I always learn something from Peter King’s FMIA column. So much so that it usually takes me three or four times to read and digest the pieces, it’s a big meal for a little brain like me. One of the thought starters this week was his feature on Andrew Luck’s college center at Stanford, Sam Schwartzstein, and the work he is doing with Amazon and AI tied to Thursday Night football. Sam’s company and the work he is doing is in Israel.
While that may seem odd to the casual fan, what does the NFL and Israel have to do together, the reality is that the innovations in technology, broadcast and media have very deep roots in a large number of companies that are Israeli in structure. This became even more of a topic as we left our class at Columbia a few weeks ago and literally walked into the protests on both sides of the conflict that were occurring on campus, and when I asked students a week later about their thoughts of the goings-on and how it affected the business they were looking at, few if any saw a connection.
However, the connection is very deep and has existed for years. I learned it firsthand when we were introduced to Playsight at their launch, a tracking company that started with deep pocketed investors in tennis and expanded beyond those boundaries. The first thing we knew was that the basic tech came from work the Israeli military had done, was declassified, and aligned well with the tracking of tennis balls. The alignment with Israel and sports tech came back many times over the years during David Stern’s second act after he retired from his NBA Commissioner role, when he and his partner John Kosner and several other investors would talk glowingly about the companies they were working and following, one of which was WSC Sports, which ahs been deeply involved in broadcast and data work behind the scenes with the biggest properties in sports as well. There are many others…Minute Media, Pixellot, Track 160, Lumen…with deep ties to sports and the Israeli tech world. In fact, one recent read said there are over 130 companies actively tying sport to tech in various ways, all based in Israel.
Now the conflict going on may not stop business, but it certainly can have an effect on production and people power. We only have to look to the war in Ukraine, where several sports and properties had data and design hubs doing first class work, and all had to re-align, rescale and reallocate as those businesses had to pivot to other locations and redevelop a workforce.
While sports technology and a humanitarian crisis cannot certainly be viewed equally in any way, there is a great deal of business collateral damage in the way we are consuming, enjoying, betting and innovating in sports that can be affected by the actions going on in The Middle East. The people and families working diligently at these companies have bigger issues to deal with, and many may be relocating and starting anew, which can impact workflow in an economy which many experts say will be suffering due to circumstances well beyond one’s control.
So, with all that in mind, it is important to remember how when we literally play and work on a global scale, the impact of crisis, of governance, of politics, of conflict can have great impact on what we do or watch at home.
The conflict and protests may not seem worth noting as one bustles from place to place on a college campus in Manhattan, but there are real world implications and impact to the business infrastructure of sport that may seem miles away, but in reality, it’s as close as the game on your screen this weekend.
Here’s hoping those friends and colleagues on the tech and data front stay safe during these challenging times. We love their work but cherish the relationships and the learning even more.
