On June 16th, the Global Sports Venture Studio and the Verizon 5G Labs hosted Performance at the Speed of Sport. The event was the first to be produced at the new GSVS Verizon 5G Sports Center; a space developed in Los Angeles in partnership between Verizon and the Global Sports Venture Studio. At the new facility, located inside the Verizon 5G Lab in Playa Vista, we are working with studio partners and an array of innovative companies to identify, explore, and develop new 5G and MEC use cases across sports, including advanced data capture and analysis, next-gen fan viewing experiences, and enhancing the stadium experience.

Performance at the Speed of Sport featured panelists from BreakAway Data, Uplift Labs, LAFC, Verizon, and the GSVS coming together at the Lab in LA to discuss ways that the role that performance technology now plays both on and off the field, fueling the modern athletic machine, from VR simulations to performance AI, to tracking wearables, all at unprecedented speed.

Speakers included:

Kim Popp
Director, Sports Science & Performance, BreakAway Data
Kim is a sports scientist whose focus is on technology integration with athletes and teams. She is currently the Director of Sport Science for BreakAway where she acquaints athletes with their data.

Masa Kabayama
Co-Founder & CEO, Uplift Labs
Masa is Co-founder & CEO of Uplift Labs, an AI startup that optimizes human movement performance. Prior leadership roles include President of Tesla Motors and Director of Education at Apple in Japan.

Christian Lau
Chief Technology Officer, LAFC
As Chief Technology Officer at Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) and Banc of California Stadium, Christian’s focus is on defining the technical vision of the organization.

Brian Mecum
VP, Device Technology & Connected Objects, Verizon
Brian Mecum is Vice President at the largest wireless company in the US. He oversees the Device Technology 4G/5G organization and sports analytics’ technology development for professional & collegiate sports.

Kyle Bunch
VP Managing Director, Global Sports Venture Studio, R/GA
Through R/GA and the Global Sports Venture Studio, Kyle Bunch partners with the world’s leading sports organizations to build the future of athletics and fandom.