SeatGeek – The sports ticketing platform which continues to take on the world

Founded in New York in 2009, SeatGeek is a prominent mobile ticketing platform that allows consumers to buy and sell tickets across sports and other events in the US market.

The company has partnered with different organisations around the US since the platform was launched, including Yahoo! Sports and various MLS teams around the country.

The service has recently moved into other markets, including the UK, after acquiring Israeli ticketing software company TopTix in 2017 for $56 million.

SeatGeek’s acquisition opened up the service to an international market, as TopTix’s primary software application, labelled ‘SRO’, combined perfectly with SeatGeek’s mobile applications and market place ability.

SRO gives sports clubs a world class software application to manage areas such as memberships, ticketing, reporting, corporate hospitality, marketing and so forth all inside a singular web-based user interface.

“We all thought it was a very good fit – what SeatGeek would bring to the table to work alongside the SRO software platform. We felt it was a great opportunity to build a global offering that could really drive a change in the market at a significant level and we have enjoyed strong growth over the past two and half years,” SeatGeek’s managing director for Sport across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Peter Joyce told FC Business, earlier this year.

When the acquisition of TopTix occurred in 2017, SeatGeek only had one English Premier Club partnered with the company, West Bromwich Albion. Two years later, the platform is now used by seven Premier League clubs in the 2019/2020 season, which represents a 35% market share across the league.

The clubs using the service are Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle United, Brighton and Hove Albion, Leicester City, Aston Villa and Sheffield United.

A further seven clubs are clients from the EFL Championship. Those teams are Derby County, Stoke City, Middlesbrough, Reading, Bristol City, Charlton Athletic and West Bromwich Albion.

The UK Sport headquarters has recently doubled in staff numbers with SeatGeek now having 430 employees and eight offices in different locations around the world.

Joyce believes the company continues to improve its reputation in the UK sports market.

“Ticketing software in UK sport has tended to work in five-year cycles when it comes to the systems and software products available and I think we’ve turned heads over recent years.

“New suppliers can come and go and there can be a swing in a certain direction from time to time. SeatGeek and the SRO software solutions have certainly enjoyed excellent growth over the years and our challenge is to build on a very solid platform and client base and take it to the next level.

“Alongside winning significant new business over the past two years we have also re-signed every club (7) who have come up for re-contract in that period and this demonstrates a client base that are enjoying working with SeatGeek and the SRO software platform. Technology is changing rapidly as we all know and there’s a demand for ticketing providers to keep pace with those ever-changing requirements and continue to grow and evolve.”

Central to SeatGeek’s success is the technological superiority the company has over its competitors. Legacy ticketing systems are generally known to manually report, overwork staff and be inflexible when it comes to configuration of events.

However, SeatGeek’s SRO service provides those in charge with extensive control across their organisation. This includes the most customisable rules-based engine ever created, with clubs also given valuable services for those using a powerful Application Program Interface (API). This gives third party providers the chance to build in tools that provide analytics, CRM, data, dynamic pricing and so on.

Fans praised the SeatGeek’s SRO platform last season, when the service was in use for a series of semi-finals and finals at Wembley Stadium. Over 95% of all tickets were sold online using SeatGeek’s online applications with not one complaint received. Instead, hundreds of positive comments were left across social media regarding the ease of the sales process.

Joyce claims SeatGeek will continue to grow and adapt in the future, using the impressive technology that is accessible.

“We will continue to listen to the market’s requirements; build for the future and one club at a time grow the footprint of our SRO platform to deliver an excellent all-round ticketing experience for as many clients and fans as possible.”

 

 

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Uplift Labs: Redefining movement analytics in sports

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Uplift Labs was created by co-founders Sukemasa Kabayama, Jonathan Wills, and Rahul Rajan. Each brings years of experience in tech innovation, uniting their expertise to build a cutting-edge startup dedicated to improving human movement.

Mission

Uplift Labs is driven by a mission to enhance human movement performance across all aspects of life.

Their AI-powered technology delivers advanced analytics designed to optimise performance while reducing the risk of injury across sports, fitness, and daily activities.

With a strong focus on movement and health, Uplift places human interaction at the forefront of coaching and training, helping people move better in all areas of life.

Key Partnerships

Uplift Labs collaborates with a range of leading organisations to push the boundaries of movement technology, including:

LAFC

AWS Startups

Nvidia Inception Program

Driveline Baseball

Athletes Unlimited

Investment Profile

Uplift Labs is backed by a prestigious group of institutional and individual investors. This includes prominent professional athletes such as Seth and Callie Curry, David DeCastro, Eric Gagné, Marc Gasol, Andrew Luck, and Renee Montgomery, as well as celebrated Olympic medallists including Kosei Inoue, Kosuke Kitajima, and Yuki Ota.

With a unique combination of cutting-edge AI, strategic partnerships, and world-class support, Uplift Labs is poised to transform how movement is understood, trained, and optimised.

Solutions

The company’s solutions are split into three categories of Sports performance, Sports medicine and Sports media. This is Uplift’s vision on how to tackle these issues in sports.

Sports Performance

Gather accurate and reliable data for comprehensive movement analysis.

