UNA Sports Group Leads Investment In The Curling Group

UNA Sports Group , a sports investment firm that builds franchises in emerging, high-growth leagues, today announced a strategic investment in The Curling Group (“TCG”), the company behind the Grand Slam of Curling, the Rock Channel media platform, and Rock League, a new professional league bringing together the world’s best male and female curling competitors under a team-based franchise model. The investment expands UNA’s pioneering portfolio, which also includes the X Games Club New York summer and winter franchises in the MoonPay X Games League, where UNA was the first single group to own two clubs, and an investment in Unrivaled, the women’s professional 3-on-3 basketball league. UNA is leading the eight-figure investment round, with participation from Relay Ventures (“Relay”).

As part of the investment, David Rader, UNA’s Co-Founder, President, and COO, will join TCG’s board. Del Wright, UNA’s Co-Founder, CEO, and Managing Partner, will serve as a board observer. UNA will also work alongside TCG’s leadership on strategy, commercial partnerships, and growth initiatives.

The investment comes as curling’s audience grows rapidly. At its 2026 season opener in Victoria, the Grand Slam of Curling generated 105.5 million social impressions (+437%) and 50.7 million video views (+489%) compared to the opening event of the 2025 season, while adding nearly 118,000 new followers. On CBC, viewership of the event’s Sunday women’s final rose 203% year-over-year, ranking among Canada’s 50 most-watched programs of the day despite NFL, NHL, and MLB playoff competition. Curling’s audience also stands apart from most professional sports: women make up about 54% of the Grand Slam’s linear TV audience and about 65% of Rock League’s streaming audience.

Broadcasters are backing that growth. This season, TCG signed five-year agreements with CBC and Sportsnet that bring more than 300 hours of Grand Slam of Curling and Rock League coverage to Canadian linear television, roughly double previous years, and a three-year agreement with ESPN that brings more than 300 hours of live coverage to ESPN+ in the U.S.

“We look for sports where fan demand is already strong and the commercial opportunity is just beginning to take shape, and curling is a perfect example,” said David Rader. “Curling’s audience is growing, getting younger, and going global. The TCG team has built the pieces to serve it: a premium event series in the Grand Slam of Curling, a direct line to fans through Rock Channel, and a brand-new league in Rock League. We’re excited to join the board and help build a business that matches the sport’s momentum.”

TCG has built a vertically integrated platform spanning media, live events, sponsorship, athlete IP, and direct fan engagement. It acquired the Grand Slam of Curling, now in its 26th season, from Rogers Sportsnet in 2024 and launched Rock Channel, its direct-to-fan media platform, that fall. TCG also owns and operates Rock League and all six of its franchises, each fielding five men and five women and representing the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

“Curling is woven into Canada’s sporting identity, and we’re building a modern sports entertainment company to take it to the world,” said Nic Sulsky, Co-Founder and CEO of The Curling Group. “Partnering with a U.S.-based investor like UNA is a vote of confidence in the sport, and a bridge to the American market, where our audience is already growing fast. UNA’s experience building franchises in emerging leagues, and its team’s prior experience across the NHL, NBA, and Formula 1, make them the right partner for our next stage. Three years from now, I want people to see a sustainable business built around curling competitions in Canada and the United States. Five years from now, I want them to see that we’ve changed what the sport can be globally.”

“The best opportunities in sports are the ones hiding in plain sight, and curling has been hiding in plain sight for decades,” said John Albright, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Relay Ventures. “TCG has the assets, the audience, and now, with UNA, the partner to unlock it. We’re investing with conviction in what comes next.”

TCG’s investors also include Pro Football Hall of Famer and competitive curler Jared Allen, who also serves as an advisor to the company.

“As an entrepreneur and an early investor in TCG, I’ve seen firsthand how much untapped demand there is for this sport,” said Allen. “By securing a strategic partner in UNA, TCG has proven there is significant momentum behind curling in the U.S. and around the world. As a big fan of both TCG and the sport, I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of what comes next!”

