Indoor Cricket, Basketball, Netball and of course Futsal are some of the fastest-growing sports worldwide with Australia amongst the highest take up of indoor sports globally. The sporting centres, leagues and associations have followed suit by upping their own game in terms of organisation and professional administration – with Liquid Thinking’s Spawtz Software platform contributing significantly to this improved operator and player experience.
Early this morning, Motio signed a deal to acquire 100% of Liquid Thinking Limited, owner of the Spawtz, which is operated in Australia by Motio under license. While based in the United Kingdom, Liquid Thinking additionally operate in South Africa and New Zealand and are eyeing expansion in other markets.
The Liquid Thinking team has developed a robust software, data infrastructure system used by nearly 1,000 sporting venues, interacting with over 750,000 active players across these markets. As a result, Liquid Thinking are a rich data source. This plays a critical role for Motio’s wider media business providing comprehensive insights and live data sets into ‘active lifestylers’ across Australia, and now in other markets as well. This data informs Motio’s Audience Experience platform, online and out-of-home programmatic and offers valuable direction for brands looking to engage with an ever-growing active sporting audience across Australia.
The Spawtz Software platform delivers a market-leading, end-to-end player registration, competition management and payment features – with the software developed around 10 years ago by players, for players. A sophisticated platform that is also integrated into Motio’s Digital Media Displays in centres Australia-wide, Spawtz has delivered a connected experience from ‘couch to court’. Allowing players to see game information on displays, while also allowing brands to interact, as well as providing centres the ability to directly communicate with players – creating an uncomplicated and seamless experience for players on and off court.
The Spawtz arsenal includes features like individual player and full team registration, comprehensive league management, live scoreboards, and online payments, it has revolutionised a sector of the indoor, grass roots and amateur sports industries across international locations.
The indoor sports, leagues and associations (all customers of Spawtz) have also seen an evolution of ownership including a shift towards professional management, improved operations, and enhanced customer experience as a result. The Shared Payments (splitting fees between participating players) and Automated Weekly Payments (full season payments automatically paid weekly) have been of significant popularity, with venues and associations able to easily streamline transactions with ease – fostering a more positive experience for players, and venue owners.
The acquisition serves as a powerful and significant marker for Motio, as they evolve their indoor sporting Audience Experience offering – providing centre and association operators with a considerable suite of products and features at their fingertips. It will provide Motio with continuing opportunity to broaden operations in Australia, as well as deepen its footprint across international markets.
Michael Johnstone, Chief Operating Officer at Motio:
“This acquisition, some might say, was inevitable given the long-term commercial relationship Motio has with Liquid Thinking and the obvious benefit that the acquisition provides in terms of margin flow through. Developing our relationship with them [Liquid Thinking] to a management and leadership role with our existing collaborative strength under one roof, albeit it from the UK, provides a fresh new set of opportunities. We are excited about the growth possibilities that this acquisition presents in Australia and international markets”.
The acquisition will also provide Motio the opportunity to expand its payments offering and provide valuable Business Development leadership to grow the business. Motio will apply its successful sales and professional management across the Liquid Thinking products, allowing the Liquid Thinking team to focus on Product Development and Growth.
Media & Investor Relations for the Liquid Thinking Acquisition
Michael Johnstone
Chief Operating Officer
Motio Limited
michael@motio.com.au
