American teens tossing the pigskin will soon have a definitive answer to who throws a tighter spiral with sports tech company Catapult Group (ASX: CAT) set to unveil the football of the future – a microchipped ball with wireless charging that can measure more than 1,000 metrics in live time. 

The football will be showcased at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. 

Catapult, leading players in American Football technology where their devices are utilised by all 32 NFL teams and the majority of Div I College Football programs, developed the smart football in partnership with Energous Corporation (NASDAQ: WATT). 

Transmitting real-time data to the cloud, the Local Position System (LPS) chip is so small and lightweight that it can be sealed within the football during the manufacturing process and be entirely undetectable by athletes. 

“Catapult is redefining the future of sports performance, and this innovation is yet another example of how we continue to disrupt the sports industry with solutions that truly enhance the game for coaches and athletes,” said CEO Will Lopes. 

“Just as Catapult has revolutionized elite athlete monitoring since its formation in 2006, we are yet again putting a new lens on the performance of the best teams in the world while creating the most robust performance ecosystem in football.”

The smart football has been in development for two years and has been tested extensively by Boston College and the  University of Nevada’s football programs. 

Microchipping balls for professional sports has been at the forefront of headlines in recent weeks with the technology utilised throughout the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It was most notably called upon during a controversial Group Stage match between Japan and Spain when a Japanese go-ahead goal stood despite the ball appearing to have gone out of play before being crossed into the penalty box. The goal was then awarded after video referees confirmed from the microchip within the ball that a fraction of the ball was still in play. 

In American football terms, such technology could bring an end to the controversial ‘ball spotting’ required by referees whose view of a football is often impeded by large masses of players. 

In many instances, the ball spotting (where the referee deems forward progress of the ball stopped) can have a major impact on the outcome of a game when it is within centimetres of the line-to-gain. 

For the six months ended 30 September 2022, Catapult Group reported USD $41.6 million revenue while incurring a net loss after tax of $25.7 million. The Company has since secured a $20m debt facility with Western Alliance Bank.