Open Innovation Drives the Sports Industry Faster, Farther, Higher: NineSigma Whitepaper Examines Key Drivers, Shares Outlook

CLEVELAND, Aug. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- NineSigma, Inc., the leading innovation partner to organizations worldwide, today announced the publication of a sports business-related whitepaper, focused on new strategies driving higher levels of participation, and revenue growth within the sports industry.

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NineSigma CEO Andy Zynga said, "The world's universal passion for sports and a more competitive global market have raised the stakes for sports organizations. From global access to professional events to individual athletic performance, technological innovation is driving business strategies and delivering value across the industry."

Professional and amateur sports leagues, equipment manufacturers and others are using open innovation (OI) to create systems that push limits and boundaries. OI provides them with the tools and methods that empower them to go outside their own walls and their industries for new technologies or knowledge.

For example, the National Collegiate Athletic Association will use OI to help improve athlete safety and head health at the college level. John Parsons, Director of Sports Science for the NCAA states, "Open Innovation gives us the power to effectively address an issue that we simply couldn't impact on our own."

The whitepaper examines how OI is impacting three sports industry segments:

• Sports delivery services, or organizations that connect sports to participants and fans. They range from professional and amateur sports leagues like the NFL and NHL, to the Olympics, fitness clubs and golf courses.
• Sports products, which include everything from equipment and apparel to satellite television — any manufactured goods and technology that athletes or participants use to experience sports. Basketball shoes are a prime example of a product that is shaped by OI. Nike, for instance, turned to NASA technology for their "Elite" series of shoes.
• Sports Requirements include products and services necessary to produce and enhance sports, from medicine to to education. They're also used to measure what fans and athletes care about. The Emoto project, for example uncovered fans' emotions during the London Olympics by scanning Twitter. Understanding these emotions can factor into decisions about which athletes to trade and what to pay them.

"We see that those sports organizations that evolve their innovation strategies to embrace and apply the power of open innovation will be more likely to realize commercial success," added Mr. Zynga.

Click here to download NineSigma's whitepaper and learn more.

About NineSigma

NineSigma connects organizations with external innovation resources to accelerate innovation in private, public and social sectors. The company provides open innovation services to organizations worldwide, including Kraft Foods, Philips, Siemens, and Unilever, to solve immediate challenges, integrate new knowledge, fill product pipelines, and stay ahead of the competition. Named to the 2012 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private U.S. companies, NineSigma's proprietary process has produced billions of dollars in value for its clients. NineSigma has the largest open global network of solution providers and an extensive database of existing solutions spanning numerous industries and technical disciplines. NineSigma's online innovation community, NineSights®, is the world's first open innovation social media destination, connecting innovators of all sizes with resources and relationships to drive growth. Learn more at www.ninesigma.com and www.ninesights.com. 

Media Contact: 
Jackie Lucas, Warner Communications — [email protected], (978) 255-1159

SOURCE NineSigma, Inc.