With the Seattle Sports Tech Meetup officially launched and a second major Seattle Sports Startup Weekend sponsored by the Seattle Sounders FC planned for this November, the Pacific Northwest sports technology field is ready to build the next generation of championship-caliber sports technology products and companies.
There has never been more sports technology activity in the PNW. In response to growing demand, a small group of SportTechies have assembled to build community and keep interested companies and individuals in the loop. Here is a quick recap of upcoming and recent events:
Seattle Sports Tech Meetup
The Seattle Sports Tech Meetup launched on July 30 of this year at SURF Incubator in downtown Seattle. The event featured guest speaker Taylor Soper, Journalist at GeekWire and formerly Associate Reporter for MLB.com. Topics at the Meetup ranged from the latest trends in sports technology, to developing products and companies in the Pacific Northwest sports tech arena.
The next Seattle Sports Technology Meetup is on Friday, October 24th from 5:00-8:00pm at SURF Incubator in downtown Seattle. Topic for the event will be Seattle Sports Hack Days and Startup Weekends. Speakers will include:
Carter Rabasa, Developer Evangelist Manager at Twilio and Organizer of Seattle Sports Hack Day.
Nick Hughes, Director of Business Development at Knotis and Founder of Callin’it, created at Seattle Sports Hack Day.
We will also be announcing details of an upcoming Seattle Sounders FC and UP Seattle Sports Hack Weekend. The event will also include a quick pitch round open to three companies or SportTechie’s who would like to share their latest and greatest ideas. RSVP here.
In addition to being sponsored by SportTechie, the Seattle Sports Tech Meetup is also now sponsored by SportsData.
Seattle Sports Hack Days and Startup Weekends
The Seattle Sounders FC and UP Seattle are planning the next Sports Tech Startup Weekend for November 14-16.
With the first ever sports-focused Startup Weekend event held in the Seattle area, Sounders FC is looking for the next big idea in the sports industry. Attendees will explore technology-based innovations to improve fan experience, support team development, and accelerate business objectives, with a focus on cutting-edge, never-been-done-before ideas that fit into the club’s fan-centric brand and unique match-day experience.
Winning teams will receive Sounders FC prizes, including premium tickets and autographed team memorabilia.
Judges for the event will include:
-Adrian Hanauer, Sounders FC Owner/General Manager
-Emanuel Bettelheim, Sounders FC Acting CTO
-Kevin Saliba, Vice President of Business Development, Zulily
-Julie Sandler, Principal, Madrona Venture Group
For more event info head to: http://www.up.co/communities/usa/seattle/startup-weekend/4241.
The first major Seattle Sports Hack Day took place Feb 1-3, 2013 – not coincidentally during Super Bowl weekend. The event had a great turnout and produced some very cool products.
The Hack Day asked, “How would you like to spend Super Bowl Weekend building applications that change the way people follow sports and interact with their favorite teams and fellow fans?”
“We’re gathering developers, data crunchers, and sports fans from across the Pacific Northwest to converge on Seattle to hack on sports themed projects.“
See more about the event and winners here: http://sportshackday.com
Both the meetups and the startup weekends are indicators of a rapidly increasing sports tech presence in the Pacific Northwest. While early adopters such as ESPN, Nintendo, and Microsoft have all played a role in the sector and the major sports teams – Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Sonics, Seattle Storm, and Sounders have all contributed to pushing the sports tech boundaries, the next wave of sport tech companies is making a push for the title. Here are a few of the up-and-comers:
Fanzo – Ranks sports fans, and the content they share in social media.
i1 Biometrics – Solutions to Sports Brain Injuries.
TagBoard – Hashtags to search and collect public social media.
Vantage Sports – analytics service for NBA players, teams, and media.
LegUp – An iPad application for football coaches.
IdealSeat – Crowdsourcing fan experience data collection.
This fall promises to be an exciting time for the Seattle Sports Tech scene. Get in the game and enjoy the company of fellow SportTechies and stats geeks from the Pacific Northwest.