Page 13 - The Indian EYE 070326

Op-Ed JULY 03, 2026 | The Indian Eye 13

broader market adoption.
For sports organizations, many
of the technologies attracting invest-
ment focus on athlete health, perfor-
mance, and recovery.
These include innovations in
playing surfaces, protective equip-
ment, hydration systems, wearable
monitoring devices, and tools that
track performance during training
and competition.
Validating athlete health and
performance technologies
Partnerships with organizations
such as Gatorade Sports Science
and healthcare providers also help
companies develop and validate new
technologies.

“Working with brands like Ga-
torade Sports Science to un- David Steele is the director of Plug and Play Tech Center’s Sportstech vertical in Frisco, Texas, which helps connect sports organizations with

derstand how hydration and start-ups to test, validate, and commercialize new sports technologies. (Photograph courtesy David Steele)
recovery matter for athletes
and then working with health-
care systems like Baylor Scott

& White Health in Texas allows
us to understand if there is an
injury, what is the return-to-
play process, and what start-up

technologies are available to
help increase the likelihood of
a favorable return at a faster
timeline,” Steele explains.

For emerging companies, valida-
tion can be as important as innova-
tion. Steele notes that partnerships
with major sports organizations and
global brands help demonstrate that
technologies can perform in de-
manding, real-world environments.
That credibility can accelerate
adoption, attract investment, and David Steele interacts with the audience during a presentation on “U.S.-India SportsTech Exchange” at the U.S. Consulate General Mumbai.
help companies scale far more quick- (Photograph courtesy U.S. Consulate General Mumbai)
ly than they might through grassroots
growth alone. “Once you break that tunities for companies to test, refine, commercial reach. Steele believes the greatest opportu-
barrier of those Fortune 1000 or For- and expand solutions across different Athlete health is another area nities will come from building stron-
tune 500 companies, the scalability of levels of sport. with growing potential, particularly ger connections between innovators
a start-up technology grows tremen- “The biggest trends that I’m in regions with extreme heat. and the organizations that can help
dously,” he says. seeing right now are going to be AI Technologies and tools that ad- them scale.
generation, anything that drives fan dress heat-related challenges, in- The lesson from the U.S. sports-
Scaling opportunities for India’s engagement or player performance,” cluding dietary ingestibles, wear- tech ecosystem is not simply about
sports market he says. able devices, cooling materials, and adopting new technologies. It is
Steele believes the same factor In India, Steele sees those oppor- heat-illness monitoring systems, are about creating networks that con-
that has helped drive the U.S. sports- tunities intersecting with the coun- areas Steele predicts will see signifi- nect innovators with teams, health-
tech market—scale—also creates sig- try’s large and highly engaged sports cant traction. care providers, brands, and investors.
nificant opportunities for India. audience. He identifies cricket as a As sports organizations, start- Those partnerships help ideas move
Like the United States, India uniquely important opportunity for ups, and investors look for new ways from pilot projects to widespread
offers a large potential user base sports innovation in India because of to improve performance, engage adoption, turning innovation into
for new technologies, creating oppor- its scale, audience engagement, and fans, and support athlete health, commercial opportunities.

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