2026 Sports Business Awards: Tech Winners Unveiled
What Does a Sports Tech Advisor Actually Do?
The term "advisor" gets thrown around loosely in the sports technology world. But there's a significant difference between someone with a title and someone who opens doors, challenges your thinking, and holds you accountable to outcomes. Here's how to tell them apart — and what the right sports tech advisor actually delivers.
From RFP to Relationship in Hours, Not Months
Case Study
Sports Tech Atlanta MatchMaker
From RFP to
Relationship in Hours,
Not Months
How the Sports Tech Atlanta MatchMaker platform eliminated the noise between sports organizations with real technology needs and the startups built to solve them.
~72hrs
Average time from submission to qualified match
0
Cold outreach required from either party
100%
Warm introductions with full context both ways
The Problem
Sports organizations — leagues, teams, and brands — consistently struggle to find the right technology partners. The process is slow, expensive, and relationship-dependent in all the wrong ways. A league issues an RFP and gets buried in irrelevant responses. A startup with the perfect solution never hears about the opportunity.
On the other side, sports technology founders spend enormous time and money on outreach — attending conferences, cold emailing sponsorship contacts, and pitching to gatekeepers who can't make decisions. Even when the right company exists, the right connection rarely happens.
The old way — what wasn't working
- Organizations relying on personal networks, missing better solutions
- Startups spending months chasing unqualified contacts
- RFPs going unanswered or attracting poor-fit responses
- No structured process for vetting or connecting parties
- Deal timelines measured in quarters, not weeks
What the MatchMaker changes
- Organizations post needs once; qualified matches surface automatically
- Startups enter profile once; relevant opportunities find them
- AI matches on capabilities, verticals, and stage fit
- Both parties receive full context before the first conversation
- Introduction to vetting begins within days
The MatchMaker: How It Works
Sports Tech Atlanta built the MatchMaker as a proprietary AI tool and service — an always-on matching engine that lives at matchsportstech.com. It operates as a two-sided marketplace with a human layer of expertise from the STA team ensuring every match is qualified before it's made.
01
Organization posts a project or RFP
Leagues, teams, and brands upload their technology needs — whether it's fan engagement tooling, data analytics infrastructure, athlete health monitoring, or sponsorship activation. They define the scope, timeline, and criteria for what a successful solution looks like.
02
Technology companies input their profile
Sports tech startups and vendors submit their capabilities, verticals served, company stage, and past work. No pitch deck required at this stage — the MatchMaker uses this data to identify alignment with live RFPs and projects.
03
AI identifies the match
The platform analyzes both sides — organization needs against company capabilities — and surfaces qualified matches. The STA team reviews flagged connections to add context and ensure fit before any introduction is made.
04
Both parties receive a connecting email
When a match is confirmed, the MatchMaker sends a warm introductory email to both parties with all pertinent information — who the other party is, what the project entails, and why the match was made. From there, both sides connect directly to begin the vetting process on their own terms.
"The sports technology market moves fast. Leagues and brands can't wait six months for a vendor search, and founders can't afford to spend half their runway on events and cold outreach. The MatchMaker closes that gap — connecting the right people at the right time, with full context."
— Sterling Mack, Founder, Sports Tech AtlantaWho Uses the MatchMaker
The MatchMaker serves every corner of the sports tech ecosystem, with a particular focus on the organizations and companies that move fast and need qualified connections quickly.
Organizations that post projects
- Professional and semi-professional sports leagues (including NWSL and emerging league partners)
- Sports teams evaluating new technology for operations, fan experience, or athlete performance
- Brands seeking sports tech partnerships for sponsorship activation or data-driven marketing
- Sports properties entering new markets who need vetted technology stacks quickly
Companies that submit profiles
- Sports tech startups at Series Seed through Series B seeking their first major league or team client
- AI, VR, analytics, fan engagement, and women's sports technology companies
- Established vendors expanding into new verticals or geographies
- Companies that have the product but lack the relationships to get in the right rooms
The Results
The MatchMaker changes the economics of both sides of the sports tech market. For organizations, it replaces the expensive, slow, relationship-dependent vendor search with an always-on pipeline of qualified solutions. For startups, it replaces the unpredictable hustle of conference networking and cold outreach with qualified, warm introductions to decision-makers who already have a need.
