SportsTech Industry News – 100th Edition Highlight

All the best of the Sports Industry News in One Place – We’ve Got You Covered 😉

The year is 2016, and we’re moments ahead of the greatest sporting spectacle known as the Olympics, this time being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Alongside the RIO Olympics, a collection of sports tech founders and winners from 8 pitching competitions worldwide joined in the “Olympics” of Sports Tech Pitching. THE HYPE Rio SportsTech Competition set to push the boundaries of what mankind can achieve while putting sports tech on the map.

Since then HYPE continues to bring unconditional value to all its 55k subscribers including, startups, sports brands, investors, mentors and others who join together to form the tapestry that is the HYPE Sports Innovation ecosystem. 

Join us on a journey down memory lane, as we explore the top items and headlines from previous newsletters leading up to our 100th Newsletter issue. Enjoy and appreciate the transformation the sports industry has gone through in the last 7 years.

February 2018

Half a decade back, emerging technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrency were gradually making their mark in sports tech, and the startup founders who were keen to stay ahead of the game and the time were forced to give their products a second look. The term “Smart” was exponentially surfacing on the streets, and the NBA was one of the first sports organizations to give a sneak peek into how technology might advance sports by 2038.

March 2018

In a long-overdue breakthrough, FIFA had recently approved the use of VAR for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, denoting the start of a new chapter in sports where technology was bound to act as the catalyst to drive innovation (for better or worse).

May 2019

In early 2019, technology and entertainment giants Disney and Amazon had started to actively expand their sports portfolio, and looking back at it now, both the MNCs would be well pleased with the progress they’ve made with their formidable activations in Sports rights, broadcasting, and other digital services.

July – October 2019

Innovation was the buzzword to attract the global limelight and help grow the fanbase in sports, and all the leading sports entities were proactively exploring untouched avenues to do so. HYPE’s brand partner DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) had teamed up with Vodafone to bring 5G into the stadium, while UEFA had introduced its Innovation Hub, who hand-picked HYPE alumni Formalytics as one of the three startups for the inaugural UEFA Startup Challenge.

January 2020

Capitalizing on the sudden rise of popularity of Esports among the younger generation, HYPE had launched the first Global Esports Accelerator at Spobis 2020. And while HYPE’s President Amir Raveh was busy extending his industry expertise to share some of the “Do or Die”’ strategies for Sports clubs and leagues, no single individual was prepared for what was to come next.

A sudden horrific outbreak of a global pandemic had started to have far-reaching effects not only on the sports tech industry but also on the basic necessities and welfare of human lives.

March 2020

The sports leagues from all over the world were at the risk of being announced as null and void. With an uncertain future and no scope for any leisure activities, many of the sports startups were in danger of collapsing and becoming insolvent. In an unprecedented period of time that no one really saw coming, it was more important than ever to guide the inspiring startups to survive the disastrous global impact of Covid-19.

And while most expected a prolonged period of adversity and suffering to follow, it was the optimism of a few that helped the world to take a turn for the better. Keeping in mind that it would be a shame to waste a global crisis, HYPE revamped its business offering and services by taking all things virtual!

April – June 2020

We offered our readers an exclusive inside look into NFL giants Washington Commanders’ operations during the global pandemic, which was soon followed by the compelling launch of the HYPE Global Virtual Accelerator that saw participation from 32 Brands, 94 Startups, and over 100 Mentors – a groundbreaking achievement at the peak of Covid-19.

October 2020

To pay tribute to the leading Women entrepreneurs and senior executives in sports, we assembled an all-female panel of successful and inspiring leaders, who provided their insights regarding the challenges, achievements, and future plans from their own unique perspective. Wrapping up a challenging year full of uncertainty, we guided the industry to understand some of the hottest sports tech trends that were to follow in 2021.

March 2021

An unprecedented new experience in sports tech, HYPE introduced NFL-style live Draft sessions to allow 52 top sports brands, clubs, leagues and broadcasters hand-pick startups for pilots for the HYPE Global Virtual Accelerator (GVA) 2.0.

April 2021

Gradually recovering from the dreadful impact of the global pandemic, HYPE were one of the first pioneers who saw an unmissable opportunity for the NFT market in sports – with digital assets now dubbed as one of the leading emerging technologies in sports innovation.

June 2021

Organizing the first Winter sports Hackathon to solve the industry’s real challenges, we soon took a deep dive into the near future to give our readers a glimpse into how we could potentially experience sports in stadiums by 2027, amidst when sports fans from all across the globe were desperately hoping to return to sports stadiums and attend pulsating live games.

September – November 2021

The latter half of 2021 gradually saw the full-fledged return of professional sports and after a Inglourious period of time in sports and elsewhere, the only direction to move was upwards. Our alumni startups were on a stirring rise despite the threat of Covid-19 still looming around. HYPE GVA 2.0 Startup AriSports was named winner of BT Sport Innovation Competition 2021, while Edisn.ai announced that it had been successfully acquired by Fubo TV.

January – April 2022

The icing on the cake was ASX’s launch of ‘virtual stock market’ fantasy game for Six Nations Championship earlier this year as sports began to embrace the “virtual reality” of a post-pandemic world, taking the metaverse on track for mainstream adoption in sports.

And as we continue to strive to offer our readers with the best quality of sports tech content and news on a weekly basis, we take complete leadership to help them keep an eye on the future of sports at all times, while simultaneously raising important questions that could define the sports industry for decades to come.

Our vision is to impact people’s lives through the power of sports and innovation. We’ve been doing that since 2015 with over 40K+ followers, Experts, Investors, and Mentors – all contribute to the great value we generate across the ecosystem, including our new Metaverse Arena.