How far do our Aussie cricketers run in a T20 match?

Cricket fans are about to find out — whether they want to or not — under a deal between wearable technology provider Catapult and the Nine Network.

Catapult (ASX:CAT) will capture and transmit live data from cricketers such as distance and speed between the wickets in eight T20 and One Day International matches this Summer between Australia and England.

The announcement did little to rally Catapult shares, though, which fell 2.2 per cent on Wednesday to $1.62.

The shares have traded between $1.12 and $2.80 in the past year.

The cricket partnership is the company’s fourth wearable data commercialisation agreement for live sports broadcasts after previously working on NRL State of Origin, AFL and NBL games.

“This is another exciting opportunity for us to showcase our credentials in providing live wearable data for broadcast, while helping our league clients to drive audience engagement and incremental revenue,” CAT chief Joe Powell told investors.

The data will be presented on Nine’s broadcasts as the ‘Gatorade Tracker’. It will also be made available to teams for performance analysis.

The deal comes as Catapult tickles the fancy of institutional investors; its two co-founders will sell 6 million shares.

“This is the first time the co-founders have sold shares in Catapult since its listing on the ASX in December 2014 and represents less than 15 per cent of the co-founders total holdings in Catapult,” the company said.

“The sale has been undertaken to satisfy personal financial commitments of the co-founders.”

Catalyst reported $27 million in sales in the September quarter and had $20 million in the bank.

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