How the MLS Innovation Lab Enhances Everything From Athlete Performance to Production to Ticket Sales

In annual event, the league gives startup companies the opportunity to prove their technology in real-world situations

Major League Soccer has taken the wraps off its five MLS Innovation Lab partners, and Chris Schlosser, SVP, emerging ventures, MLS, says this year's Lab will go to another level, thanks to a two-day summit in New York City at the end of May. It will bring all cohort companies into the league office to meet the executive team, present to staff, and connect with investors, lawyers, and marketing experts. Schlosser sees the energy founders bring as a resource in itself.

The energy that founders bring is so infectious and so beneficial, he says. Our commissioner is a forward-thinking guy, and I know he's just going to absolutely feed off the energy of spending a day with great founders.

For the startups, the stakes are real. A successful Lab engagement can lead to a commercial agreement, a league investment, or a referral to individual clubs. But the proof, as Schlosser puts it, is in the pudding.

Their technology has to work, he adds. Practitioners have to be able to use it to actually advance our business.

The Lab organizes its work around three pillars: athlete health, wellness, and performance; fan experience at home, at the bar, and in-stadium; and back-end media production, which supports the league's output of more than a thousand matches annually for Apple TV and other partners.

Building on the momentum of its first two cohorts, the program gives participating companies the opportunity to build and test their technologies in real-world MLS environments, such as the 2026 MLS All-Star Game presented by Chime; as well as elite youth competitions like MLS NEXT Fest and Generation adidas Cup and premier events including MLS NEXT Cup and the MLS NEXT All-Star Game presented by Allstate. This real-world testing gives MLS an early look at emerging technologies that can shape the future of the industry for years to come.

Getting to the final five isn't a casual process. Schlosser's team scans roughly a thousand companies per year - a mix of inbound pitches and outbound scouting - before narrowing the field through deep engagement with subject matter experts across the enterprise.

We can be general experts: we know a lot, we see a lot, we have a good sniff test on what's real or not, Schlosser says. But, ultimately, if it's a medical technology, I need my medical team to weigh in. If it's a broadcast technology, I go to my production teams.

This year's cohorts are:

Springbok Analytics: Springbok Analytics uses AI to transform MRI data into detailed 3D muscle analytics, enabling precise tracking of muscle health, performance, and injury risk, which supports data-driven decision-making by teams, leagues, and clinical research.

Orreco: Orreco is a global leader in sports bio-analytics, using AI, computer vision, and biomarker data to optimize athlete performance, predict injury risk, and accelerate recovery, trusted by elite teams and athletes across major leagues worldwide.

Fit:match: Fit:match uses smartphone-based 3D scanning and AI to capture detailed athlete body data in seconds, enabling scalable tracking of growth and development to support better talent identification and long-term player development.

AIR: AIR provides AI-powered robotic camera systems that enable affordable, high-quality 4K multicam sports production, using automated tracking and remote control to deliver dynamic game and player footage while reducing costs and production complexity for leagues, teams, and broadcasters.

WMT Digital: WMT Digital, a fan-experience and intelligence-technology company, leverages AI-powered ticketing to optimize pricing and distribution in real time by analyzing fan behavior, demand, and market dynamics. These capabilities help sports and entertainment organizations move beyond static pricing, maximize ticket revenue, and make faster, data-driven decisions.

AI is a big theme for all the companies, but Schlosser says the Lab isn't interested in general-purpose AI tools because the league already uses those. What excites him is something more targeted.

What we think will have a long-term impact on the league are purpose-built AI tools that can plug into all sorts of different workflows and make the experience better, Schlosser explains. That's what we're testing this year across the board: AI but AI for very specific use cases.

On the production side, two companies from previous cohorts - Cam.ai and Edge Sound - continue their work with MLS. Cam.ai is developing AI-powered voice translation that would allow a commentator to call a match in English while viewers select their preferred language and still hear his voice.

That's an unbelievable vision, Schlosser says. And I can say they can do it. In Cam's case, our experience is that there's still a little bit of a lag we're trying to work with them to eliminate. And the language tends to be a little bit more formal than you would probably want. It sounds like you're talking to your grandfather versus the tip and the young voice that we really want.

Edge Sound, meanwhile, is using AI to tune stadium microphones for better sound mixes across the league - a technology that has proven itself indoors but faces new challenges in the open-air environments of soccer.

New to the broadcast cohort is AIR, whose robotic camera system is being tested at the MLS NEXT Pro level - the league's second division - where single-camera shoots with one operator are the current standard. AIR uses two cameras to build a tracking system that follows the ball and players, driving a robotic arm mounted with a broadcast-quality camera.

Schlosser is measured about where the technology can go: I don't know that I'm sure we'll get there [

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/04/29/how-the-mls-innovation-lab-enha...
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