Welcome to the ninth edition of the Locker Room Labs Sports Technology Spotlight. In this series, we sit down with industry partners and experts to discuss the evolving world of sports tech including the incredible innovations being developed in the space. The next professional we interviewed is Malcolm Lemmons, Founder of Vetted Sports. Malcolm discusses his perspective on topics that are trending in sports technology such as AI, partnerships, and much more
As a leader in sports technology reporting, how do you stay informed about emerging technologies, industry trends, and breaking news?
Because we’ve positioned ourselves as one of the go-to resources in the space, a lot of the stories, and news we cover is discovered through close contacts and relationships we’ve built with communications teams, pr representatives and founders. As a results of these relationships, we are also able to receive direct quotes in many cases for our features.
Can you discuss any notable instances where user feedback significantly influenced the development or improvement of a sports technology product?
I’m a huge fan of what Jake Shuster is building with Gemini Sports Analytics. Not only is he extremely competent and an amazing leader, he’s also very much in tune with the problem he’s trying to solve and what his customers need. Many people might not know this about how they got started but he formally interviewed 27 different teams around the world during the product design process and asked them several specific questions. Things such as where their biggest pain points were, and what kind of systems they might typically have versus not have. He’s gathered feedback over time to constantly iterate and build something people wanted. For a first-time founder, that is really impressive and something I think all founders should do beforehand.
Can you share your perspective on the current trends and innovations in sports technology that you find most exciting?
So much is happening around sports technology, which makes it a fascinating time to cover the industry. In terms of what I’m personally most interested in, fan engagement, sports betting and athletic performance all come to mind. Fan engagement will change a lot over the next several years with AR/VR/AI. Sports betting hasn’t even began to truly breakthrough. It’s only been 6 years since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for all 50 states to offer it. The space is still very much in its infancy. As a former athlete myself, i’m keeping an eye on things such as injury prevention tech, AI-based nutrition plans and individual training and development. This kind of technology is going to help athletes play a lot longer, with less injuries and with more effectiveness.
From your experience, what role do you think emerging technologies like AI and blockchain will play in shaping the future of sports betting and fantasy apps?
Obviously AI and blockchain have been huge buzzwords over the past several years, but I believe they will both definitely have a huge impact throughout sports. As it relates to sports betting and fantasy, AI will help provide more predictability, deeper insights and stats and also audit fraudulent activity, fixing and other suspicious behavior. Blockchain will be able provide more transparency, security and possibly peer-to-peer betting in some instances. Both technologies, especially combined, will help the space mature over time and present interesting opportunities for newcomers.
Can you discuss any successful collaborations or partnerships between sports technology companies and sports organizations that you find particularly inspiring?
Recently the WNBA partnered with Genius Sports. For the first time, teams in the league will have access to real-time advanced stats measuring shot quality, shooter impact, paint touches, play-type efficiencies, points per chance, contest quality, and other defensive matchup data. Genius Sports is one of the major players in all of sports tech so this was a big moment for the league. I’m a huge proponent of women’s basketball/sports and partnerships such as this not only pushes the sport forward but opens the door for better coverage, analysis and awareness around all women’s sports.
About Malcolm Lemmons
Malcolm is a former professional athlete turned entrepreneur and author. He began to write about his experiences and the obstacles in his athletic career, which led to his first book, ‘Lessons from the Game’. Malcolm has written for Huffington Post, Athlete Network, and Kulture Hub, and has been featured on MLB Network and Front Office Sports. Malcolm is also the founder of Vetted Sports, a sports technology media company providing news, insights, and analysis to industry professionals.
About Locker Room Labs
We are a US-based, and software engineer-owned, development team specializing in sports, betting, fantasy, and iGaming. From UX Design and MVP Development to Custom App Development and Fractional CTO services, we are tailored to bring sports software to life. A testament to our innovation is “The Playbook,” a proprietary sports platform-as-a-service that accelerates development time and saves clients on build costs. To reach us, you can visit our website here.