The announcement comes ahead of the Grand Slam of Curling Masters, which begins Tuesday, November 3. Rock League, which made its debut with a condensed season in April 2026, returns in January for its first full season: five events running through April 2027, including the league’s U.S. debut in Utica, New York, and a championship round in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

World Athletics Establishes New Running & Mass Participation Department

World Athletics has established a standalone Running & Mass Participation department to bring even greater focus to the organisation’s work across the global running ecosystem.

The department will be led by Jakob Larsen, who brings 25 years of experience as an international sports federation executive and industry leader. Larsen has a proven track record of developing and scaling innovative events, including the World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen in 2014, the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus in 2019 and the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship last month in Budapest.

He will work alongside Alessio Punzi, who has been instrumental in establishing World Athletics’ presence and credibility in the running space over the past decade. The department will be responsible for a broad portfolio including World Athletics’ road running, marathon, cross country, mountain and trail events and activities, the RUN X™ World Treadmill Championship, the World Athletics Label Road Races programme, regulation, technical and educational services, and the development of new partnerships and opportunities across technology, data and the wider running industry.

The move comes ahead of this week’s TCS New York City Marathon and during an active year in the running space for World Athletics. This includes the recent success of the World Road Running Championships and Global Running Conference in Copenhagen, the announcement of a standalone World Marathon Championships, the launch of the inaugural RUN X™ World Treadmill Championship and the recent one-year-to-go milestone for the 2027 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Cape Town.

“World Athletics’ research informs us that at least 1 billion people worldwide are runners in some shape or form, making athletics the most-participated sport in the world,” said World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon. “Mass participation running possesses the unique power to engage entire communities. It is a tool for mental wellbeing, wider public health, social cohesion and, for our host cities, economic development. Running is also one of the fastest growing areas of our sport, with millions participating in mass participation events, particularly on the road, every year.

“As the international governing body for athletics, we have a responsibility to use our unique position at the global level to be a positive steward of running within our sport. In practice, that means we need to deliver on three main fronts: to safely govern running activities, to stage pinnacle global running championships that elevate the status of world champions, and to act as a catalyst to grow running – both through our own efforts and by supporting the efforts of others.”

More than 320 road races around the world currently hold a World Athletics road race Label. Linked to the programme is World Athletics’ road race integrity programme, which raises US$3 million per year to support an extensive anti-doping testing programme designed to help keep road running clean. This complements World Athletics’ work in areas including course measurement, official results and safety. In total, World Athletics invests more than US$8 million per year in the Athletics Integrity Unit to help protect the integrity of road races across the globe.

In recent years, World Athletics has also worked to ensure fairness in elite running competition through the regulation of shoe technology, embracing innovation while ensuring all major shoe companies have access to the same technology. World Athletics also invests in a number of health and science initiatives related to running, including race emergency medicine programmes that help upskill hundreds of road race medical directors worldwide.

Its work also includes research into thermoregulation in endurance sport to mitigate health risks, with the findings used to support and educate mass participation organisers as running faces the increasing impact of a warming world.

“We will continue to direct energy and finances into making a much more significant contribution to the running ecosystem because we believe World Athletics is one of the key organisations that can help grow running further and faster, both directly through our own efforts and indirectly through supporting the efforts of others,” said Ridgeon.

SPORTEL Monaco 2026 Sets The Pace For The Next Era of Sports Media

SPORTEL Monaco 2026 wrapped up three days of high-level business, international  connections and industry-shaping conversations, reaffirming its position at the  heart of the global sports media industry. The 36th edition of SPORTEL Monaco brought the international sports media business together at the Grimaldi Forum from 19  to 21 October, welcoming rights holders, broadcasters, investors, federations, agencies  and technology leaders from across the globe. Against a backdrop of rapid industry  transformation, SPORTEL Monaco once again provided a prime platform for deal-making,  strategic connections and the ideas shaping the future of sports media. 

