Top 20 Sports Tech Solution Companies - 2019

In recent years, the worlds of technology and sports are colliding like never before, with administrators of sports organizations acknowledging the need of being smarter both on and off the field.

Technology innovations are being leveraged at every level of sports, ranging from the field of play to the boardroom level where organizations are more efficient, to improving the experience for fans at sports stadia, and of course, the television and live streaming enhancements. Besides enhancing athletic performance, smart arenas, eSports and next-gen sponsorships, fans can have an interactive experience through new applications and services across various channels.

Over the last year or so, some of the key tech trends in the sporting arena include the arrival of Video-Assisted Referees (VAR) in soccer, over the top (OTT) broadcasts, and the meteoric rise of eSports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has already launched the popular NBA 2K League—an eSports league joint venture between the NBA and Take-Two Interactive. During the inaugural season in 2018, the qualifying stage was open to anyone above the age of 18 with access to the videogame NBA 2K18 on either PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

Also, sports teams are using data analytics and AI to improve fitness and preparation of their athletes. The most obvious example of analytics is in the NFL where coaches and assistant coaches are seen using Surface tablets on the sidelines during games. In fact, the NFL has a strategic partnership with Microsoft. The use of analytics was also prevalent at the FIFA World Cup when all 32 teams had access to tablet-based systems featuring match footage, positioning data, and other statistics. English Premier League (EPL) club Manchester City is also a pioneer in this regard, allowing its players and coaches access to real-time insights on the opposition. There have been plenty of instances when Manchester City players have credited technology for giving them dynamic tactical plans during their match victories.

Other prominent sports tech trends include the mass scale legalization of online sports betting across the U.S. Due to the relaxation of regulations, organizations are hatching up new ideas to enhance the sports gambling technology. Sports organizations such as the National Hockey League (NHL) have already acquired several gambling technology companies to capitalize on a potential new revenue stream.

With the sports industry exhibiting a great deal of reliance on technology, technology solution providers are ensuring that the business of sports is lucrative with their incessant innovations. Truly, now is the right time for enterprises to leverage best-in-class sports technology solutions for their respective business. Since the sports technology market is brimming with promising solution providers, it is no easy feat to choose the right one. To aid organizations on this mission, our illustrious selection panel—comprising CEOs, CIOs, VCs, industry analysts and the editorial board of CIO Review—has narrowed down the top 20 sports technology solution providers that exhibit competence in delivering sports technology solutions.

CIOReview presents the ‘20 Most Promising Sports Tech Solution Providers – 2019.’

Top Sports Tech Solution Companies

Atavus

Atavus, a leading authority on tackle performance provides innovative solutions in the sports landscape with their trademark analytics platform and Digital Tackling Academy. The organization understands the significance of performance in football and teaches shoulder-led technique that removes the head from the tackle. The company educates coaches in their technique, helping train players to improved performance, increased confidence, and improved safety in the game. The organization is proud of the fact that they developed a tackling system that addresses both risk management and safety concerns while also teaching a much more dominant style of tackling

Rank One Health + Sport

Rank One Sport is a leading software company helping Athletic Directors, Athletic Trainers, and coaches save time, save money, and improve communication. Rank One Sport offers a comprehensive set of tools to help athletic departments manage their day to day responsibilities. All features are available online, giving users secure access anywhere internet is available. With over 30 Million Pieces of Paper, 3.4 Million Daily Treatments entered, and 2 Million Games Scheduled, Rank One Sport is quickly becoming the preferred athletic department management solution in the United States

TeamSnap

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Boulder, Colo., TeamSnap provides an integrated sports team, club and league management solution, designed to simplify communication and coordination for coaches, administrators, players and families. Fifteen million coaches, administrators, players and parents use TeamSnap’s web and smartphone apps to sign up, schedule, communicate and coordinate everything for the team, the club and the season. TeamSnap team, club and league management software makes organizing sports as simple as click, tap and go

Zone7

Zone 7 provides a pattern recognition platform to prevent injuries using wearables and video analytics solutions. The company utilizes data from medical records, performance metrics, and health data that is already available to indentify injury risks and fatigue accumulation of players through its pattern recognition engine, providing team managers adequate correlations of events occurring on the pitch. Such matrices assist sports teams in ensuring that an athlete remains healthy and performs at their highest levels during the course of a game or throughout a sporting season

Catapult Sports

Established in 2006, Catapult is an Australian start-up focused on elite wearables. Catapult has provided performance analytics to the world's leading sports organisations. Teams such as Brazil, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Saracens and the Australian Cricket Team have all benefited from Catapult insights, as well as organisations, leagues and governing bodies such as the England and Wales Cricket Board, NRL and La Liga. With precision engineering at the intersection of sports science and analytics, Catapult products are designed to optimise performance, mitigate the risk of injury, and quantify the return to play

Empericus

The Empericus Health Intelligence platform integrates an athlete’s entire historical medical record with the latest advances in sports science and sports medicine. The resulting analysis provides medical staff, trainers, therapists, and coaches with the insights they need to help athletes achieve their full potential. Empericus is a proud and trusted co-development partner of Microsoft. Powered by advanced AI, BI, SPP and the full capability of the Microsoft Intelligent Cloud, Empericus ensures that an athlete’s health record and patterns are available anywhere, to anyone granted access

Full Swing Golf

Full Swing Golf, the largest US-based producer of multi-sport simulators, provides dual-tracking technology, which is combination of high-speed cameras and infrared light wave technology to provide unmatched swing data and real-time ball feedback.Full Swing’s technology can be custom fit into a large number of applications including training facilities, resorts, clubhouses, sports retailers, luxury homes, and much more. Users can dynamically experience more than 13 sports including golf, which features 84 Championship Golf Courses. Team Full Swing boasts PGA TOUR Players Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, the LPGA’s Brooke Henderson & the NBA’s Steph Curry

Golf Genius

Golf Genius Software provides innovative and reliable software products for private clubs, public courses, resorts, and golf associations around the world. These products are designed to save PGA professionals time and effort, and help them deliver an enhanced playing experience and an exceptional level of service to their golfers. The company’s flagship product, Golf Genius TMS, is the most widely used tournament management system available today. Combining the best aspects of the traditional golf experience with innovative cloud-based and mobile technology, Golf Genius TMS offers customizable event websites, online registration and payments, tournament formats, live scoring, TV leaderboards, printed materials, automated email and text messaging, and integration with popular club systems

Hudl

Hudl is a leading software company revolutionizing the way coaches and athletes prepare for and stay ahead of the competition. Founded by David Graff, Brian Kaiser and John Wirtz in 2006, the company offers the tools to edit and share video, interact with stats, and create quality highlight reels for entertainment and recruiting purposes. The whole experience is available online, giving coaches and athletes secure access at home and on the go.With more than 160,000 active teams and 4.3 million unique users, Hudl has become the preferred game film solution for all teams, from the smallest youth organizations to professional franchises in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia

imATHLETE

imATHLETE,offers technology, database management, e-commerce, and social networking solutions for the athletic market. The company offers a platform that provides athletic activity registration and fundraising tools and product merchandising services. It focuses on adventure racing, aquabike, aquathlon, bicycling, duathlon, mountain biking, running, swimming, track and field, triathlon, and water sports. The company caters to city governments, governing bodies, non-profit organizations, and event organizers. Its clientele include LA Marathon, Twin Cities Marathon, J&A Racing, M3S Sports, and City of Philadelphia. imATHLETEwas founded in 2008 and is based in Santa Monica, Ca