Today we are proud to announce the nominees for the inaugural SportTechie Awards. The nominees highlight the teams, executives, sports technologies, venues, athletes, investors and startups that most deserve recognition for their work in pushing our industry forward.
The final winners in each of these seven categories, along with our list of the SportTechie 20 Innovators: 20 people who are using technology to push the boundaries of the sports industry, will be announced during our SportTechie Awards Show on Dec. 13, 2017 at 8 p.m. EST. Stay tuned for more details.
We were overwhelmed with the outpouring of nominations from around the globe. We are extremely grateful to have received so many thoughtful nominations for each category from thousands of members of our audience. It was no easy task to narrow down hundreds of nominees for each category to the final nominees list below. As always, we welcome your feedback.
And the nominees are…
Most Innovative Sports Team
FC Bayern Munich
Earlier this year, the club held a press conference with three coaches, but two of them were not there — at least not physically there. The world football giant beamed the other two coaches in via hologram. Also in 2017, the club partnered with Siemens to use tech to improve fan experience and player safety and announced it would host a four-day hackathon in 2018. Additionally, the club launched an augmented reality app around two of its most popular players.
New York Jets
We covered them extensively throughout the year and throughout the NFL season. Look no further than this piece for support for their nomination — The 5 Technologies To Expect From The New York Jets This Season.
Sacramento Kings
2017’s checklist: Facebook Live 360 video streams, a Tech Night, an augmented reality app feature highlighting new player uniforms, fundraising via Facebook Live and Facebook Messenger bots – check, check, check, check, check.
Salt Lake Screaming Eagles
Traditional fantasy sports keeper leagues? Passé. In 2017, the Indoor Football League debuted a virtual front office. The Screaming Eagles were at the helm of that effort to allow fans to influence general manager decisions. They were also the first team to allow fans to vote on in-game play calling. It’s the ultimate experiment in sports crowdsourcing.
San Francisco 49ers
It’s not just their efforts to improve fan experience — in 2017 the 49ers also made strategic investments in sports technology companies. Plus their foundation spearheaded a coalition to fund improvements in STEM education through sports.
Most Innovative Executive
Alejandro Agag, Formula E, CEO
Electric-powered race cars? Oxymoronic at first glance, but listen to him tell you his vision and you’ll see how real, and important, his innovations are for the future of sport and the world.
Gareth Capon, Grabyo, CEO
He’s leading the social video platform Grabyo into 2018 fortified with partnerships across the mobile video and sports spectrum. Grabyo enables broadcasters and content rights holders to share, edit and monetize live-stream social video across platforms.
Scott O’Neil, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, CEO
The Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils, the Prudential Center, Team Dignitas: he’s in charge of all of that. Throw in the Sixers Innovation Lab as the cherry on top of a hefty sports innovation sundae.
Andrew Paradise, Skillz, CEO
Inc. Magazine listed his mobile esports platform as the No. 1 fastest-growing company in the world, the first time an esports company was named to the top of that list. Paradise isn’t done innovating, recently adding an esports streaming ticker and a cross-app chat system.
Benoit Simeray, Catapult Sports, Consumer CEO
He’s at the forefront of tracking and examining athlete data generated by wearable technologies, expanding the market from professionals to amateurs.
Outstanding Sports Technology
Eaton’s Ephesus Lighting
The company has quietly partnered with teams across sports and the country to provide improved illumination, entertainment and efficiency. All of it leads to better fan experiences both at home and in-venue and more environmentally-friendly operations for venues.
GumGum Sports
The sponsorship valuation technology is applicable outside of the sports world, but its impact within the sports world is reverberating. In 2017, the company partnered with Stadium and the NBA. Its NBA social media valuation index is timely, coming on the heels of the NBA’s move to allow corporate sponsors to buy space on player jerseys.
STRIVR
The NFL referees use its virtual reality technology to train. So do a number of college and professional sports teams. But it’s how this company, which started in sports, was able to evolve beyond the sports industry to help the country’s largest employer train its employees through VR.
VICIS
Priority No. 1 for anyone who loves the game of football: examining and improving player safety, particularly as it relates to concussions and brain health. VICIS is leading the charge.
Zebra Technologies
The company’s technology has been used in a variety of ways by the NFL, from individual teams during practice to the league itself during games. This is the fourth season that Zebra RFID chips have been embedded in uniformed player shoulder pads, which has fueled the NFL’s “Next Gen Stats.” This season, Zebra installed tiny chips in footballs across the league to track the ball’s movement. Zebra executives say the these technologies might one day serve as a backup to human officials.
