Welcome to BSBA's installment of Sports Industry Spotlight, which aims to highlight a specific market within the sports business industry. We hope to showcase a market displaying an impressive amount of growth, with companies that are on the verge of becoming household names if they aren't already. This week's article will focus on the intersection of sports recovery technology with consumer-driven health and wellness.

Fitness and Recovery

Recently, quick recovery methods that improve athletes' health and wellness have been on an upswing. Recovery used to consist of cool-down stretches, taking an ice bath for any aches or pains, and simply taking the day off. While rest still plays a major role, recovery technology designed for the use of athletes has trickled its way down to consumers who want to push their physical limits. Following in the footsteps of athletes, people are looking to get the most out of their body by treating their body with the best equipment out there. Technology has drastically changed the playing field for athletes; now this same technology has become a game-changing market for the weekend warrior to health-conscious individual.

Hyperice

Earlier this year, Hyperice was recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the country on the prestigious Inc. 500 list, for the fifth consecutive year. Their year over year revenue has doubled since 2019, which their CEO, Jim Huether, attributes to a global boom in the prioritization of recovery as an essential part of the wellness lifestyle. In light of this trend, Hyperice have made inroads in expanding their recovery market share by acquiring Normatec, whose cutting-edge pneumatic compression systems are widely used within professional sports. Both of companies boast a reputation of helping athletes enhance their performance, reduce the risk of injury, and extend career longevity.

Additionally, Hyperice has released HyperSmart™ technology, which powers the new Hyperice App and leverages physiological data from Apple Health and Strava. As seen previously in BSBA's installment of Run That Back, Hyperice is constantly taking steps to further their success as a company, whether it be a star-studded athlete roster, a strategic partnership with the NBA, or technological innovations. Hyperice remains ahead of the curve and increasingly present within everyday consumers who see the benefits of tending to their bodies in the same way that athletes do. Their impressive growth will continue, as will the market for sports recovery technology, since both are becoming progressively more consumer-driven.

The calm app

In the same way that health-minded individuals follow the footsteps of athletes when it comes to physical training and recovery, the mental aspect of recovery has become ever so important. In late 2019, Lebron James announced his partnership with the Calm App, a meditation and relaxation aid that was named iPhone app of the year in 2017. Lebron James cites the mental side of his game for his continued success well into the seventeenth year of his career, saying that "for me to be able to train my mind as much as I train my body, I think that’s why I’m able to still do the things I’m doing right now". The Calm App is a necessity for James, using it every time before he goes to sleep or takes a nap, so that he can calm his mind amid the stress of his NBA career as well as everyday stress. As everyone tries to train physically to be at their best, consumers have caught up to the mental training and recovery that is necessary to attain a higher quality of life.

The Calm App has grown astronomically in recent years, having moved out of the niche meditation apps section and seeing their revenue increase from $30 million in 2017 to $150 million in 2019. As a whole, the meditation and relaxation app industry has ballooned by 306% in that time span, with the Calm App beating out it's competitors by creating a Sleep Stories segment that amassed one hundred forty million listens in 2018. By 2019, the Calm App saw themselves steadily increase to two million paid subscribers, whereas 2020 has seen a leap to sixty million app downloads. Studies have shown athletic performance as a key reason for subscribing to Calm’s premium offer, which captures the benefit that athletes see from mental training. This success has trickled down to consumers who subscribe to a healthy lifestyle and will continue to push forwards the app's growth as they pursue mental wellness.

Whoop

Athletes, professional and collegiate, are becoming more and more reliant on the Whoop Strap to serve as a health monitor in times when Covid-19 is prevalent. In early July, it caught a spike in breaths per minute of professional golfer, Nick Watney, who recognized this as an early indicator of Covid-19. Although he had just received a negative test 3 days prior, he underwent further testing prior to his second round and received a positive result. Following this incident the PGA Tour announced it would provide every player, caddie, and “essential personnel” a Whoop device. Earlier in the year, Whoop partnered with the entire University of Tennessee Athletics department to provide them Whoop Straps, which they have done with individual teams and athletes at other universities. Whoop has grown exponentially since March, seeing increases in new memberships and overall usage, with marquee athletes like Patrick Mahomes gracing a Whoop Strap on social media.

Currently, Whoop has partnered with the Premier Lacrosse League and is in ongoing talks with major sports leagues such as the MLB about supporting player safety and performance. Most important, Whoop gives insight into the secrets of your body that can't be felt by focusing on an individual's sleep. Whoop offers metrics on sleep performance, recovery scores, heart rate variability and respiratory rate to provide a roadmap for how much strain a person can handle. While originally made for elite athletes, the Whoop Strap is becoming more common for the average consumer that wants to get the best out of their daily activities and monitor their health on a deeper level. The Whoop Strap's recovery measurement indicates the importance of sleep to one's health, which is extremely beneficial to anyone who wants to feel good in their body. Whoop adds to the focus on recovery technology as a tool for ordinary consumers to achieve wellness, which will contribute to a market that is expanding yearly.

I hope that you enjoyed this week's edition of Sports Industry Spotlight and look forward to putting out more from the world of sports business! Have a good week everyone! -PD