This section of SportTechie, “Sports Tech Wire”, contains original press releases issued by various companies and industry organizations. The releases are reviewed by the SportTechie editorial staff to ensure relevancy to the sports technology industry. For information and access, send your name and email address to info@SportTechie.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mark Goodstein (info@scoutables.com)
Pasadena, CA – December 15, 2015 – AriBall, an established leader in baseball analytics, announced this week that it has rebranded the company as Scoutables to better reflect its next-generation technology and products. Fans can now access, via their smartphones, the same high-quality analytics AriBall has been supplying to Major League Baseball teams and top-tier sports media.
In a presentation at the Sports Management Worldwide event held during MLB’s Winter Meetings in Nashville, AriBall founders Ari Kaplan and Fred Claire, along with Scoutables’ co-founder Mark Goodstein of TDA Partners, unveiled the company’s new smartphone application.
“We are excited to be working with TDA Partners,” said Kaplan, “and we look forward to benefiting from their tremendous expertise and experience launching successful companies. We believe this new collaboration will bring the best of technology and design to our venture.”
The Scoutables app, now available in a beta version (www.scoutables.com), is under active development and the final product will be launched to coincide with the start of MLB’s 2016 season. The app will provide daily scouting reports on thousands of MLB players in an easy-to-access mobile-friendly format, enabling fans to get accurate, timely analytics in the most convenient way.
Scoutables’ core analytics have been rigorously field-tested through years of collaboration and refinement with MLB presidents, GMs, managers, coaches and players. That work forms the foundation of the new application.
“We see great opportunities in building platforms that address the need for analytics in baseball as well as in all sports,” said Claire, ”our desire is to bring the very highest level of technology to the teams, to the players, and to the fans and viewing audience.”
This latest chapter in Scoutables’ evolution also brings new core team members via a collaboration with the Tech Design Accelerate Partners (Goodstein and Richard Weil), Interactivism (Petra Wennberg Cesario and Erik Wingren), and Vector Logic (Ian Harris and Erick Herring).
Ari Kaplan, an honored graduate of Caltech, is a leading figure in sports analytics, having served over half of MLB organizations.
Fred Claire, who taught the first-ever course on the business of sports at Caltech the past two years, was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ front office for 30 years and served as the team’s EVP and GM for 12 seasons. He was honored as MLB’s ‘Executive of the Year’ after the Dodgers won the World Series in 1988.
Tech Design Accelerate Partners (TDA) helps great entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market and runs The Design Accelerator, a joint effort between two of the country’s preeminent academic institutions – Art Center College of Design and Caltech. The synergy between design and innovation is at the heart of TDA’s collaborations and is foundational to Scoutables’ vision. Mark Goodstein and Richard Weil are principals of TDA. Web site: http://thedesignaccelerator.com
Interactivism is a boutique UX Design studio that specializes in designing digital products and services that are delightful, efficient and easy to use. Interactivism focuses on User Experience Design, User Research, and Design Strategy as well as extending into related disciplines such as Branding, Creative Strategy and Product Management. Petra Wennberg Cesario and Erik Wingren are Managing Partners of Interactivism. Web site: http://interactivism.com
Vector Logic is a team of technologists, developers, designers, product and marketing experts who build great software for amazing clients. Vector Logic is also a product accelerator, creating products in partnership with experienced investors. It has offices and team members in Pasadena, CA, Los Angeles, CA, and Boise, ID. Ian Harris and Erick Herring are Managing Partners of Vector Logic. Web site: http://vectorlogic.com