AFL renews and expands agreement with HITIQ

We're pleased to announce that HITIQ has renewed its CSX Concussion Assessment agreement with the Australian Football League (AFL), which includes an ancillary agreement expanding the scope to include players from the Victorian Football League (VFL). The renewal covers the calendar years of 2022-2023.

“We are pleased to see our technology platform achieve a greater footprint into other levels of competition to deliver access to the AFL’s strong concussion management protocols. In both renewing and expanding the scope of the agreement, we see this as an endorsement of the value our technology delivers in redefining the concussion management process.We look forward to continuing to develop and expand upon the strong relationship we have built with the AFL and their affiliates and pursuing other semi-professional leagues, as well as school and community sports.”

MIKE VEGAR CEO, HITIQ

HITIQ has a broad concussion management partnership with the AFL that includes products and services for head impact surveillance and detection through an instrumented mouthguard and the CSX Concussion Assessment Technology (CSX).

This agreement renewal covers the CSX services component, which delivers the ability for the AFL to record and manage all player concussions across the league. HITIQ acquired CSX in November 2021 as part of its plan to accelerate its technology platform development.

Under the agreements, the existing concussion assessment services will be retained and further expanded covering:

• concussion assessment functionality to 2000 players, comprising 18 AFL teams, 14 AFLW teams (increasing to 18 AFLW teams in 2023) and 21 VFL teams; and
• expansion with the addition of the VFL competition allowing for greater continuity of player head injury management across both the professional and semi-professional competitions.

Whilst the CSX Concussion Assessment component is not considered material to HITIQ’s overall revenues, contributing less than 10% of the revenue from the broader concussion management services partnership with the AFL, the agreements are important in the context that they validate the decision by HITIQ to acquire the technology to complement its core concussion management platform to provide greater end-to-end platform value to existing and new clients.

With the inclusion of the VFL, the administration of head injury events in that league is expected to be completely transformed through the digital recording, player baselining and communication pathways provided by CSX. Furthermore, the VFL rollout of CSX will mean a more seamless transition for the care and guidance of players when they move between the two levels of competition. The CSX application will improve communication across competitions, ensuring consistency of reporting and better management of recovery and return to play protocols.