“Experience Day”: The first day of SportsInnovation 2022 in review

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12 May 2022 – SportsInnovation 2022 began at the MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA in Düsseldorf in the presence of 1,100 guests. Themed “Experience Day”, the first half of the two-day event featured three Innovation Games, showcasing the technology being discussed in a live environment.

As the host of the venue, Michael Brill, CEO of D.LIVE GmbH & Co. KG, was first to welcome delegates. He expressed his hope that next-generation technologies would drive people’s enthusiasm for sport and other cultural events. With her keynote, Donata Hopfen, CEO of DFL, set the mood for the event, introducing the topics for the two days and formulating five overarching predictions for the future of sports media:

1. Content production will continue to automate and become more sustainable.
2. Data will become more ubiquitous, enabling new forms of storytelling.
3. Content personalisation will progress steadily.
4. Platforms such as the Metaverse will become increasingly relevant.
5. Maximum reach will generate maximum enthusiasm.

Following the keynote address, two women’s and four men’s teams took part in the event’s Innovation Games, providing the backdrop for live demonstrations of next-generation technologies which were explained by experts from the pitch-side stage.

Match data analytics and the individualisation of the fan experience

Three matches – three topics, with The first segment focusing on “Broadcast & Content”. The DFL subsidiary Sportcast, alongside WSC Sports and Evertz, presented their technologies which enable individualised fan experiences and new approaches to video production.

The second Innovation Game, titled “Sports Performance & Technology”, was dedicated to data collection and processing, communication between the coach and the players, and refereeing technologies. During this session, Sportec Solutions, Coachwhisperer and KINEXON took to the stage to describe their related visions for the future.

The third theme, “Fan Experience & Stadium”, addressed various technologies that allow fans to interact more closely with their favourite sport. The innovation ecosystem created by DFL has served as a launch-pad for numerous new media services. The Swiss firm collectID presented its blockchain-based approach to individualising valuable fan merchandise in a digitalised world. On a similar note, the company tividoo showcased a Multiverse platform which is able to aggregate virtual content for fans.

SportsInnovation Award presented

The first day of the tech event closed with the presentation of the SportsInnovation Award, a joint initiative by the DFL and the British sport media company SportsPro. The inaugural winner is the New York-based company Slate, which specialises in creating sport-related content for social media platforms. Andreas Heyden, DFL EVP Digital Innovations, and Jon Abraham, Director of Business Operations & Strategy with SportsPro, handed over the award to Slate co-founder and COO William Brooke.

, a joint initiative by the DFL and the British sport media company SportsPro. The inaugural winner is the New York-based company Slate, which specialises in creating sport-related content for social media platforms. Andreas Heyden, DFL EVP Digital Innovations, and Jon Abraham, Director of Business Operations & Strategy with SportsPro, handed over the award to Slate co-founder and COO William Brooke.

Impressions from the first day of SportsInnovation:

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