With the end of the summer period comes the autumn of sport. Regular seasons are upon us in the Premier League and the NFL, Premiership rugby is back. Sport is back and taking centre stage, and after the madness of the football transfer window, that’s good news for everyone.

It means the real work can begin. On the field and off it, as clubs and teams all over the world work on engaging with their fans rather than announcing new players.

Last week, Arsenal launched a new innovation lab in order to bring in entrepreneurial start-ups to work with the club, bringing in new ideas to take the team’s off-the-field fortunes to the next level.

.@Arsenal launch 'Innovation Hub' to attract & work with best startups to take club forward.https://t.co/xbNvsoagzT#SportsBiz #sportstech

— Digital Sport (@DigitalSportUK) September 7, 2017

Some of the aims for the project include: improving the matchday experience at the Emirates Stadium, engaging fans globally, and transforming the club’s commercial partners’ offering. This comes on the back of Spanish giants Barcelona themselves launched an innovation hub last year, in order to achieve similar aims.

The development of football itself was on the agenda last week, too, as the final Soccerex held in Manchester brought together people from all over the industry for the week.

Welcome to Richard Ayes! Interesting panel this promises to be. #soccerex pic.twitter.com/2rVwZTYOB1

— Dan McLaren (@DanielMclaren) September 4, 2017

Our very own Dan McLaren was there, moderating two panels, sharing thoughts on spelling errors, and also getting to check out a Mixed Reality demo. Read his account of the emerging technology which could revolutionise not just sport, but life in general over the coming years here.

But it’s not just soccer that returns in September – American football is back too. The NFL’s regular season returned with the Thursday night shock that was Super Bowl champions the New England Patriots upset by the Kansas City chiefs.

That was a big day for the league, but also the NFL’s Game Pass OTT streaming service, which launched recently, too, and allows fans in Europe to follow every game live, as well as on-demand versions of games, which can be condensed into 40 minutes for ease of access.

Interview: @NFL Game Pass – A game changer in the future of digital sports broadcasting? @CJMcMullan91 finds out.https://t.co/L4kzD5uRru

— Digital Sport (@DigitalSportUK) September 8, 2017

In a way, that was perfect timing: on Wednesday evening, Digital Sport will present an evening of panel discussion and networking on the future of sports broadcasting.

????????????

Tickets: https://t.co/P2aDyTJemX pic.twitter.com/svZJ5SwxeU

— Digital Sport (@DigitalSportUK) August 25, 2017

Hosted at the London Sporting Club at Morton’s in central London and sponsored by Perform Group, the event will include a panel discussion on the future of digital sports broadcasting, and a live-recording of the Digital Sport Podcast.