golf concludes its second season this month with the final round of its 2023 team championship at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami. If it returns for a third season in 2024, the league’s makeup will be anyone’s guess. A variety of scenarios are on the table for 2024, ranging from not much change at all to working alongside the PGA Tour — or even nonexistence.
In the world of pro tennis, Gael Monfils has won his 12th ATP Tour title and his first in almost two years by beating qualifier Pavel Kotov in three sets in the Nordic Open final in Stockholm. Tennis great Rafael Nadal will also play at next year’s Australian Open, according to tournament director Craig Tiley. The 22-time grand slam champion has been absent from the sport after suffering a defeat to Mackenzie McDonald in January at the 2023 edition of the tournament.
In the world of pro hockey, the National Hockey League (NHL) season started off. The NHL is now looking to stage games in Mexico, a significant expansion of its activities outside the U.S. and Canada.
In the AI/AR/VR/NFT/OTT/Metaverse/Crypto/Blockchain space, the NBA introduced a new NBA App with all-new personalization features, live game experience and slate of original programming for 2023-24 season. NBA's LaMelo And Lonzo Ball—And Their Dad—Star In NFT Game 'StrayShot'.
Cristiano Ronaldo Partners With Binance To Launch CR7 ForeverZone Collection. NFL Alumni and Aventus announce Web3 partnership to empower retired players. Satisfi Labs also launched the first Generative AI Chat solution for Live Events with AXS. Tennessee Titans also teamed up with The Famous Group for In-venue Mixed Reality experiences.
In the world of sports performance and wearables, the NBA and WNBA teamed up with Peloton on Peloton fitness content and live streaming. World Rugby also introduced smart mouthguards to detect player head injuries in-game. Lastly AT&T introduced a 5G helmet for deaf athletes to makes Football more accessible.
In the world of sports tech investments, total sports tech investment in October 2023 reached $33.6M. This was up +211% from $10.8M in September 2023. This is the 1st time in 4 months where we see sports tech investments increase month over month.
As a reminder, Upside Global is a sports, tech & health community of 6,000+ executives under a single web platform. Members include executives from the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, MLB, NCAA, Laliga, English Premiere League, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Series A, Brazilian soccer league, Olympic teams, Pro rugby, Pro tennis, as well as representatives of startups, brands, VCs, and athletes.
As a reminder, Upside launched the Upside Tech Scouting platform, the world’s first platform providing granular anonymized team data on specific teams (NBA, NFL, MLB, NCAA, Premier League, Laliga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, national teams, Olympic teams, pro rugby, pro tennis..). For each team profile, users can see critical information provided by teams such as their annual sports performance budget, the vendor(s) that they are currently using, their rating per vendor and the price range that they are paying for each vendor. Now keep in mind that each team profile has been anonymized as we take data privacy of teams very seriously.
Here is a video providing an overview of the Upside scouting platform.
The Upside Tech Scouting Platform is currently trusted & used by leading sports organizations, and VCs to help them discover new cutting technologies and do their due diligence on emergence technology vendors. Leading vendors are also using it to better understand the needs of leading pro teams and generate new leads.
Here is a post explaining the benefits for teams to join the Upside tech scouting platform, how we gathered the survey data from teams. If you want to sign up for Upside Premium which gives you access to the Upside Tech scouting platform please click on the bottom below:
You can click on the link below and sign up for our Upside Pro Combo today and get the 30% discount:
If you have any questions regarding Upside Global, or the Upside Tech scouting platform, please contact us at julien@sportscouncilsv.com
📰 Top Stories We’re Reading This Month
⭐Upside Study: The Impact of Sleep Interventions on Athletic Performance: A Systematic Review
⭐Upside Study: Association of Injury Rates Among Players in the NFL With Playoff Qualification, Travel Distance, Game Timing, and the Addition of Another Game
⭐ 🛰️ Outdoor GPS Market: Key Vendors, Trends, Recommendations to Pro Teams (2nd Edition)
⌚⚽ 🏀Upside Analysis: Sports Leagues' regulation towards wearables (NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, AFL, Premier League, PGA Tour..) (2nd Edition)
🔥Upside Chat with Female Sports Experts: Joelle Muro (NY Liberty),Allison Schmitt (Top Athlete),Mélanie Pauli (Swiss Football), Christy Fernandez-Cull (DaVinci Wearables), Shavini Fernando (OxiWear)
🧠Upside Chat with Gordon Waddington & Elizabeth McGrath, Co-Founders of Prism Neuro.
