Hype Sports Innovation has decided to launch the first blockchain accelerator dedicated to Sports-Tech innovation.
Hype is an important platform for sports innovation that currently has 11 acceleration programs around the world, to which the first one related to blockchain and Sports-Tech will be added.
The accelerator was created thanks to Bernd Wahler, former CMO of Adidas, Rod Nenner, Vice President of Washington Redskins, and Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director of UEFA, together with Hype Sports Innovation; the main partner is the Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport, of New York University, which will host the opening event of June 10-11, 2019.
The NYU Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport and Barcelona’s Boot Camp will launch this new Hype acceleration program for sports technology dedicated to blockchain, with a view to changing the way consumers interact with their favourite teams. About thirty startups have been invited to participate in the training camps and the program will last three months and will be held this summer.
Blockchain technology is already starting to revolutionise, for example, the global sports sector and audiovisual rights. For example, Italian football giant Juventus F.C. will launch its Official Fan Token to allow its 340 million fans worldwide to interact directly with the club, while the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League has launched the first augmented reality blockchain authentication platform to ensure fans can verify their memorabilia purchases online.
Blockchain startups supported by Hype are helping to create new revenue models for the sports industry. In their acceleration programs, they already have more than 40,000 members (including major sports brands, clubs, federations and universities), 11,000 startups, 750 investors and VC, and 450 global sports teams.
Bernd Wahler, President of Hype, said:
“Our accelerators are at the heart of everything we do at HYPE. Sports has the unique ability to create magical moments for players and fans alike. Technology is changing the way we experience and share those moments and celebrate our sports heroes. HYPE is always on the lookout for innovators and entrepreneurs that can make a meaningful impact on the games we all grew up loving”.
Nir Ben Lavi, CEO of HYPE US Accelerators, added:
“Blockchain, together with AI, is becoming a general purpose technology. It is the core enabler for Web 3.0, the infrastructure of the next generation of online connectedness. As such, blockchain is driving major disruption that creates huge opportunities around sports—a field that is undergoing an innovation ‘perfect storm’”.