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A tech company setting up shop in Fort Worth-Dallas believes its innovation could play a major role in the booming U.S. youth and amateur sports industries.
Rematch, a sports video platform founded in France, is launching a U.S. app allowing users to capture, create, and share highlights instantly through AI-powered tools and technology.
The U.S. branch is based in Dallas-Fort Worth. Its CEO is Hanna Howard, who as a former TCU women’s assistant basketball coach is well-versed in the landscape of amateur sports. (Yes, it is true that in just the few short years Howard has been out of college basketball, collegiate sports have morphed into an amateur-professional hybrid.)
The company has other Texas connections, including majority owner Intervalle Capital, an Austin-based private equity firm.
Rematch has become the leading sports video platform in France with eye-popping metrics, including more than 30 million monthly views from a community of more than 600,000 users and followers.
That’s the kind of market traction that has executives enthusiastic about the American market, beginning in Fort Worth and Dallas.
“We happen to be located in one of the best sports markets in the country. My philosophy is let's work out the kinks here in the DFW market. Let's make sure that we're really positioning ourselves in the U.S. market,” Howard said. “Our strategies need to be different from the French market. Our sports markets are different. Our target audience is different.
“We're going to define the business here in this market so that when I feel like I've got a really strong grasp on what we're doing and what we're offering, it makes it much more scalable to activate other markets.”
Rematch was founded by Pierre Husson and a group of friends.
Husson, whom Howard described as a successful mid-level athlete at the semi-pro level, often struggled to find video content from his games and leagues.
“Sure, there’s the tactical camera that coaches use, but none of that really engaging content he knew was out there,” Howard said.
Recognizing that gap in the market, Husson, his friends, and an uncle began tossing around the idea of a highlight platform.
They ultimately agreed, Howard recalled: “We believe in the idea. Let’s create it.”
The platform’s edge is proprietary “auto-rewind” technology, which allows users to record highlights after they happen. Users can track action and hit record after a made basketball or goal. The technology will rewind 10 seconds and capture the moment. Those are banked and can be compiled for use in a text or social media post. Moments captured also live in the Rematch gallery. (And it’s easy to use. I can use it, so … .)
There is also an opportunity for teams to create sponsorship partnerships for use on the app.
The app is free. Howard said it is gaining momentum with more than 2,300 new users in May, the company’s best month since launching in January with basketball and soccer.
The launch of a premium app is close, Howard said. It will capture video in 4K and an AI enabled voice filter feature will remove unwanted conversations near the device, but it will maintain the environment audio of the cheers and game action.
Video rights fees in the U.S. are unique. Broadcast companies pay huge sums to professional sports leagues, college conferences, or teams in exchange for exclusive rights air games or highlights on television or digital platforms.
Rematch has secured partnerships with major European sports organizations and national federations for basketball, hockey, rugby, soccer, and volleyball in France. Nike also took notice of what was happening in La Belle France. The shoe and apparel giant, an exclusive partner in the French Football Federation, is an exclusive sponsor of all Rematch content.
Rematch US has recently partnered with the Denton Diablos semi-professional soccer club to capture in-game highlights and fan featured highlights of the game as a social media campaign, Howard reported recently. The company is also piloting a program with Major League Rugby to capture in-game highlights during the Houston SaberCats' final match.
“Rugby is the next sport that we'll be launching on Rematch and we're planning an onsite activation at the MLR Championship in Rhode Island at the end of June,” she said.
The youth sports industry in the U.S. is Permian Basin-type stuff, with vast reserves and high economic potential. The youth sports industry was valued at $42.4 billion, according to WinterGreen Research. More than 45 million children participate in organized sports annually in the U.S., according to Aspen Institute.
“I've had conversations with a gentleman who's on the Texas TaeKwonDo board, and he said there is nothing in the martial arts space for visibility of the sport,” Howard said. “He said that parents are craving something like this for their kids and for their sports.
Howard previously was the COO of Fort Worth-based Valor, a specialty asset management company with expertise in providing mineral management and oil and gas outsourcing. A former basketball player at the University of Portland, she had assistant coaching stints at University of California at San Diego, Utah State, and Fresno State before rising to associate head coach for the TCU women’s basketball team.
Today, she is in a different industry but still building teams and programs.