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Experts from the world of sports tech gathered to share their experiences and insights in the first of a series of LALIGA EXTRA TIME webinars. Titled 'Sports Innovation in the Nordics & Spain' and moderated by Juan Fuentes, LALIGA’s Delegate to the Nordic Countries, this webinar featured a collection of professionals from the Nordic sports tech industry, who joined representatives from Spain to share insights with an online audience.

The Spanish viewpoint was shared by Ana Rosa Victoria Bruno, Innovation Program Manager at LALIGA, Alejandro Ugarrio, Director of Atleti Lab at Atlético de Madrid, and Gonzalo Luthard, Global Sales Partner for Sportian. Meanwhile, the Nordic tech space was represented by Niels Henrik Sørensen, Head of Sports Tech at the Danish Olympic Committee Innovation Lab, Jakob Wikenstaal, Co-founder of Sports Tech Sweden, and Nina Rautiainen, Program Manager and Ecosystem Development at the Nordic Sports and Health Hub.

Sharing LALIGA’s vision when it comes to the need to constantly innovate, Ana Rosa Victoria Bruno stated: “Our vision is to make LALIGA and its clubs disruptive in the world of entertainment, promoting the best of innovation and technology to create unforgettable and high-impact experiences. We are aware that we are in the world of entertainment and that we compete for the leisure time of our fans. So, we need to create fan engagement through these experiences. We have different innovation challenges, but we innovate every season.”

Sports innovation in the Nordics: A unique environment for developing sports tech

Innovation is a key aspect for both population and governments in the Nordics, a region in which companies are constantly learning about the challenges and opportunities that working in sports tech presents.

As Nina Rautiainen pointed out: “Regarding Finland and Nordics, we are very much used to the Arctic conditions. I would say that what works here will work anywhere! The solutions and the tools that have been tested here will work elsewhere as well. We are good at bringing out the best performance in the Arctic conditions and what I mean by that is not just the weather and the conditions we have here during winter time, but also the digital environment because the internet in the Nordics, in Finland, is also the cleanest in the world. So, in a way, you can also test and risk test your products and services.”

Another unique opportunity in terms of working in sports tech in the Nordics is seen in Denmark, with the Danish Olympic Committee Innovation Lab. Given the nature of this specific innovation lab, with its connections to dozens of national sporting federations, it is possible to work on projects across sports, to improve efficiency and to empower the entire sports industry.

On this, Niels Henrik Sørensen said: “We matchmake, which means that we actually offer test and validation of products at a very early stage. So, if you have a prototype you want to test with a handball player or a badminton player or a volleyball coach, we can connect them and test the products at an early stage, so the start-ups don’t waste time developing products that maybe nobody wants.”

He continued: “We also connect internationally. We built the sports tech ecosystem together with other partners, as well as supporting the Danish start-ups that are mature enough to go abroad. So, building the ecosystem and international relations is a part of what we do.”

Meanwhile, Jakob Wikenstaal also spoke about how mapping the ecosystem can propel the entire sports tech industry forward, pointing out that start-ups and innovation labs can become more than the sum of their parts if they collaborate. The Co-founder of Sports Tech Sweden said: “What we try to do is make Swedish sports tech world class. We are a team that can help with different areas, so we can support the sports tech companies and industry in Sweden in total and foster it, to become a sort of brain in the whole network of sports tech. We hope to help organisations, such as LALIGA from Spain, for example, to come over to Sweden and get connected, as well as using the companies and knowledge that exist in Sweden. It’s basically connecting the dots.”

Atleti Labs: A way of staying at the forefront in the industry

During this LALIGA Extra Time webinar, Alejandro Ugarrio was able to share the view of those who work inside football clubs, speaking about how important innovation in sport is for Atlético de Madrid and how this led to the launch of Atleti Lab, the innovation division of the institution. He stated: “When we inaugurated the Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano in 2017, it was a really innovative stadium. But, the challenge that never ends when you launch something is to stay at the forefront and this is precisely one of the main objectives of Atleti Lab, which we started two years ago when the business team said that they think that we need a team that could be the engine of innovation within the company.”

Since then, Atleti Lab has launched a series of projects, always pushing the club to the next level in terms of sports tech. On this, Ugarrio added: “It’s really linked with the slogan of Atlético de Madrid, which is ‘Another way of living’, as we are really convinced that doing things in a different way is something that is in our DNA. One of the most important parts is learning to live with mistakes. If the best player can fail, so too can we. I think that’s really important in innovation projects because if something hasn’t been done before then there is a reason for it. It is difficult and knowing how to deal with frustration is essential to generate a culture of entrepreneurship.”

Over the next few weeks, the LALIGA Extra Time series of webinars will continue with talks about internationalisation with representatives from the DACH market, infrastructure in Italy, sustainability in Benelux, communication in France and institutional matters in the Baltic states.