Perfect Game is the world’s largest youth baseball/softball platform and scouting service, producing over 8,600+ events, 300,000+ games, and showcases annually across the United States. Rob Ponger became CEO in 2022, previously serving as a Senior Vice President at IMG. To date, more than 1,650 players who have played in a Perfect Game event have made it to Major League Baseball. Chapters: (01:50) From IMG to Perfect Game (04:15) Creating a flywheel of brands (09:30) Downstream professionalizati...
Mar 25, 2024•27 min•Ep. 123
Pro Skills Basketball is now in 20 cities across the United States with their innovative basketball training, coaching, and team membership model. Brendan Winters grew up the son of an NBA coach. He played college basketball at Davidson and then went on to play professionally overseas for 5 years before founding Pro Skills Basketball. PSB has since grown into a nationwide club team organization with the mission to change the culture of youth basketball in the US. Chapters: (02:40) Davidson and S...
Mar 20, 2024•25 min•Ep. 122
Futsal is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and Senda Athletics is at the forefront of it. Senda Athletics is a head-to-toe soccer product line, including footwear, Fair Trade Certified balls, and custom team uniforms, focused on the rapidly growing 5-a-side and indoor soccer market. The initial 5-a-side market is an estimated $5B with the opportunity to expand into the $14B broader soccer market. Popular soccer stars like Lionel Messi have been known to enjoy futsal. Chapters: (01...
Mar 18, 2024•30 min•Ep. 121
Coming off an $8M funding round, DUPR is going both downstream and horizontal in pickleball. DUPR is a rating algorithm and app to find other pickleball players at your skill level. The score ranges from 2 to 8. Tito Machado is the CEO and Scott Mendelssohn is the Head of Analytics. Chapters: (01:10) Entrance into pickleball (04:45) Company overview (06:30) Understanding the DUPR score (09:50) Acquiring users (12:05) Plan coming off $8M funding (15:45) Building community & engagement (20:00)...
Mar 13, 2024•34 min•Ep. 120
We dive deep into Drake Star’s latest sports technology report which saw a total deal value of $37B in 2023. Mohit Pareek is a media and tech investment banker who oversees Drake Star’s sports technology, media, and gaming reports. We also cover investors to watch, significant strategic buyers, global investment trends, and the growing role of sovereign wealth funds and athlete investors in the sports industry. Chapters: (01:15) Drake Star and Mohit’s background (07:25) Sports dealmaking in 2023...
Mar 11, 2024•35 min•Ep. 119
With over 60+ employees globally, the Aura platform is transforming traditional linear content experiences into an engaging, interactive, and immersive hyper-contextual environment by aggregating content, data, financial engagement, and communities. Before Aura, Antony Arena served as the Chief Executive at Unbound, a group of digital and communications businesses specializing in cutting-edge technologies including AI, VR, and AR. Aura is headquartered in Australia, with an office in London and ...
Mar 06, 2024•30 min•Ep. 118
WSC Sports is nearly a billion-dollar Israeli company, that enables sports media rights owners to automatically generate personalized sports videos in real-time Prior to co-founding WSC Sports, Daniel Shichman attended Tel Aviv University and served in the Israeli military. We discuss the company's journey to success, trends in the sports media industry, the impact of artificial intelligence on content creation and distribution, and the rise of Israel as a tech powerhouse. Chapters: (01:25) Back...
Mar 04, 2024•26 min•Ep. 117
GameChanger is a tech company (acquired by Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2016) whose mobile app and website provide scorekeeping, stats, video streaming, and recap stories to teams and connected fans at the local level. Sameer Ahuja is a long-time entrepreneur with 20 years of experience as a Founder, CEO, or, COO of high-growth technology businesses from startup to late-stage in multiple industries. He co-founded an interactive sports attraction, founded a quant hedge fund, and built a fintech compa...
Feb 28, 2024•27 min•Ep. 116
Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech finds, funds, and fast-tracks innovative startups from around the world to invest in and develop the next generation of technology to change the way we experience sports. Jenna Kurath spent time in the PR and communications space before joining Comcast and helping to launch the sports accelerator. Comcast SportsTech features partnerships with NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Comcast Spectacor, and Golf – alongside NASCAR and three US Olympic sports organizations. Chapters:...
Feb 26, 2024•34 min•Ep. 115
CrewLAB recently completed a pre-seed round for their sports team management system for high school and collegiate endurance sports. We dive deep into the rowing industry and talk about CrewLab’s journey and how they’re trying to expand into other niches within sports. Dominic Pardini is a former UCLA rower, innovation consultant at Accenture, and now sports technology entrepreneur. Chapters: (02:20) Background (04:00) CrewLab overview (06:50) Fundraising process learnings (10:40) The rowing ind...
