After a huge Stanley Cup win, Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane is establishing himself as one of the best hockey players to hit the ice in recent years, and arguably of all time. Kane was contacted by Sports Illustrated, and offered the cover image of the magazine’s regional issue for the week of March 9th. Although this seems like a simple interaction, it has created a large buzz on social media, due to Kane’s recent sexual assault allegations. There were people tweeting excessively at the magazine, at Kane, and at the Blackhawks in attempt sot show their disapproval. Many people that disagreed with the article agreed that Kane’s story of coming back from a criminal allegation and refocusing his life on hockey should not be portrayed as a “redemption” story, painting Kane as the victim. The article could have had a much different focus, especially after the Stanley Cup and Kane’s recent success on the ice. The excerpt concerning Kane’s criminal charges in Buffalo has since been removed, but it seems as if the controversy could have been completely avoided with the absence of the mention to the charges.
Ted Leonsis Launching $10M Venture Fund – Chè Benjamin
Written by Robert J. Terry, this article talks about sports mogul Ted Leonsis who is starting a $10 million venture capital fund to invest in tech startups. According to the report, these tech startups have the potential to change the way people experience and watch professional sports. Leonsis made his announcement at Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which has become one of the most innovative virtual reality companies since their partnership with Strivr Labs Inc to build visually immersive team videos. The fund will debut next year.
FOX SPORTS HOPING TO MAKE VIRTUAL REALITY THE NEXT BIG THING – KYLE SAMELSON
Fox Sports recently just signed a 5 year contract with startup company NextVR to air sports in virtual reality which kicked off last month with the Daytona 500. NextVR is currently looking to partner with sports like the U.S. Open, Boxing, and others with the hope of virtual reality become a international sensation. Currently VR is mainly used on a mobile device that is hooked up to a pair of virtual reality glasses that cell phone providers like Samsung are currently producing and pushing.
“Obviously VR is at the top of everybody’s mind right now. Every brand in the world seems to like it and the exciting thing about the deal with FOX is that they’ve always been very aggressive and innovative. What this deal does is provides a partnership and platform for them with new technology. For us, if you look at all of the rights that FOX owns around live broadcasts, this provides a platform for an endless stream of content — that’s one of the things that has been missing in VR.” – NextVR Chairman Brad Allen
http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/fox-sports-hoping-to-make-virtual-reality-the-next-big-thing.html
Comcast looks to expand X1 sports platform, acquires data startup OneTwoSee-Dante Sangiuliano
More sports fans nowadays are interacting with a laptop, phone, or tablet while watching the game on the big-screen. Comcast is now trying to have everything on their own platform. The cable company just bought a company called OneTwoSee and this company develops data thats focused on statistics, analytics, and more. The company will continue to develop the X1 sports app to make it a fan favorite.
Goal-Line Technology To Be Used On Soccer’s Biggest Stages – Dylan Hart
UEFA has finally agreed to join the rest of the soccer world and use goal line technology. The upcoming Champions League Final and Europa League Final will now allow the referees to have access to the technology in order to make sure the big calls are made accurately. UEFA is as the article says , “The last domino to fall” as the Mens and Women’s World Cups have already started using the technology along with this years upcoming Euro Championships. Soccer has been one of the last sports to begin to embrace video technology so this is a big step for the sport.
U.S. Soccer Unveiled New Crest Using Virtual Reality And Social Media-Anthony Bao
The US Soccer Federation unveiled its new crest. They did not unveil it in a standard way by hosting a press conference or use media outlet to spread the words. Instead, the crest was revealed on social media to show they’re adopting these innovations. The federation sent 10,000 packages to current and past national team players such as Tim Howard and Abby Wambach. In the package, there’s a US scarf and a Google Cardboard Virtual Reality glasses that allows them to experience virtual reality videos of US national team.
This is a great way to engage with fans on the social network, by making them the first people to know what’s going on with the team. By using VR videos, the team gave fans this opportunity to experience the cutting-edge technology right now.