💧Upside Chat with James Mayo, Founder of Sm24, A Non-Invasive Real-Time Biomarker Analysis Sensor Company
🧊Upside Chat with Bill Donovan, CCO, CoolMitt, a Pioneer Manufacturer of Cooling Devices for People that are Heat Stressed.
⭐Upside Chat with Shavini Fernando, CEO of OxiWear, Maker of the World's First Wearable Device for Continuous Real Time Monitoring of Oxygen During Motion.
🔗 NBA App launches all-new personalization features, live game experience and slate of original programming for 2023-24 season
🔗 NFL Alumni and Aventus announce Web3 partnership to empower retired players.
🏀 NBA and WNBA agree Peloton fitness content and live streaming partnership
🏉 World Rugby introduces smart mouthguards to detect player head injuries in-game
🏈AT&T's 5G Helmet for Deaf Athletes Makes Football More Accessible
💸 Startup investment recap (October 2023)
📊 Tech Stats of the month
📸 Snapshots & videos of the Month
Let’s jump right into the insights and upside for all of these top stories
⭐Upside Studies of the Month
⭐Upside Analysis of the Month
⚽📊From the Source | Unleashing Potential: Propelling Women’s Football and WSL to New Heights
The immense popularity of women’s football is undeniable…
📈 87,192 fans at Wembley Stadium for UEFA Women’s Euro 2022
📈 267% increase in attendance for WSL teams
📈 33% increase in commercial revenue
📈 22% increase in league broadcast growth globally
The recent rise in fandom may be indicative of future WSL successes, but there is a need to address how global women’s professional teams and clubs can translate this growth.
To guarantee the future success of the Women’s Super League (WSL), it is imperative to seize the current momentum of women’s sports and address the challenges concerning media coverage and sponsorship revenue by strengthening local club markets.
⭐ Upside Podcast Interviews of the Month
🎮 NFTs/Metaverse/AR/VR/Blockchain/OTT News
🔗 NBA App launches all-new personalization features, live game experience and slate of original programming for 2023-24 season | Via : nba.com
The NBA today announced an array of new programming and enhancements on the NBA App ahead of the 2023-24 season. The NBA App – which generated more than one billion video views this past season, more than triple the prior year’s total – will deliver unique experiences through advanced personalization features, enhanced live game viewing options and expanded content offerings that will bring fans closer to the game.
As part of a deepened personalized experience on the NBA App powered by Microsoft Azure AI Services, fans will have the ability to add multiple team and player tabs to their app main screen, allowing fans to seamlessly access real-time content. The new tabs will include the latest news, trending topics, vertical video highlights and updates related to their favorite teams and players. A new “Moments” experience will allow fans to scroll through unlimited NBA content using a vertical social media-style interface.
⬆️ The Upside: We think it makes sense for the NBA to enhance its NBA app by providing fans a more customized experience as it will help improve the fans experience, and fan engagement and ultimately drive higher revenue Of note, total NBA mobile app revenue in September 2023 was $1M, including $900k for iOS apps and $300k for Android apps. Total mobile app downloads for NBA was 200k, including 60k iOS app downloads and 100k Android app downloads. NBA has a total of 38 apps, including 19 iOS apps, and 19 Android apps. In the 2022/23 season, total attendance at National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season games rose to 22.16M. The NBA had around 1.59 million TV viewers in the 2022-2023 season. What is the highest NBA viewership? The highest NBA viewership watch was recorded during the 1988 NBA Finals Game 6 with 35.89 million viewers.
🔗 NFL Alumni and Aventus announce Web3 partnership to empower retired players. | Via : Blockster
The NFL Alumni Association and Aventus, a pioneering blockchain provider in the ticketing and entertainment sector, are joining forces to introduce a cutting-edge platform designed exclusively for retired NFL players, coaches, and front office staff. This visionary partnership aims to boost fan engagement, create fresh revenue streams, and advance the NFLA's overarching mission of "Caring For Our Own." As of October 3rd, 2023, the National Football League Alumni (NFLA) is embarking on an innovative journey alongside Aventus, a parachain operating within the Polkadot ecosystem dedicated to ushering in Web3 - the decentralized, blockchain-based global web.