Feb 21, 2024•26 min•Ep. 114
SeventySix Capital is a VC firm that invests in innovative sports, media, and entertainment companies. Wayne Kimmel is the managing partner of SeventySix Capital who has also authored the book Six Degrees of Wayne Kimmel. This episode dives deep into the evolution of sports as an asset class, advice for entrepreneurs, and interesting areas to watch in the future. Chapters: (01:40) Entrance to sports tech (04:20) Defining sports (07:00) Sports betting evolution (11:25) Downstream movement (13:10)...
Feb 19, 2024•36 min•Ep. 113
The United Basketball League (UBL) is a fan-owned league attempting to create a system similar to baseball (but in basketball) co-founded by former NBA player Ricky Davis and Chris Allison. Chris Allison, experienced in the minor sports league space, provides insight into the planned structure of the league and its community-centric approach. With a focus on encouraging continued involvement from retired players and fostering talent development, the UBL aims to fill a gap between the youth, coll...
Feb 14, 2024•29 min•Ep. 112
NBA Champion Giannis Antetokounmpo recently announced the launch of Improbable Media led by CEO Jonathan Stern and also ESPN personality Jay Williams. Improbable Media will 'incubate and accelerate' content creation for talent and brands on top of producing their own movies, shows, and documentaries. Jonathan Stern has spent most of his career in the media space after starting as an attorney. He has been involved in helping media arms pivot and has also produced many of your favorite shows and d...
Feb 12, 2024•31 min•Ep. 111
Full Venue closed a €2M seed round to expand its AI marketing platform beyond Europe and into categories beyond sports. Full Venue uses artificial Intelligence to determine the exact likelihood of a customer purchasing a digital platform, helping the marketing teams to target their communication and increasing revenues around the B2C touchpoints. Tiago Costa previously managed digital products for Portugal’s soccer federation and spent time as a business analyst. Chapters: (01:50) Full Venue ove...
Feb 07, 2024•29 min•Ep. 110
The Enhanced Games, backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, is on a mission to reimagine performance and provide an alternative to the Olympics. Dr. Aron Souza previously led litigation against Gawker Media involving the wrestler Hulk Hogan, which resulted in one of the largest invasion of privacy judgments in history. He also founded Sargon and OPEN. The first Enhanced Games tentpoles will take place across 2024. Chapters: (01:20) The Enhanced Games (02:55) Problem with Olympics (05:30) Current athl...
Feb 05, 2024•18 min•Ep. 109
FanClub Sports Capital is a syndication platform and registered investment advisor (RIA) that connects deals to private investors. Before founding FanClub, Dave Mirynech spent several years across hockey analytics, venture capital, and blockchain technologies. We talk about sports as an asset class, team valuations, crowdfunding, multi-club structures, and trends to keep an eye on. Chapters: (01:25) Background (05:35) FanClub Sports Capital overview (09:30) Liquidity in sports (12:50) Sports as ...
Jan 31, 2024•28 min•Ep. 108
CoachTube is one of the largest marketplaces in the sports industry helping to connect athletes/parents with the top coaching instructional videos. Wade Floyd was previously one of the top bible salesmen in the world and a youth baseball coach who saw a need for a premier instructional marketplace. CoachTube houses thousands of videos, powers coaching clinics, and helps those in sports make extra money as they share their knowledge. Chapters: (01:45) Inspiration behind CoachTube (03:45) Overview...
Jan 29, 2024•25 min•Ep. 107
CEO Mike Shogren is the father of a young athlete who suffered a devastating concussion leading to years of symptoms that could’ve been easily diagnosed and treated with a better protocol in place. While researching concussion treatment, Mike Shogren was introduced to Prevent Biometrics. He left his job, joined Prevent as the CEO, and set out to bring this technology to athletes and parents at every level of sports. Prevent Biometrics has become an industry leader for head injury protocol in spo...
Jan 24, 2024•31 min•Ep. 106
Greenfly has been building in sports & media for ten years with 500+ major organizations as clients led by Daniel Kirschner. Greenfly's short-form media software platform captures, collects, organizes & distributes videos & photos to drive fan engagement. Daniel Kirschner spent most of his career in the legal space before jumping into entrepreneurship at Greenfly with two-time MLB All-Star Shawn Green. Chapters: (01:20) 10 years of building Greenfly (03:45) Indications of PMF (05:55)...
Jan 22, 2024•26 min•Ep. 105
Reality is being redefined as immersive technology and sports are colliding at record rates. Tyler Gates leads the charge at Brightline Interactive and is the Chief Futurist for the parent company, Glimpse Group ($VRAR). In today’s episode, we dive deep into “fan engagement” and how Brightline Interactive is building the future to provide all stakeholders within sports with an amazing experience. Chapters: (02:25) Brightline Interactive (05:30) Cool tech they've built in sports (10:15) Pose with...
