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The Most Innovative Companies in Sports

By: Chuck SalterWed Feb 11, 2009 at 6:03 PM

  1. New England Sports Ventures: Like a five-tool talent, the Boston Red Sox are a multiple threat, making money on deals in Nascar, bull riding, golf, and, oh yeah, baseball.
  2. Nike: Channeling its notoriously competitive culture into designing products with a smaller environmental footprint, the Beaverton, Oregon, behemoth is winning the race to make toxin-free and made-to-be-recycled shoes.
  3. Andrews Sports Medicine: Another banner year for superstar sports surgeon Dr. James Andrews. The Yankees signed former patients C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett for a cool $245 million.
  4. ESPN: As penetration of high-def TVs approaches 25% of all U.S. households, ESPN has added three more HD channels. Total number of HD sports events last year: 1,100.
  5. Speedo: In winning eight gold medals, Michael Phelps did for the LZR Racer what MJ did for Air Jordans. The LZR racked up 48 of the 52 swimming records set in 2008.
  6. HOK Sport: The premier architectural team in sports unveiled the first LEED-certified stadium in the majors, for the Washington Nationals. On deck this spring: the Yankees' and Mets' new stadiums.
  7. NHL.com: The challenger brand of sports leagues is becoming quite the creative digital-media company. Free from other leagues' restrictions on video, NHL.com shows exclusive off-the-ice footage as well as every goal scored.
  8. AEG: It owns teams and arenas around the world, but its biggest move is the recent partnership with the NBA to build a dozen arenas in China, which will globalize the league like never before.
  9. Levy Restaurants: This Chicago restaurant company caters the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, tennis's U.S. Open, and every venue from Wrigley to Lambeau.
  10. Ultimate Fighting Championship: Higher ratings than Monday Night Football, sponsorship by Bud Light, and pay-per-view streaming over Yahoo -- UFC continues to take mixed martial arts mainstream.

 

 

Topics:

Innovation, Work/Life, HOK Sport, espn, nike, Speedo, Levy Restaurants, aeg, Andrews Sports Medicine, 2009 Fast 50, NHL.com, New England Sports Ventures, Ultimate Fighting Championship, ESPN Inc., Professional Baseball, AL East Division, American League (Baseball), Major League Baseball

February 2009

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Recent Comments | 14 Total

February 26, 2009 at 11:15am by Mark Slater

why not look at real innovation.

i would respectfully submit that our company would compete in this category. Our aim is to change the largest sports in the world through the application of a patented technology. find us at www.concave.com.

its a lofty goal (no pun intended) but hey - this is america!

February 26, 2009 at 5:25pm by Stefan Zorich

Interesting list. Not sure if this list includes companies outside of the US, however there is a Football (soccer) team in the UK that allows key decisions for the team (player signings, starting line-ups, etc) to be voted on by members who pay to join online. It's called myfootballclub.co.uk

February 26, 2009 at 5:26pm by Stefan Zorich

Interesting list. Not sure if this list includes companies outside of the US, however there is a Football (soccer) team in the UK that allows key decisions for the team (player signings, starting line-ups, etc) to be voted on by members who pay to join online. It's called myfootballclub.co.uk

February 26, 2009 at 5:26pm by Stefan Zorich

Interesting list. Not sure if this list includes companies outside of the US, however there is a Football (soccer) team in the UK that allows key decisions for the team (player signings, starting line-ups, etc) to be voted on by members who pay to join online. It's called myfootballclub.co.uk

March 3, 2009 at 4:58am by Bryan Roberts

Granted all the companies above are innovative but it is worth considering the catalyst such as university spin out companies developing platform technologies for the major brands to exploit. I would look at www.progressivesports.co.uk.

March 25, 2009 at 7:08am by Matthew Cain

I've written about my experience of joining as an idealistic enthusiast, becoming disillusioned and then finally drifting away. It was a brave experiment but poorly executed: http://blog.matthewcain.co.uk/myfootballclub-a-case-study-of-bad-consult...

March 25, 2009 at 7:08am by Matthew Cain

I've written about my experience of joining MyFootball Club as an idealistic enthusiast, becoming disillusioned and then finally drifting away.

It was a brave experiment but poorly executed: http://blog.matthewcain.co.uk/myfootballclub-a-case-study-of-bad-consult...

August 21, 2009 at 2:21pm by Sergio Mokko

Nike does a lot in the area of sport shoes. When I choose running shoes, I always buy Nike. By Sergio

August 23, 2009 at 10:03pm by nina nina

Nike never has good image to me because they outsource everything else except the marketing. I know it is innovative, but the disadvantages go to the workers. I agree a lot on Facebook and Google. Google deserve the position as the most innovative company. They started most things first, the competitors are just followers.free advertising |part time jobs |latex mattress

September 24, 2009 at 2:32am by Aaron Langston

I think Nike deserves to be at the top of that list honestly. The are involved in just about every aspect of sports.

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September 30, 2009 at 12:31pm by rebecca adams

Very interesting list. Is this based purely on innovative sports companies in America or all around the globe?
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October 7, 2009 at 10:08pm by Paul Gittings

I am resubmitting a comment to denounce the business practices of Levy Restaurants, while I worked for them they cheated me out of money I had coming from them which I earned!! While Levy Restaurants is voted as one of the most innovative sports companies, I feel it is off the backs of their workers, because there is so much theft at Levy sports venues, they compensate for all this theft by cheating their honest workers, I feel this is wrong!!

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