The first few posts at Sport-Ups have discussed sports-related entrepreneurship with an eye on the fans. That's likely to be the subject of the majority of posts here, mostly because of information availability. The other side of new ventures in sports - that target the teams and leagues themselves - are obviously less public. Often, because of teams' preferences to keep their competitive advantages secret, many of these businesses fly completely under the radar.
A set of articles at ESPN.com today discussed the incredible innovation some of these companies are working on and implementing. Focused on baseball, these articles - by columnist Jayson Stark and former Washington Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden (ESPN Insider only, sorry) - discussed how innovative technology had aided in and revolutionized the ability to evaluate players. No longer is scouting a pitch or a fielder's range up to only the human eye, but computerized systems are now able to objectively provide data to assist.
The leader in this industry probably can't be referred to as a start-up anymore, after providing award winning technology for over ten years. SportsVision works with every sports league you could name, has three US offices, and there's a very good chance that any sports fan has interacted with some of their solutions, whether they know it or not. The company holds an annual conference, called the Pitch F/x Summit, which brings to light the results of new research and solutions on the horizon.
SportsVision does, though, provide an excellent model for any aspiring sports-related entrepreneur or innovator. There is clearly genius in their ranks, as evidenced by some of their mind-blowing solutions, but there are incredible technologists, mathematicians and statisticians, engineers and business minds throughout the demographic of "sports fans." While the work to develop such technology is undoubtedly quite difficult, there are sure to be countless intelligent sports fans interested in doing so, even if it were to begin as a hobby. With the development of great technology, SportsVision demonstrates the multitude of applications available - such as selling directly to the teams or leagues, to television networks for broadcast improvements, or simply offering consulting services with the data the technologies can gather.
That's not to say any of it is easy. These solutions are likely to be expensive, and the number of businesses comprising the group of professional sports teams and leagues is small. That means that one of two things is necessary for great success: 1) an excellent sales strategy and effectiveness, to make the most of the limited customer base, or 2) strong internal efficiency to keep costs low enough that others can be brought into the potential market, such as less profitable college or international teams.
All of that said, with the emphasis on gaining advantages by sports team, and the gigantic market of end-users that broadcasters and leagues need to appeal to, developing incredible technology for these customers is clearly an appealing, and potentially highly lucrative, goal for any sports entrepreneur. It doesn't hurt that a gifted technologist could have a ton of fun along the way, even if the goal begins as a simple hobby.
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