Sports & Events Tech Trends 2022

COVID induced slumber. With crowds flocking to stadiums to cheer on their teams, and hoards lining up around arenas to fawn over their favourite artists - it is clear how much value society places on in-person cultural spectacles.

Despite this return resembling a live event climate of pre-covid times, the global pandemic has pushed a paradigm shift for live event hosts, rights holders, and distributors. This shift is across many aspects of live events

• Cries for increased digital content & collectibles from fans
• Ramifications of the new COVID normal on ticketing
• Changes to digital expectations to in-seat consumer experience

These are three key issues that have accelerated the need for technological advancement in the sector.

At SBC we have been scouting globally for our 2022 Cohort, 10 of the World’s best Sports & EventTech startups. We have witnessed that startups and the passionate founders behind them are answering the calls.

Today we will shine the spotlight on three such startups. Technologies that we believe will become an integral part of your sport & event experience in the near future.

• Tixologi - The future of ticketing is here
• Snackr - The food delivery app designed to keep you in your seat so you don’t miss the action
• SportzFan - Revolutionising fan engagement

Tixologi

Significant and useful application of Blockchain technology has come to the world of Sport. An example of this is in the well known use-case of NFT collectibles including NBA hotshots, and Fancraze the official licensed ICC collection platform. It is projected Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for sports media will generate more than US$2 billion in transactions in 2022 according to a Deloitte study.

The lesser-known application (for now) is the potential for blockchain ticketing systems to combat black market trade of highly desirable tickets and to increase fan engagement. As per a report by Grand View Research The online event ticketing industry is expected to reach $68 billion by 2025.

LA-based Tixologi is working to unlock the power of blockchain ticketing for sporting codes around the world - creating several valuable features:

Enabling ticket customisation, creating dynamic and collectible offerings
Control and commercialisation of secondary ticket markets
Securing ticketing supply and venue security
Allowing better understanding of fanbase

What does this mean for sporting codes and teams? More engagement in the ticketing flow for patrons, unlocking new revenue sources (including lucrative secondary markets), and the ability to drive more value to ticket holders.

Snackr

As stadium gates reopen the call of a Four & Twenty and a glass of a mid-strength draught at the MCG beckons (or perhaps a hot-dog at the ballpark). In spite of this with COVID remaining an ever present threat, packed lines at food vendors may be a daunting prospect for some. Enter in-seat ordering solutions like Snackr. Whether for health-concerns or the desire to avoid the mammoth wait lines at half-time and possibly missing some of the action, in-seat ordering makes a whole lot of sense. The team behind Australian based start-up Snackr is primed to shake up the spectator experience.

Beyond making a seamless ordering experience tuned for in-stadium in-seat usage, the Snackr product aims to feed consumption data collected in real-time to stadium operators to better service their customers in the future. The modernisation of stadiums is here, those who fail to adopt measures such as these will have noticeably less tailored offerings to consumer preferences.

With great names onboard in their early traction like Cricket Tasmania and HockeyWA, and international expansion on the horizon, Snackr is an exciting up and coming startup worth keeping an eye out for.

SportzFan

Beyond fan interaction with ticketing and in-stadium experiences there is a significant broader engagement piece prime for technological advancement. Given the rollout of QR codes and ease of producing vaccination documents from digital wallets - consumers across all demographics are more comfortable with novel technology than ever before.

Another Australian based company, SportzFan, is looking to leverage this window of opportunity by delivering a white-label fan engagement system. The core product of Spark Studios is providing custom fan token web and app platforms that can be managed and driven by sports organisations to facilitate deeper engagement with loyal fans and incentivise new ones. From live event and sponsor driven rewards systems the team hope to drive engagement levels and revenue streams for sports & event organisations.

The unique nature of the token technology platforms being used -they cannot be imitated or destroyed- enables really interesting and new fan engagement possibilities.

Take for example a token that holds a fan rating that increases whenever the owner attends a match, participates in a poll or buys a piece of kit. Blockchain technology used in this context paves the way for a universal system that builds value to the consumer over time and drives insights and revenue back to the organisations who administer them.

Tixology, Snackr and SportzFan present a great snapshot of the novel concepts we are witnessing in the Sport & EventTech program scouting journey. Across all of the great start-ups we are seeing the picture of what the world of Sports and Events will look like starts to look a little clearer. We hope to continue sharing what is new on the horizon in the lead up to the close of applications on Monday 18th April.

Know any great start-ups looking to make their mark on this sector? You can send them to our program page to Apply.  Over the last few months we have seen live sport and events arise from a lengthy