NFL Awards Grants To Three Tech Companies As Part Of 1st And Future Initiative

The NFL on Saturday awarded $50,000 grants each to three technology companies as part of the league’s first-ever "Shark Tank"-like funding competition that seeks to help develop sports tech firms. The winners of the 1st and Future competition are LiveLike, which makes a virtual reality system for sports leagues; Kenzen, which makes a wearable patch that monitors biometrics; and Hyp3r, which collects social media data at sporting and entertainment events. The league hosted the event with online publication TechCrunch at Stanford Univ. and had three panels of judges, consisting of veterans of the technology financing industry and others like 49ers CEO Jed York. They peppered the 12 companies that were seeking the three grants with questions. Several owners attended -- including the Patriots' Robert Kraft, the Jets' Woody Johnson and the Eagles' Jeff Lurie -- as well as Commissioner Roger Goodell.