nVenue co-founder and CEO Kelly Pracht (Composite image; Original: nVenue)
Kelly Pracht, co-founder and CEO of Dallas-based nVenue, was recently named to Sports Business Journal’s Class of 2024 “SBJ Game Changers,” an award for female leaders in the sports business.
Pracht was highlighted among 50 honorees from sports teams, leagues and media. She is the only technologist and one of only two women from the sports betting industry to be named to the list.
She began her career in technology at Hewlett-Packard and played a key role in the development and implementation of groundbreaking technologies, including the world-breaking ARM supercomputer Comanche.
nVenue said that after noticing a disconnect between fans and live sports during a New York Yankees game against the Houston Astros, Pracht saw an opportunity to combine her technology expertise and love of sports to revolutionize how fans interact with sports by applying AI to sports betting.
Micro betting requires “advanced technology”
“Microbetting on a fast-paced sport like basketball requires advanced technology to keep pace with the live action and enhance the fan experience,” said Scott Kaufman-Ross, NBA executive vice president of media & gaming and nVenue board member, in a statement. “We have enjoyed our collaboration with nVenue in creating personalized, contextual experiences for fans to interact with the game and congratulate Kelly on her recognition as an SBJ Game Changer.”
Founded in 2018, nVenue is a portfolio company of ComcastSportsTech and NBA Launchpad.
Pracht will be honored at the SBJ Game Changers conference in September along with other influential female voices in sports from organizations such as NASCAR, FanDuel, USA Gymnastics, Formula 1 and more.
Pracht was previously honored with Cynopsis Media’s Digital Executive of the Year award and was a finalist for Sports Business Journal’s Tech Executive of the Year award.
nVenue is a micro betting engine for live sports.
The platform’s technology uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to quickly and accurately generate probabilities and odds for live betting opportunities during the game.
The company’s predictive data feed enables sportsbooks to launch thousands of new micro-betting markets across basketball (NBA), baseball (MLB), motorsports (NASCAR) and football (NFL), while providing fans with rich, entertaining predictive content to consume via broadcasts or in-app experiences. To date, nVenue’s ML/AI engine has delivered over 5 billion predictions.
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