The second cohort of the MLS Innovation Lab continues to drive growth and change through digital technology

Chris Schlosser likes to explain MLS’s place in American sports media by saying, “Radio built baseball, television built the NBA and NFL, and we really grew up in the digital age.” Schlosser, senior vice president of MLS Emerging Ventures, first shared this view in 2018, half a decade before the league formalized this effort with the MLS Innovation Lab and fully embraced streaming as part of a landmark media rights deal with Apple.

The MLS Innovation Lab is currently launching its second cohort of six startups, and its program has attracted approximately 500 applications due to the league’s high-tech approach, extensive set of facilities including MLS Next Pro and MLS Next, and single-partner broadcast arrangement, in in which the league oversees the production of all games.

One of the newly approved companies is Sportlight, whose company uses Lidar – a laser technology most commonly used in autonomous cars – to track players instead of the more common optical or sensor-based system. The company’s chief executive, Raf Keustermans, said its system was installed in all 20 Premier League stadiums, but it was organized club by club and required significant investment. The structure of MLS and the promise of a league-backed pilot encouraged it to expand its core offerings, as well as see if the same data could be reused for broadcasting or other fan experiences.

“It’s a combination of working with a centralized league with a lot of expertise in performance and sports science,” Keustermans said, adding the importance of MLS “working with a global media partner. The media production is largely in-house, which is also quite unique, so it gives us the opportunity to look beyond our current field of sports science, injury prevention, performance management, also into other areas that are relatively new to us as a company. “

The new class participating in the nine-month Innovation Lab includes four performance-focused companies – Sportlight and three sensor-based technologies: Oliver Sports, Soccerment and Lubu – as well as two that work with media, venue operations and engagement: Wicket and Edge sound research.

“We continue to focus on three areas of our business,” Schlosser said. “How do we use technology to improve the product on the pitch? How can we continue to improve and evolve the fan experience, whether that’s at the stadium, at home, at the bar, wherever that may be? And third, (since) we do all our production on Season Pass, how can we continue to leverage technology to create great television, for lack of a better term?

All selected startups will pilot their technologies at various league events and competitions, including December’s MLS Next Fest, Generation Adidas Cup, MLS Next Cup, MLS Next All-Star Game, and the second annual “Future of the Game Showcase” during the 2025 MLS All-Star Game in Austin.

The launch batch included the A-Champs cognitive response training tool; AI generative translation provider Camb.ai; rified mixed reality company Fabric; precise Fitogether GPS locator; Reeplayer automatic live sports camera; and Sporttotal’s 5G-enabled AI streaming and match analysis technology. Investment in the league is touted as one of the Innovation Lab’s outcomes, and Schlosser said many of the companies in the first group have signed long-term business deals with the league, although he declined to specify which ones.

“The best part of this cohort is hiring incredible, ambitious founders and giving them the opportunity to interact with our executives, coaches, CEOs and directors of football,” Schlosser said. “I think it’s really good for (MLS). First of all, the technology is amazing. But secondly, I think there’s something about founders and the energy that founders bring that is really valuable for our executive team to spend time with.”

Edge Sound Research completed its NBA Launchpad innovation program in 2023, but the experience prompted the search for a new product. Its initial offering combines acoustic, tactile and tactile sensations to transform inanimate objects such as stadium seats into multi-sensory experiences – what the company calls Embodied Sound.

Capturing and isolating audio has sometimes proven to be a challenge due to the way broadcasts are currently produced. This led to the development of a second product, a real-time virtual sound engine that uses AI software and player tracking data to create dynamic surround sound.

The idea, CTO Ethan Castro explained, is that “each player would then have their own separate channel,” so that fans in immersive environments can better hear what it would be like on the pitch. It will later be adapted for viewing on traditional television or on mobile devices. Edge Sound Research debuted the technology at the NAB Show and NBA Summer League, but MLS provides a critical testing environment due to field size, crowd noise and league-controlled production.

“One of the most important things we realized is the limitations of existing audio capture and processing in both broadcast and post-production workflows,” said CEO Valtteri Salomaki. “We looked at which league or organization owned the entire production process, and on the other hand, we looked at which environments were most hostile to broadcasting – and that happened to be football.”

Through all of the various touchpoints in the MLS ecosystem, the league is helping to raise awareness of the Innovation Lab startups across all clubs. Wicket’s facial recognition technology is already in use at three facilities – Atlanta United, Columbus Crew and LAFC – with hopes of expanding team contracts and/or being used at the league level, much like Wicket provides high-security credentials in the NFL.

“I’m very impressed with the Innovation Lab concept and what they’re implementing there as a way to bring new innovations to these teams and help the entire league advance to the next level and continue to grow,” said Wicket COO Jeff Boehm.