With 1962 participants, 73 countries and 780 companies represented, including 166  new companies, the 2026 edition offered a broad snapshot of a rapidly changing industry. The 8,500-square-metre exhibition space provided a platform for companies  to present their latest solutions, meet potential partners and explore new commercial  opportunities across sports broadcasting, content distribution and technology. 

The popular Conference Summit at the Ravel Speakers Stage once again proved to be  a key highlight of SPORTEL Monaco, bringing together leading industry voices to explore  the interconnected trends, technologies and business opportunities shaping the future  of sports media. Through a dynamic programme of expert discussions, Masterclasses  and exclusive customer case studies, the SPORTEL community gained valuable insights  into AI, live production, data, investment, betting and emerging digital business models.  

Sessions featuring YouTube, Grup Mediapro, Deltatre, WURL, Esports Foundation, ViewLift, Pixotope, Dolby OptiView, Epic Clips, XR Sports Alliance and Grey Matter  Entertainment, alongside contributions from other industry leaders, showcased  innovative solutions and real-world applications transforming sports content creation,  distribution and monetisation. Beyond the insights shared on stage, the Conference  Summit highlighted the growing importance of innovation as a driver of commercial  growth, audience engagement and competitive advantage. The programme also featured  prominent industry figures including Jeff Roth (Bruin Capital), Javier Tebas (LALIGA),  Hillary Mandel (IMG), Pedro Pina (YouTube), Danny Townsend (SURJ Sports  Investment) and Prashant Khana (JioStar). 

Beyond the conference stage, SPORTEL Monaco turned networking into a powerful  driver of business opportunities, bringing together influential voices from sports, media  and brands beyond the exhibition floor. A key highlight was the launch of the CMO Brand  Programme, in partnership with Qualcomm Technologies, which welcomed senior  marketing executives from TCS, Revolut and Guinness/Diageo to explore how brands  and sports properties can unlock greater value through sponsorship, media and  technology. The Women’s Lunch, organised in collaboration with AWS, put the spotlight  on the growth potential of women’s sport, moderated by Fiona Harold, Sports Business  Development Specialist at AWS, with Elizaveta Bracht (Athlete), Danny Townsend  (SURJ Sports Investment), Nicky Stanton (World Tennis) and Frank Leenders (FIBA) discussing what it will take to transform its growing momentum into a mature, investable  market. 

From high-level discussions to informal exchanges across the exhibition floor and  buzzing lounge areas, SPORTEL Monaco once again demonstrated the value of bringing  the right people together to spark ideas, forge strategic partnerships and create new  business opportunities. 

« Year after year, SPORTEL evolves alongside the sports media industry, creating new  opportunities for the people and businesses shaping its future. This 36th edition  highlighted the value of bringing together content buyers, rights holders, broadcasters,  technology innovators and brands in an environment where business and innovation go  hand in hand. We are proud to see our international community continue to grow and to  provide a platform where ideas turn into opportunities and connections lead to new  partnerships. Building on this momentum, we are excited to bring the SPORTEL  experience to Canada, with SPORTEL taking place in Toronto on 23–24 March 2027. This  next chapter reflects our ambition to strengthen our presence across key international  markets and continue connecting the global sports business community », said Marine  Picoulet, Executive Director of SPORTEL Monaco. 

SPORTEL Monaco 2026 in Figures: 

– 1962 participants  

– 780 companies (including 166 new companies) 

– 73 countries represented 

– 49 % Europe, 18% Asia, 13% Americas, 20% Others (Africa, Middle East & Oceania) 

World Triathlon Inks Partnership With Hyrox To Bolster Olympic Inclusion

HYROX, the global functional fitness racing series, have officially signed a landmark term sheet entering into a strategic partnership with World Triathlon. This agreement establishes Hybrid Racing as a recognised discipline within the World Triathlon family, and HYROX as the operator of the Official World, Continental and National Championships for elite athletes of Hybrid Racing. The agreement marks the culmination of a year of close collaboration between the two organisations and sets out a shared pathway toward Olympic and Paralympic recognition for the sport.

