The SportTechie Awards highlight the teams, executives, sports technologies, venues, investors and leaders that most deserve recognition for their work in pushing our industry forward. To view all the 2018 categories and nominees, click here.
The SportTechie 10 is our pick of innovators in the world of sports technology. These 10 people have driven, and are driving, change in the sports world. From athletes to inventors to executives, their work exemplifies and highlights the spirit and impact of innovation.
Kelvin Beachum, OT, New York Jets
Beachum has started at offensive tackle for 29 straight games, the only left tackle to do so while allowing four or fewer pressures every game, according to Pro Football Focus. That alone is impressive for an NFL athlete. But his off-the-field acuity makes him stand above the rest. Beachum lectures on investing and money management for LinkedIn’s Speaker Series, he sits on the Athlete Advisory Board for the OneTeam Collective (winner of the 2018 SportTechie Award for Outstanding Investor), and he has traveled to schools across the country in his effort to use sports to further science, technology, engineering, arts, and math education.
Moon Javaid, VP Strategy and Analytics, San Francisco 49ers
Javaid is at the forefront of the movement to use analytics to improve business decisions. He launched the San Francisco 49ers Innovation and Business Strategy Conference in 2017, the first event focused purely on sports business strategy. He led the creation of a data war room in Levi’s Stadium, and through consumer data analysis and real-time and post-game surveys, Javaid helped the 49ers break NFL single game revenue records. He has also brought major events, such as WrestleMania 31 and the Gold Cup Final, to Levi’s.
Hailey Dawson
Hailey is just eight years old, but her story over the last two years has inspired many in the sports world, from Yankees legend Derek Jeter to Cubs All-Star Anthony Rizzo. She was born with only two fingers on her right hand, but thanks to a 3D-printed prosthetic hand she set out to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at every MLB park over the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Hailey’s “Journey to 30” highlighted the most heartwarming impacts of biomedical engineering. And she connected with other children with disabilities and their parents looking for advice on how technology might change their lives, too.
Albert Mundet, Head of Knowledge, Barça Innovation Hub
Mundet is the head of knowledge at the FC Barcelona’s two-year-old science and technology initiative, the Barça Innovation Hub. (In part for its work through the BIHub, FC Barcelona won the 2018 SportTechie Award for Outstanding Sports Team.) Led by Mundet, the BIHub works with startups to develop products for and with Barça’s sports teams. The innovation center also runs an online platform for the continued education of sports industry professionals outside of FC Barcelona, hosting in-person conferences open to representatives from rival clubs, even Real Madrid.
Delane Parnell, CEO, PlayVS
Parnell is the founder of PlayVS, a venture-backed startup armed with an exclusive deal with the National Federation of State High School Associations to bring competitive esports to 19,000 high schools nationwide. He launched PlayVS after admiring the growth of collegiate esports but recognizing that the feeder system from high school to college was disorganized. Parnell has taken a controversial, but noble, stance against supporting violent, first-person shooter games like Overwatch and Call of Duty.
Will Ahmed, CEO, WHOOP
Ahmed led the wearable analytics company he founded, WHOOP, to another big year. WHOOP launched a new monthly membership in May, seeking to expand beyond its elite athlete user base and target everyday fitness enthusiasts. A $25 million Series C round of investment in March included heavyweights like Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and former NBA Commissioner David Stern. Ahmed appears to be succeeding in what many sport tech companies strive for: using elite athlete credentials to expand into consumer markets.
Lauren Stangel, Former VP Sports, Events and Corporate Sales, Clear
Stangel led the implementation of Clear’s biometric verification technology in the sports world. Clear was already using fingerprints and iris scans to check people quickly through security at airports, akin to TSA Pre, but the technology is now being used for both ticketing and concession purchases at sports stadiums in the U.S. Even though Stangel recenlty left the company, after striking a deal with the MLB in July to provide biometric ticketing, Clear’s technology is likely to continue to be adopted throughout the sports industry.
Walter Powell, Jr., Founder, Politiscope
Powell is a former NFL wide receiver who has turned his focus from football to politics. His app, Politiscope, is aiming to improve knowledge and engagement with the U.S. political process. As well as aggregating information on political topics and including a system that allows voters to compare the records and policies of different politicians, citizens can register to vote directly from the app (provided the state they live in allows online voter registration). Powell is showing how athletes can expand beyond the sports industry to make a bigger societal impact.
Richard Hanbury, Founder, Sana Health
Hanbury almost died in a car accident in Yemen in 1992. He swerved the jeep he was driving off a bridge to avoid a head-on collision with another car. While he survived, doctors gave Hanbury just five years to live. Hanbury turned his attention to developing technology that could help alleviate the chronic pain that he, and many other patients, must deal with. In 2018—26 years after that accident—Hanbury impressed judges and investors and swept Sports Tank pitch competition with the Sana mask he designed.
Brad Keselowski, NASCAR Driver
Keselowski is one of only four NASCAR drivers to have won both championships in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series (2010) and NASCAR Cup Series (2012). Growing up in the motor sports world (his father and uncle were also both NASCAR drivers), Keselowski learned how to work on cars at an early age. Seeing the effect of high-tech engineering on his own cars during his career grew his interest in technology. This year he began building his own company, Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing, to explore the use of additive manufacturing—aka 3D printing—not to just impact motorsports, but to change the world.