Sports Innovation Lab’s 2020 Hackathon

Never heard of the Sports Innovation Lab founded by Angela Ruggiero, Olympic Gold Medalist and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Josh Walker? Neither had I until I stumbled upon an Ask Me Anything webinar they were holding with some pretty impressive sports minds.

According to their website, the goal of the SIL is to:

“Empower sports brands to create breakthrough fan experiences through technology. Sports Innovation Lab is leading a sports research revolution. We exist to educate our clients on the technological possibilities for their brand and how to ultimately drive value to the end consumer: the Fluid Fan™. We inspire brands to create bold fan experiences through data-driven technology insights and industry-leading research.”

With the stoppage of professional and college sports due to COVID-19, SIL created a prompt for its hackathon, Hack Sports Back, to center around the problem the virus has caused in the world of sports. The hackathon is May 21st-22nd 2020 and the goal is to:

“Design a solution that recreates the power of togetherness for fans, athletes, and teams competing in a sporting event even without the ability to be there in person.”

The key questions in the prompt are as follows:

• How can fans cheer differently?

• How can that cheering be “felt” by the athletes?

• How can we enhance ghost games for those inside the arena?

• Can we design ways to not only show support, but to allow fans to heckle, or boo?

• How can fans sense the presence of each other, and feel together even when apart?

The five winning entries in the hackathon will be able to present their ideas to a panel of top executives in the sports industry. Major League Baseball and the Premiere Lacrosse League are two of the major leagues that are sponsors of this event. Paul Rabil, the founder of the Premiere Lacrosse League will be the keynote speaker for the first day of the hackathon.

The schedule of events will be rigorous, but if you are chosen as a winner it could be your golden ticket into the sports industry.

Thursday, May 21

12:00 AM Hackathon resource site LIVE!

9:00 AM Kick-Off Keynote

11:00 AM Check In #1: Challenge & Target Review

12:00 PM Office Hours with Sports Innovation Lab Staff

1:00 PM Check In #2: Experience Design

2:30 PM Office Hours with Sports Innovation Lab Staff

3:30 PM Inside the Orgs: Roundtable

5:00 PM Hacky Hour

8:00 PM Office Hours with Sports Innovation Lab Staff

Friday, May 22

9:00 AM Day 2 Welcome Address

10:30 AM Hackathon Brunch

11:00 AM Check In #3: How It Works

12:00 PM Founders Forum: Paul Rabil

2:00 PM Office Hours with Sports Innovation Lab Staff

4:00 PM Check In #4: Pitch Positioning

8:00 PM Mentor Office Hour

11:59 PM Submissions Due

Let us know if you will be participating and HACK ON!