Katie McCabe’s investment in StatSports has paid off after Sony completed the acquisition of the Irish sports-tech firm, a deal speculated to value the company at more than twice its annual revenue of £20m.
The Arsenal star and Ireland captain was one of several elite players to back the company early, joining a group that included Harry Maguire, Harry Kane and Phil Foden.
All stand to benefit from the sale.
The firm, founded by Sean O’Connor and Alan Clarke in 2008, began as a modest idea tested on Dundalk amateur players who laughed at the sight of experimental sensors, according to a report in this weekend’s Sunday Independent.
The founders initially went to clubs with borrowed equipment, offering fitness testing before GPS tracking was widely used.
StatSports’ technology has since become part of the daily routine for top-flight players. O’Connor remembered working from the dugout at Elland Road for a rugby league side whose most fatigued player was substituted based on the data. “The player fired a water bottle very close to my head after he was taken off. He assumed it was my fault,” O’Connor said. “That was in 2010 when this was a new concept.”
The founders’ approach stood out as they rejected private equity and venture capital backing. “I remember people accusing us of being too cautious, saying we should have gone faster, taken more risks,” O’Connor said.
“But then we would lose all power and direction over who we are and what the company is.”
While StatSports maintained independence, tech giants kept a close eye on them. Sony’s eventual move followed a long courtship involving its existing sports-tech arm HawkEye.
Two years later, Sony secured a majority stake, with O’Connor and Clarke retaining part ownership. “We can be here as long as we want. And there’s no way I don’t want to be part of what’s happening here,” O’Connor said.