EuroLeague teams up with Israeli startup to power PoV content from the players themselves
MindFly will fit AI-powered bodycams on EuroLeague players to enable fans to watch, hear, and experience everything they do on the court
The EuroLeaague, Europe’s top tier league for Professional basketball, and Israeli startup MindFly are embarking on an agreement to make sports broadcasting history, as players in the upcoming season will all be fitted with a MindFly AI-powered bodycam during games. For the first time, fans will be able to watch, hear, and experience everything their favorite player does while on the court.
Kicking the season off, two-to-three players will be wearing the bodycams during matches. Using this footage, MindFly’s cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) system will create First-Person Point of View (FPV) highlights for Euroleague social channels. Euroleague is planning to convert this content into non-fungible tokens (NFT), which it will be sold to Euroleague fans.
The solution is offered for every sport and from any court, without any need for additional crew or infrastructure.
“MindFly’s FPV solution will transport fans right into the court during matches and training sessions and deepen the relationships between fans, players, clubs and leagues”, says Alex Ferrer, Euroleague’s Senior Director, Marketing and Communication. “We’re proud to to offer such a stupendous innovation to our fans”, he added.
“Finally, we’ve found an AI First Person Point of View solution that’s 100% safe, 100% wearable and 100% invisible,” says Marc Bertomeu, EuroLeague Innovation Manager, quoting feedback from professional players across several teams in the Euroleague, that have trialled MindFly’s solution since October 2021.
“Our message to the clubs and players is ‘you wear the vest, we do the rest’” says Eran Tal, MindFly co-founder and CEO.
“We are currently in advanced negotiations to sign agreements with several clubs and top football leagues in Europe and with several major broadcasters. We will extend our partnerships globally in the coming year, focusing on clubs, leagues, and top broadcasters in Europe and the US.”
MindFly recently signed a similar agreement with Bayern Munich Basketball club, where the club's players will wear the bodycams during training sessions. The behind-the-scenes content will be used on its social platforms and later possibly sold as NFT.
Founded in early 2021 by Tal (CEO) and Yehuda Elmaliach (CTO), MindFly has eight employees based in both Tel Aviv and Barcelona, has secured $1.7 million in seed funding.