Together, NFLA and Aventus are poised to deliver a holistic Web3 experience, complete with digital collectibles and metaverse-based interactions. This strategic alliance holds the potential to empower retired NFL players by facilitating direct communication with their fans, transcending geographical constraints, and forging new revenue streams, all while championing the NFLA's noble objective of caring for its own.
⬆️ The Upside: This is a nice move by the NFLA as it can provide a new revenue stream for players. That being said, the NFLA is not the first player association to team up with a Web 3.0 /NFT company. For example the NBA and NBA Players Association stroke a deal with Sorare for its NFT Fantasy Game. We expect other Player associations to adopt a similar strategy and forge partnerships with Web 3.0/NFT companies. Feel free to check out our full analysis on the sports metaverse/web 3.0 vendor ecosystem here.
🚑 Wearables, Health, Nutrition News
🏀 NBA and WNBA agree Peloton fitness content and live streaming partnership | Via : SP
Peloton has signed a multi-year partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) that will see them create basketball-themed fitness classes and enable NBA League Pass subscribers to stream live games on their equipment. The deal is Peloton’s first for its new entertainment hub, which will roll out across the firm’s proprietary connected fitness equipment, including its smart bikes, treadmills and rowing machines.
Meanwhile, the ‘NBA Fitness’ initiative will see a range of health and fitness content added to both Peloton’s platform and through a new hub in the NBA app. The content will include classes, tips and programmes focusing on strength and conditioning, skills, recovery, nutrition and mental health.
⬆️ The Upside: We believe this is a great imitative by the NBA, the WNBA and Peloton. It could be a win win for all parties for several reasons: (1) Peloton needs to find new revenue streams to drive higher revenue. So this partnership fits well into that as part of opening up its content platform to other parties and leagues. (2) This could be a new revenue generator for the NBA/WNBA as it can help them provide better content on its digital properties (nba app..).
🏉 World Rugby introduces smart mouthguards to detect player head injuries in-game | Via : Notebookcheck
World Rugby is introducing smart mouthguards with in-game alerts to detect high acceleration events that could result in concussion. This will help pitch-side doctors assess the severity of individual impacts as well as monitor long-term effects in players. An initial €2 million is being invested towards adoption of the new technology, supplied by Prevent Biometrics, and debuting this month in the WXV elite women’s competition.
Developed and patented by Prevent Biometric, the impact monitor mouthguard (IMM) can be custom moulded for each player and features wireless charging and syncing. It measures linear and angular acceleration, as well as location, direction and number of impacts. Each mouthguard is stored in a solo charging case that also sanitises it with a UV light. The Prevent Team Case holds and charges up to 27 solo cases together. Data and alerts from the devices can be accessed from a mobile app or web portal.
⬆️ The Upside: It should not come as a surprise to see World Rugby adopt such technology to help detect concussions. It is a path in the direct direction to help improve players’ safety. However some studies have shown that smart mouthguards are not the best products to do so. But ultimately we have to give credit to World Rugby for doing that.
🏈 AT&T's 5G Helmet for Deaf Athletes Makes Football More Accessible | Via : Adweek
AT&T and Translation claim this product could revolutionize football again by making it more inclusive. Right now, the 5G helmet is only available as a prototype, but the aim is to make it a commonly used piece of equipment for athletes.
“My hope for the innovation is that it becomes more widely accessible,” Jason Campbell, chief creative officer of Translation, told Adweek.
Along with the helmet, Translation created a promotional film that cleverly uses sound design to depict the communication gap that deaf athletes face on the field. It is set at Gallaudet University and features the college’s real players.
⬆️ The Upside: We think this is a nice move by AT&T as it helps address a concrete use case. We should also give credit to AT&T for making helmets more accessible and addressing a communication gap for deaf athletes. Accessibility is important in our society.
💸 Sports Tech & Health Investment Recap - October 2023
Here is the recap of the major sports startups’ investments in October 2023. Total sports tech investment in October 2023 reached $33.6M. This was up +211% from $10.8M in September 2023. This is the 1st time in 4 months where we see sports tech investments increasing month over month.