Critically, the MatchMaker operates as a layer on top of the STA network — which means every match is backed by real relationships, not just algorithm output. When a connecting email arrives, both parties know it's been reviewed by a team with active relationships in NWSL, elite VC funds, and across the global sports technology ecosystem.
Key outcomes for technology companies
- First qualified introduction in days, not months — without cold outreach
- Context-rich warm introduction means faster first meetings and higher close rates
- Access to RFPs that are never publicly posted — organizations share exclusively through STA
- No conference fees, travel costs, or gatekeepers standing between you and the decision-maker
Key outcomes for leagues and organizations
- Qualified solutions surface automatically — no more burying staff in inbound cold pitches
- Every company introduced has been vetted through the STA network for fit and credibility
- Reduce vendor search time from quarters to weeks
- Access to emerging sports tech companies before they're on everyone's radar
MatchMaker + STA Advisory: Stronger Together
The MatchMaker is most powerful when combined with a Sports Tech Atlanta retainer engagement. STA advisory clients receive priority positioning in the MatchMaker — their profiles are actively surfaced to relevant RFPs, and the STA team advocates for the match from within the network.
For leagues and organizations on advisory retainer, the MatchMaker becomes a continuous sourcing engine — proactively identifying and introducing technology companies as new needs arise, rather than running a separate vendor search each time.
Get matched. Skip the cold outreach.
Submit your profile or post a project at matchsportstech.com — or reach out to explore an STA advisory engagement that includes MatchMaker priority access.
Athletes Don't Just Compete at Athlos ...They Own It
Alexis Ohanian's women's track league is rewriting the rules of professional sports with a bold new equity model.
When Alexis Ohanian launched Athlos in 2024, he wasn't just building another track meet. He was placing a bet that women's track and field — the most-watched sport at the Olympics — deserved a permanent, thriving stage of its own. Now, heading into 2026, that bet is getting bolder: Athlos winners won't just take home prize money. They'll earn a stake in the league itself.
@stemack on twitter breaking down Athlos
CBS Mornings exclusively broke the news that Athlos competitors will receive equity in the league at this year's event — a first-of-its-kind move in professional track and field. And the prize pool they're competing for? The largest in league history at more than $2.1 million across seven events.
More Than a Payday
The equity announcement builds on a philosophy Ohanian has championed since Athlos's founding: athletes should share in the long-term value of the sport they're building.
"We want to give athletes real equity, real participation, in the upside," Ohanian has said. "It wasn't just a feature — it was the foundation of what we're building."
This isn't just talk. Athlos has already brought on three superstar athlete-owners — Sha'Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, and Tara Davis-Woodhall — as stakeholders in the league. These aren't honorary titles. These athletes help shape the future of the organization, giving them a seat at the table that has been historically reserved for investors and executives, not competitors.
Now, the equity model is expanding. Eligible competing athletes will receive ownership stakes in Athlos, meaning every woman who lines up at the start line in 2026 has a reason to care about the league's success long after the finish line.
Taking Inspiration from Unrivaled
Ohanian has been open about the model that inspired him: Unrivaled, the women's basketball league that made headlines for giving its players equity from day one. "We take a lot of inspiration from our friends over at Unrivaled," he said, noting that the same logic applies to track — the athletes are the product, so they should own a piece of it.
The comparison to Formula 1 also comes up often in Ohanian's vision. He's spoken of building team rivalries that fans can rally around the way they do with Mercedes versus Ferrari. For 2026, Athlos is rolling out a full team-based league format, with Davis-Woodhall, Richardson, and Thomas serving as the founding owner-athletes of their respective squads.
A League That's Actually Working
The equity news comes at a moment when Athlos's momentum is undeniable — and stands in sharp contrast to some struggles elsewhere in the track world.
In just its second year, Athlos earned a World Athletics Gold Label, a prestigious recognition that typically takes events years to achieve. The 2025 event sold out Icahn Stadium in New York with 5,000 fans, drew over 3 million viewers, and tripled commercial revenue year-over-year. Blue-chip sponsors like Tiffany & Co., Toyota, Cash App, and Brooks Running have signed on, with Ion Television joining as a multiyear domestic broadcast partner.
Athletes are already being paid better than almost anywhere else in the sport. Athlos race winners take home $60,000 immediately — comparable to or exceeding what Diamond League finalists earn — plus a $25,000 Tiffany & Co. crown for championship winners. With the cumulative points format across both cities in 2026, a dominant athlete can earn up to $115,000 in a single season.