Jan 17, 2024•44 min•Ep. 104
RacquetX looks to build the homebase for the multi-billion-dollar racquet sports industry as we dive deep into the business of events. Robyn Duda is the co-founder and managing director of RacquetX. She has had a successful career across events and technology. The first-ever RacquetX event will take place March 24-26 in Miami, Florida. Chapters: (02:00) RacquetX inception (04:40) Inaugural event (09:50) Elevating racquet sports (11:20) Data & insights (13:40) Badminton is bigger than soccer ...
Jan 15, 2024•27 min•Ep. 103
From grassroots to global impact, RugbyDAO is on a mission to reshape rugby for the next 200 years. It's a decentralized way to build community and operate across the ecosystem. Nick Riggall is the OG and one of the original co-founders at RugbyDAO. As we explore the intersection of sports and Web3, you’ll also pick up on some incredible insights about rugby – which has over 850 million fans worldwide. Chapters: 00:01:47 - Building Community in Sports with DAOs 00:02:59 - The Founding of RugbyDA...
Jan 10, 2024•29 min•Ep. 102
In this episode, CJ Handron of Diamond Kinetics gives us a deep dive into the evolution of sports tech (since they were one of the first companies in the space over a decade ago). Handron is an alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh entrepreneurship program and discusses the company's journey over the last decade, and its products aimed at the baseball and softball industry. We also delve into the future of sports tech - with an emphasis on the use of AI and video in capturing detailed game dat...
Jan 02, 2024•26 min•Ep. 101
Reflecting on the trends and developments in sports business for the year 2023, the host speaks with Kirby Porter, the founder of New Game Labs. Porter discusses the intersection of athletes and technology, the evolution of athlete investing, the importance of sports creators, and advancements in the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules. She also talks about trends in the women's sports industry, global trends in sports, and the rise of emerging sports leagues. Both express excitement for the c...
Dec 19, 2023•31 min•Ep. 100
In this exclusive interview, we break down TeamSnap’s acquisition of MOJO Sports with their respective CEOs. We cover the state of youth sports across the world, fragmentation across the space, and the commercialization of amateur athletics. Ben Sherwood was previously the President of ABC News & Walt Disney Company before building the youth sports app, MOJO Sports. Pete Frintzilas is the operating CEO of TeamSnap, coming from the PE firm Waud Capital. Chapters: (01:40) MOJO Sports & Ben...
Dec 17, 2023•31 min•Ep. 99
After 30 years at Accenture, Mike Sutcliff has jumped into the sports entrepreneurship world co-founding 3 different companies. We touch on advice from leaving the corporate world to be a startup entrepreneur and the nuance within sports, fitness, and media. Mobeus is developing innovative media technologies including their new product called Airscreen . The tech allows you to watch sports in the background of your computer while still answering emails or working. Chapters: (01:25) From Accentur...
Dec 14, 2023•28 min•Ep. 98
Kyle Pfaffenbach is a high-end performance nutritionist, helping mostly athletes but also founders optimize their performance. Plaffenbach has a B.S. and M.S. in exercise science from Colorado State University, along with a Ph.D. in nutrition from CSU. LumosTech is an innovative sleep mask utilizing circadian rhythm studies to help improve sleep. They recently signed a deal with a WNBA team. Chapters: (01:40) Background to sports (09:15) All things sleep (15:10) Social jet lag (18:30) Circadian ...
Dec 12, 2023•39 min•Ep. 97
The Program is a business focused on restoring New York City basketball at the youth and grassroots level. This includes a focus on media, merchandise, camps, activations, and an eventual state-of-the-art facility that will open in the fall of 2024 to host its academy and membership training programs. Griffin Taylor and Jared Effron grew up playing basketball together. Chapters: (02:00) Backstory (05:30) Decline of NYC basketball (09:05) Prep school hoops (11:45) The Program overview (15:15) Bus...
Dec 06, 2023•27 min•Ep. 96
With soccer growth ahead, Lega Serie A (Italy) launched a US division with Andy Mitchell leading the charge. The Serie A Championship is the premier soccer division in Italy and is one of the world's elite soccer leagues. Prior to Serie A, Andy Mitchell worked at CNN, Facebook, and Meta as the Head of Global Media Accounts. Chapters: (02:00) Media background (04:45) CEO of Seria A USA (08:15) 2026 World Cup (10:25) Grassroots efforts (12:00) US vs Italy soccer (15:00) Relegation and promotion (1...
Dec 04, 2023•27 min•Ep. 95
MediaKind is an end-to-end video delivery solution that serves some of the largest media properties in the world. After serving as the CTO for a few years, Allen Broome took over the CEO role at MediaKind in 2021. Previously he spent time as the VP of Cloud Engineering at Comcast. Chapters: (01:45) MediaKind & Allen’s background (05:15) Leveraging AI + mathematics (07:50) Streaming, RSNs, and D2C (14:15) Cool video technologies (20:10) Scaling into the future (24:35) Sports trends . Allen Br...
Nov 29, 2023•26 min•Ep. 94
