Major League Soccer is planning to launch an incubator program for startups called MLS Labs to help young sports tech companies test and scale their products at league-affiliated events, including the All-Star Game.
While presenting at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on Friday, SVP of MLS Emerging Ventures Chris Schlosser said the program would be formally announced later, but he offered “a sneak preview” to the tech and data-minded audience.
“It’ll be an annual program that allows startups to utilize the scale and the test that we have,” Schlosser said.
Selected companies will be invited to do demos in conjunction with MLS Next Fest at the Empire Polo Club in the Coachella Valley. The tournament attracts thousands of teenage players every December.
From there, MLS will advance several startups to the Generation Adidas Cup, an international youth tournament at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The top three MLS Labs participants will then go to the league All-Star Game and present to MLS Board of Governors.
The race to create sports venture arms is on.
