October Podcast

The October Seed Talk Podcast with Sterling and Taylor Mack

Sports and Pop Culture Stories

• TikTok Ghost Story

  • A TikTok user, during a remodel found a bloody rug in the back yard. Coupled with paranormal activity.

• IU Football

  • IU Football is the first team to be bowl eligible in 2024.

• Uconn Football

  • Jim Mora has Uconn Football rolling after a big win over Buffalo and a last second win over Temple.

• Kirk Cousins and the Falcons

  • Are the Kirk Cousins led Falcons for real?
    

Sports Tech News

Pixellot

Pixellot, the global pioneer of AI-driven sports video technology is proud to announce the launch of its next-generation portable sports camera: the Pixellot Air NXT. Setting new standards in automated multi-sports streaming technology, the FIBA approved Air NXT comes with an array of enhanced features designed to deliver an unparalleled viewing experience for a wide range of sports including Soccer, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Football, Lacrosse, and Field Hockey.

The Pixellot Air NXT boasts significant upgrades in every aspect and seamless integration with Pixellot’s coaching, analytics, and OTT platform – a single eco-system for easy video and data management. With new digital stereo microphones, smoother video powered by NVidia technology, and up to four times more storage, the Air NXT ensures that every cheer, every play, and every thrilling moment of the game is captured with crystal-clear precision.

For Streaming Games and Tournaments

The Pixellot Air NXT is designed to cater to the needs of every level of play, from sports families, teams, and clubs to elite organizations, and it features a unique tournament mode that simplifies the live production of back-to-back games. The new camera offers enhanced storage capacity of up to 512GB and a long-lasting battery that can record up to 5 hours of video. The battery also charges 33% faster than the previous model, ensuring reliable and continuous performance.

Introducing Pixellot Air NXT: The Next Generation of the Multi-Sports, Award-Winning, Portable AI Camera - Pixellot

Unrivaled Sports

 Unrivaled Sports, a leader in youth sports experiences, today announced the launch of Football Youth, a new platform that will operate the inaugural All-American Flag Series, featuring some of the best young flag football players in the nation. Football Youth joins Soccer Youth and the All-Ripken Games in Unrivaled Sports' programming for individual athletes seeking top-level competition at premier facilities for flag football, soccer, baseball, and softball.

Unrivaled Sports Launches Football Youth and the All-American Flag Series (prnewswire.com)

Homage

Homage, a Columbus, OH-based vintage-inspired sports and licensed apparel brand, raised an undisclosed amount in equity funding. The round started with an initial investment from Ryan Reynolds’ venture firm, Maximum Effort, recently complemented by investments from Winnie Capital, former NFL pro-baller, Jason Kelce, who spent his 13-year career playing as a center for the Philadelphia Eagles, and 35Ventures, led by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman.

Other investors in the funding round included More Better, led by Emmy-winning Rob McElhenney; Adam Hansmann, co-founder of The Athletic; Haslam Sports Group, owners of the Cleveland Browns; Columbus Crew, shared controlling owners of the Milwaukee Bucks; and Wheelhouse 360.

Led by Founder and CEO Ryan Vesler, Homage is an official license partner of the NFL, NBA, WNBA, and MLB, numerous colleges and universities, and pop culture brands. Homage said its new investor group will further strengthen its foothold in the sports, media and entertainment industries.

Homage reported in a media release that it plans to use this capital infusion to expand production capabilities, grow its operating team and strengthen its technology and marketing infrastructure. The brand also aims to scale its partnerships within the licensed product industry, where it already collaborates with the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, and other major pop culture entities.

Sports Licensing Company, Homage Apparel, Taps Into Celebrity Investors | SGB Media Online (sgbonline.com)

Puma

German sportswear-maker Puma is tapping generative AI for its branding and online sales efforts, part of an expanded partnership with Google Cloud, the company said Tuesday.

Puma said it has already deployed Google Cloud’s Imagen 2 model to help it craft personalized website images corresponding to the locations of some online shoppers. For example, shoppers in Japan may see an image of trail running shoes on the foothills of Mount Fuji, the company said.

