‘Collective Innovation’ – The New Secret Weapon for Sports Properties
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‘Collective Innovation’ – The New Secret Weapon for Sports Properties
How ‘Collective Innovation’ can save you time and money?
Last week, we hosted a private session with over 100 sports tech founders and a leading sports media player, which shared their AI and Innovation challenges and wishlist.
As the session neared its conclusion, the media leader delivered a powerful message that captured everyone’s attention:
“Guys, we are committed to being the most innovative brand in our industry. For years, we’ve been trying to tap into global collective innovation—what we used to call open innovation—without sinking tons of money into big innovation hubs and programs.
But now, I see a better way.
Instead of pouring resources into massive investments, I can see the opportunity to leverage the creativity and agility of startups. This new approach is about forming partnerships and building ecosystems, not just relying on centralized hubs. It’s about creating platforms where we can share and develop ideas together, turning challenges into opportunities.”
This spontaneous moment underscored the power of ‘Collective Innovation’. It highlighted the potential for groundbreaking advancements in sports media through collaboration.
The 3 Innovation Strategies for Sports Brands:
For sports properties, early access to AI and Innovation is crucial for staying relevant in our fast-paced world, helping them increase their ROI and reduce costs dramatically. Today, all of the global brands, from tech giants to sports properties, have one of the following 3 innovation strategies.
- Building Your Innovation Hub:
This strategy is used by a small number of sports properties, they invest resources in building their own AI and Innovation hubs, like FC Barcelona’s Innovation Hub and UEFA’s Innovation Lab. This is an effective way of guaranteeing access to Innovation but requires a large initial investment.
- Ad Hoc Introductions:
This strategy is used by many sports properties, this approach is to invest little to zero resources in searching and validating new solutions. Once in a while, when they bump into what looks like an attractive solution, they create a partnership without exploring other options that might be more cost effective.
- The ‘Collective Innovation’ Strategy:
This Strategy is the most cost-effective approach for the long run. Using the power of collective innovation, your sports property can receive access to validated AI and Innovative solutions early down the road without the need of investing large resources and creating your own Innovation hub.
By embracing collective innovation and collaborating with existing Innovation ecosystems, tech startups, and industry leaders, sports properties can stay ahead with AI and new tech solutions while creating meaningful partnerships on the way.
To understand the full Collective Innovation concept, we have created the Ultimate Guide for sportsTech, featuring 24 proven case studies of sports properties (10 AI ones!) and a proven roadmap to help you increase your ROI and reduce costs – you can get free access to the guide using this link.
The future of sports is here, and it’s brimming with potential.
Stay tuned for more,
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