Accedo, Qualcomm and HBS form XR Sports Alliance

The three founding members are collaborating on this strategic alliance with the aim of bringing together market participants to bridge the sports and XR industry. It will draw on Accedo’s expertise in video user experience, distribution and monetisation, Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon-based XR technology, and HBS’ sports ecosystem.

The program aims to accelerate knowledge gathering, technological advancement and time-to-market for XR sports services, as well as gather and share industry knowledge.

Michael Lantz, CEO, Accedo, said: “We believe XR will become an important content distribution and user engagement platform and we want to connect industry stakeholders to collaborate and innovate. The alliance network will enable industries to uncover industry demand in different geographical regions and shine light on the pipeline of upcoming XR solutions, allowing sports rights owners and holders to make data-driven decisions.”

Patrick Costello, senior director, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, added: “We are entering a new era of spatial computing. We firmly believe that XR experiences will revolutionise how fans engage with sports and we are already seeing a rise in adoption of immersive entertainment experiences thanks to the emergence of new XR devices and increased investment by OEMs for sports content rights. The XR Sports Alliance, will bring together key players in the sports entertainment value-chain, collectively fostering the ecosystem to deliver game-changing immersive sports experiences.”

Sylvain Lebreton, head of digital services, HBS, commented: “This programme aims to be a game-changer for the sports industry, helping to drive innovation. We are engaging with industry leaders across every part of the XR and sports broadcast ecosystem, which we are sure will ultimately accelerate development and deployment of commercial XR sports services.”