SportsTech Monthly Roundup 22: CES Wrap-Up, Looking Ahead to 2022

We hope you had a safe, relaxing, and rejuvenating holiday.

Our team is excited to dive into 2022 with much to look forward to in the ever-changing landscape of sports tech. Speaking of landscape, we’re finalizing our annual report that reviews the biggest trends that are impacting the world of sports. Keep an eye out for that next month.

We also are very excited to announce the next wave of startups that will be taking part in our sports tech accelerator. We’ll be announcing that on Feb. 21, 2022. So, stay tuned!

CES Wrap-Up

From fan engagement to predictive analytics, today’s sports leaders are working on the hottest things in tech. A few of the top leaders at Comcast NBCU SportsTech, NBC Sports, GOLF, and Comcast Spectacor came together at CES to discuss how startups have brought game-changing innovations into their business.

Among the highlights: 

• Gamification and betting is a bucket of fan engagement that is just exploding right now. In the United States, we are such a nascent betting market with the majority of bets taking place before the game. In more mature markets, like the U.K. and Australia, 80 percent of betting takes place in-game. — Amanda Norvell, Vice President, Direct to Consumer Products & Services at NBC Sports Next
• We’ve seen an explosion of startups since COVID-19 and I think the challenges of in-venue experiences early on accelerated their efforts. Valuable virtual experiences became table stakes instead of nice-to-haves. — Jenna Kurath, Vice President of Startup Partnerships, Head of Comcast NBCU SportsTech 
• Collecting data helps us better understand who our fans are, how they interact with us, and how we can meaningfully improve those interactions—whether through targeted promotions to subsets of fans, ensuring we get the right ticket offers to the right fans at the right time, or delivering content featuring their favorite player. — Sam Ebb VP, Business Strategy & Analytics at Philadelphia Flyers, Wells Fargo Center 

You can read the full report on our involvement at CES here at Inside Track.

🤝 SportsTech Partners in the News 🤝

🏟 Take a Lap Around NASCAR’s New Track | Via: Racing News 

There’s a new track on the NASCAR circuit this year. As crews prepare for the first-ever race inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, you can preview what the racing layout looks like for the quarter-mile track.

⛳️ Netflix Tees Up Documentary | Via: PGA TOUR 

Netflix has linked up with the PGA TOUR and golf’s major championships for an immersive documentary series following the lives and stories of top professional golfers across a season of high-stakes competition.

🏂 How Mammoth Mountain Helps Develop World-Class Snowboarders | Via: Los Angeles Times

In a sport obsessed with pushing limits, the resort’s forward-thinking culture and idyllic environment have produced some of Team USA‘s best snowboarders and free skiers through its celebrated Mammoth Mountain Ski and Snowboard Team. The club has four alumni on the Olympic snowboarding team in Beijing with reigning gold medalist Chloe Kim, halfpipe teammates Maddie Mastro and Tessa Maud, and slopestyle snowboarder Dusty Henricksen.

🗓 Make sure you catch our partners including the U.S. Ski & Snowboard team at the upcoming Olympics. Check out the complete watch guide from Xfinity.

📚 Sports Tech Stories We’re Reading 📚

🏈 NFL Nickelodeon Broadcast Smashes Ratings Records | Via: The Athletic, LinkedIn  

The San Francisco 49ers toppling the Dallas Cowboys in the opening round of the NFL playoffs was the most-watched wild-card game in more than seven years. The broadcast featured virtual slime and other mixed reality content that was produced in a partnership with The Famous Group, Epic Games, Unreal Engine User Group, and Quince Imaging.

🚀 How Sports Tech is Building a Player-Centric Future | Via: Fortune 

Top athletes are at the forefront of every hot trend–whether it’s selling apparel or NFTs–and their fans can’t get enough. Younger players, such as the Patriots’ newly minted 23-year-old quarterback Mac Jones, are trademarking their initials and jersey numbers early on in their career.

🎮 Pro Sports Leagues Chasing Gen Z Where It Plays | Via: New York Times 

Whether the leagues like it or not, American society has crossed a Rubicon that imperils the business of traditional sports. For the first time, children ages 12 to 17 place a higher priority on being alone or spending time online rather than hanging out with friends or family, let alone tossing a baseball or shooting hoops in the driveway.

🎲 American Sports Betting Market Doubles | Via: Front Office Sports 

The U.S. sports betting market is on fire, doubling in 2021 with $52.7 billion wagered across the sports calendar year. Last year, 11 new states joined the ranks of legalized betting. Other fascinating nuggets:

• 12% of bettors placed one bet per week
• 14% of bettors say their average bet is more than $100

We hope you’re off to a fantastic year and we are so excited to share some of the awesome news and updates in the coming weeks.