Hybrid Racing combines running with functional fitness workouts and will be contested across three formats: Ultimate, which mirrors the existing HYROX competition format; Fast, a shorter and higher-intensity version; and Ultra, an extended, endurance-based format. All three will be sanctioned and governed by World Triathlon and developed jointly with HYROX.

Under the agreement, HYROX will act as the exclusive operator of the official World, Continental and National Championships for elite athletes competing in the Ultimate format, integrating these championships into its existing elite competition structure. World Triathlon’s National Federations will play a central role in the new ecosystem, having the opportunity to organise Hybrid Racing events across all three formats, including National Championships for Age Group athletes. 

The partnership is designed to benefit the entire World Triathlon movement. It gives National Federations across the organisation’s network of more than 177 members a clear pathway into a fast-growing global sport, new opportunities to engage athletes and audiences, and a stronger platform from which to grow triathlon and multisport at every level, from grassroots participation to elite competition.

World Triathlon and HYROX will work together towards the inclusion of Hybrid Racing in Multi-Sport Games, with the ultimate ambition to gain inclusion into the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Today’s announcement follows the signed agreement between the two organisations, with a Long Form Agreement to follow that will set out the full operational, governance and commercial framework of the partnership.

“This agreement is the result of a full year of dedicated work between World Triathlon and HYROX, and it is enormously gratifying to see it move from negotiation into reality. Hybrid Racing is a natural evolution for our movement, and this partnership will not only accelerate the growth of World Triathlon on the global stage, it will open genuine new opportunities for every one of our National Federations to grow participation, engage new audiences, and strengthen our sport at every level. This is exactly the kind of forward-looking collaboration our members deserve,” said World Triathlon President, Antonio F. Arimany. 

Christian Toetzke, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at HYROX added, “From the very beginning, our goal was to build a standardized, global sport that could earn a place on the world’s biggest athletic stage. Partnering with World Triathlon is a monumental step toward that vision. By formally establishing Hybrid Racing within the World Triathlon family, we are creating an official framework, from National and Continental Championships to Multi-Sport Games, forging a path and paving the way towards the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Hybrid Racing is no longer just a global fitness movement, it is officially on the road to the Olympics.”

Moritz Fürste, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at HYROX said, “Having lived the Olympic dream twice as an athlete, I know firsthand what it means to step onto that stage. To now stand on the brink of taking a sport we created from scratch all the way to the Olympic and Paralympic Games is surreal. What started in a German exhibition hall has filled arenas across six continents, and this partnership with World Triathlon brings our ultimate ambition closer to a reality. This moment belongs entirely to our community, every athlete who has crossed a finish line has helped build this sport into what it is now. We are paving the way for an entire generation of hybrid racers to chase their own Olympic dream.”

OPN Launches Grassroots App To Bring Digital Athlete Passports To Young Players

OPN, the digital sports infrastructure company, has launched a new intelligence tool to help clubs to better understand player data, identify performance patterns and create reports inside its athlete management platform.

OPN Intelligence has been developed to help coaches, performance staff, medical teams and club decision-makers get clearer, actionable insights from the information they already collect across player readiness, availability, workload, wellness, performance and injury records.

The new tool will allow club staff to ask questions of their data, identify patterns across squads, create reports, automate regular updates and carry out tasks inside the OPN platform without needing to move between multiple systems.

It has been designed to address one of the biggest challenges facing clubs using performance technology: collecting more data has become easier, but understanding what it means and turning it into action can still be difficult, especially for clubs without large analysis or sports science departments.

Through OPN Intelligence, football staff will be able to ask questions about player availability, training load, injury trends, workload risk, match reports, wellness data and squad readiness, with the tool returning clear outputs that can be used by coaches, medical teams and performance staff.

The platform will also support automated reporting, allowing clubs to create regular updates for managers, coaches or senior staff covering key information such as player workload, match outputs, wellness responses, availability and injury risk indicators.