Why New NHL Sports App is a Glimpse of the Future of TV-Chris Markowitz
http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2016/02/01/nhl_tv_is_a_glimpse_at_the_future_of_tv.html
With the fairly recent creation of Apple TV, and the popularity in streaming services such as Netflix, the TV space is beginning to change. Users are starting to want to view content on demand from apps rather than watching them on broadcast television.
While sports are behind TV shows in the streaming space, the NHL recently took a step to catch up. NHL.TV created and app that allows fans to watch live streams of their favorite.
The app allows you to view as many as 6 feeds at once, all in HD. It also gives you the choice of watching from the main camera or from the goalie camera.
MLB is also planning on releasing a similar app this spring.
Mike Trout Helps Launch A Hi-Tech Sensor For Baseball Bats: By Destiny Clements
Increasingly, technology is helping the best players maximize this margin. As part of this growing tech trend Zepp and Old Hickory have teamed up with Mike Trout, one of the world’s top baseball players, to produce his very first Smart Bat.
Zepp creates interactive training tools for baseball, golf, tennis and softball and many baseball fans will already be familiar with bat-making company Old Hickory. To improve upon the existing clip-on system, Trout, Zepp and Old Hickory have been in communication since late 2015 regarding integrating a sensor into Trout’s signature bat. Which has now become a reality.
The Smart Bat will house a sensor in a 3x3cm cavity found in the base of the bat, and will be easily removable for charging. With this development, Trout and his team will be able to reflect post-game on his bat speed, time-to-impact, hand speed and attack angle through a 3D swing visualization and various stats.
What most baseball fans will deem more exciting is that the tech will be available to everybody else as early as June, giving aspiring players the chance to make this summer the one where they take a data-driven look at the mechanics of their swing. To visualize the swing and provide the feedback, the sensor will also come with a free smartphone app.
Indeed, as well as giving Trout the edge on game-day, Zepp CEO Robin Han believes that the development has the “potential to change the way players train as we know it,” with a clear emphasis on players in all tiers of the game. Travis Copley, VP of Sales and Marketing for Old Hickory, goes one step further, citing how he feels that this will be baseball’s “next big thing.”
Whether that will prove to be true remains to be seen, but the three parties involved certainly seem to have devised an interesting new baseball technology and we will certainly be monitoring Trout’s progress this upcoming season.
From NHL GameCenter To NHL.TV: A Look At MLBAM’s Relaunch Of NHL Digital Properties – Dylan Hart
The article talks about MLBAM’s relaunch of the NHL website and NHL.TV formerly known as NHL Gamecenter Live. The first night of the new NHL.TV went down as a total bust as a glitch in the system ruined the highly anticipated first night. However since then NHL.TV has been everything it was promised to be. Now watching at 60 frames per second fans can enjoy a much better quality broadcast with the same great features that Gamecenter offered such as home and away broadcasts and multiple cameras angles. The new NHL.TV also offers a free game of the week for potential customers to test out the product if they want to purchase it. You can also purchase NHL Premium for $2.99 a month which gives you live updates on if any games are tied late in the game, or going to overtime. Overall NHL.TV has been a success but lets see if they can keep it going.
Steph Curry’s Skills Have Surpassed the Technology of Video Games – Katie Burger
This article outlines the issue that Steph Curry poses onto the world of virtual sports and video game technology; he’s too good. Developers of the NBA 2K game series have been faced with a challenge thanks to Curry, and his unique, inhuman scoring capabilities. Steph Curry’s ability to sink a three from statistically improbable distances is so perplexing that game developers are stumped in figuring out how to best “virtualize his skill set without compromising the realism of the game…” Curry’s talent, envied by many, will continue to challenge his defenders and 2K developers until they can finally figure him out, but for now, he will just continue to impress.
Steph Curry’s Skills Have Surpassed the Technology of Video Games
Additional: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2016/02/22/how-steph-curry-broke-the-way-basketball-video-games-are-being-built/#337d4eb54112
Digital Media in Sports 