SBJ Power Up: BreakAway Data teams up with the NWSLPA

Another day, another U.S. women's national team gameday. They play the Netherlands at 9 p.m. You better enjoy this start time: the game next week against Portugal starts at 3 a.m. No way my 18-month-old is letting me keep enough of my energy for that start time. -- Ethan Joyce

In today's edition:

BreakAway Data boosts the NWSLPA
DAZN to use GeoGuard
AE Live acquires Silver Spoon

NWSLPA, BreakAway Data team to aid athletes' needs

The NWSL employs more than 300 players, of whom 61 are now competing for 16 national teams at the FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. As those athletes prepared to disperse for a month to compete abroad, NWSLPA Exec Dir Meghann Burke, who already had been engaged in some conversations with BreakAway Data -- which offers an athlete-centric data passport -- quickly consummated a partnership to ensure that its constituents would have continuity of their data as they shuttled between club and country, SBJ's Joe Lemire reports.

Within a fortnight of its rollout, more than 200 NWSL players had opted into the program and downloaded the app. BreakAway Data, which SBJ Tech named as one of its Most Innovative Companies for 2022, has partnered with the NFLPA, WNBPA, XFL, Athletes Unlimited and others, but this is the first time the majority of a league’s athletes have signed up, BreakAway Data co-founder and CEO Dave Anderson said..

DAZN enlists GeoComply’s GeoGuard solution for revenue protection

GeoComply Solutions Inc., a cybersecurity and geolocation services provider, has added DAZN as a client, SBJ's Rob Schaefer reports.

DAZN will use GeoComply’s GeoGuard product, specifically, to protect against VPNs, Tors, Proxies and other location spoofing techniques. DAZN’s streaming platform first launched in 2016 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan, but is now available in more than 200 countries. Earlier this month, it announced a partnership with DAIMANI that will include incorporating a ticket marketplace into its app.

AE Live acquires virtual production company Silver Spoon

Sports data and broadcast company AE Live has acquired Silver Spoon, a New York-based virtual production company that develops content on Unreal Engine, I reported yesterday.

Silver Spoon’s previous content partnerships include the Nickelodeon NFL Nickmas game, CBS March Madness, Fox Sports productions such as this year’s Super Bowl and the Field of Dreams game for MLB. Silver Spoon has also worked with brands like Papa Johns, Doritos and Cheetos, among others. Their work has featured immersive virtual environments and AR graphics during live broadcasts.