Sports Loft Podcast

The Sports Loft Summit – part two

On Wednesday May 8th, we held the Sports Loft Showcase 2024, where we featured twelve incredible tech companies that we believe the industry needs to know about.

In this second episode of our two-parter on the event, Charlie, Andy and our MC for the day, Yanni, look back at the Summit and discuss the presentations from the companies that can broadly be defined as operating in the content and immersive spaces.

They are:

• Twelve Labs
• Opus Clip
• Tagboard
• Audioshake
• Spalk
• Ateme
• Arcturus

And if you missed part one, make sure to check it out. In that episode, we dig into the companies that presented in our Fan Engagement sessions.

The Sports Loft Summit – part one

On Wednesday May 8th, we held the Sports Loft Showcase 2024, where we featured twelve incredible tech companies that we believe the industry needs to know about.

In this episode, Charlie, Andy and our MC for the day, Yanni, look back at the event and discuss the presentations from the companies that can broadly be defined as operating in the fan engagement space.

They are:

• Monterosa
• Storyteller
• Satisfi Labs
• StellarAlgo
• OneCourt

In part two, we'll dig into the companies that presented in our Content and Immersive sessions.

London Marathon Events: The tech behind the record-breaking event

“The 26.2 miles of London streets from Blackheath to the Mall are, in my opinion, the most incredible experience on the planet,” says Charles Juba, group director of digital & technology at London Marathon Events (LME) and this week’s guest on the Sports Loft Podcast.

Our conversation took place shortly after 53,000 people had completed the 2024 TCS London Marathon the previous weekend, raising an unprecedented £67 million for charity, and breaking more than 40 other Guinness World Records.

We wanted to find out from Charles what role technology plays in the success of the marathon and LME's other events – which include 10km fundraisers, half marathons, a swim in the capital’s Hyde Park, a cycling race and plenty more.

“Innovation for me is a layer cake and you have to have a firm foundation on which you build,” says Charles. “The starting point at London Marathon Events is very much based on our data... because innovation pivots around insight and insight requires quality data.”

Timestamps:

09:00 – Introduction to London Marathon Events and its role

14:45 – Innovation and technology in enhancing the participant and fan experience

24:00 – Engaging in the participants journey 

30:00 – The Impact of the London Marathon App

37:00 – Harnessing the power of data for engagement and partnerships

44:45 – Future Goals

 

Professional Triathletes Organisation: Using tech to take triathlon mainstream

This week Yanni and co-host Charlie chat with Sam Renouf, CEO of the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO). Sam joined the organisation in 2019 has been central to the organisation’s strategy and development since.

We kick off the conversation by setting the scene, with Sam discussing the inception and evolution of PTO, including its recent partnership with World Triathlon. He digs into the organisation's goal of becoming a more consumer-facing brand with its T100 Triathlon World Tour and outlines the strategies for growing a sustainable fan base for triathlon.

"It's taken us a couple of years to figure out the right model. But we think that in the T100 we have something unique," he says. "We're like the PGA Tour from a governance structure because we've got the athletes and the pros. We're Formula One with this season long narrative with glamorous locations. And we're the World Marathon Majors with the mass participation. So really it's super exciting."

We were keen to chat with Sam about the role technology plays in the roadmap for the T100 series. Tech, Sam explains, will be baked into almost every element of the series – from its broadcast and commentary, to the sponsorship proposition and management of mass participation rankings. 

Sam also mapped out the PTO's funding model, with the likes of Michael Moritz as a lead investor, alongside Warner Bros. Discovery. And with the prospect of the organisation securing further funding to accelerate the growth of the T100, it's going to be a fascinating journey to watch.

Timestamps:

• 10:46 – Evolution of PTO's business model
• 25:11 – Importance of technology and investment from Warner Bros. Discovery
• 29:39 – Consolidating high-value audience with first-party data
• 30:21 –  Using data for sponsorship, media, and direct-to-consumer
• 35:09 – Storytelling and technology in triathlon
• 40:59 – Bringing non-endemic sponsors into triathlon
• 43:50 – Building revenue streams for triathletes
• 53:18 – The future of the PTO

MLS Innovation Lab: Nurturing tech to grow the league

Football in the US is growing – fast. But Major League Soccer has a long way to go to catch up with the likes of the NBA, MLB and, of course, the behemoth of the NFL. To do so, the league is turning to tech in order to supercharge broadcast, boost fan engagement and even get more kids playing the sport.

In this episode of the Sports Loft podcast, Yanni and Charlie sit down with Chris Schlosser, the senior vice president of emerging ventures at the MLS and head of the MLS Innovation Lab. They dive into the purpose and goals of the Innovation Lab, and explore how the lab can really contribute to the growth of MLS – from the role of technology in elevating fan engagement to how new tools could speed up player development.

Chris opens up about what the Innovation Lab entails from the perspective of the six tech companies in their primary cohort, and breaks down how the initiative provides resources, mentorship and test opportunities to those startups. We also talk about MLS’s selection process, the Lab’s three core areas of focus, and who the cohort taking part in 2024 programme are.  

