REGARDING ABOUT THE COMPANY
SportVot is a multisport OTT platform aiming to revolutionise sports broadcasting. It brings lower-tier matches and grassroots sports to viewers, showcasing emerging athletes in action. The platform also helps sports bodies and tournament organisers broadcast their games to the world using premium features such as attractive scoring graphics, detail scoring for 10+ sports, multiple-camera angle streaming, remote commentary, and monetization through viewership and advertisements.
The SportVot Cloud Studio is a cloud-based solution that leverages cloud technology and smartphones to cater to sports organisations of all sizes. It enables hassle-free broadcasting without the need for specific hardware. This means that even small sports organisations and community sports teams can now broadcast their games to a wider audience , leading to a wider visibility for the aspiring athletes.
BACKBONE(s) OF THE COMPANY
Sidhhant Agarwal is the CEO of SportVot and has over 10 years of experience building software and technology products. He has worked with companies such as Oracle and Cashcare in the past and has been the founding member for a number of startups. At SportVot, Sidhhant oversees business, partnerships, and tech/product development.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidhhant-agarwal-4b14821a/
Yash Bhagwatkar is the COO of SportVot and has 5 years of operational experience, with 2 years of corporate operations at Accenture. He has spearheaded the sports operational network of broadcasters, content creators, sports talent, and data collectors in Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi. Yash handles operations at scale across India and internationally as well.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yash-bhagwatkar-3608119b/
Shubhangi Gupta is the CMO Digital Marketing and Branding executive with around 7 years of experience. She has developed around 40+ brands including some marquee brands. She also had 2 other startups in the past. One is named EthKnits, a handicraft online boutique, and Nite Owls, a small Digital Marketing agency specialising in startups. Shubhangi Gupta is responsible for Marketing, Content creation and Content Monetisation.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gupta-shubhangi/
ABOUT CLIENTS
SportVot has partnered with over 50 sports associations, clubs, tournament organisers, and 18+ brands across India. Some of the key partnerships for the company have been with the Maharashtra State Kabaddi Association, the Nashik District Cricket Association, Delhi Football Association, Rajasthan United FC, Mumbai Football Association, The Naval Tata Hockey Academy, Barca Academy in Delhi, the Brahmaputra Volleyball League from Assam, along with some international clients including Kho Kho England, AFL Asia, AFL Europe, and some marquee AI-driven camera broadcasting companies.
The sports-tech startup has also partnered with some key brands such as Muscleblaze, Oziva, FrontRow, Red Bull, and Decathlon, helping them penetrate the grassroots sports market.
UNIQUENESS ABOUT SPORTVOT
The platform enables local level, domestic tournament organisers and sports bodies to digitise and live-stream their games, helping the athletes get the visibility that they deserve. While the live streaming of these local matches helps athletes reach out to the scouts and selection committee, it also helps them to create a community of their own as the fans of the sport are aware of the upcoming talent and support this upcoming talent on SportVot. They also maintain digital profiles of every player helping the scouts discover talent based on pure data and create a transparent talent discovery pathway.
SportVot is also a great platform for fans as it provides access to a wide range of sports and matches that may not have been previously available to them. The platform’s user-friendly interface and intuitive design make it easy for fans to find and watch the matches they’re interested in.
Additionally, the SportVot cloud technology is developed with a vision that accommodates all the features of a professional level broadcast taking place at the International level. For example, it provides automated advertisement cues for video ads, banner ads as well as interactive animated ads, thus, helping the sports organizations/ associations commercialize their games with ease and introduce brands to the expanding domestic sports community.
MILESTONES OF THE COMPANY
SportVot is planning to expand its operations to reach new regions and sports in India. This could help to increase the visibility and opportunities for athletes in a wider range of sports, which could be beneficial for the development of sports in India. By reaching untapped regions and sports, SportVot may be able to identify and support emerging talent that may not have had the opportunity to be discovered otherwise. This could also help to promote diversity in sports and provide more opportunities for athletes from different backgrounds and regions to participate and succeed. To date in 4 years, SportVot has covered 40k+ games, profiled 200,000+ players, Gained 100M+ in viewership.