Most Innovative Venue
Allianz Arena
The venue is home to Bayern Munich, a team that is innovative and tech-savvy in its own right. But it wouldn’t deserve the moniker if it weren’t for its venue’s innovations, including a creative partnership with Airbnb.
Golden 1 Center
Which came first, the innovative team or the innovative venue? It’s a symbiosis the Kings continue to feed. Hear all about it from Kings owner Vivek Ranadive.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Look no further than this video.
Levi’s Stadium
The 49ers’ are struggling to win games in 2017. But ticket-holders should find solace in their stadium’s advancements in fan experience, from security improvements to augmented reality souvenir cups.
SunTrust Park
Opened for the start of the 2017 MLB season to much fanfare, the venue did not disappoint. Here’s your play-by-play of everything it has to offer.
Most Tech-Savvy Athlete
Trevor Bauer, Cleveland Indians (Major League Baseball)
The Indians starting pitcher was a mechanical engineering major at UCLA and has recently made headlines for his love affair with drones. He also meticulously uses (and is a spokesman for) Driveline Baseball, a data-driven development program for pitchers.
Andre Iguodala, Golden State Warriors (National Basketball Association)
He has made a name for himself outside of basketball with his investments in technology startups, such as Casper, Cheddar and The Players’ Tribune, as well as his love of golf. This year, he hosted the first The Players Technology Summit with teammate Stephen Curry to give athletes a crash course in startups and investing.
Russell Okung, Los Angeles Chargers (National Football League)
The Chargers offensive lineman recently became an investor in Loftium, a startup that provides prospective homeowners with money towards a down payment in exchange for a revenue share on Airbnb rentals, and Rep The Squad, a subscription-based service for authentic jerseys akin to Rent The Runway. He’s also an investor in WHOOP and serves on the Athlete Advisory Board of OneTeamCollective, an athlete-driven accelerator.
Cameron Porter, Sporting Kansas City (Major League Soccer)
He’s not just a successful professional soccer forward — Porter graduated from Princeton with a computer science degree. He currently pulls double duty working as a software engineer for MLS. He also helped launch his first startup while still in college — Ivy Research Council.
Paul Rabil, New York Lizards (Major League Lacrosse)
He’s known as the face of American lacrosse, no doubt due to the personal brand he has built through the use of Instagram and YouTube. He has also used his tech savvy to build businesses, such as a subscription-based service called the Paul Rabil Experience, which is a resource for young lacrosse players that recently became available on Amazon Prime.
Outstanding Investor
Blue Star Sports
Blue Star has purchased or invested in nearly two dozen companies in a short period of time to complement its youth-sports ecosystem of products and services. It’s transitioning from a simple investment firm with a knack for acquiring companies to a full-blown technology company that’s underpinning youth sports.
Bryant Stibel
Led by five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and his partner, Jeff Stibel, the $100 million venture capital fund has spearheaded investments in The Players’ Tribune and more than a dozen other media, technology and data startups.
Courtside Ventures
A backer of early-stage media, technology and sports startups, the seven-person Courtside team has invested in sports technology companies ranging from the Drone Racing League to FanAI and The Athletic.
Greycroft Partners
Greycroft has invested in a wide range of different industries, including sports technology, and counts major brands Venmo and Braintree among its exits. Some of its recent sports investments include StatMuse, FanAI, ShotTracker and Overtime.
SeventySix Capital
With the recent addition of former Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard as a partner, Philadelphia-based SeventySix Capital invests within the niche of sports technology. Its investments range from Whistle Sports to N3rd Street Gamers.
Outstanding Startup
Connexion Health
Dubbed “the iPhone of health care,” the startup uses a kiosk-like device to provide baselines for an athlete’s vitals and movements to detect weakness and overcompensation.
Satisfi Labs
Artificially intelligent bots at sports venues will direct you where to go, tell you what to eat, and help you buy your souvenirs. Satisfi is partnering with multiple professional teams to help you get everything you need — faster than help any mere mortal could provide.
Taqtile
What’s a “holomap?” If you don’t yet know, you should and you will. The Cleveland Cavaliers and others have partnered with this startup to create 3D holographic renderings of potential sports venues. The technology allows executives and investors to experience the feel of a new venue. Eventually, the holomap technology will be used to sell season tickets and enhance fan experience.
VNTANA
The company created an artificially intelligent concierge that will eventually take the holographic form of your favorite athletes who will direct you where to go and answer questions at in-game kiosks.
2nd Skull
The creator of protective skull caps recently received funding from the NFL as part of HeadHealthTech Challenge II. There are few more important issues facing the NFL than brain health. 2nd Skull is helping the league move in the right direction.