Ten Teams Join Southampton FC’s Future Of Football Challenge
Southampton Football Club, with Sport Republic and Yolo Group, kick off The Future of Football challenge with ten web3 and sport tech startups.
The Future of Football challenge officially launched this week with an event at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton. In the following four-week virtual programme, teams will rapidly test and pilot their solutions, participate in tailored workshops, and have regular and direct access to Southampton FC, Sport Republic, and Yolo Group decision-makers.
Of the 260 original applicants from 43 countries, Future of Football organisers selected 20 to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. Half of them now have the opportunity to show decision-makers from Southampton FC, Sport Republic, and Yolo Group how their solutions will support the club’s values of innovation and commitment to its fans and community.
Teams will be in competition throughout the program with only a select few to reach the finals. At the St Mary’s finale, six teams will pitch for a commercial relationship with Southampton FC and a £100k discretionary prize pool for post-programme solution development.
Sarah Batters, Director of Marketing and Partnerships at Southampton FC, said: “The Future of Football challenge is intended to help us find new ways to engage with our fans, or develop our football teams using tech. We’re pleased to see the teams and ideas that will now be focused on helping us achieve those goals,”
“At Sport Republic, we’re looking forward to seeing how these teams progress through the programme and leverage technology to innovate sport and drive club growth. We’re getting a front-row seat to the creation of the future of football,” adde, Henrik Kraft, Sport Republic and Southampton FC Chairman.
The ten teams that will be focused on creating solutions for updated football experiences in the football development or fan engagement space are:
Atom Stars creates quick-to-launch virtual worlds to address real-world problems
BeFootball VR brings fans into all aspects of the football experience through XR
collectID connects the physical and the digital to ensure product and experience authenticity
Connected Fanatics offers a connected merchandise platform that creates new fan experiences and team connections
DIBZ uses SMS to elevate the at-game fan experience
Fanprime gamifies loyalty solutions for brands with large communities
Gemini Sports Analytics enables sports executives to make data-driven decisions with the help of AI
MLA uses machine learning insights to predict injuries and improve sport performance
turfcoach leverages AI to inform turf data analytics for pitch management
X-Plora upgrades games, tours, and other in-person experiences with AR/VR and gamification
