Calling DIBZ On Los Angeles
Last week, our founder and CEO, Brennon D'Souza called DIBZ on Los Angeles.
We journeyed west to Southern California to participate in the inaugural L.A. Sports Innovation Conference, an annual meeting of business leaders to discuss emerging trends and cutting-edge innovations that shape the sports industry.
"The LA Sports Council was born in L.A. after the Olympic movement here in '84," explained David Siegel , President and CEO of the council. "It celebrates the innovation that goes on in the boardroom and the amazing dynamic things that organizations and companies and individuals and athletes are doing in this market," he said.
Here are a few high-level learnings we have taken away from this conference that will be part of our product thinking and the relationships we forge with teams and stadiums in the coming weeks!
???? Sharing Canada With Southern California
We were honored to be part of the conference. Thanks to the LA Sports Council and the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles | Consulat général du Canada à Los Angeles for having us along with an opportunity to network, workshop, and share insights with fellow Canadian startups innerlogic , BenchBoss.ai , minti labs , Parados , Podium Team , and Armilla Tech .
???? An Olympic Feat
The Los Angeles Sports Council commissioned the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation to complete a report on how the sports industry has been impacting the community annually. This is a unique collaboration, and the findings in the report will help guide the sports industry in Los Angeles for years to come.
The Super Bowl was recently hosted in SoFi Stadium, and high-profile events like NASCAR 's Clash at the Coliseum are just a few of the tangible big-time sporting event successes we can see. Still, the data from this report will have a major impact leading up to the return of the summer games to LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Many Olympic bids pin themselves on the construction of brand-new venues. The LA28 Games promises to leverage existing facilities so that baseball and softball events can be held at Dodgers Stadium, swimming and diving happen at USC's Dedeaux Field, and the opening and closing ceremonies happen right where they did the last time Los Angeles hosted an Olympics -- at the Memorial Coliseum.
At the same time, L.A. has made tremendous strides in transportation infrastructure to ensure people can move from venue to venue. At DIBZ, we're excited to think about innovations for ticketing at stadiums and venues and tremendously excited to think about ways that we will be involved in the Olympics when they arrive in Southern California in 2028!
?? Los Angeles Sports Ecosystem Is Extensive
At an event like the L.A. Sports Innovation Conference, all the best and brightest minds come together under the same stadium roof. It's easy to forget how closely tied the industry is.
The Los Angeles market is collaborative and open to sharing ideas, this conference is a testament to that. Winning brings a desire for more winning, which is certainly true in the sports tech vertical.
Being on the ground this past week and touring venues around Greater Los Angeles sure hits home how many teams call this home.
We're avid sports fans, but it would be challenging to name every professional sporting team that calls the Los Angeles Basin home. For the record, they are:
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L.A. is a thriving and exciting mecca for all things sports. Their teams are winning championships, and it's exciting to see that current and former professional athletes are living, working, and investing here. The energy was palpable, and it was amazing to see how everyone was connected with a shared passion for investing in the future of sports.
?? Athlete Investors Are Making Moves
In addition to the top sports business minds, several retired professional athletes were in attendance, including baseball and basketball stars that played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The wave of current and former athletes genuinely interested in the sports tech landscape is a testament to the rise of the athlete investor representing some of the smartest and savviest minds in the business. After all, these players did the grind for years and have intellectual capital that startups like ours find valuable. Athletes consume tape and intel from their opponents to gain competitive advantages, and they have a mindset to see areas of the game that translate to opportunity.
"We're going to talk business and sports and talk about some of the ventures that we've taken on after our playing days now that we've been there and done that and help others," said Adrian Gonzalez, who played baseball for 19 years, including a 6-year stint with the Dodgers. "I had my time in baseball, and now it's be here and to be my best on the entrepreneurial side. Never stop moving forward; I think that would be the thing," he said.
I was invited to speak on one of the many panels I've been on this summer and really honored to speak in front of people," said former NBA star and current investor Metta World Peace .
Metta found a lot of value in the conference for all sorts of people involved in the future of sports, from CEOs and students to investors and entrepreneurs.
"It depends on who you are and where you are at in your life - obviously, if you're a CEO of a company, maybe you can partner; if you're coming up as a student, maybe we can say something that's going to inspire you. If you're an investor, maybe you want a meeting, you know?" Metta said.
?? The Talk Was Fan Experience
One of the consistent themes that were discussed in panels and conversations was fan experience.
We kept hearing about how important fan engagement and fan experience are to sports and the ways in which fans are turning out. There is a lot of thought happening right now in the industry as it relates to how the fan experience can be improved. We're going to continue to be front and center in that conversation!
?? SoFi Stadium Was Spectacular
Everyone at the conference was gawking at SoFi Stadium. The facilities are incredible, and innovative, and represent a future of how athletes and fans will come together in the pursuit of championships and lifelong sporting memories.
Oh, and speaking of championships, it sure was awesome to see the Vince Lombardi Trophy up close:
SoFi also represents the future of how we will think about stadiums -- it's a sporting complex that is a multi-use entertainment venue. Across the street, the NFL Network built out its West Coast headquarters. Stadiums are no longer a place to watch a team compete for a handful of events each year. Now, they're a campus of opportunities that brings fans, teams, and players together to engage and be entertained.
It was interesting to see how this SoFi campus is evolving, across the street, they were building the new home venue for the LA Clippers, and that will certainly be another impressive addition to this complex
?? How DIBZ Is Prepared To Solve These Challenges
Sports is never a one-size-fits-all approach. Different teams have different use cases. At DIBZ, we're nimble enough to understand and solve the team's pain points.
Being down at the innovation conference this last week helped us forge important relationships and build a good understanding of what works and what doesn't. Regardless of the challenges, the common thread is the same: We have unused, unsold, and distressed tickets and we need to help engage with sports fans in the moment to offer them an experience that they'll never forget.