Aaron Wildig, who had a 15-year professional playing career with clubs including Cardiff City, Shrewsbury Town, Morecambe and Newport County, said OPN Intelligence had been built to make complex information more useful for clubs.

He said: “Clubs are collecting more information than ever before, but one of the biggest questions we hear is still very simple: what does it actually mean?

“That is the problem we want OPN Intelligence to help solve. Clubs don’t just need more dashboards, more reports or more raw data. They need clear information they can understand quickly and use in real situations.

“A coach might want to know which players are carrying the highest workload after a match, a physio might want to look at injury patterns, or a manager might want a simple Monday morning report showing who is ready, who needs monitoring and what has changed across the squad.

“We want clubs to be able to ask those questions inside OPN and get practical answers without needing a team of analysts or data scientists behind them.”

OPN already brings together performance, medical, wellbeing, scheduling and communication information for clubs and players through one connected digital hub.

The company recently agreed a partnership with Opta to integrate trusted football data into its Digital Athlete Passport and wider athlete management platform, helping clubs build a more complete picture of player performance, development, readiness and availability.

OPN Intelligence has been developed as the next step in that process, helping clubs interpret the information they hold rather than simply storing it.

The tool will also support practical platform tasks, including creating calendar events, generating training programmes, drafting reports and setting up recurring updates for club staff.

Wildig added: “The future of athlete management systems won’t just be about where information is stored. It will be about how easily people can use that information.

“If a club has two or three staff trying to manage a whole squad, they shouldn’t have to spend hours digging through reports before they can make a decision. They should be able to ask the system what they need to know, check the evidence and act more quickly.

“Our wider ethos is about supporting every club, regardless of budget size, with better information and better tools. OPN Intelligence is part of that because it can give clubs access to the kind of insight and reporting that would otherwise require far more resource.”

The launch comes as OPN continues to expand its work with professional clubs across the UK, building Digital Athlete Passports that give players, coaches and staff a shared picture of development over time.

OPN’s core platform is free to use, with OPN Intelligence developed as an optional value-added service for clubs that want deeper insight and automated reporting inside the athlete management ecosystem.

FIS Extends Longines Partnership

FIS has announced that the long-standing partnership with Longines as the Official Timekeeper for Alpine Skiing has been extended.

A partner of FIS for 20 years, since 2006, the Swiss watch brand will provide advanced timing and data-handling technology at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup, as well as at the upcoming editions of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and FIS Alpine Junior World Championships.

In addition to being the Official Timekeeper, Longines plays an active role in the development of the next generation of Alpine racers with its traditional Longines Rising Ski Stars prize for young, up-and-coming World Cup athletes like 2025/26 winners Lara Colturi (ALB) and Eduard Hallberg (FIN).

“Alpine skiing has been part of Longines’ history for more than a century. Since timing our first ski competition in 1913, we have continued to push the boundaries of precision timekeeping, creating milestones that have helped shape the evolution of the sport. We are proud to build on this legacy through our ongoing commitment to performance, innovation and precision,” said Patrick Aoun, President and CEO of Longines.


“There are partnerships that are meaningful on many levels, and this is one of them. Longines encapsulates the concepts of tradition and elegance while always staying true to precision and high-end technology – it is genuinely a seamless fit with Alpine Skiing and with the values that FIS promotes through the sport around the world and across generations,” said Urs Lehman, FIS Secretary General.

Newcastle United Signs Taittinger as Official Champagne Partner

Newcastle United has announced a new multi-year partnership with Taittinger, one of the world’s most prestigious champagne brands.

The Magpies are now Taittinger’s newest club partner, with the luxurious champagne house being synonymous with major sporting and cultural events, including the FIFA World Cup, for a number of decades.

As the club’s Official Champagne Partner, Taittinger will now be served across the most exclusive areas of St. James’ Park, including premium hospitality suites, executive boxes and at select club events.

The partnership will continue to elevate the hospitality experience with guests able to enjoy Taittinger’s signature Brut Réserve and Prestige Rosé alongside their English sparkling wine, Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée, during matchdays and special occasions throughout the season.

