i3 - September/October 2018 - 8

Tech

By Cindy Loffler Stevens

Angela Ruggiero
Leading the Sports
Innovation Lab

ports Innovation Lab CEO Angela Ruggiero is focused on the convergence of sports and technology. The Boston-based company she
co-founded with Joshua Walker in 2016 features an intelligent,
machine learning-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that
processes massive quantities of data on sports technology to deliver
actionable insights.
Ruggiero knows the sports world from the inside, with an impressive
resume of achievements. A graduate of the Harvard Business School (MBA), Harvard
College (BA), and the University of Minnesota (M.Ed.), she is also a four-time
Olympian in ice hockey, winning a gold medal in 1998, silver medals in 2002 and 2010
and a bronze medal in
2006. She was inducted
into the Hockey Hall of
Fame in 2015, was an
International Olympic
Committee executive board
member and the IOC athlete's commission chair and
chief strategy officer for the
Los Angeles 2028 Olympic
Bid Committee.
The Sports Innovation
Lab includes clients such as
Intel, Gatorade, Octagon,
the NBA and the Canadian
Olympic Committee.
Angela spoke with i3 about
how data is powering the
future of sports.

Q Why did you create the Sports
Innovation Lab?
A What would the world look like without
sports? I believe we are at a critical turning point in the world of sports. Organized
sports are more expensive than ever before
and major leagues like the NFL and women's
NCAA basketball have seen viewership or
attendance decline in recent years. At the
grassroots level, the number of kids playing
sports in the U.S. is decreasing.
These trends are a major wakeup call for
the sports industry to embrace technology.
It's a matter of survival, as well as opportunity.
We've seen this disruption story completely
rock other industries, ranging from music to
retail to restaurants. Could sports be next? Or,
could sports thrive because of technology?
Over the last eight years as a board member on the International Olympic Committee,
I realized that unlocking the potential of
technology in sports was the way the sports
industry could stay relevant and inspire the
next generation of children and fans.
However, today, sports business leaders
are tasked with evaluating new technologies
with little to no objective sources. As the chief
strategy officer for the 2028 Los Angeles
Olympic bid, I had to conceptualize the most
innovative games ever for the International
Olympic Committee. Unfortunately, there
was no one to provide reputable data or
analysis on technology and the way sports
would be created, consumed or played in
the future. On the other side of the equation,
tech companies don't always have the insider
access they need to reach decision-makers
in the walled garden of the sports world.
Because of this disconnect, I saw a huge
opportunity to help the industry that changed
my life. Our co-founder comes from the tech
and analyst world, and so we set out to create
the first trusted, objective voice for the sports
technology sector.
Q How did your Olympic experiences
prepare you for your role as CEO?

I realized that unlocking the potential
of technology in sports was the way
the sports industry
.
could stay
relevant and inspire the next
generation of children and fans.

A In many ways, my entire journey has battle
tested me to become a CEO. But being
a part of a gold medal-winning Olympic
hockey team was the ultimate lesson in
leadership. Not only were we competing
against the world's most elite teams, but as
Olympians, what we stood for as a team was
much larger than hockey alone.
I realized over four Olympics that when
a team defines a goal, comes together to

I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Photography by Jamel Toppin. Hair & Make-up by Ana Siqueira/Kate Ryan, Inc.

I N N OVATO R

https://www.sportsilab.com/ https://www.sportsilab.com/

i3 - September/October 2018

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