SportTechie’s State Of The Industry 2018 Recap

On February 13, 2018, SportTechie hosted its inaugural State Of The Industry conference at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Sports industry leaders from across the country convened to examine the various topics and trends that shaped the sports technology world in 2017, and what was on the horizon for 2018. With support from Oracle Hospitality (Presenting Sponsor) and Sportradar (Supporting Sponsor), the invite-only event featured two networking receptions, five panel discussions, a featured presentation from Oracle Hospitality, and a keynote address from DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFLPA.

In case you were not able to attend this year’s event, here’s what you missed:

Oracle Is Preparing Stadiums To Handle Beer Orders Via Alexa

Imagine a future in-arena suite experience where Alexa by Amazon, through the Echo smart speaker, could take your beer or food order, communicate it to the kitchen staff and have it delivered to your seat within minutes.

Could Esports Become Part Of Olympics By 2024?

Those who work in esports believe the gaming competitions could be added to the Olympics as soon as 2024, potentially exciting a new generation of viewers similar to the way snowboarding ignited a younger audience when it was added in 1998.

Internal Versus External Tracking Is Next Frontier Of Data Privacy

Analytically-inclined sports franchises are interested, by default, in gathering as much data as they can. It becomes incumbent on data-collecting vendors to provide solutions without being intrusive.

An Inside Look At How The NFL’s Zebra Tracking Data Gets Used

Every NFL player wears an Zebra Technologies-produced RFID chip in his shoulder pads during games, but most teams apparently don’t use the collected tracking data.

How Major League Baseball Is Approaching Future Entry Into Esports

Major League Baseball and MLB Advanced Media are keeping a close eye on the esports landscape as the league considers how it might enter the space in the future.

Why NBA Players Like Jaylen Brown Are Talking Tech At All-Star Weekend

The NBPA is hosting four player-only tech events during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, and for the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, there’s work to be done with educating them on tech investing.

Monumental, Keemotion Partner On Live-Streaming Youth Hockey

Monumental Sports Network and Keemotion have partnered on livestreaming youth hockey using automated production technology, which could eventually be used for youth basketball.

State Of The Industry 2018 Agenda

Panel #1 – Esports

Call it a “sport” or call it “gaming,” just make sure you don’t ignore it. Esports teams are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Traditional sports leagues and teams have created their own esports leagues and invested in teams. Our panel examined where we are now and how much further we’ll go. Moderator: Diamond Leung, Managing Editor @ SportTechie

Panelists:

Jamie Leece, VP of Games, VR @ MLBAM

Andrew Paradise, Founder and CEO @ Skillz

Grant Paranjape, Director of Esports Business and Team Operations @ Monumental Sports & Entertainment

Panel #2 – Tracking Athletes – Movement, Health & Performance – Presented by Sportradar

Technology allows us to obtain and analyze volumes of data about athletes, from movement and location while performing to biometric sleep patterns. The result is new and engaging content for fans, advanced methods of evaluation for teams, and scientific training regimens for athletes. Never has data been more important, or more controversial. Moderator: Joe Lemire, Senior Writer @ SportTechie

Panelists:

Marques Colston, Retired NFL Player / Founder @ Dynasty Digital

Ahmad Nassar, President @ NFL Players Inc.

Per von Rosen, Product Manager @ Sportradar

Panel #3 – The Future Of Sports Media

Streaming, OTT, cable bundles, and digital media. We consume sports much differently than we did just a few years ago. There were massive shifts in the sports content industry in 2017 that will have huge ramifications on the future of live sports. Leaders in the media industry discuss the important developments of 2017 and what to look for in 2018 and beyond. Moderator: Taylor Bloom, CEO @ SportTechie

Panelists:

Brian Dailey, VP, Sports Digital Media @ Showtime Networks

Zach Leonsis, SVP and General Manager @ Monumental Sports & Entertainment

Geoff Reiss, General Manager of Sports @ Oath

Jordan Schlachter, President @ National Basketball Players Incorporated

Keynote / Lunch – DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA Executive Director

Panel #4 – In-Venue Data Collection and Fan Experience – Presented By Oracle

Smart stadiums. It was a buzzword in 2017. How “smart” were our stadiums and how much smarter can we make them via strategic data collection – from point-of-sale transactions to interactive digital signage and augmented reality experiences via a smartphone? Moderator: Dan Kaufman, Managing Director @ SportTechie

Panelists:

Randy Lewis, VP, Business Strategy & Analytics @ Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment

Michael Porter, Director of Emerging Technology @ Centerplate

Ed Rothenberg, Senior Solutions Specialist @ Oracle Hospitality

Sandeep Satish, Director of Partner Strategy @ E15 Group

Featured Presentation by Oracle

Panel #5 – Forecasting The Future – Presented by Oracle

Virtual reality can put the fan courtside and train an athlete. Artificial intelligence can assist with mobile payments, obtain fan data, streamline customer service and unclog crowded corridors. Technologies like these were important topics in 2017. But how much potential do they truly hold for the future of the sports industry? This panel dissects the hype from the facts about these emerging technologies. Moderator: Jen Booton, Senior Writer @ SportTechie

Panelists:

Lisa Borders, President @ WNBA

Matt Donnelly, VP of Solutions and Compliance @ FreedomPay

Ed O’Brien, Head of Sports – Business Development and Partnerships @ CLEAR

Dirck Schou, Cofounder and COO @ Taqtile

Reception #2 – Presented by Oracle

Post-Event Networking – New York Islanders vs. Columbus Bluejackets in Honda Club