Google Cloud Chief Executive Thomas Kurian said the tool is able to create a relevant image in several minutes, whereas the traditional process of conducting a photo shoot would require several days. 

Exclusive | Puma Wants to Improve Its Brand. AI Might Help. - WSJ

Digital Athlete

Player safety is of paramount importance in contact sports, and as such the NFL has partnered with AWS to transform how its teams seek to avoid injuries to their players.

The development of the ‘Digital Athlete’ is enabling teams in the league to better predict and ultimately prevent player injuries by creating a virtual representation of an NFL player using AI and machine learning.

Running simulations to warn players at high risk of injury

The Digital Athlete is an injury prediction tool that collects data from sources such as the Next Generation Stats System (NGS), which provides data on each player’s location, speed, and acceleration at all times during a game. Elsewhere, data is also gathered from video footage of games and practice sessions, as well as sensors located around the stadiums which record performance metrics from devices fitted to the players’ equipment.

By combining these data points with other variables such as weather, equipment, and the type of play (such as a run or a punt), the Digital Athlete’s algorithms can run millions of simulations of specific scenarios during an NFL game to warn teams if a player is at a high risk of an injury. The insights generated can then be used to create personalised training, injury prevention, and recovery plans.

All 32 NFL clubs have had access to the Digital Athlete team portal since the 2023-24 season.

Read More Here

Private Equity in the NFL

Until recently, the NFL stood alone among major U.S. sports leagues in prohibiting private equity (PE) investment in its teams. This stance has now shifted, albeit cautiously. While the league has welcomed PE funds, it has implemented strict regulations to control their involvement.

The NFL's "permitted funds" list includes Arctos Partners, Ares Management, Sixth Street, and a consortium featuring Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, Dynasty Equity, and Ludis. These funds must commit to a minimum six-year holding period and are subject to a 10% ownership cap. Compared to other major U.S. leagues, the

NFL's restrictions on PE investment are more stringent. The NBA, MLB, and NHL allow up to 30% PE ownership. European football leagues, such as the EPL, Ligue 1, and Serie A, have even more relaxed regulations.

Despite these limitations, PE funds remain attracted to sports investments. The industry's perceived insulation from broader market fluctuations and the potential for long-term growth make it an appealing target. However, governing bodies must carefully balance the financial benefits of PE investment with the need to protect the integrity of their sports.

The NFL's decision to allow PE investment marks a significant departure from its traditional stance. While the league's regulations are designed to mitigate potential risks, it remains to be seen whether they will strike the right balance between financial gain and preserving the essence of the sport.

SportsTech at the 2024 US Open from IBM

While you are grabbing a Honey Deuce at the US open make sure to check out a few of the offerings from IBM.

Leveraging the Granite 13B LLM technology for business applications IBM will showcase match reports which will deliver AI enabled match previews and reports for over 150 matches to fans across the platform.

Continued AI innovation will feature the AI commentary feature for on -demand highlight videos AND tennis enthusiasts will also benefit from a fully redesigned IBM SlamTracker experience offering detailed pre-match, live, and post-match insight which include win probability predictions, point by point analysis and a real time 3D graphic of current play for live matches.

Sportradar Q2 revenue up 29%

Sportradar Q2 earnings also noted an adjusted EBITDA of S48.8m, indicating a 22% increase on the previous year.

It added 46 new betting clients to its core trading product in Q2. That resulted in $9bn of turnover being processed via its platform between April and June.

Its betting technology and solutions division revenue grew 30% to $229.1m during the period. Revenue for its sport content, technology and services arm also increased 22% and came in at $49.3m. The betting technology arm accounted for 82% of total company revenues.

Managed Betting Services grew $9m driven by higher trading margins and increased betting activity from new and existing customers.

Net cash reserves were $15.26m by the end of Q2.

We at Sports Tech Atlanta were lucky to have worked with Sportradar in a small way over the last few months highlighting their tech overlay at Indian Wells and speaking with Luka Pataky on how Ai is driving sports tech and what they are working on.

Below are a few highlights from our time with Luka Pataky of Sportradar and our video on the augmented overlay technology that Sportradar rolled out at Indian Wells earlier this year.

Luka Pataky on implementing data

Automating deeper data with AI within table tennis

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