A group of HBCU students were awarded during the week of Super Bowl LIX for their innovative pitch in sports technology.
Diverse Representation, a company focused on increasing the number of Black agents, attorneys, managers, and publicists across sports, hosted its inaugural HBCU Sports Business Pitch Competition in New Orleans, LA, in partnership with the talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, during Super Bowl LIX week. According to information shared with AFROTECH™, the competition was launched to provide local HBCU student entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch sports-related concepts for a chance to receive funding and connect with decision-makers in the industry.
“When I initially launched Diverse Representation, I’ve always been very, very clear about what our mission is: to help Black professionals in the sports and entertainment industry,” Diverse Representation Founder Jaia Thomas told AFROTECH™. “Not minorities, not people of color—Black professionals in this space. That hasn’t changed, even despite everything going on in the DEI space. That mission will continue to guide everything we do.”
This year’s pitch competition participants included:
- Jason Adams (Flexi-Park)
- Omarosa Newman, Mone Scott, Samajh Robinson (HuddleUp)
- Kamryn Days (Next Wave Program)
- Nalone Sumo, Megan Abraham, Taylor Curtis, Jazmon Derousselle (Visionary)
- Simeon Nwokenkwo (R.P.O. Network)
Before the teams’ presentations, former NFL All-Pro player and I Am Athlete Founder Brandon Marshall took the stage for a fireside chat, sharing insights on building a successful career both on and off the field.
From there, participants presented their pitches before the listed panel of judges: Rich Barbier, vice president of consumer insights & analytics for the New Orleans Saints; Shaneika Dabney-Henderson, vice president of content for the New Orleans Saints; Cecil White, WME agent and executive; and Bobby Moore III, chief strategy officer at Obsidianworks.
The Next Wave Program secured second place, earning $2,500, while the Visionary team took the top spot, which was attached to a $5,000 incentive. The winning team consisted of students with varied degree tracks from Southern University and A&M College Baton Rouge.
“These students here today, they earned their position,” Ashley Joseph, VP of marketing & brand strategy at WME, commented. “They did an incredible job. I could not be prouder of them.”
Their pitch centered on a headwear prototype designed for professional sports leagues such as the MLB, NFL, and NBA. The MLB prototype features a built-in camera system and real-time point-of-view streaming to enhance sports performance. One of their teammates, Rashard Grace—a baseball player who was not present at the competition—tested their theory on this capability using Meta’s Ray Ban Meta Eyewear in a TikTok video that has since amassed 1 million views and over 126,000 likes (as of this writing).
@rashardg #baseballszn #fyp #baseball #southernuniversity #d1athlete #catcher #pov
“Traditional cameras don’t capture the intensity, the moments, or the split session, the split-second decisions that define his game, said Sumo during the pitch competition. “Without the right perspective, he lacks the engagement he wants and the insight he needs.”
Curtis added, “Visionary is a cutting-edge revolutionary camera integrated system with the meta that enhances players’ performance, target strategy, and fan engagement. Using that Ray Ban Meta Eyewear, he stimulated our first-person concept while capturing lifetime movement just as he would on the field. This is just a taste of what Visionary could do.”
“What this means to us is that all these different companies and all of these HBCUs, they want to highlight their student entrepreneurs. They want to highlight the students, and that just is a humble and experience that we get to come here and just have a space where it’s provided for us to come and win and do things and put that back into our community,” Abraham expressed.
