Good morning and happy Friday. The Milan Cortina Olympics come to a close this week, and then, the next one will come to U.S. soil. It’ll be 2028 before we know it! — Ethan Joyce
In today’s edition of Power Up:
- Whoop signs first F1 deal with Ferrari
- Jump launches agentic AI suite of tools
- San Diego Wave FC signs on with PlayMaker Software
Whoop signs first F1 deal with Ferrari as global growth continues
Whoop has signed a global sponsorship deal with Scuderia Ferrari HP as its official health and fitness wearable partner. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the agreement includes not only company branding on the car and drivers but also distribution of Whoop devices to every member of the F1 organization.
Several members of Ferrari -- including superstar driver Lewis Hamilton -- had begun wearing Whoop prior to the official collaboration. While the drivers’ contributions are the most obvious and extensive, F1 teams rely on large support staff, all of whom will have access to Whoop’s recovery and performance metrics.
“We’re really embedding ourselves across the organization from the caterers to the engineers to the remote garage, the whole nine yards,” said Kristen Holmes, Whoop global head of human performance and principal scientist. “Every single person matters, and every single person in the organization, Ferrari believes, should have access to their own data so they can optimize and be the very best version, of course for Ferrari, but also be able to manage those demands and pay down some of the burden that’s associated with one of the most demanding jobs on the planet.”
Holmes will lead a team from Whoop working directly with Ferrari’s medical team on the integration and interpretation of the devices and insights. She noted that the 24-race F1 circuit with its worldwide travel is a particular challenge in the sport with marked performance attrition in the second half of the schedule. Whoop’s newest device has medical grade tracking with an FDA-cleared ECG.
“They already know from other data, other research, that the cost of travel -- the physiological costs, the mental costs, the emotional costs -- are huge,” Holmes said. “When you’re shifting time zones and not allowing your body to get back to neutral, there is an adaptation to a lower level of functioning over time, cognitively, physically, emotionally, and they see that mental health issues pop up toward the end of the season.”
Adoption of Whoop in motorsports has gained steam in recent years, from Formula E drivers to reigning F1 champ, Lando Norris. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and Al Nassr F Cristiano Ronaldo are among the brand ambassadors who often post their data on social media. Whoop became a major talking point at the Australian Open when several players -- including high-ranking stars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka -- were asked to remove the devices.
Several years ago, Whoop struck notable North American-centric agreements with the NFLPA and PGA Tour, but more recent deals have emphasized international reach, such as the WTA (though it has since expired), Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr, the UCI Mountain Biking World Series and now Scuderia Ferrari HP.
And this first foray into F1, Holmes said, was a particularly natural fit given the objective methodology applied to every area of the Ferrari team.
“They’re very, very data-centric in everything that they do,” she said. “They’re monitoring and measuring at the hundredth of a second, and so it only makes sense to use that same vigilance and rigor with the human system.”
Jump launches agentic AI suite of tools
Fan experience platform Jump has rolled out new agentic AI tools as it continues to build an all-encompassing system specifically tailored to sports teams.
The suite includes a Pricing Manager to model scenarios and shift prices, as well as an Inventory Manager that helps expedite the workflow around handling seats. Jump is also introducing Fan Intelligence, which creates fan profile summaries to enhance personalization and outreach.
Jump CEO Jordy Leiser says this deployment fits into the company’s vision to provide a purpose-built platform for sports. “Every single conversation we’ve had is with a professional sports team, trying to figure out how to make their lives better and easier,” Leiser said. “And there’s so much to their day-to-day that’s a giant pain.”
The latest feature is a direct result of Jump’s 2025 Series A funding round, a $25M injection that was led by Alexis Ohanian and his investment firm, Seven Seven Six. Jump will continue to create more agentic capabilities in the next few months. Jump works with the T’Wolves and Lynx, along with a pair of NWSL teams (N.C. Courage and the soon-to-debut Denver Summit FC).
San Diego Wave FC signs on with PlayMaker Software
NWSL club San Diego Wave FC has signed a multiyear deal with sponsorship management platform PlayMaker Software. It’s the first NWSL client for the startup and the second major North American soccer club (and fourth soccer club overall) to bring on the company: PlayMaker announced a similar deal with Austin FC in November.
PlayMaker Software attempts to streamline some of the tedious points of sponsorship deals. The platform uses AI to pull out contract details and track the progress of those activations, as well as build deal proposals. The company works with both sports rights holders and brands (like the popular soda brand Poppi).
“Soccer has been a great proving ground because these teams are building modern, data-driven partnership operations from the ground up -- they’ve prioritized efficiency and innovation,” PlayMaker Software CEO Hannah Sorkin told SBJ. “But the same challenges exist across sports. We’re not a soccer platform; we’re a sponsorship platform that soccer happened to discover first.”
More headlines from SBJ
- NBA attendance steady at All-Star break
- Daytona 500 up, but early start hinders Fox audience
- Dodgers exec Rosen returns to roots as Lakers president of business operations
- Taking stock of TGL’s TV numbers at season’s halfway point
- CVS leans into women’s soccer with U.S. Soccer, NWSL deals
- Infantino: All 104 matches at World Cup have sold out