The announcement follows a £10 million investment in a major hospitality transformation at St. James’ Park over the summer, designed to deliver world‑class service and an enhanced guest experience.

Newcastle United’s Chief Revenue Officer, Dave O’Connor, said: “The Taittinger family has a long and proud history of partnering with some of the world’s most prestigious sporting events. We are delighted that they have chosen to continue their football journey with Newcastle United.

“Their decision to partner with us is a reflection of the ambition we have as a club and our commitment to consistently raising the bar. We look forward to working together as we set new benchmarks for luxury matchday hospitality at St James’ Park and create exceptional experiences for our fans”.

Taittinger’s UK Director, Mills Easby, said: “The Taittinger Family are delighted to be partnering with Newcastle United, a club that is not only an icon of English Football but one that sits so solidly as the beating heart of the North East.

“It is an immensely exciting time to be getting involved at St. James’ Park and we look forward to sharing some truly memorable moments with you all.”

Nike And Mumbai Indians Announce a Multi-Year Kit Partnership

Nike and Mumbai Indians, one of the most successful franchises in global cricket, today announced a multi-year partnership that names Nike the official kit partner of both its women’s and men’s team in India, beginning with the 2027 season.

The partnership brings together the ambition, audacity and relentless energy of Mumbai with the leading brand in global sport, beginning a bold new chapter for the team, its athletes and the passionate Paltan fan community.

The announcement also marks a significant step in Nike’s continued investment in cricket, reflecting the brand’s long-term commitment to athletes, fans and the future of sport in India.

Nike will outfit both teams, including their coaches and technical staff, across matchplay, training and sportswear, bringing the brand’s innovative apparel offerings to athletes and the millions of fans who wear the Mumbai Indians’ Blue and Gold with pride.

“Cricket is woven into the heartbeat of India, and few teams capture its energy like Mumbai Indians,” says Tarundeep Singh, General Manager, Nike India. “The club embodies the ambition and belief that make sport so powerful. That’s exactly what drew Nike to this partnership, which represents our effort to serve athletes, celebrate the game and help inspire the next generation.”

Mumbai Indians have built a legacy of identifying talent, backing potential and pursuing excellence across women’s and men’s cricket while building one of the world’s largest and most engaged fan communities. Nike and Mumbai Indians share a belief in the power of sport to unlock human potential and inspire the next generation, whether competing at the highest level or picking up a bat for the first time.

Beyond the pitch, Nike and Mumbai Indians will connect sport and culture through product and storytelling inspired by the identity of Mumbai. From the stadium to the streets, the partnership will celebrate the city’s identity and give fans new ways to express their connection to the team and the game.

“Mumbai Indians have always been about more than cricket,” says Devang Bhimjyani, Head, Reliance Sports. “We are one family — our players, our Paltan — built on nurturing talent, backing it fearlessly and playing for a city that never stops. Nike shares our belief in athletes and in the power of sport to inspire. Together, we see an opportunity to connect cricket and culture, inspire the next generation, and take the spirit of MI and Mumbai to fans around the world.”

Athletes and staff will begin wearing Nike team gear this month, and the women’s and men’s teams will reveal new Nike kits ahead of their respective 2027 seasons. Fans will soon be able to experience Nike’s apparel offerings through both team kits and additional styles inspired by the identity, energy and culture of Mumbai.

“Mumbai Indians backed me and gave me the opportunity to express myself on the big stage. Nike has been part of my journey too, so bringing these two families together feels personal,” says Tilak Varma, Nike athlete and member of the Mumbai Indians men’s team. “Wearing the MI colors with the Nike Swoosh will remind me of how far I’ve come — and how much more I want to achieve. Somewhere, there’s a kid in the nets dreaming of playing in blue and gold. I want them to see us and think, ‘That could be me.’”

SPORTEL Monaco 2026 Concludes as Global Sports Industry Sets Agenda for 2027

The international sports business community gathered in the Principality this week for SPORTEL Monaco 2026, solidifying the event’s role as the premier global summit for sports media, technology, and commercial partnerships.

