Dziki Bet on Innovation
Polish basketball club Dziki Warszawa has set a new strategic direction to become the most innovative sport club in Poland. Club’s management has appointed Ryan McCumber as Chief Innovation Officer to help drive this transformation.
Ryan is the founder of global consulting firm SportsTech.ai. He will identify and bring some of the cutting edge world class startups to work with Dziki in helping their ascension to the first division through on-court high performance as well as enhancing the fan experience. The initial first partners include Greek data analytics company Statathlon, a communication fan experience and Facebook streaming platform Stadeum Sports Ltd, as well as Australia based Benchvote which increases fan engagement and revenue through data collection and fan insights.
Per Ryan McCumber, “We’re witnessing a breakthrough on the intersection of sports and technology. Clubs and organizations that will benefit from it will gain a competitive edge in the race for fans, sponsors and more talented players. Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world and innovation has played a prominent role in its success. However, you don’t have to be the Golden State Warriors or Philadelphia 76ers to take advantage of SportsTech to be a leader. I strongly believe that through investment in innovation, we will be able to raise Dziki to a whole new level in terms of managing the club and gaining competitive advantage. I also feel that technology and experience accumulated during this process will resonate among all Polish and EU clubs, not necessarily limited to Polish basketball. This is a great opportunity to allow SportsTech.ai clients to enter Europe or enter Basketball in a safe to fail environment. I’ve personally participated in many SportsTech Challenges and Accelerators globally. In fact, La Liga announced a global call for innovation last week and a few days before the Johan Cryuff Arena in Amsterdam also announced a major Fan Experience startup competition. Dziki is not La Liga, or Ajax, but it is a very proud digitally enabled Polish Club who is willing to innovate, but fail fast (if needed) in a controlled and strategic way. Ironically Dziki translates to wild boar in English so in essence an innovative guinea pig. At SportsTech.ai we look at this as an incredible opportunity; we are working with an ownership team willing to push the envelope to make sure the Club moves forward. We couldn’t ask for a better situation or partner than Dziki. We have hand selected the three start-ups and we will be looking to add more as we grow. We have some other very large announcements to make for SportsTech.ai and we couldn’t be happier about this exciting future!”
“Dziki understand innovation in a very broad way”, adds Michał Szolc – General Manager of Dziki Warszawa. “From very obvious aspects like strength & conditioning, injury protection and innovative supplementation, through data analysis and in-game stats, to a very complex area of fan experience, marketing and communication. We begin with a Greek startup Statathlon, specialized in data analysis, working previously with such brands as the CSKA Moscow, Zalgiris Kaunas, and the Euroleague itself. In the remainder of this season, analysis provided by Stathatlon will support Dziki during the play-off phase. Stadeum Sports has reinvented the way that we manage our digital presence with one platform to manage both our web and mobile. This Next Generation of Applications allows us to communicate with our fans and use such technologies as geo-fencing or beacons, to create partnership agreements with our community. I also hope that Dziki will become for Polish startups a gate to the world and global clubs and sport organizations. I think there are no reasons why interesting ideas from Polish innovators couldn’t with our support find financing and be implemented worldwide.”
About Dziki Warsaw: www.dzikiwarszawa.pl
Dziki Warszawa was established only 1,5 years ago. In the middle of previous season the club appointed former top-division coach Piotr Bakun as Dziki’s Head Coach. Currently Dziki are in the 5 place in the group B of 2nd division and will be fighting for promotion to 1st division.
About SporsTech.ai: www.sportstech.ai
SportsTech.ai was created by Ryan McCumber in January 2018 to leverage the network of relationships that were established globally. SportsTech.ai Advisors are global consultants to the emerging SportsTech, innovation and analytics sector with a focus on Fan Experience, Artificial Intelligence, Immersive Technologies and League Scheduling leveraging our deep sector and analytics expertise. Our aim is to help rights holders identify new SportsTech products and to advise sports tech startups entering new global markets US, E.U, India, China, Australia etc.
About Statathlon: https://statathlon.com
Statathlon Ltd is a Sports Data Analytics company that provides Sports teams with a “multiplier” effect, which helps them reach their goals without spending a lot of money on new players and staff. Statathlon’s Decision Management Tool combines the 2 main data sources (Bio-athletic and In-game) with a 3rd one (Psychometric), analyses them in unison, and extracts valuable insights for the team and its athletes / players that is then harnessed by the Club’s management for: a) Talent Development; b) Game Management; c) Injury Prevention; d) Fan Engagement. Statathlon is based in Greece (Athens), and has a business development presence in the United Kingdom (London), where it is also part of London Sport’s Sport Tech Hub. Statathlon has been recognized as a Top-15 Rising Sports Analytics Startups in Europe (KPMG, 05/2018).
About Stadeum Sports: www.stadeumsports.com
Our mission is to empower sports teams to create, connect and grow their fan engagement with robust and powerful applications using mobile, web and social media. Stadeum Sports has reinvented the way sports teams can connect with a global audience, giving fans unprecedented access to the action, taking them on the court and in the locker room, inviting them to interact directly with their favorite team and sponsors.
About Benchvote: www.benchvote.com
Benchvote is a turnkey digital fan engagement and marketing campaign platform. It’s designed to help sports teams, leagues, sponsors and publishers engage their fans. collect rich customer data and increase revenue through ticket sales, merchandise, season tickets and more. Benchvote was founded by Adam Mussa in Sydney, Australia and works with rights holders and publishers worldwide including the National Basketball League in Australia, eSports betting company Unikrn, and many more.