Each Tuesday the Sport for Business Sports Tech Corner highlights areas in the development of sport and technology that are relevant to the commercial world of Irish sport and the sporting interests of Irish business. The Sport for Business Sports Tech Corner is supported by our friends in AIB.
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IRELAND’S INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD CUP
It has been happening throughout the sport for decades but the 2018 World Cup Final in Russia will be the first to be played on a hybrid surface connecting elements of grass with technical developments that will make the surface stronger.
What makes it even better is that the pitch at the Luzhnicki Stadium in Moscow has been installed by SIS pitches a company with a base in Dublin and run by Sligo man George Mullan.
We will have more on Mullan’s business and how it is changing the world of sport in the coming weeks. It’s a great story…
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A SPORTS TECH ACCELERATOR FOR DUBLIN?
Sport for Business has had a strong response to its call for a new Sports Accelerator for Dublin and will be meeting a number of interested parties on December 7th to explore how this might look.
We want to build a programme that will bring together early stage companies in the health and lifestyle sector with partners that can help them scale.
Could one of the ideas to emerge be a Sports Hackathon in Ireland, based around the Six Nations in Rugby, the All Ireland Finals in GAA or Qualifiers for the World Cup in Soccer? Or could one of our retail companies explore new technology that has yet to break through?
Click here if you are interested in joining us for an exploratory discussion
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FANTASY MEGA MERGER
Daily fantasy sports companies, Draftkings and FanDuel, have agreed a merger following the companies’ $12m settlement over false advertising claims with the New York attorney general last month.
Gaming is one of the areas most impacted by sport and technology, delivering real time ability to play games for real money based on live events.
The merger, although agreed, must be approved by regulators and both companies have stated they expect the deal to close in the second half of 2017, operating under individual brands until then.
The tie-up is expected to reduce costs as both companies separately fund legal defenses and lobbying for legislation to authorize fantasy sports in states that have declared it illegal due to gambling laws.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal is structured equally with Draftkings chief executive Jason Robins becoming CEO and FanDuel’s chief executive Nigel Eccles, who once worked developing the User Interface for Dublin based betting exchange BETDAQ becoming chairman.
Join us each Tuesday for the latest in Sports Tech News relevant to the Irish market.
Sport for Business’ Sports Tech Corner is supported by AIB
