🔊 Indiana Pacers Do Something That's Never Been Done

📰 TOP STORY
NBA’s Indiana Pacers Become First US Team To Feature QR Code On Jerseys

 • The Indiana Pacers recently teamed up with Fishers-based tech startup Spokenote to feature QR codes on the front of their jerseys. The first-of-its-kind partnership will give fans access to unique, never-seen-before Pacers’ content which can be scanned through game photos or live at games (more here).

💰 MONEY MOVES 
Amer Sports Files For US IPO

• Wilson Tennis racket maker Amer Sports files for IPO. The Finland-founded company, which is backed by China’s largest athletic apparel producer Anta Sports Products Ltd., also owns brands including Louisville Slugger baseball bats, Arc’teryx outdoor gear, and Atomic winter equipment (more here).

• David Blitzer and Josh Harris acquire a $10 million stake in Hall of Fame Village. The two billionaires who own several sports teams including the Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Commanders, and New Jersey Devils, are planning to use their roughly $10 million purchase to create more youth sports programming at the 115-acre campus centered around the Pro Football Hall of Fame (more here).

• FanHub raises a $3 million pre-seed round to build ‘Strava for sports fans’. The Bristol-based sports tech startup was founded by two football fans frustrated by what they felt was an open goal being missed by clubs to recognize their fans’ loyalty and capture that value (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABS
Chelsea Agrees To £10 Million Sponsorship Deal With Cryptocurrency Firm BingX

• Chelsea agrees to a sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency firm BingX. The deal, worth £10 million, will see BingX appear on the front of Chelsea training kits from next season (more here).

• ARound and Immersal team up to bring AR to Sports Fans. Fan engagement platform ARound has partnered with spatial computing and AR localization company Immersal to produce a WebAR solution that will allow sports fans to engage with shared AR experiences without the need to download a mobile app (more here).

• YES Network and MSG Networks team up for streaming tech joint venture. MSG Networks, the television home of several New York-area sports teams, and YES Network — the TV home of the New York Yankees — announced a joint venture that will see them pool their resources to try to help other teams launch their own streaming service. The new partnership, which is called Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment (GAME), will be half-owned by each side (more here).

• Chipotle and Strava team up to help athletes reach January fitness goals. Chipotle Mexican Grill announced a partnership with Strava, the leading digital community for active people with more than 120 million athletes, to encourage and reward healthy habits this year (more here).

🔊 OTHER NEWS
First Metaverse Experience For Young Olympic Fans

• Gangwon 2024 has launched the first-ever metaverse experience for Youth Olympic fans. This unique virtual world offers a variety of interactive experiences to users all over the globe, helping to make Gangwon 2024 as inclusive and accessible as possible, particularly for young fans (more here).

• Can artificial intelligence help you get fit? With a great many of us now trying to lose weight as a New Year's resolution, can AI personal trainers replace human ones (more here)?

• Golfweek launches inaugural Tech Lab event. In a joint venture with underdog venture team, Golfweek is launching Golfweek Tech Lab. This event will unite stakeholders in the investment and golf communities with a curated group of technology startups that can enhance both the game and business of golf (more here).

• Sports Data Labs secures US patent. Sports Data Labs, a venture-backed, award-winning leader in the collection, analysis, and distribution of real-time human data from on-body sensors, has achieved a milestone with the grant of U.S. Patent No. 11,850,053 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (more here).

• Hyperice files lawsuit against rival Therabody. Hyperice, the high-performance wellness brand, and maker of percussion, dynamic air compression, thermal, vibration, and contrast therapy technology, filed a lawsuit against Therabody, maker of the Theragun line of percussive massage guns and other products alleging infringement of Hyperice's patented percussion massage technology (more here).

• 10 of the best athlete-tech investors of all time. 20 years ago, athletes were investing in car washes and restaurants. Today, they’re investing in the world’s biggest tech start-ups and building their respective firms. We broke down 10 of the top athletes who have made several successful tech investments over the past decade (more here).

• Read the pitch decks from sports and gaming startups that helped raise millions of dollars. BI spoke with 15 sports companies that have pitched investors about their process. They broke down the pitch decks they used to secure millions of dollars in funding (more here).

• Victor Wembanyama sets course to become a basketball billionaire unlike any other. Rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama could become the first professional basketball player to earn $1 billion on the court (more here).