Geek Locker Newsletter #5
March 8th, 2024
Geek Locker
Welcome back to the Geek Locker Newsletter— your bi-weekly round-up of sports innovation news, product releases, and design resources is here!
It turns out I lied to the audience two weeks ago when I said I’d be writing about what it means for a product to be “recyclable” vs. “actually recycled.” Instead, I wrote about analogs for traditional sports in the world of esports. I hope this article serves as a guide for those looking to spectate esports or learn more about the variety of games played, but don’t really know where to start. Even if the analogies aren’t perfect (e.g. my assertions that Soccer is just like Age of Empires II or CS:GO is the baseball of esports), hopefully it provides a gateway into the world of esports!
Next week, I’ll be writing about the town of Steamboat Springs, its myriad of outdoor gear and sports nutrition companies, and how an increase in access to global manufacturing is breeding a growing market of small, grassroot brands in the gear and equipment industry. It’s never been easier to start a sports gear business, and we’re seeing the industry transform as a result.
For the first time, I’ll be posting that article here on Substack(!) and slowly transitioning my blog archive available at thegeeklocker.net over as well. How long this will take and whether archive access becomes part of a paid subscription, I’m not exactly sure, but I’m excited to share more of my work on this platform! The Geek Locker projects and consulting work will still live on the website.
As always, I appreciate your engagement and please share with others who might be interested in learning more about sports innovation!
New Releases
New Releases shows off “new” products and major features that are hitting the market.
Apple released its own Sports app, which (for now) just shows live and recent scores along with betting odds for most major sports leagues. The release indicates Apple’s continued desire to enter the live sports entertainment market, which has the potential to upheave significant portions of the market.
Arc released its first electric wake sport boat, boasting a $250k+ price tag. While I’m generally a believer in the electrification of the recreational boat market, I am skeptical of their implicit claim that their electric boat offerings do not depreciate in value due to their software improving over time.
Glanbia Nutritionals revealed its stabilized ATP sports drink. The company makes various claims about its ability to improve cardiovascular and muscular endurance, and it seems obvious (despite my limited biochemistry knowledge) that this type of product will become ubiquitous in elite endurance athletics.
On released the CloudSurfer Trail, furthering their presence in the trail running shoe market, and bolstering the overall trend of traditional road running shoe companies expanding their trail offerings.
Nike revealed all the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) jerseys, with some super cool designs. My personal favorite is the San Diego Wave jersey with its sunset-themed patch and primary kit.
Sports Radar launched its AI-driven tennis overlay, providing viewers with visual information about scoring, shot information, and other live insights about the sport. It’s unclear to me if this type of live visualization will be lauded by viewers or go the way of the NHL’s puck trail that received poor feedback from TV audiences.
Riot revealed the name of its upcoming fighting game 2KXO (previously Project L). The game will officially release in 2025 and will have public demos and betas available throughout 2024. The game has a major chance to become an esports staple, and expands Riot’s growing catalog of popular video games.
Company Cable
Company Cable highlights major and minor updates from companies around the sports innovation space.
The startup Vestible is launching a closed demo of its app after SEC approval, which allows individuals to “invest” in indexes tied to the salaries of amateur and professional athletes. It’s a pretty wild idea that I have extreme reservations about, especially as it relates to the blending of fan incentives and athlete’s careers and game outcomes.
NBC/Comcast’s sports tech accelerator admitted 10 new companies, providing each with resources and $50k in funding. The startup accelerator focused on funding established startups and invested in companies creating sensor, blockchain, AI, and broadcast-oriented products from around the world.
UEFA also revealed its support for three startups via its Innovation Hub. The startups are focusing on bringing attention to the environmental impact of the 2024 Champions League final, and as is oft mentioned in this newsletter, shows that leagues and teams are extremely keen to invest and capture unique value from emergent hardware and software companies.
Infinite Athlete and Gemini Sports have partnered together to provide teams with an “all-in-one” solution for data consolidation, analysis, and resultant actions across a huge variety of areas including player load management, team tactics, arena operations, and more. It is not clear to me exactly what the implications of this partnership are since both companies are relatively young, and I could see a complete merging of the two in the near future.
