Wearable tech play Catapult (ASX:CAT) says that all teams in the US National Footbal League (NFL) are now its clients.
The Atlanta Falcons, which it signed a deal with today, was the last team in the NFL to be onboarded as a client.
Catapult’s technology has a long history with the NFL, which is thought to be the world’s richest sports league. Of the 32 teams in the league, 18 have been customers for the past 15 years. And around 44 per cent of the NFL teams are also signing up as multi-solution customers, compared to just 8 per cent across the company’s customer base.
The NFL’s feeder system, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), also represents a big client base. Overall, North America accounts for 46 per cent of Catapult’s customers globally, making up over 65 per cent of its recurring revenues.
Meanwhile, Catapult is just one of the sports-related ASX stock gaining investors’ attention today.
SportsHero (ASX:SHO), a social media company engaged in developing fantasy sports, surged by more than 12 per cent today, after announcing the launch of OlahBola esports in Indonesia, a soccer app which has a 3 million user base in the country.
Catapult’s performance device
Catapult’s wearable device has become a crucial and invaluable device for athletes, especially for professionals playing at the very top level.
In NFL, it tracks everything from the number of movements a player makes during practice, to the number of throws a quarterback attempts. It can also be programmed for specific playing positions. Not only that, the device is also meant to prevent injuries in athletes before it happens by monitoring each player’s physical load and fatigue level.
Founded in Melbourne in 1999 as a partnership between the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC), the company says it now has more than 2,500 sports teams around the world using its device.
And it’s not just for the professionals, the device also caters to athletes at all levels including amateurs. Its device PLAYR, for example, is the consumer market version which enables amateur soccer players to monitor their performances.
Recent results
The company faced huge challenges in 2020, as many pro teams around the world reported losses in the tens of billions due to Covid.
The NCAA, which makes up the bulk of Catapult’s revenue, was particularly impacted.
But things have generally improved by the second half, and as a result, Catapult was able to deliver a USD$33.3 million for H1 FY21, compared to USD$34.7 million in the previous year’s half.
The company also believes the troubles are now behind them, given that vaccines are starting to be rolled out, which it expects to normalise major sporting events once again.
Catapult’s share price has more than doubled over the past 12 months.
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