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    Op-Ed                                                                     JULY 03, 2026    |  The Indian Eye 12

                             Inside the U.S. Sports-

                       Tech Ecosystem Turning

              Innovation into Opportunity

                Discover how the U.S. sports-tech ecosystem turns start-up innovation into commercial

                                     opportunities, strategic partnerships, and business growth.

            CHARVI ARORA, SPAN MAGAZINE,
            U.S. Embassy New Delhi

                  ehind every  faster sprint,
                  safer recovery, and smarter
            Bgame-day decision is a grow-
            ing network of technologies that is
            reshaping the sports industry. Yet
            technology alone does not explain
            why the United States has become a
            leading market for sports innovation.
                According to David Steele, di-
            rector of  Plug and Play Tech Cen-
            ter  ’s  Sportstech  vertical in Frisco,
            Texas, the country’s advantage lies
            in the connections it has built among
            teams, start-ups, healthcare providers,
            investors, and  global  brands.  Those
            relationships help  new ideas  move
            from testing and pilot programs to
            commercial products and businesses.
                Under the U.S. State Depart-
            ment’s  Speaker Program, Steele re-
            cently visited Delhi, Chandigarh, and
            Mumbai to discuss how sports-tech
            ecosystems create opportunities for   The U.S. sports-tech ecosystem creates opportunities for companies to develop products for athletes at different levels of participation and
            innovation, investment, and growth.                                competition. (Photograph courtesy David Steele)
            His message was that the strength of
            the U.S. model comes not from any
            single technology, but from the scale   ties for companies to  develop prod-  development.            marketplace.
            of its market and the partnerships   ucts for athletes at different levels of   Steele also points to efforts   At Plug and Play, that process be-
            that help innovations reach users.   participation and competition. Some   by organizations such  as  U.S. Soc-  gins by  identifying  challenges faced
                                              companies begin with elite athletes   cer  to identify and develop athletes   by teams, brands, and other organi-
              Market scale as a catalyst for   and adapt technologies for broader   earlier in their careers through tools   zations. Drawing on its network of
                    sports innovation         markets. Others start at the grass-  such  as  field  cameras  and  perfor-  70 offices worldwide, Plug and Play
                For Steele, one of the biggest   roots level and scale upward.   mance data collected during practic-  connects organizations with start-ups
            strengths of the U.S. sports-tech eco-  The result is a large testing envi-  es, games, and post-game analysis.    working on relevant solutions.
            system is the sheer size of the market.  ronment where technologies can be   These systems allow organiza-  Steele says the process in-
               “When you look at the U.S. mar-  refined  across  multiple  sports  and   tions to evaluate athletes at a much   volves  identifying  specific  challeng-
            ket as a whole, the size and the scope   levels of competition.     larger scale than traditional scouting   es, evaluating potential solutions
            of it is massive,” he notes. “When you   Technologies  such  as  artificial   methods.                through a structured review process,
            look at everything from youth sports,  intelligence (AI) are helping sports                           and connecting selected companies
            which we consider grassroots sports in-  organizations take advantage of that   Corporate partnerships and   with organizations for pilot projects.
            volving 30 to 40 million kids, all the way   scale. Teams, coaches, and governing   commercialization strategies   Successful pilots can  validate  tech-
            up to our professional, high-level elite   bodies increasingly use AI-enabled   While scale creates  opportu-  nologies, opening the door to com-
            athletes, that is a tremendous span.”  systems to  identify  talent, analyze   nities, Steele says partnerships are   mercialization,  investment,  and
                That breadth creates opportuni-  performance, and support athlete   what help technologies move into the   Continued on next page... >>

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