Fitness startup Moove Together is launching an app that pits groups of friends against others in team-based fitness competition. The app is modeled after extremely popular fantasy sports apps and founder Bryan Severance is excited about the health and camaraderie benefits the app promises to bring.
CrewLAB, a sports management software startup received $1.6MM in seed funding. The company provides teams, leagues, and individuals with management tools to help optimize individual and collective performance, and to coordinate events. There are numerous companies established and rising in the performance- and league-management space, but maybe CrewLAB’s focus on team endurance sports will give it a strong beachhead market.
Future of Sport Lab (FSL) and Relay Ventures announced a new partnership, which marries FSL’s sports innovation expertise with a strong venture funding partner. Although some of the specifics of the deal have yet to be revealed, the consolidation of investment vehicles in the sports innovation space may accelerate funding for Canada-based sports tech startups.
Some News
Some News shares select news stories from across the sports and design world.
The Sports Technology Award (STA) Group released its shortlists (i.e. nominees) for the 2024 sports tech awards. The nominee lists feature a huge variety of analytics, hardware, business, and startup companies. If you’re looking to get a quick sense for what emerging companies are creating products, I highly recommend taking a look through their website.
Sports betting handle (total money wagered) rose 30% year over year in the US, continuing the ubiquitous momentum of gambling as a central piece of entertainment for sports fan engagement. Whether or not this is a good or bad trend is up for debate, but there is no doubt that sports gambling is changing the way leagues are operated and spectated.
Salt Lake City submitted its 2034 winter Olympics bid, potentially seeking to replicate its reported local profit from hosting the games in 2002. I think they stand a strong chance of securing their spot as a host again.
Governance bodies floated the idea of a major rule change for the long jump, which would remove the fault line and let athletes launch from a “Jump Zone.” This idea was immediately met with apprehension and outright opposition from athletes including the current men’s world champion who said he would quit the sport if the change was made.
Cornell researchers revealed hockey pads designed specifically for women. The design and analysis process used to create the new padding geometries is extremely interesting, and the overall research furthers the important trend of designing sports equipment more specifically for its users and their physical characteristics.
Lulu Lemon shared that the company is producing recycled nylon-based products created via enzyme-based technology from Samsara Eco. This type of specialty recycling process often pushes consumers and companies to ship recyclable products around the world, which sometimes results in fewer environmental benefits, but it’s great to see companies making an effort to reduce their global impact.
PSG became the first professional sports-team blockchain network validator for the “Chiliz Chain.” As companies continue to express interest in ways to leverage cryptocurrencies for fan engagement, this milestone represents a new concerted effort to directly capture revenues at the team level. I am skeptical that other teams and leagues will follow in these footsteps, but you never know!
Grab Bag
Grab Bag features interesting or useful sports innovation and product design resources, ranging from books and websites to individual graphics.
If you’re an aspiring maker or refreshing your home toolset, this tool bag overview is the only resource you need to get started. I would heartily endorse all the tools featured that I have been able to test myself.
Scottish watchmaker Anordain released a digital version of “Letters from Assynt” Issue 2. If you’ve ever been interested in learning more about how small watch brands design and manufacture their products, this issue is a veritable gold mine of content.
Velo revealed its 5 anticipated gravel bike trends of 2024, highlighting everything from the shift (ha) from derailleurs to gearboxes, suspensions on gravel bikes, and more. My wallet is already itching.
This tiny home designed by Laëtitia Dupé features some of my favorite “camper” and tiny home aesthetics and functions. The use of multiple floors leverages the full height of the space in a really interesting and seemingly functional way.
Ripstopbytheroll may be the best online resource for purchasing bulk technical fabric for gear and clothes. You can get breathable fabrics, windbreaker layers, and waterproof fabrics in whatever form factor you need for your own projects.
Swiss-based EMS GRIVORY is pushing further into the sustainable ski materials space with polymers aimed at making the manufacturing of ski boots and other products more environmentally friendly. I won’t lie though— I don’t think I have enough chemical engineering background to really evaluate their claims of environmental benefits.
Chess was featured prominently again at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, indicating its continued resurgence as a sport for recreation, competition, and even spectating (especially online).
Football on-ice has emerged in Germany as an extremely niche fan favorite. Germany is one of the largest international markets for the NFL, so this crossover somehow makes sense to me, even if I don’t anticipate it will take off in time for the next winter olympics.