SBJ Tech: UFL turns title game into innovation showcase

Happy Wednesday! This newsletter hits your inboxes while I’m flying back from SBJ’s Brand Innovation Summit in Chicago. We couldn’t have asked for two better summer days in the city.

Over the weekend, I drove down to Charlotte with the family to watch Firefighters vs. Tailgaters on the Savannah Bananas tour. It’s pretty amazing to see that, even with the expanded schedule, there’s still no shortage of demand. Truist Field, the home of the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, was around or over its 10,200 capacity Friday night. While I was a bit overstimulated by traffic and herding our two kids to our seats, the crew had a blast.

I now hand off this dispatch to a pair of my SBJ colleagues: Rob Schaefer highlights the latest class of the UFL’s innovation program, while Jesse Gordon recaps some of the tech-related brand sessions from BIS.

Scott Harniman, the UFL’s SVP/media and innovation, describes the spring football league as an “incubator of technology.”

And what is any tech incubator without a demo day?

That’s essentially what the UFL plans to put on Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C., during its 2026 championship game — the United Bowl — at Audi Field. This is the UFL’s third season-capping tech showcase since the league launched (in its latest form) in 2024, and it is expecting more than 40 attendees, from league partners to influencers, to take in demonstrations from several of the league’s tech vendors.

“The goal is showing what we can from an innovation standpoint, a technology standpoint,” Harniman told SBJ ahead of the event. “We look forward to it every year.”

Run of show

One change from last year’s showcase is a move from a high-up suite in the venue to one on the field level. The aim is to give attendees a more intimate view of the action, and it could create a unique perspective on demos from companies such as tracking data firm Sportable, which will stream a data-rich alternate feed of the game as it happens using real-time information derived from sensors in the football and on players’ pads.

The suite will also include displays from ESPN (a monitor showing its “Skycast” alt-cast of the game), wearable camera company Povora and playback software DVSport (a station for viewing replay angles that UFL officials use to adjudicate challenges).

FAST takeaways

This is also the second year of the UFL’s FAST (Football Advancement Through Sports Technology) program for testing and launching new innovations.

Year 1 produced the UFL’s ongoing partnership with Sportable. But even when the program doesn’t lead to a longer-term relationship — such as with Mindfly, whose BodyCam product was used on players’ chest plates and shoulder pads last season — there are learnings.

“There were challenges — and, really, not all on their side,” Harniman said of Mindfly. “The physicality of the game and wearing a camera on the chest, it was really hard. ... But we also saw, when we did capture [video], that in-game speed — the audio, the video of collisions — it was so dramatic that wanted to continue.”

So, the UFL pivoted to Povora, which deployed its “CapCam” during the 2026 season on UFL referees and, in a first for the company, even a coach — the Orlando Storm’s Anthony Becht. Povora on Saturday will also debut a new body camera, worn by a member of the chain crew, that automatically pans side-to-side based on the head motion of the person wearing it, powered by a wireless connection to an IMU earpiece.

“We were right in the heart of the action when Anthony was talking to his guys, which is a really unique perspective we were excited to see [on broadcast],” said Povora co-founder and CCO Nathan Horrocks. “We’re also looking at how we can go forward with that. Who else can we use the camera on?”

The UFL’s 2026 FAST class also includes EA Sports, Riddell, The 33rd Team and AI audio firm Vokol, demonstrating the league’s openness to technologies both established and startup.

Co-founder and Head of Growth Chris Shreeve said Vokol generated hundreds of bite-sized, AI-generated podcast episodes for the UFL during the season, predominately based on the league’s editorial coverage. These clips canvassed league/team news and “know before you go” FAQs for fans attending games, with the latter driving a better than 40% click-through rate to additional content, according to Shreeve.

“It’s been as good of a relationship as we possibly could have asked for, and I think it all stems from the top-down mandate they [the UFL] have to innovate,” he said. “They’ve gone above and beyond to try to do something different.”

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Technology’s role in sports sponsorship continues to evolve beyond traditional branding opportunities as it becomes increasingly embedded in how leagues, teams and partners operate, engage fans and create business value.

That theme emerged during two sessions at SBJ’s Brand Innovation Summit in Chicago on Tuesday, where executives from AWS, USAA and 160over90 detailed how technology is reshaping sponsorship strategy and fan engagement.

