Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 in Barcelona once again set the stage for global innovation, bringing together leading technology brands, industry disruptors, and forward-thinking businesses. As one of the most influential events in mobile and digital connectivity, MWC is a platform where cutting-edge solutions, advancements in AI, IoT, and connected technology converge.
Sport Science Agency (SSA) was proud to be part of Vodafone’s exhibition stage at MWC 2025, delivering an interactive experience that demonstrated the real-world applications of athlete monitoring and performance data. Across the week, SSA ran an elite rugby player strength comparison experience, using advanced sport science equipment to allow attendees to measure their performance against professional athletes.
SSA and Vodafone’s Continued Partnership on Sport Science Innovation
SSA has worked closely with Vodafone since 2021, supporting the development, implementation, and communication of Vodafone PLAYER.Connect, Vodafone’s elite athlete management system. This cutting-edge platform provides real-time insights into player performance, recovery, and wellness, helping teams track key metrics such as sleep, energy, mood, hydration, injury, soreness, illness, and concussion recovery, linking all of these to menstrual cycle for female athletes.
Vodafone PLAYER.Connect has been integrated into high-performance environments, including partnerships with Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and other elite sports organisations. SSA has played a key role in translating the vast amount of data collected into meaningful insights, engaging narratives, and sponsorship activation opportunities, ensuring that Vodafone’s cutting-edge technology is not only seen but understood across the sports industry.
Bringing Sport Science to the MWC Stage
At MWC 2025, Vodafone’s PLAYER.Connect exhibition focused on showcasing the impact of data-driven athlete monitoring, with SSA leading an interactive experience that allowed visitors to directly engage with elite sport science in action.
Over the course of the event, SSA ran three key elements within the activation:
Jump Test – Measuring lower-body power and power-to-weight ratio through a countermovement jump.
Grip Strength Test – Measuring grip strength to give an indicator of upper-body strength, an important factor in rugby performance and overall athletic capability.
Wellness Analysis – Tracking sleep metrics, energy levels, and mood states to replicate some of the key data recorded daily by elite rugby players.
Attendees, including CEOs, former olympians, and Vodafone’s global partners, took part in the challenges, with their scores recorded and compared against elite Welsh Rugby Union men’s and women’s players. A live leaderboard tracked participant results, creating a highly competitive and engaging atmosphere on the exhibition floor.
Alex Skelton, Director of Sport Science Agency spoke on positioning Vodafone at the crossroads of sport and technology and allowing individuals to see how various aspects of performance data is tracked and managed by elite athletes :
“It was a great opportunity to present Vodafone PLAYER.Connect at MWC to demonstrate the benefits the system is bringing to athletes of all levels. We tested some excellent athletes and provided real insight into how the individuals compared to world class rugby players.”
The wellness analysis provided an additional layer of insight, demonstrating how holistic athlete monitoring extends beyond strength and power measurements. By analysing sleep quality, perceived energy, and mood fluctuations, the activation reflected the comprehensive approach to performance data collection that Vodafone PLAYER.Connect delivers for elite teams.
Vodafone PLAYER.Connect Activation
The SSA-led activation at Vodafone’s PLAYER.Connect exhibition was a resounding success, with over 400 participants engaging in the experience. From tech executives to sports professionals, the activation attracted a broad audience, each eager to test their abilities and learn more about how athlete data informs training, recovery, and performance enhancement.
The interactive element of the exhibition helped highlight how cutting-edge sport science is shaping the future of elite performance, reinforcing Vodafone’s position as a leader in connected athlete monitoring and performance tracking. It also underlined the role of SSA in bridging the gap between raw performance data and meaningful engagement, showcasing how these insights can be communicated in an impactful and interactive way.