Over three dynamic days, the 36th edition of the convention drew 1,962 industry professionals, 780 companies—including 166 first-time participating organizations—and representatives from 73 countries. The gathering served as a high-stakes dealmaking hub and a platform for strategic discussions on media rights, fan engagement, and broadcasting innovations.

CMO Brand Programme Makes High-Impact Debut

A major addition to this year’s agenda was the launch of the CMO Brand Programme, hosted in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies. The invitation-only roundtable gathered senior marketing leaders, including Ashish Babu (CMO Global Markets, TCS), Paddy Carberry (Guinness Global Marketing Manager, Head of Sport, Diageo), Rory Miller Cheevers (Partner & Executive Director, Revolut), and Garrett Ponder (Head of Brand Partnerships and Activations, Qualcomm).

The panel examined the shifting dynamics of sports sponsorships, urging brands to move beyond passive logo placement toward authentic, hyper-local community integration.

“Extending into more of the marketing lens… gives an opportunity to have a conversation with rights holders [and] broadcast folks on-site to have a mutual understanding of how deals are structured,” said Garrett Ponder, Head of Brand Partnerships and Activations at Qualcomm. “It allows us to think differently around the innovation that’s necessary within deal structures and how we can all come together to improve the way we’re reaching the global fanbase.”

Navigating a Fragmented Media Ecosystem

The broader Conference Summit brought together executives from industry heavyweights—including Bruin Capital, YouTube, SURJ Sports Investment, LALIGA, AWS, IMG, JioStar, Deltatre, ViewLift, Qualcomm, Revolut, and Diageo—to address the market forces reshaping global sports tech and media.

In a keynote discussion with media consultant Evan Shapiro, Pedro Pina, Vice President EMEA at YouTube, highlighted the necessity of cross-sector collaboration.

“The world of sports and the world of media is changing literally every day. There’s new formats coming up, new viewership models, and new ways of being in the market,” Pina said. “The only way for all the different parties of an ecosystem going through so much change to find a path together is to open up the dialogue, to meet, and to exchange views.”

Next-Gen Tech and Fan Experiences

On the exhibition floor, technology providers showcased innovations designed to transform live sports consumption. Among the key highlights, Dolby introduced a specially equipped vehicle on the floor to demonstrate its cutting-edge, immersive automotive audio technology tailored for sports broadcasting.

SPORTEL Monaco 2026: Key Metrics

  • Total Attendees: 1,962
  • Participating Companies: 780 (including 166 new companies)
  • Countries Represented: 73
  • Regional Breakdown:
    • Europe: 48.61%
    • Africa, Middle East & Oceania: 20.83%
    • Asia: 18.06%
    • Americas: 12.50%

Next Stop: Toronto 2027

Building on the momentum of the Monaco summit, Marine Picoulet, Executive Director of SPORTEL Monaco, announced the next phase of the organization’s global expansion: SPORTEL Canada, set to take place in Toronto on March 23–24, 2027.

“Year after year, SPORTEL evolves alongside the sports media industry, creating new opportunities for the people and businesses shaping its future,” Picoulet stated. “Building on this momentum, we are excited to bring the SPORTEL experience to Canada… reflecting our ambition to strengthen our presence across key international markets and continue connecting the global sports business community.”

Closing the Data Gap: Inside Baseline Vision’s Scalable Computer-Vision Partnership with the ATP

iSportConnect’s Taruka spoke with Michael who is a sports technology entrepreneur and co-founder of Baseline, a portable computer-vision and AI-powered player and ball-tracking platform for racket and net sports. Engineered by a founding team with deep engineering and scientific backgrounds, Baseline bridges the technological divide in sports analytics by delivering high-precision 3D trajectory tracking, real-time match statistics, and line-calling insights without the heavy hardware footprint or prohibitive costs of traditional multi-camera systems. Through a strategic partnership with Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) and the ATP Challenger Tour, Baseline’s rapidly deployable camera setup operates across hundreds of professional, collegiate, and semi-professional events globally.