For AWS, the shift represents a broader transformation in sports partnerships. AWS Head of Integrated Sports Marketing Shelby Williams told SBJ’s Ethan Joyce that technology companies are no longer interested in simple logo placements. Instead, she said sponsors want to become operational partners that help leagues improve in areas such as performance, efficiency and fan experience.

Williams pointed to AWS’ partnership with the NFL as a prime example. When the relationship began in 2017, AWS’ focus centered on RFID tracking technology embedded in NFL players’ shoulder pads and helmets. This powered the league’s Next Gen Stats platform through real-time data collection and cloud computing.

But she noted that nearly a decade later, the partnership has expanded far beyond tracking data.

Today, AWS’ work with the NFL spans across areas such as AI-powered analytics, player health and safety initiatives and support for major league events such as the NFL Draft and NFL Combine. Williams described the partnership as a “full funnel” relationship that now impacts business operations, media, analytics and fan engagement.

AWS’ partnership with the NFL serves as a microcosm for a larger trend across sports, where sponsorships are starting to function as long-term innovation partnerships. Williams emphasized that successful relationships in this sphere require collaboration between marketing, technology, analytics and league leadership teams to jointly develop future products and fan experiences.

The growing prominence of AI in the sports industry is accelerating that shift, but Williams cautioned that technology itself should not become the story.

“AI isn’t the story,” she said. “The story is the impact.”

Tech’s role in Army-Navy game

That focus on impact was highlighted during the next discussion, featuring SBJ’s Irving Mejia-Hilario with USAA Head of Brand Marketing Jen Escobar and agency partner 160over90 EVP/co-Head Justin Zambuto, which emphasized how technology is helping modernize the Army-Navy game while preserving one of college football’s most celebrated traditions.

For USAA, technology has become an important tool for extending engagement beyond game day. The company is employing technology, through social media campaigns, creator partnerships and interactive fan activations, to introduce the event to younger audiences while maintaining its connection to the military community.

One example: Rendezvous Point, a multiday fan experience around the game. The activation incorporates technology like gamification, digital engagement tracking and data collection tools that help measure attendee behavior and direct future programming decisions.

Executives said technology allows USAA to understand which experiences generate the most engagement, how long fans interact with activations and how those interactions ultimately contribute to business outcomes.

Both discussions highlighted that technology is no longer simply supporting sports sponsorships — it is increasingly defining them. Sponsors are becoming deeper collaborators in shaping how leagues operate and how fans experience sports.

Amazon Web Services’ Global Head of Sports JULIE SOUZA announced she is leaving the company in a LinkedIn post. Souza said she is “taking a short pause to enjoy a little bit of summer, send my daughter off to college, and decide what’s next.”

Adobe named former FanDuel Senior Manager/League and Team Marketing RACHEL STEINBERG as principal/enterprise sports marketing campaigns.

The NBA named former Accenture Management Consultant NATHAN YEH as DTC strategy summer analyst.

NCAA Research Chief TOM PASKUS retired from his role after more than 20 years with the association. Paskus’ official departure was in April, but he began a medical leave in early 2025, about four years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Atlassian Williams F1 Team named JAMES SMITH as chief information officer. Smith joins the team after a decade of AI and data leadership at Google, DeepMind and Human Native AI.

Mile High Data Solutions named former Grizzlies Senior Director/Business Strategy and Analytics JACOB ROSEN as VP/operations and professional services.

• My Insiders column this week examines the legal issues around FIFA, as AGs in California, New York and New Jersey are looking into World Cup ticket pricing.
• Sportradar has a multiyear deal with Kalshi to provide the prediction market with official sports data/live odds; fan engagement and customer acquisition solutions; and integrity services for its markets around several prominent leagues, reports my SBJ Tech colleague Rob Schaefer.
• Uplift Labs developed a new AI-driven analysis tool, Signals, to evaluate an athlete’s biomechanics featuring specific recommendations for improvement, writes SBJ’s Joe Lemire.
• Tech consultancy firm Next League’s fourth installment of its two-day immersive program, Next League University, is underway in its N.Y. office. The class features 48 college students, recent grads and fledgling professionals in sports.
• IBM’s venture fund hosted a startup pitch challenge Thursday at its Manhattan HQ, with IBM Global Head of Venture Capital Emily Fontaine telling Schaefer that the $500 million vehicle is turning its eye toward sports tech.
• Reigning NWSL champion Gotham FC selected Sports Illustrated Tickets as the club’s “official fan experience and ticketing sponsor,” replacing Ticketmaster.