Rezzil’s first VR product was soccer. The BetterGuards CEO said his own injuries in the same sport inspired his vision. Nextiles started with an arm sleeve for baseball pitchers. Uplift Labs got its start in motion capture with baseball and golf.
These four companies were all part of the first cohort of NBA Launchpad – a technology development program now soliciting applications for its second edition – all of which have tailored their products to the unique needs of a new sport.
“You get traction. Teams will be some of the first customers for their basketball product, so this is a huge win for the program – just being able to access quality technology for our teams and making sure they’re building for basketball and not any other sport,” says Tom Ryan , NBA Basketball Technology and Innovation Leader.
The first NBA Launchpad cohort included: Rezzil, BetterGuards, Nextiles and Uplift Labs.
When Launchpad debuted last year, there were five categories for submissions around performance or health and wellness. However, this new round is crowdsourcing ideas both around the sport itself and fan engagement.
There are three judgment-centric categories:
- Prevention and recovery of soft tissue injuries
- Healthy playing habits in youth basketball
- Interruption of the game
The three fan-based priority areas are:
- Game production and viewing experience
- In-seat experience
- Sports betting experience
Ryan shies away from certain labels like Accelerator or Incubator because the program is specifically tailored. The NBA may accept companies that have gone beyond a Series A funding round, or they may choose to pursue a Ph.D. Student who has an idea and no business yet. This time, however, the league will pay a little more attention to the commercial potential as well as the strategic one. Although there was no automatic equity participation as part of Launchpad 2022, as with traditional accelerator programs, the NBA decided to invest in Nextiles last spring.
You get traction. Teams will be some of the first customers for their basketball product, so this is a big win for the program – just getting access to quality technology for our teams and making sure they’re building for basketball and not any other sport.
The league plans to delve deeply into the R&D and testing protocols for the technologies, taking into account the prospects for the size of the problem it is addressing and the potential impact on the outcome.
“A core design element of Launchpad is things that are a little bit more of a risk, but the payoff might be big enough that it’s worth adopting,” Ryan said.
The NHL hosted a technology showcase last spring that focused on the fan experience, with a big focus on the fans at the venue. That’s a similar path taken by the NBA with its In-Seat Experience category, which is intentionally open-ended to consider anything, such as: B. an app that helps with logistics (e.g. mobile orders) or engagement (e.g. AR). The NBA’s Team Marketing & Business Operations (TMBO) group will oversee selection and projects for this category.
“A lot of the investment has gone into experiences at home, your media experiences and then things in venues that aren’t where you are, right? How do you avoid waiting times? How do you get to your place faster? How do you have a better digital ticketing experience?” says Ryan. “We think this is a little bit unique, once you’re in your seat, what better way is this end-to-end experience?”
The Disrupting the Game category was inspired by the wide range of use cases the NBA found for the Nextiles IP, a smart textile that can measure forces and assess biomechanics. It didn’t fit neatly into a predefined area of focus a year ago, but was too intriguing to pass up.
“We just wanted to find a way to work with them,” says Ryan. “So let’s leave that open and just say, is it something that affects player health? Is it Talent ID? Is it officiate? This can have many different perspectives. But we just wanted to have one that’s open. We didn’t want entrepreneurs to see just two stretches on the basketball side and say, ‘That doesn’t suit me.'”
Uplift Labs, one of four companies selected to participate in Launchpad, created 3D motion capture for mobile devices.
Ryan acknowledges that the other two basketball lanes “are under the same macro theme of our players playing more games in the NBA and being available.” Soft tissue injuries account for more than 50% of NBA players’ missed games.
“We think there’s a lot of innovation in this space, and a lot of it has been in healthcare so far,” says Ryan. “And it hasn’t really trickled down to esports — some of it has — but is there a way to shed some light on that and get some of these healthcare breakthroughs to really expand into elite sport a little bit more?”
The Healthy Gaming Habits category aims to alleviate fatigue and provide a better foundation for well-being and performance.
“There’s just a lot of overuse and early specialization in youth basketball, and I think we’ve seen some interesting ways to deal with that,” he says. “But I don’t think the NBA is really putting our brand name behind any technology to help with that.”
Select companies will conduct a six-month R&D program within the league’s ecosystem – from Jr. NBA to G League or the major league – and then make a Demo Day presentation at the Summer League.
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