- LaLiga Tech was founded in 2021, with Globant joining a year later
- Recently agreed AI deal with Microsoft
LaLiga and Globant are rebranding their LaLiga Tech joint-venture as Sportian, hoping the new moniker will better reflect their ambition to become a major provider of sports technology and digital services to the industry.
Spanish soccer’s top-flight has operated a dedicated tech subsidiary since 2021, supplying other leagues and federations with the innovations it had developed in-house.
Last year, it entered into a joint venture with Globant, hoping the IT service giant can accelerate the development and commercialisation of these technologies.
Sportian’s clients include Liga Portugal, MotoGP, and Sky Mexico, while Buenos Aires-based Globant also works with Fifa and the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Los Angeles Clippers.
The joint-venture has put emerging trends, including artificial intelligence (AI), web 3.0, and the metaverse, at the hear of its technological roadmap, and has reorganised its portfolio into three main suites of products. These will focus on fan experience, on-pitch performance, and the digital transformation of back-end operations.
“The technological commitment that LaLiga made in 2013 in the search for the solutions our industry needed, which laid the groundwork for what Sportian is today, is now a unique value proposition for the sports and entertainment industry in the face of current and future challenges,” said LaLiga president Javier Tebas.
“The transition to Sportian signifies a strong commitment to innovation, where the most disruptive technology meets the passion for sports and entertainment,” added Sportian chief executive Alejandro Scannapieco. “With Sportian, we aim to redefine fan experiences, enhance data utilization, and transform the very essence of the industry.”
Earlier this year, Sportian agreed a deal with Microsoft that will see it gain access to Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI Service, which includes advanced models such as OpenAI GPT-4, Azure’s range of business services, and AI-optimised cloud infrastructure.
Initial projects include near-real time multilanguage subtitles to improve accessibility to live events for fans with hearing impairments, and automatic sports content translations which will allow sports organisations of all sizes to reach a more global audience.
LaLiga will also add new real-time statistics to its existing Mediacoach application, while it will use ChatGPT to create new types of content for fans and the clubs in a bid to drive fan engagement.
Meanwhile LaLiga’s multi-sport over-the-top (OTT) streaming platform, LaLiga+, will now offer Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) Eurosport channels as an additional extra, building on its own premium offerings. WBD has worked to expand the availability of its pan-European sports service, which is also offered as an add-on on Amazon Prime Video and DAZN in selected markets.
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