The 25 most tech savvy sports teams
Diversified helped integrate many of the teams in Sports Illustrated’s top 25 including the first ranked Sacramento Kings
Here’s an excerpt from the Sports Illustrated article.
With 2016 coming to a close, we examined the sports landscape to rank the most technologically savvy professional sports teams. It was clear from our research that dozens of organizations around the world are approaching the building of their franchise from a tech-first mindset. But this ranking consists of twenty-five teams that were exceptionally innovative in 2016.
1. Sacramento Kings
The Kings’ forward-thinking approach with technology clearly stems from the top, with owner Vivek Ranadivé being credited for digitizing Wall Street with his company, Teknekron Software Systems, in the 1980s. With a focus on first-to-market, the organization was the first NBA franchise to allow Bitcoin payment in 2014 while it recently became the first professional sports franchise to integrate a chatbot into Facebook messenger this past summer. With the ‘Pokémon Go’ craze of 2016, the Kings were, to no surprise, the first team to hold a meetup at its arena, too.
Prior to the 2015–16 season, the Kings live streamed their home opener in virtual reality, becoming the first NBA franchise to independently stream a regular season game using the new technology. They even used the new 360-degree technology to unveil its new jerseys for the current season. Most recently, it opened its new home—the Golden 1 Center—which now includes a dual-mode remote control appcombining the team and arena apps in one experience, another first-of-its-kind.
