Israeli sports technology companies make pitch in US
A delegation organized by the Export Institute held meetings with US sports concerns.
With advanced technologies that include sensors for monitoring professional trainees and athletes, video systems for analyzing sports events in real time, and tools for tightening the connection between sports teams and their fans, 13 Israeli sports companies are trying to penetrate the US market, and to make deals potentially worth tens of millions of dollars. At the Rio Olympic Games, the main Israeli achievements, as of now at least, are in the comprehensive security arrangements using Israeli-made systems. The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute and the Economy Ministry hope that Israeli companies reach the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, the ministry’s commercial attaches in New York and San Francisco are trying to expose the Israeli sports products industry to a market with an annual turnover estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and to mediate deals.
In recent days, the Export Institute and the Economy Ministry have sponsored an initial visit by a delegation of Israeli sports goods companies to the US, where hundreds of meetings have been scheduled for their representatives with senior figures in the leading sports leagues, including the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB. These meetings also included a presentation of the leading systems and products to the heads of the teams in the leagues, investors in the various sectors, and the communications companies broadcasting the sports.
“The potential is huge,” Israel’s Economic Minister to North America Nili Shalev told Globes. “The Israeli companies have attracted a great deal of interest from US media groups and venture capital funds and angels involved in these sectors. Initial contacts have been made for follow-up action. One of our indices for the great interest in Israeli technologies is the large number of meetings that took place. People in the US do not like wasting time, and one of our indications for the great interest in the Israeli technologies is the great attention paid to them,” she said.