Timestamps:

• 05:00 – Timeline of the Innovation Lab
• 12:45 – Pitching the Innovation Lab to MLS owners
• 22:00 – Testing events and opportunities for startups
• 25:45 – Benefits of the Innovation Lab
• 27:45 – Selection Criteria for Focus Areas
• 32:30 – Criteria for Evaluating Startups
• 36:00 – Companies Chosen for the Innovation Lab
• 47:30 – Future Goals for MLS Emerging Ventures

The evolution of sports sponsorship

This week’s episode delves into the intersection of sports, technology and sponsorship with industry experts Jason Saiban, a partner at Charles Russell Speechlys, and Sally Moore, the global sponsorship lead at Sage.

The conversation focuses on the evolution of sports sponsorship, exploring how new technologies are providing additional rights and diverse activation opportunities for sponsors. Our two guests bring unique perspectives, with Jason specialising in commercial contracts, technology, media and law, while Sally oversees Sage's sponsorship portfolio, including partnerships with MLB, Six Nations rugby and The Hundred cricket.

Our favourite bits include Sally explaining the differing strategies behind why Sage is engaged in sports in multiple markets, and Jason’s explanation of how the US and UK contrast when it comes to contract law around such sponsorships.

Monterosa: powering fan engagement for sports' leading rightsholders

In this episode, Yanni and Charlie talk to Tom McDonnell, CEO at Monterosa, the platform that is helping teams and leagues wrestle the fan engagement experience away from social media or third party platforms, and onto their owned and operated websites and apps.

 

We’ve been approached by lots of companies try to nail digital fan experiences, but in the last 12 to 18 months we’ve seen Monterosa’s approach evolve, coinciding with an increase in market demand for compelling digital experiences that keep fans coming back. It was therefore great to catchup with Tom, and really explore what this means for their clients such as Liverpool FC, EA Sports, Six Nations and Formula E.

 

Tom shares his learnings as the company has grown (and changed!) from its days when the BBC was an early client and discusses how teams and leagues can build their audience even if they don’t have the development resources of the big tech giants. One of our favourite sections was when Tom discusses how sponsor brands are using the platform to syndicate experiences across all the different sports properties they work with.

Monarch Collective: going all in on women's sports

In this episode of our 'Investor's View' series, Yanni and Charlie chat with returning guest Jasmine Robinson. Formerly of Causeway, Jasmine is now co-founder and managing partner at Monarch Collective – a $150 million fund launched in 2023 that invests in women's sports teams and leagues.

Jasmine's partner at Monarch is Kara Nortman, who co-founded NWSL club Angel City FC, and the fund has already made its first investment: NWSL Boston – a team which was awarded expansion rights in September 2023.

Over the course of the episode, we discuss the founding story of Monarch, its overall thesis and how the Boston investment falls into that. Jasmine explains how she never expected to leave Causeway, but that she felt the opportunity in women's sports were too good to miss out on. And we find out why women's sports is the perfect test bed for innovative new technologies.

Levellr: building communities of superfans in sports

Join hosts Yanni Andreopoulos and Charlie Greenwood in conversation with Tom Gayner, CEO and co-founder of Levellr, the platform connecting the world's top musicians, brands, and creators with their fan communities on Discord and Telegram.

The growth of community building in sports is one of our trends for 2024, so it was great to catch up with Tom and really dig into the realities of what that means. In this episode, we explore the growth of the business, what Levellr adds to apps like Discord, and the delicate balance between building scalable software which is supported by human-powered services.

Tom shares his key learnings and success stories, discussing collaborations with industry giants like Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group and setting out how similar thinking can be applied to sports. We also dig into Levellr's recent £1 million funding.

Reviewing our trend predictions and looking ahead to 2024

In the words of host Yanni Andreopoulos, this week on the podcast we gathered “the greatest minds Sports Loft has to offer” (oh dear!) to discuss our 2023 sports, media and entertainment tech predictions. We explore how these predictions have influenced or failed to impact the industry landscape, shaping the year that's now coming to an end.

We ask: were memberships re-imagined by sports teams? To what degree did rightsholders become content businesses? And did the industry really get smarter on data? Find out what we think, as Yanni holds Andy and Charlie to account on what we got right and what we got, err, not so right.

Warning: contains multiple references to Hull City football club.

Show notes:

• Gerard Pique's new Kings League
• Juventus' fixtures list reveal video
• Sports Loft Podcast – The role of machine learning in sports, and how to build an AI startup
• Sports Loft Podcast – BMW, Karta and marketing in the metaverse
• Sports Loft article – From AI to data enrichment: five sports trends to watch in 2024

Timestamps:

• 7:00 – Sports will get smarter on data
• 17:30 – “We are a content business” will become a reality
• 24:45 – AI will complement (not replace) content creators
• 31:00 – Memberships will be re-imagined
• 38:30 – For now, the metaverse is multiplayer online games – that people actually play!
• 48:00 – Our 2024 predictions