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THIS YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE NBA GAVE FANS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE IN THE LOCKER ROOM WITH THEIR FAVOURITE TEAMS DURING THE PLAYOFFS. HOW? VIA ITS AUGMENTED REALITY APP.
This is just the beginning, says Leah MacNab, senior director, marketing partnerships, NBA in Canada. “There is no end to the applications that are possible.”
Technology is touching all aspects of the business of sport and helping companies operate smarter, perform better and get closer to their customers and fans. Big Data, analytics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, machine learning, quantum computing, Internet of Things, and mobile technology are creating more opportunity than ever before. Recognizing that opportunity, Canada’s Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), partnered with Ryerson University to launch the Future of Sport Lab (FSL), an incubator that will empower seed-stage startups to pilot their technologies through MLSE’s recently launched innovation division: MLSE Digital Labs.
“We are working with MLSE to build a smart space to help innovative sport startups accelerate,” says Cheri L. Bradish, Loretta Rogers Research Chair in Sport Marketing at Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management, and director of the FSL. “This is a paradigm shift in the way we can deliver sports-business education. The FSL will allow innovators to have direct access to Canada’s top sport and industry leaders, and will help elevate Toronto into one of the world’s leading sport ecosystems.”
The first cohort features six startups including Performance Phenomics, which delivers brain imaging assessments that offer scientific insight into the athlete’s performance and recovery; Rival.ai, an eSports company that uses AI to provide scouting reports; and Skill Sharks, an integrated coaching platform.
“We will leverage the ideas from FSL, implement them and see how successful they are in a real-life environment,” says Humza Teherany, chief technology and digital officer at MLSE. “Our objective is to find some of the best innovations in sports and entertainment.”
Teherany cites three mega trends involving sport:
1— The fan experience as a journey and a product “Tech companies talk about usercentric design and getting the user experience right. For us, it’s fan-centric design or team performance-centric design where everything is driven by making the experience better for our fans and for our teams versus focusing on the technology itself.” To that end, MLSE now has product managers looking at every touch point a fan might have with its Raptors mobile app.
2— Startups and entrepreneurship driving innovation “This is about the use of the collective talent in the market and the power of exponential thinking. In a lot of ways we’re crowdsourcing some of our innovation.”
3— The growing power of data and analytics “Sports organizations have been using data and analytics for years to drive decision making. The speed of intelligent data with AI, machine learning and computing power allows you to run models that answer questions in real time, making data way more powerful than it was even two years ago. The next generation of companies that get it right with technology are the ones who put all the pieces together. The data is as important as the experience. The experience is only as good as the feedback.”
STARTUPS AT THE FUTURE OF SPORT LAB
› Performance Phenomics delivers brain imaging assessments that offer scientific insight into the athlete’s performance and guides recovery
› Rival.ai, an eSports company that uses AI for scouting reports
› Spalk, a virtual sportscasting studio with hundreds of different commentators on live broadcasts
› Skill Sharks, an integrated platform for coaches
› The Gist provides sport news and experiences that are created by women for women
› Stakes, which allows real-time sports wagering between friends
22 Ryerson University Magazine / Summer 2019