Tech in sports often exists purely behind the scenes. How would you explain Baseline to someone who is new to sports technology?

Technology is ultimately just a vehicle to serve a purpose. At the end of the day, our goal is to provide tools that help people train better, compete better, and have more fun playing sports. Whether an athlete is playing recreationally or professionally, everyone wants a blend of improvement, fair play, and engagement. What we aim to deliver is a solution that offers top-tier tracking tools to the broadest possible audience using smart, accessible technology.

What inspired you and your founding team to build Baseline? Did it stem from your personal background in tennis?

I am a huge tennis enthusiast and decent player myself, though never at a professional level. As someone with an engineering and science background, I noticed a massive structural gap in the market. On one end, you had basic consumer tools that relied on tripods, static video recording, and cumbersome setups that provided very limited analytical feedback. On the other end, you had ultra-expensive, permanent multi-camera systems like Hawk-Eye that required fixed infrastructure, heavy wiring, and central servers, making them viable only for high-budget Grand Slams. There was nothing in between. My co-founder and I realized that using modern computer vision, we could bridge that gap by delivering high-performance, accurate tracking in a portable, highly scalable format.

Baseline recently established a major partnership with Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) and the ATP Challenger Tour. How did this collaboration come together, and what problem does it solve for professional tennis?

This partnership was the culmination of over five to six years of technical development and rigorous validation. The ATP Challenger Tour represents the essential pathway to elite tennis, hosting roughly 350 tournaments worldwide every year. However, because these events move to different clubs and academies every week, installing permanent, multi-camera tracking systems on every court is financially and logistically impossible. TDI needed an accurate, reliable, and scalable system that could be deployed quickly. We spent over a year working with the ATP to prove our system’s accuracy and real-time performance. Today, our technology can be set up on court in under an hour, providing live player and ball-tracking data for two to three Challenger events around the world every single week.

What has been the feedback from tournament organizers, players, and officials using the system on tour?

The best feedback we receive is that the system operates seamlessly without interfering with the match. Players and coaches get access to the exact same granular, real-time statistics—such as serve speeds, rally length, net clearance, and shot placement—that you typically see at Grand Slams, but at lower-tier tour events that previously had no tracking infrastructure. For tournament directors and TDI, the quick setup and ease of deployment make it incredibly simple to deliver pro-grade analytics across global venues.

What specific metrics and technical data points does Baseline generate during a match?

Our system tracks the player, ball, and court boundaries at 60 frames per second in real time. By constructing a full 3D trajectory of the ball after every single shot, we stream live data to ATP servers and broadcast outlets. This allows us to calculate metrics including ball speed, acceleration, net clearance, spin rate, exact landing coordinates, player positioning, first/second serve success rates, return depths, and win percentages based on rally length. Everything is derived directly from that real-time 3D optical tracking model.

High-end tracking systems like Hawk-Eye have traditionally dominated elite tennis. Does Baseline compete directly with those established enterprise systems?

We don’t compete directly with multi-camera systems installed at Grand Slams or Masters 1000 events, which require 10 to 20 fixed cameras, central server rooms, and onsite operational teams. Instead, Baseline captures what we call the “99% of the market” that sits beneath those top-tier venues. We provide an accessible, high-accuracy alternative for the ATP Challenger Tour, national leagues, semi-pro circuits, college tennis programs (like the UTR network), and private academies that could never justify or afford traditional infrastructure. We fill the gap where high-end technology previously could not scale.

While Baseline started in tennis, is the underlying technology applicable to other sports?

We began with tennis because it’s our core passion, but the underlying computer vision model was engineered for all “net sports”. Any sport involving players on opposing sides of a net with a ball or projectile passing between them—such as pickleball, padel, badminton, volleyball, and table tennis—can utilize this technology. Tennis remains our primary focus, but expanding into adjacent net sports represents a natural evolution for our platform.