The 10th Annual Tennis Industry Association (TIA) Tennis Forum during this year’s US Open in New York will include “Future of Tennis & Tech” sessions and the “Tennis Innovation Challenge NYC 2017.”
The forum will be held on Aug. 28-29 at the InterContinental New York Barclay in New York City, which is the official US Open hotel for the ATP World Tour.
Innovative products will be the theme for the Tennis Innovation Challenge NYC 2017. Visionaries with services designed to grow the sport and business of tennis with players, consumers and fans can submit their pitch through July 7. There is no fee to apply for the Innovation Challenge. This past March, the TIA held its inaugural Tennis Innovation Challenge at the Tennis Owners & Managers Conference in Orlando, Fla. The winner of that competition was Tennibot of Auburn, Ala. Tennibot (www.tennibot.com) is a robotic tennis ball collector that detects tennis balls on the court using cameras, sensors and complex algorithms.
Tennis Innovation Challenge finalists will receive media exposure through the TIA leading up to the forum. The winner of the Innovation Challenge will receive $1,000, a national press release to thousands of news outlets with a potential reach to millions of consumers, coverage in Tennis Industry magazine, a one-year TIA membership, and additional exposure through industry marketing and social media channels.
The Monday afternoon Future of Tennis & Tech session will include a panel of startup tech companies and focus on how technology can help the tennis business. As of mid-June, startup companies that will participate include ASAP-Sport, Bluefox, Hexoskin, Kitman Labs, VKTRY, VREE and Brick Simple. The Monday afternoon session also will include small-group discussions in a “world cafe” format.
The Tuesday morning Future of Tennis & Tech session will include a sports & tech keynote speaker, Q&A discussions with tech and tennis celebrities, small-group meetings and networking. Topics will include wearable tech, virtual reality, data analytics, esports, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, drones and more.
For more information on the Tennis Innovation Challenge NYC 2017, view the application at www.tennisindustry.org/innovation or email innovation@tennisindustry.org. For more info on the 10th annual TIA Tennis Forum go to www.tennisindustry.org.
