Sports Technology Awards A True Showcase of Talent

Today saw the winners of the Sports Technology Awards announced in central London. Victorious brands were selected by the elite of sport including Sir Clive Woodward, denture Olympian, Tessa Sanderson, international referees Nigel Owens and Graham Poll as well as representatives from Twitter, WWE, NBA and NFL.

Bucking the trend for the industry, the line up of winners included nearly as many emerging businesses as major sports brands. Whilst many industry watchers almost expect brand such as Speedo, BBC, Sky and O2 to do well – and rightly so, as befitting a technology awards 40% of the trophies went to lesser known organizations, often in ‘David versus Golliath’ battles.

Rebecca Hopkins, Director of the Sports Technology Awards, said, ‘Technology is now a fundamental part of our daily sports experience and this influence is only going to increase. The sector evolves rapidly and the people leading the charge are amazing in their gift for creating the next great idea. Consequently we are not surprised – but hugely delighted – that a significant percentage of today’s winners are from growing companies not just established brands. With so many industry awards you only see the major brands pick up the ribbons but this is a market where all sizes of business do great work so I am delighted that the awards reflect this properly.’

The awards showcased an extensive array of technologies including apparel, kit, software, nutrition, match legislation and broadcast. The winners were

• ·         Best Use of Technology by a Sponsor won by O2 Matchday
• ·         Best Use of Technology by a Bookmaker or Gaming Company won by The Social Ad Group
• ·         Best Technology in a Single Sport won by Equiweb UK Ltd
• ·         Best Technology Across Multiple Sports – Medical and Health won by Game Ready
• ·         Best Technology Across Multiple Sports – Grassroots Sports won by SportMoves
• ·         Best Technology Across Multiple Sports – Professional Sports won by Spidercam
• ·         Best Support Technology for Fans won by Sports Revolution
• ·         Best Support Technology for Managers and Coaches won by Teamer
• ·         Best Performance Technology for Elite Athletes won by Omegawave
• ·         Best Training Technology won by Wattbike Ltd
• ·         Best Technology to Promote Participation in Sport won by  Youth Sport Trust in Partnership with Two Circles
• ·         Best Technology Provider – Over £2m Turnover won by Bonar Yarns
• ·         Best Technology Provider – Under £2m Turnover won by STATSports Technologies
• ·         Best Use of Technology by a Club or Franchise won by  EDGE10
• ·         Best Use of Technology by a Governing Body, Federation or Rights Holder  won by Sports Turf Research Institute and The R&A
• ·         Best Use of Technology by a Broadcaster won by  BBC Sport Match of the Day
• ·         Best Sports App – Single Sport  won by VPAR Live Golf Scoring
• ·         Best Sports App – Multiple Sports won by Sky Sports
• ·         Best Technology Partnership won by The All England Lawn Tennis Club and IBM Interactive
• ·         Fan Brand of the Year won by Speedo

Also announced for next year’s Awards was the Sport England Sports Technology Design Challenge. This is the hunt for technology that will get more people playing sport, especially women, young people or disabled people. To this end Sport England is setting up £10,000 prize which will be awarded to the winners of the challenge to help them develop, protect and market their creation. The Challenge is open to all sizes of business or organization, with the winning entry being revealed at next year’s Sports Technology Awards.

For more information about the Sports Technology Awards please visit www.sportstechnologyawards.com.