From the shoes we wear on our feet to the high definition televisions in our living room, wearable devices, the sports universe is a breeding ground for technology. Writer and Photographer Rick Limpert will examine this each week on The Tech of Sports – With guests which include athletes, inventors and journalists that cover the intersection of sports and technology.
Brainstorming dynamic and fresh approaches to fan engagement by combining traditional experiences with the digital era can be a challenge. Organizations in sports need to begin to understand the idea of extracting the lifetime value of the customer.
In professional sports 1% of all fans will go to a game live, but in today’s globalized digital world, why aren’t all sports organizations taking advantage of this connectedness?
Rick is joined by Courtney Jeffries, CEO of Virtual Tables. Virtual Tables is a startup that provides tools to organizations to help bridge the gap between themselves and their global audience.
Their flagship product is DigiSign, a 1:1 digital autograph platform product that allows sports fans to receive a personalized autograph and a meet and greet session with fans all over the world.
DigiSign has been used across 30+ countries with multiple sports organizations. Including the Formula 1 team, Williams Racing, The Connecticut Sun WNBA Team and the Athletes Unlimited sports league.
Courtney talks about:
The importance of platforms like DigiSign in the NIL era
Innovative fan engagement strategies for sports teams
Transforming traditional collectible experiences in the digital age
Eliminating the need for geographic limitations by taking advantage of global fan engagement tools
Talking to sports massage therapist, John G. Louis, this week.
He’s here to introduce his new product, the Hall of Fame™ self-massage tool. The patent-pending “self-manager” massage tool provides a focused and individualized pressure point that instantly delivers measurable results and benefits.
Here are some features that make the Hall of Fame™ self-massage tool distinctive:
Developed by a licensed Hall of Fame™ Sports Massage Therapist, John G. Louis, CEO of Acuforce International, Inc, a therapeutic product line, is a 42-year veteran Licensed Massage Therapist for major sports league players and Director of the Massage Therapy Center of Winnetka.
Endorsed by Frank Thomas:The patent-pending Hall of Fame™ Massage Toolis endorsed by Frank Thomas, the 2014 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductee.
Trigger-point therapy: The Hall of Fame™ massage tool is handy for self-massage allowing the user, both professional and consumer alike, to perform effective therapeutic techniques, such as trigger-point therapy & muscle release, for the back, neck, shoulder, hips, and more.
Stainless steel quality: Shape like a wide-angle cane, the rigid bar is the only self-massager made of high-quality stainless steel, not plastic. At the same time, the soft-coated plastisol metal treatment tip accurately replicates a therapist’s thumb.
A pioneer and leader in sports medicine and rehabilitation. John is an inventor of numerous product concepts, educator and therapist for some of the world’s best professional athletes. He was inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame in 2022.
John founded Massage Therapy Center of Winnetka in 1989. The clinic is rated the best on the North Shore of Chicago. Located on Green Bay Road in Winnetka, Illinois, the clinic employs 5 certified and licensed massage therapists. In 1999, John created Acuforce International, Inc. a company that markets his patented soft-tissue therapy tools. A division of that company called Chocolate Milk Productions produced “Infant Massage Lessons for Dads”. An instructional DVD that teaches fathers how to bond with their babies while helping the infants to sleep better and develop more rapidly. The program has won 2 video excellence awards, 2004 Aurora Gold Award and the 2005 Telly Award.
John just launched a product in 2020 called the Freebounder Fitness and Rehab Machine. The machine is patented and is easily the most comprehensive machine ever created for the product space.
Rick is joined by Keith Marshall, former University of Georgia football player, former NFL player and now Co-CEO of The Players’ Lounge, a NIL-focused platform built to empower relationships between current and former college athletes.
Rick was able to attend a panel with Keith in Alpharetta, Ga. Talking about the current NIL landscape, how to best work with student-athletes and how to build a business in the collegiate space. Keith was joined by Matt Hibbs, CEO of Classic City Collective, Chris Smith, Student-Athlete at the University of Georgia, and panel moderator, Kim Hartsock, Office Managing Member of ACG.
Marshall talks candidly about NIL, what The Players’ Lounge is doing and the ever-evolving face of college athletics.
