The Professional Squash Association (PSA), in partnership with global technology provider Sports Data Labs, has announced the creation of the first-ever prize money pool for players that have consented to allow the PSA to commercialise their in-match physiological data.

The prize pool for the 2018-19 season will consist of $100,000 USD initially and will be allocated across the PSA’s major Platinum and World Championship events, while that figure is subject to increase as new forms of revenue are generated throughout the season.

The pool has been created through revenue secured on behalf of the PSA by Sports Data Labs and designed to centralise the distribution of player data and align both tour and player interests in developing use cases for human data.

The goal is to reward players that enable the PSA to tell entirely new stories around the sport using this data, creating higher visibility for the tour and driving new revenue streams for both the players and the PSA.

The pool distribution structure, created to encourage usage of in-game sensors for commercial purposes, will feature a weighted payout system on a per-round basis that will see players earn more the further they advance in a tournament.

As announced earlier this season, the PSA has retained the commercial rights to the data from each participating player for a variety of uses including broadcast and sports betting, with the PSA and Sports Data Labs leading the efforts around monetisation.

The players will receive a percentage of any future revenues derived from the commercialisation of their data and the pool will be kicked off this week at the FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships, the PSA World Tour Platinum tournament currently taking place in in Philadelphia’s Drexel University.

“Squash is at the forefront of innovation when it comes to using physiological data and we’re delighted to officially launch our revenue share model, which is the first of its kind in professional sport,” said PSA COO Lee Beachill.

“Not only has this data transformed our broadcasts of the sport and given a wider insight into our athletes, it has also enabled us to explore numerous commercial opportunities which will benefit the sport and our players alike.

“We would like to thank our players for their cooperation and commitment to helping us break new ground when it comes to commercialising physiological data and look forward to rewarding them with increased earnings in the future.”

Sports Data Labs Chief Executive, Mark Gorski, said: “The capture and distribution of real-time human data in professional squash presents a unique, global opportunity for commercial partners and other organisations to be associated with entirely new commercial assets in professional sports.

“These stories that the players are enabling the tour to tell have never been told in sport. The PSA is the first professional sports organisation to take this monumental step, and continues to pave the way for the use of real-time sensing technologies, as well as the commercialisation around the data captured.”

In addition to commercial opportunities, the PSA is working closely with Sports Data Labs to create an internal player portal that will enable players to utilise their captured data for training and performance purposes. Through Sports Data Labs, the PSA will be collecting time-stamped, normalised sets of data from various sensing technologies throughout the year, which will enable the PSA and its players to enhance the value that is provided back to the athletes, broadcasters and other partnering organisations.

For more information on Sports Data Labs, visit www.sportsdatalabs.com or follow them on Twitter: @sportsdatalabs