A few years ago, we had a front-row seat to something most executives in the sports industry get wrong. Springbok Analytics, a company we worked with at Three Horizons, had built a platform that used MRI scans to analyze muscle health. The technology emerged from neuromuscular disease research at the University of Virginia and was simultaneously finding application within professional sports.

The two markets looked completely different on paper. Very different buyers, timelines andsales conversations. But what we observed was the learning flowing in both directions. Research on muscle wasting in patients with FSHD (facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy) was informing how performance coaches understood their athletes. Data from those same elite environments was helping researchers better interpret muscle health in a healthcare setting.

We watched a company that understood what each market was actually for, and when. That clarity made all the difference, and many companies don’t have it.

Sports is not one market

The sports market is fragmented and widely misunderstood. Treating it as a monolith is where most early mistakes begin.

Pro sports is the smallest and most competitive entry point. The number of buyers is limited, teams are selective and skeptical, and sales cycles orbit the season in ways that slow everything down. More importantly, pro sports often functions as a marketing channel disguised as a customer. Truly novel technologies break through entire leagues occasionally (Trajekt in........

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