Today the the Los Angeles Dodgers and R/GA Ventures announced that their second sports accelerator will now be open to receive applications. Last year the two companies combined to execute their first accelerator that had ten sports tech startups of all different sizes and business models go through the program.
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The goal of this second program will be to expand the foundation built by the 2015 class by continuing to provide powerful access to the combined experience, connections and resources of the Dodgers and R/GA.
“The overwhelming success of the Dodgers’ first sports and entertainment accelerator opened our eyes to the profound impact that today’s rising technology companies can have on sports,” said Dodgers’ President & CEO Stan Kasten in an announcement today. “We’re committed to bringing the best new experiences to our fans, and the best new technologies to our team. We also are excited to use the Dodger brand and our organizational reach to help these young companies grow.”
“The ingenuity that the Dodgers and R/GA witnessed in the 10 companies selected to participate in the first accelerator has made our decision to continue the program an easy one,” said Dodgers’ Chief Financial Officer Tucker Kain. “The response we received for our first class from across the sports and technology industry was a strong validation of the value of the program and we look forward to continuing this momentum with the next class.”
This year the program is looking to cut back on the amount of startups they accept to a more manageable five to seven companies. Theoretically, this will provide more intimate relationships with the business leaders at the Dodgers and R/GA’s strong branding expertise. Additionally, the Dodgers and R/GA announced that by taking a more focused approach this year some major partnerships and capital raises have already been struck and will be announced shortly.
“The exposure to world-class industry partners and game-changing strategic guidance from the Dodgers and R/GA has opened up significant new opportunities for our company,” said program alumnus Travis McDonough, CEO of Kinduct Technologies. “Even though before the program we had already raised significant equity and had built a growing customer base, participating in the Dodgers-R/GA Accelerator was one of the best strategic business decisions our company has ever made.”
Fan engagement solutions, eSports, Training, Smart Arenas, VR/AR, Big Data and Analytics, Fitness and Sponsorship will be the main focuses of this year’s program and generally align with the verticals represented by the companies in the 2015 program.
“Startups from our inaugural class came out of the program with revitalized commercialization strategies and new partnerships that catalyzed their business models,” said Stephen Plumlee, Global Chief Operating Officer, R/GA and Managing Partner of R/GA Ventures. “We are excited to bring our unique methodology and global network to a new class of startups innovating in the sports and entertainment space.”
All startups, no-matter the stage or geographic location, are welcome to apply on the accelerator’s website. From growth to early stage, this year’s program will have a similar focus of last year by being willing to work with companies ranging from a couple founders putting college on hold for a year to companies seeing significant revenue.
The application period starts today and ends June 10th, 2016. The program will still be held in Los Angeles and will start on August 22, 2016. It will conclude with invite-only demonstrations put on by each startup, in Los Angeles and New York, in front of a crowd of investors and sports industry experts.