Source: Upside, Confidential, October 2023
Investments, new Tech fund & M&As and other financial sports tech news:
Jeff Zucker and RedBird IMI acquire a stake in Front Office Sports at a $40 million valuation.
Top Investment Banking Firm Goldman Sachs Launches a New Global Sports Franchise Division
Shift4 acquires SpotOn unit for $100 million.
Avenue Capital Group launches a dedicated sports fund.
Blazesoft introduces Zula Casino and reveals a $10 million investment into its upcoming sports venture.
SeasonShare raises millions in seed round.
Courtside Ventures announced an investment in Eloelo along with co-leads Griffin Gaming Partners and existing investors Kalaari Capital, Lumikai Fund, and WaterBridge Ventures (more here).
Gemini Sports Analytics completed a $3.25 million investment round
Game Theory raised $2 million in pre-series A funding
Zelus Analytics raised series A funding to accelerate growth
SwingVision raised a $6 million series A round
Scorability raised $11 million in funding to make college athletics recruiting more efficient
Athlete-creator start-up Grandstand raised a $2.75 million round
Populous announced a minority investment from Providence Equity Partners
📊 Key Tech Sports Stats of The Month
$110B: On the surface, the NFL owners’ move to give commissioner Roger Goodell a three-year contract extension was a relatively easy, straightforward decision — even if it took months to complete and will reportedly cost in excess of $200 million.
Under Goodell’s 17 years of leadership, the NFL has achieved labor certainty with the NFL Players Association through 2030, enjoys $110 billion worth of stability with its domestic media partners through 2033, has escalated franchise values to unprecedented levels, and has solidified its status as the most dominant sports entity in the U.S. Goodell has also shown particular strength in protecting team owners from public scrutiny on a wide range of more difficult issues.
$29.95B: The Sports Technology Market is expected to grow by $29.95 billion from 2022 to 2027. Click on the full report here.
$11.49B: ESPN specifically generated $11.49 billion for the first nine months of fiscal 2023 and $1.89 billion of operating income — figures that still show some relative health amid a fractured media landscape.
$7B: The New England Patriots are worth $7 billion. The Patriots are ahead of the Los Angeles Rams ($6.9 billion), New York Giants ($6.8 billion) and Chicago Bears ($6.3 billion).
$6B: The Premier League is under contract with its current media rights partners through the 2024-25 season, but the U.K. soccer behemoth is already planning for its next set of deals. An auction process for domestic broadcast rights to the EPL is underway as dealmakers are offering five separate packages to split up about 270 games per season for four years, according to the Financial Times.
While the goal remains to increase the current media rights revenue — about $6 billion over three years — the average annual value could fall, some executives told the FT. There is no clear timeline for when winning bids will be announced.
$2.6B: The upcoming NBA season marks the league’s final showcase for media companies interested in bidding for future league rights before negotiations begin in earnest in mid-2024. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery currently pay about $2.6 billion a year to broadcast games on ABC/ESPN and TNT, respectively, through the 2024-25 NBA season. Those companies have exclusive negotiating rights with the league through the end of the 2023-24 season — but the NBA is widely expected to let that window pass and put its full set of rights on the market.
A larger number of partners could help the NBA maximize its revenue intake. If it were to triple its current deal, it could see a total value north of $75 billion. In addition, higher media rights fees mean more money for the players — who take in about 50% of league revenue under the current CBA.
$780M: New York City’s plans for its first-ever soccer-specific stadium for the NYFC (MLS) is another step closer to becoming a reality. The $780 million proposal — which will seat 25,000 — passed a key approval and is set to open in 2027.
$685M: Premier League club Everton was set to officially welcome new majority owners by the end of the year, but there may be a holdup for the deal that was reportedly worth $685 million. Last month, Miami-based private equity firm 777 partners signed an agreement to acquire the 94.1% of club shares held by Farhad Moshiri. The team said the transaction was expected to close in Q4 but remained subject to regulatory approval — including from the EPL, the English Football Association, and the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority.