Why It Matters
Women's track and field has a familiarity problem. Its athletes are household names every four years during the Olympics, then largely disappear from the mainstream conversation. Athlos was built to solve that — by creating a high-profile, culturally resonant event with music, celebrity, and elite competition that gives fans a reason to show up outside of an Olympic year.
The equity model deepens that mission. It signals that this isn't a charity project or a publicity stunt — it's a business that the athletes themselves believe in enough to hold a stake in. When Sha'Carri Richardson or Tara Davis-Woodhall shows up at an Athlos event, they're not just performing. They're protecting their investment.
"I love track and field so much, and I think it deserves all the hype of any other professional sports league out there," Davis-Woodhall has said. "ATHLOS has been able to set that stage for women and for track and field, and I just wanted to take control. I want to see my sport grow."
In professional sports, ownership has always been the ultimate form of buy-in. At Athlos, it's becoming standard.
Athlos returns to New York City in 2026 for a two-city championship series featuring seven events. For tickets and updates, visit athlos.com.
1:1 Consulting
$150.00
Work with one of the Sports Tech Atlanta advisors and consultants on GTM, investor relations, pitch ideas, and much more.
Atlanta is the Nation's #1 Sports Business City
Sports Business · May 18, 2026
Atlanta Is the Nation's #1 Sports Business City — and the World Cup Is Just the Beginning
From Mercedes-Benz Stadium to a booming sports-tech scene, the ATL is redefining what it means to be a sports city.
#1
Best Sports Business City in America — Sports Business Journal 2026
Atlanta has officially claimed the top spot. Sports Business Journal has ranked Atlanta the best sports business city in the entire country, edging out New York City, Indianapolis, and every other major market in its annual evaluation of nearly 120 sports industry executives. And honestly? Anyone paying attention saw this coming.
The publication evaluated U.S. markets on business opportunity, economic conditions, and executive feedback — and Atlanta's combination of world-class venues, powerhouse franchises, a surging soccer culture, and a thriving corporate ecosystem put it in a league of its own.
"This recognition is really a reflection of the incredible collaboration that exists across Atlanta's sports, business, civic, and hospitality communities."
— Dan Corso, President, Atlanta Sports CouncilA city built for big moments
The timing of this recognition is no accident. Atlanta is in the middle of an extraordinary stretch of major events. The city hosted the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship and the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, and it has a date with destiny in 2028 when it hosts Super Bowl LXII. But the most immediate milestone? Eight matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup — including a semifinal — at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this summer.
The newly opened Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Fayetteville, cited by the journal as a landmark investment, underscores just how seriously Atlanta is betting on the global game. A decade ago, soccer was a footnote in the ATL. Today, it's a cornerstone.
Atlanta's professional sports portfolio only strengthens the case: the Falcons, Braves, Hawks, Dream, and Atlanta United FC already form a full-court press on the sports calendar. An NWSL expansion team set to debut in 2028 will add yet another franchise to one of sport's most exciting emerging markets.
The top 10
1 Atlanta
2 New York City
3 Indianapolis
4 Charlotte
5 Minneapolis–St. Paul
6 Los Angeles
7 Las Vegas
8 Phoenix
9 Kansas City
10 Miami
Sports Tech Atlanta
Where Sports Business Meets Innovation
Atlanta's ascent to #1 isn't just about stadiums and Super Bowls — it's about the ecosystem quietly powering the future of sport. Sports Tech Atlanta, led by Sterling Mack, sits at the heart of that story. As one of the Southeast's leading voices connecting sports organizations with emerging technology, Sterling and Sports Tech Atlanta have been instrumental in building the bridges between Atlanta's sports franchises, Fortune 500 corporate partners, and the startups rewriting the rulebook on fan engagement, athlete performance, and sports media. In a city now officially crowned the nation's top sports business market, Sports Tech Atlanta represents the forward edge — the part of Atlanta's sports identity that doesn't just host the big game, but builds what comes next. As the World Cup arrives and a new era begins, the innovation community here is ready to show the world what the ATL is really made of.
The bottom line: Atlanta isn't just hosting world-class events — it's shaping the business of sport at every level. From boardrooms in Buckhead to pitch sides at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the city has built something rare: an ecosystem where ambition, infrastructure, and community actually align. The #1 ranking is well-earned. The best, though, may still be ahead.