Track 28 key points to generate kinematics and movement-specific events and metrics across entire athletic movements.

Optimise your athletes’ movement performance.

Elevate your assessment of athletic movements and unlock athletes’ full potential by analysing functional movements using only iOS devices.

Make data and insights accessible and easy to understand.

Evaluate player movements in a variety of ways across your organisation, from detailed kinematic data to directional reporting and 3D visualisations.

Sports Medicine

Quantify movement health to improve baselines, boost performance, and reduce injury risk.

Establish baseline movement abilities to track improvements and identify potential risk factors.

Perform detailed movement assessments.

Evaluate players or patients and generate reports with valuable, actionable insights. Using iPhones or iPads, our solution reliably captures biomechanical and kinematic data in any environment.

Prioritise player health by minimising injury risks.

Maximise performance and reduce risks by collecting detailed movement data that highlights deficiencies and identifies opportunities for improvement.

Support rehabilitation and recovery with objective measurements.

Use individualised movement analyses, reports, and visualisations to develop informed return-to-play programming and rehabilitation plans. Provide precise Individual Patient reports to guide recovery.

Sports Media

Captivate fans with biomechanical data overlays during live games.

Boost fan engagement by presenting exciting content that overlays biomechanical data, offering a new perspective on elite athletic performance.

Deliver valuable insights in real-time.

Integrate Uplift with your media production pipeline to analyse player movement and provide instant, ready-to-use insights during live commentary or replays.

Enhance the fan experience with clear, engaging visuals.

Offer simple, engaging data on athlete performance and skills to help fans connect with the action. Provide fresh insights for commentary and graphics, helping fans better understand movement analysis in the context of their favourite sports.

Conclusion

As soccer continues to evolve, technology like Uplift Labs’ AI-powered movement analysis is becoming increasingly vital for the sport’s future.

By providing accurate, real-time data and actionable insights, Uplift empowers clubs, players, and medical staff to optimise performance, prevent injuries, and enhance player health.

The ability to track and analyse movement in such detail not only elevates athletic development but also opens new avenues for fan engagement and storytelling.

Making Football Fairer: Dreamstock DSFootball Platform

Player scouting is one of the most challenging and vitally important tasks a club has to manage, without fresh and skillful new players a club will struggle to compete with its peers.

However, scouting can take a significant amount of time, manpower and research, leaving clubs with less resources at a significant disadvantage.

Additionally, for young players aiming for a professional career in football it can be extremely difficult to get noticed, especially if they are unable to frequently travel to far away tryouts.

To bridge the gap, Japanese organisation Dreamstock aims to reshape traditional scouting procedures via technology.

Launched in 2017, Dreamstock operates one of the largest online player selection platforms in the world – DSFootball.

Via DSFootball, Dreamstock strive to achieve three goals on the path to make football fairer for upcoming talents:

  • Create connections between club and players.
  • Generate opportunities through technology and innovation.
  • Transform the scouting market with transparency

DSFootball Platform 

Available in two packages, DSFootball is a multifaceted platform designed to aid both clubs and players. The first package is designed for grassroots clubs and academy players, while the second is a premium version tailored for professional clubs and players.

Through the DSFootball app, players create a profile that details their physical attributes, location, position and footballing history. Additionally, they can upload video clips of their performances to entice clubs to contact them.

For clubs, the DSFootball platform allows them to search for the perfect players to fit their unique needs by filtering their searches.

The platform houses a vast and expansive youth database for players across the U13, U15, U17 and U20 age groups, presenting the aforementioned player profiles to clubs.

These profiles showcase the important player information scouts need to know, so they can determine if potential players are suitable for them or note. Most importantly, the profiles showcase valuable game footage and clips, allowing scouts and coaches to see the potential of players without travelling to see them in person.

Through the DSFootball platform, clubs can individually contact interesting players via their profiles, or they can launch scouting events and tryouts to assess players in person. Furthermore, DSFootball allows for direct contact to player representatives to foster important connections and conversations.

Via DSFootball, Dreamstock provides a way for clubs to access and scout players they normally never would have been able to under traditional methods, as it drastically reducing barriers for upcoming young players.

In providing each of these services, DSFootball acts as a one-stop-shop for clubs, significantly reducing the amount of hassle they are subjected to.

Global Impact 

Developing from its two headquarters in Brazil and Japan, Dreamstock has achieved significant success in its short lifespan via the DSFootball platform. With the company and its platform having grown active in over 36 countries, encompassing more than 200 clubs and 50 leagues.

Through their work, Dreamstock has fostered key partnerships with premier competitions such as the Bundesliga, Serie A, Eredivisie and even Australia’s very own A-League.

As a product, DSFootball has been revolutionary. With over one million registered players on DSFootball, Dreamstock has created a premier destination for clubs to select future stars from, connecting players to clubs at a faster and more expansive rate than ever before.

For players, DSFootball has proven to be an excellent way to develop personally and attract attention from clubs. Of the one million plus registered players on the DSFootball platform, more than 100,000 are active participants in selection.

There is no sign of Dreamstock slowing down either, attaining over two million website views each month, illustrating a continued desire for the platform.

For more information on Dreamstock and the DSFootball platform, click here.

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