Now, the sale has reportedly stalled because 777 has failed to provide audited financial statements to the FCA, according to the New York Times. If 777 doesn’t produce those documents or give an acceptable explanation, the deal could fall apart, per the report.
$152M: VC deal values in AI sports startups reached $783.5M in 2022, and is currently totaling $152.7M so far in 2023.
10.4M: MLS is entering its final matchday of the regular season on Saturday with five of its 18 postseason berths still up for grabs — but the league has already seen groundbreaking numbers off the field in 2023.
Across the league, attendance has hit the 10.4 million mark — and could reach nearly 11 million — surpassing last season’s record figure of 10 million. Additionally, a league-record seven clubs should break their average attendance records. Four clubs sold out every regular-season match this year. But even before Leo Messi came to the U.S., MLS season tickets were up 9% — a record figure for the league, according to Forbes. And match attendance was up 5%. The league’s online store set revenue records in late February and early March — and then Messi became the most-sold jersey of the season within 45 minutes of his jersey launch and the most-sold jersey in the history of MLSstore.com within three days of the launch.
500,000: David Beckham’s social media following has rocketed since the release of a Netflix documentary about his life, according to analysis. David Beckham documentary nets him half a million new fans on social media.
$450,000: After just one U2 concert at Las Vegas’ new $2.3 billion Sphere, UFC president Dana White described himself as “obsessed” with the venue and the prospect of getting the mixed-martial arts property there as soon as possible.
The brainchild and passion project of New York Rangers and Knicks owner Jim Dolan, the Sphere has become a key marketing template for other sports entities. The NBA, ESPN, YouTube, and Formula 1 have each prominently promoted themselves — reportedly at a cost of $450,000 per four hours — on the building’s massive exterior LED, which thanks to its nearly limitless ability to render colors and images has become perfect fodder for social media feeds.
100,000: Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami brought the eyes of the world on MLS. Now, the league is taking its most popular team straight to international fans in an effort to grow its global cache. Next month, Inter Miami will play two exhibition matches in China as part of the young club’s first-ever international tour. Inter Miami failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs, which will extend through early December. The club’s final match of the regular season is Saturday against Charlotte FC.
If both friendlies — against Chinese Super League clubs on Nov. 5 and 8 — sell out, Inter Miami will play in front of more than 100,000 fans.
351: The New England Patriots are the most injured team in the NFL this season with 34 injury occurrences: Knee (12), Ankle (9), Concussion (3). Hamstrings are the most common injury with 104 occurrences, followed by Knee (89), Ankle (85), shoulder (38), concussion (35). There were 225 occurrences for an “OUT” game status. Leaving the total games missed this season at 225.
17: Another sign of Serie A’s improving financial health: AC Milan has reported its first club profits since 2006. On the heels of a critical set of the league’s new domestic media rights agreements, the club said it posted a $6.49 million profit for the year ended June 30 on club-record revenue of $430.5 million — up by 36% from a year ago.
“This marks an important step in our club’s history with a return to net profit after 17 years,” said Paolo Scaroni, AC Milan chairman. “We are heading towards a new, important chapter of evolution in the development of our club.”
9: Almost immediately after Netflix unveiled plans for its first-ever original live sports broadcast and production, the streaming giant threw cold water on the idea of becoming a major player in pursuing further live rights.
“We are in the sports business,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “But we’re in the part of the sports business that we bring the most value to, which is the drama of sport.”
Netflix added 9 million subscribers in the third quarter, and will raise its premium service price from $19.99 to $22.99. The recent Netflix Cup announcement — a live golf event on Nov. 14 featuring athletes from the PGA Tour’s “Full Swing” and Formula 1’s “Drive to Survive” — stoked interest across the industry as Netflix finally made its long-awaited entry into live sports.
📸 Snapshots & Videos of the Month.
The Patriots go full mixed reality (MR) mode. During ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast on October 24, 2022, fans witnessed Gillette Stadium transform into GilletteLabs Stadium, creating the NFL’s first-ever live broadcast mixed reality commercial experience. The mixed reality experience was inspired by the GilletteLabs with Exfoliating Bar razor which combines shaving and gentle exfoliation technology into one efficient stroke.
2023 Cricket World Cup: 100,000+ gathered in a Cricket stadium singing"Vande Mataram" during the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India this month.
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