The Geek Locker
Welcome back to the Geek Locker Roundup— your bi-weekly collection of the latest sports innovation news, product releases, and design resources!
Last week took a bit of a detour from the plan due to the astonishing accomplishment by Sebastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha of breaking the 2-hour barrier in the London Marathon. It’s only so often that a generationally-relevant milestone is reached, so we had to pivot and talk about some of the underlying science and technology that made the achievement possible. Plus, we talked a bit about the future of the marathon, particularly as the women set their sights on times closer to 2 hours as well.
Recess #26: It Finally Happened! (Twice!)
Welp, it was only a matter of time, but it finally happened— and twice in one day!
Unless someone breaks another incredible record over the next two weeks, we’ll resume the planned program with a quick recap of what has been one of the crazier starts to the NHL and NBA playoffs through the lens of parity and structure!
As always, I appreciate your engagement and please share with others who might be interested in reading about sports innovation. On to the news!
Company Cable
Updates about major sports tech company transactions.
DAZN has acquired US-centric streaming technology provider ViewLift for $100M. There’s almost no doubt in my mind that DAZN is ramping up to compete with the biggest players in the space like ESPN, both globally and in North America. ViewLift already provides streaming support for many domestic teams and leagues like the NHL, so it’s a surprisingly prudent move by DAZN, who (in the grand scheme) did not need to shell out a ton of capital to make this acquisition.
InStudio ventures has launched a new $50M investment fund including ownership stakes in multiple NFL teams. Having very recently listened to the Acquired episode on the NFL for a second time (and witnessing the impending collapse of LIV— see below), I fear for the future of the NFL and other pro sports leagues that dilute their ownership stakes to investors looking to earn substantial returns from the team as opposed to being a sole owner getting involved for the love of the game. The incentives of the landscape are changing rapidly.
Zwift has acquired virtual indoor cycling app alternative ROUVY. The terms of the agreement are not disclosed, but Zwift continues to expand its territory in the indoor cycling software space. I would not be surprised if they do the same on the hardware side and acquire a company like Wahoo in the near future too— especially to mimic Garmin’s acquisition of Tacx a few years ago.
PE Fund L Catterton has launched a new fund called CHAMP backed by some of the biggest sports superstars’ funding. The final fund size is yet to be announced, but it will no doubt total in the hundreds of millions. The virtuous cycle of athletes becoming rich from sports and investing back into sports continues! There’s no way it can be like AI where there’s a self-inflating bubble… right?
Churchill Downs group has acquired the Preakness Stakes race for ~$85M. To be honest, I would have had no idea how much it would have cost to acquire a horse race like the Preakness before this week, so I’m glad I learned something new. It does make me wonder how much races in other sports like the Tour de France and the Daytona 500 would cost!
New Releases
New sports products and major features that are hitting the market.
Gossamer Gear has launched its FT3 collapsable trail pole to take on the market giants. For anyone who has attended or competed in a trail race the past five years, Black Diamond and LEKI had grown to dominate the lightweight trekking pole market their collapsable shaft and redesigned handle, but it’s good to see some smaller brands break into the space!
For those (like me) with minor visual impairments, Rudy Project has revamped their entire prescription sunglass line. I wore a great pair of Rudy Project sunglasses with prescription inserts for about 5 years before taking a turn too fast on a gravel descent and crashing and destroying the glasses in the process. So… don’t do that but do get their glasses!
FELT has launched its newest Breed gravel bike at a ridiculously light 7kg total. See the end of the prior release notes. I don’t need a new gravel bike, but maybe 15-20 years from now when I can get this generations’ technology and frames at a steep discount I’ll be very happy.
Merrell and Snow Peak have teamed up for a lifestyle-hiker that will have a limited production run. Once Snow Peak starts to expand beyond their lifestyle and hiking clothing into more technical running gear, I fear that we may have a problem for my wallet. For now, I’m not as drawn to these types of GORP lifestyle shoes, though, which is good.
The new BOA-enabled Scarpa F1 RS hybrid ski boot looks... awesome. BOA tighteners are being used pretty ubiquitously across the ski boot industry nowadays, and I think it might finally be time for me to swap out my boots purchased in Franconia, NH during the end of middle school for a new pair!
Some News
Select news stories from across the sports and design world.
In perhaps the biggest single news break of the week, the Saudi PIF has officially decided to retract financial support for LIV Golf, leaving the league in a bind. Most are predicting that the league itself will collapse (which I agree with), and the players who need to return to the PGA will likely face some hefty penalties and consternation from the existing players. I don’t know how it will all shake out in the end, but the rise and fall of LIV has me thinking very hard about the other upstart leagues on a meteoric rise. This will definitely be a future article topic.
McLaren has found its first pro golf brand ambassador in fan-favorite Justin Rose. Maybe I’m just injecting more golf content, but I feel like golf-related news has risen in popularity substantially in the last couple years. Early reviews of the McLaren clubs are quite positive, so it will be interesting to see how long they stay invested in the space!
Spotify is expanding into the fitness market with a Peloton collaboration and new class offerings. This partnership makes a lot of sense for both licensing music for Peloton, but as Spotify continues to expand beyond just music, workout and fitness is a big potential market for them to go after. This is not a sports-related thought, but I now think that it’s only a matter of time until Spotify starts to sell music on their platform like iTunes still does.
Grab Bag
Interesting or useful sports innovation and product design resources, ranging from books and websites to individual graphics.
The BBC provided a great deep dive on Anta Sports— a major Chinese sports gear conglomerate that's been growing steadily for over a decade. In addition to its in-house brand, Anta has amassed a huge set of international sports gear companies including Arc’Teryx, Salomon, Atomic, and many others that would surprise most athletes. Anta itself has tried to push its brand into the US and EU market more in the past couple years, but the initial growth has been relatively tepid.