CHALLENGES FACED DURING PANDEMIC
SportVot was able to adapt and find ways to continue operating during the pandemic, despite the challenges posed by the restrictions on sports activities. By using the time to develop their technology and introduce new features on the app, they were able to stay engaged with their community and continue to build their brand. Conducting online challenges, collaborations with Kabaddi players, and online sessions SportVot found effective ways to keep users engaged and active on the platform.
POSITIVE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGIES AND TRENDS
SportVot is focused on capturing all games at the domestic level, providing a personalised and interactive experience for sports enthusiasts. The SportVot app offers features such as the live-chat feature that allows for real-time engagement and fosters a sense of community, while the Voter Choice feature gives fans a way to support their favourite athletes. The Moments feature allows fans to capture and share their favourite moments from matches, while the shareable player cards offer comprehensive player data for fans to access and share.
SportVot is helping to drive the growth of sports technology in India by providing easy access to digitising and live-streaming games. This is likely to have a positive impact on the sports landscape by making it easier for amateur and local players to enter into the mainstream of professional or semi-professional sports circuit. Additionally, the growing demand for data-driven insights suggests that there is a need for more data-centric approaches to sports analysis. It’s good to hear that SportVot recognizes this need and is prepared to provide players with valuable data to help them improve their performance.
CHALLENGES AND IMPORTANT DECISIONS OF SPORTVOT
SportVot faced a number of challenges in educating their audience about live sports broadcasting, particularly around the cost and technical requirements involved. However, it’s great to hear that the team is continuously working on improving their tech product to make it easier and more cost-effective to broadcast live sports. The fact that SportVot’s tech allows for the capture of footage from multiple cameras, the addition of scoring graphics, advertisements, while automatically creating digital player profiles with in-depth player data and statistics, and the auto-generation of highlights in real-time, is impressive and offers a lot of value to sports organisations, players as well as the fans. It will be interesting to see how SportVot continues to develop and improve their technology in the future.
It’s a positive sign that all the Co-Founders at SportVot are involved in all key decisions that drive the company’s growth and success. It has been a constant effort from them to be actively engaged in the decision-making process and involve their team in discussions when appropriate. Scaling and expanding into new geographies, forging partnerships with industry leaders, and building a thriving grassroots community are all important goals for any sports technology company, and it is important to have a clear and collaborative approach in order to achieve them.
STRATEGIES AND FUTURE ENDEAVOURS
The co-founders have been very focused on building strategic partnerships with sports bodies, which is a smart move for a sports technology company. By working with these organisations, they have been able to educate and develop the vision for digitization at the grassroots level, and build a strong foundation for the business. Additionally, by connecting with brands and showing them the potential to invest in domestic sports, the startup has been able to drive growth and innovation in the sports industry. Companies like SportVot collaborating with prominent industry leaders on an international level is an effective strategy to capture a larger market share and expand the company’s reach.
As far as new tech-developments are concerned, the team is working on some exciting developments including the launch of a premium feature called the Graphics Editor, which will allow sports organisers and associations to customise their scoring graphics with ease. Additionally, it’s focusing on enhancing their remote production capabilities, which is a critical component of live sports broadcasting.
In terms of talent discovery, the platform has been successful in identifying talented athletes in various geographic areas across multiple as Cricket, Kabaddi, and Football in Maharashtra and Delhi. There are players who are already getting scouted at marquee leagues and teams via SportVot’s extensive content and data capturing at the domestic level. Their vision of expanding their reach to encompass a broader range of geographical areas and athletic disciplines is ambitious, but it’s definitely achievable with the team’s expertise and experience.
ADVICE TO THE READERS
The sports industry is definitely evolving rapidly, and new technologies are playing a major role in this evolution. The availability of a large pool of talent at the grassroots level and the growing sports-loving audience are also driving this evolution.The past 4 years have seen some amazing numbers in the domestic sports ecosystem, and this trend is likely to continue. As more industries and businesses recognize the potential for growth in the sports industry, one can expect to see even more innovation and development in this space.