Rick talks tennis… and pickleball with tennis legend, turned pickleball instructor, JoAnne Russell
JoAnne Russell is a former Major Doubles Champion (1977) and had an incredibly successful career in tennis before discovering pickleball.
With playing partner Helen Gourlay Cawley, she won the Wimbledon ladies’ doubles title in 1977. They beat the team of Chris Evert and Rosie Casals in the first round and the top-ranked team of Martina Navratilova and Betty Stöve in the final (6–3, 6–3). Russell reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11.
As soon as she picked up a paddle, JoAnne fell in love with the sport as both a player and an instructor. Having risen through the ranks to the top tier of tennis, Russell understands what it takes to improve and works diligently with her students to share with them what it takes to be a champion. JoAnne currently resides in Naples, FL where she gives pickleball lessons full-time.
Joanne represents Selkirk when it comes to pickleball. A great time catching up with JoAnne.
Kiswe—the interactive video tech company, one of TIME’s most important inventions of 2021 and a Deloitte 500 top 20 company—has powered the world’s largest virtual concerts and events, including Josh Groban, BTS, Justin Bieber, Queen + Adam Lambert, Smosh, The Try Guys, The Rolling Stones and many others.
Kiswe also works with major sports teams and events including the NBA, PPV.COM, ESPN and most recently with the LA Clippers to bring alternative broadcasts to their fans via Clippervision, which allows for fans to watch the games in Korean, Spanish, or English.
Most recently, Kiswe has partnered with Times Square to bring the annual NYE festivities to people across the world. Viewers could upload reaction videos and selfies – allowing them to connect with each other all over the globe.
There is a lot going on here and much to discuss with Glenn. What a great discussion!
Veritone, creator of aiWARE, a hyper-expansive enterprise AI platform, partnered with former pro footballer Alan Smith will use AI voice to cover the most prestigious football tournament in the world. Opta Voice by Stats Perform, powered by award-winning aiWARE™ solution Veritone Voice, brings life to the sport stats and game details to fans around the world. Alan is currently a regular co-commentator and sometime studio pundit for Sky Sports for the Premier League coverage.
Rick talks about that and more with Veritone SVP, Sean King.
“Broadcasters and sports organizations can now leverage lifelike voice options in a wide range of languages for their stats reporting, reaching new fan bases around the globe, and providing better services to those who may not speak the host language, as well as those with visual impairments.”
Now, through AI voice, passionate fans can hear real-time game updates from the announcer on their phone or computer in their local language. Veritone Voice gives commentators the ability to enhance and personalize fan engagement and even bring their unique voice and cadence in multiple languages to a number of concurrent events.
“The ability to reach audiences around the world in their local language opens up a host of new opportunities for broadcasters and provides the best possible experience for the passionate fans,” shared Sport Commentator Alan Smith. “Providing one voice creates consistency for audiences and it’s a privilege that the selected voice will be the AI version of mine.”
A recent strategic partnership combines Veritone’s synthetic voice AI technology to provide voice commentary with Stats Perform’s Opta sports data, designed to provide real-time play-by-play, pre-game, in-game and post-game updates.
“We’re thrilled to already see the impact of our recent partnership with Veritone coming to life,” said Stats Perform Chief Revenue Officer Steve Xeller. “Broadcasters and sports organizations can now leverage lifelike voice options in a wide range of languages for their stats reporting, reaching new fan bases around the globe, and providing better services to those who may not speak the host language, as well as those with visual impairments.”
“We continue to expand our offerings and capabilities in sport and to help broadcasters and other organizations scale their reach and best engage their audiences,” said Veritone President Ryan Steelberg. “We’re excited to help Alan Smith reach fans around the world with his beloved sports commentary and insights.”
Veritone also recently launched SPORTX, a new intelligent marketplace for sports federations and content producers from around the globe to license short-form sports video directly to media buyers. Sports rights holders on board with SPORTX include ATP Media, Euroleague Basketball and Extreme E, with many others in advanced discussions. In addition, SPORTX plans to host content from SNTV, the world’s biggest sports news video outlet, which will include content from this year’s tournament in Qatar, including press conferences, stadium profiles, fan zones, game reviews and profiles of all 32 teams.
