breaking news
Chile Condors Beat USA Eagles, Qualify For RWC 2023today is Mar 23, 2023
HitCheck has added speech testing to its concussion assessment app for helping coaches and medical personnel determine if an athlete should return to play after suspected head impacts. The new voice assessment tool is being offered in partnership with speech neuroscience company Aural Analytics.
The NFL Alumni Association partnered with HitCheck last year and the app has more than 200,000 users, serving the American Youth Football organization, University of Portland athletics, Texas Youth Football Cheer, Play USA Rugby, and U.S. Department of Defense. Athletes can record speech samples within the HitCheck app to be analyzed by Aural’s AI to detect patterns that correlate with brain injuries. The samples are compared with an athlete’s baseline assessment taken before the season.
HitCheck’s existing brain performance assessments include interactive games for testing coordination, memory, and reaction time. Advisors for HitCheck include former NFL players Marques Colston, Junior Bryant, and Brent Jones.
Gaming platform Tally Technology has extended its partnership with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres to incorporate its free-to-play platform into the team’s broadcasts and website for a third season.
The collaboration gives fans continued access to “ Predict the Sabres ,’’ gamification that includes trivia contests , pick ‘ ems and allows fans to secure weekly prizes. This season, users can compete against Sabres TV host Brian Duff and game analyst Martin Biron through Tally’s “Beat the Experts’’ digital integration. Fans can also monitor their scores on a leaderboard at the KeyBank Center, on arena concourse screens and on game broadcasts. The integration is sponsored by Seneca Resorts and Casinos.
Back in September, Tally Technology similarly renewed deals with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers . Both the Packers and Bills, along with the Los Angeles Rams , were part of Tally’s original entry into the fan engagement space, with features such as Beat the Pros. The company also provides clients with access to the SimBet platform, which uses sportsbook odds to create game-day prop bets for fans.
Co-founded in 2018 by Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, Tally Technology also offers consumer data for teams, federations, brands and broadcast entities under its umbrella—which also include the Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings of the NHL.
Back in June, the company raised a $4 million funding round led by Acies Investments, and, i n July, Tally also activated a free-to-play prediction game internationally f or the I -Tech Cup soccer friendly between Tottenham Hotspur and AS Roma . Tally’s online games are available in any language.
Topgolf, the tech-infused social driving range, has launched an animated digital spinoff called Shankstars as the company continues to democratize the sport for a younger and wider audience.
The free, downloadable game can be played on mobile phones and also on-site at Topgolf locations—expected to increase to 81 world-wide by the end of the year. Shankstars is metaverse-style gamification where mythical characters ( ie . a T-Rex skeleton) play creative courses that have unorthodox hazards.
Users can unlock characters with strong scores and create a team to compete against other users globally —a complement to Topgolf’s more realistic virtual mobile app World Golf Tour . “It’s simple,’ ’ Topgolf’s COO Gen Gray told SportTechie in June. “New golfers entering the sport are wanting to break down the barriers associated with traditional golf.’ ’
The Topgolf in-person experience also includes animated Angry Birds and Jewel Jam games, along with Toptracer screens that allow customers to play actual courses such as Pebble Beach via virtual reality. The company also has a partnership with Golf+ that lets players experience Topgolf games or actual courses at home while wearing an Oculus headset.
The popularity of Callaway-owned Topgolf has led to an off-shoot , Puttshack , a miniature golf version of the platform founded by Topgolf’s original creators in the UK, Steve and Dave Jolliffe. Puttshack recently received $150 million in growth capital funding led by BlackRock and has locations in London, Chicago, Atlanta and Miami, with plans to expand to Boston, St. Louis Dallas, Denver, Houston, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Scottsdale.
When Sportradar becomes the NBA’s exclusive provider of official data beginning with the 2023-24 season, FanDuel will become the first sportsbook to receive the league’s live tracking data, as part of a milestone partnership announced on Wednesday.
FanDuel will have a data agreement with Sportradar through June 2031, an extension of three years on top of an existing deal and concurrent with Sportradar’s exclusive NBA contract. Both Sportradar and Genius Sports currently have distribution rights for NBA, WNBA and G League data this season before Sportradar takes over all of them next fall.
Second Spectrum, which was acquired by Genius Sports in May 2021, has been the NBA’s tracking data partner since 2017-18. The new player and ball movement data can be used to creating a wide range of new betting markets and products, particularly micro-bets, props and parlays.
When the NBA announced its first betting data deal in 2018, SportTechie asked commissioner Adam Silver about the possible inclusion of tracking data. At the time, he replied, “My sense is, initially, it probably would not include Second Spectrum data, but I think it’s something that, as we build what the appropriate data fields are for gaming over time, that’s something we’ll continue to look at.”
Cloud-based video production company TVU Networks has a new deal to remotely produce broadcasts for all sports at the University of New Mexico. TVU RPS, the company’s remote production system, will support multi-camera replays, graphics and switch effects during live broadcasts.
The deal allows UNM to expand high-quality production to broadcasts for all its sports teams that were previously only available for basketball and football. More than 3,000 media clients use TVU’s media workflow, distribution and cloud production systems, including the company’s recent partnership with MENA-based broadcaster Total Media Cast to live broadcast international fan gatherings during the upcoming World Cup.
“Prior to working with TVU Networks, we produced everything from the event site. That meant hauling equipment to and from each location and all of the associated setup,” Chase Christiansen, Assistant AD for Creative Services at UNM, said in a statement. “With TVU RPS we simply plug our cameras into the RPS encoder, and we receive everything back at the decoder in our production room, allowing us to produce matches from one, central studio.”
TVU Networks also offers facial recognition to broadcasters through its MediaMind AI engine. The company’s website describes a potential use case for a marathon broadcast.
“With facial recognition identifying runners as they cover the 26.2-mile course, broadcasters have the opportunity to produce custom race coverage,” reads TVU’s website. "Viewers who have connections to specific runners — co-workers, friends or relatives — could track their personal favorites as they progress through the race watching shots from cameras trained on the route shooting runners as they pass and the MediaMind AI engine identifying them in real time."
Tailbacks Kendall Milton of Georgia and Braelon Allen of Wisconsin are releasing limited-edition NFTs in conjunction with Outback Steakhouse’s burgeoning NIL platform.
Through the chain restaurant's TeamMATES initiative, Milton and Allen’s digital tokens are scheduled to drop this Thursday and will be redeemable for awards such as memorabilia and a $100 catering discount. Outback has also extended NIL deals to Elon defensive lineman Jon Seaton and Michigan wide receiver/punt returner A.J. Henning due to each player’s emerging presence on TikTok. Seaton’s "Big Guy" content, for instance, has earned him 1.7 million followers and counting.
Milton, Allen, Seaton and Henning are part of an Outback TeamMATES roster that, through NIL, will allow them to donate catered holiday meals to the Boys Girls Clubs of Fond du Lac, the Boys Girls Club of Athens and the Boys Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan — an Outback campaign dubbed as "Steak It To The House."
Other players with NIL deals from Outback include:
Previously, in June, eight college baseball and softball players were added to the TeamMATES NIL roster, including Oklahoma’s softball prodigies Jocelyn Al and Jayda Coleman. At that time, Outback made plans to release 8,000 free TeamMATES NFTs.
Tetavi, a volumetric video capture and production, announced that it has rebranded its company name to Yoom and raised an additional $15 million from a who’s who list of executives from sports, entertainment and business.
Yoom produces immersive and interactive content by recording in 3D, with a product that will make the technology accessible to any smartphone user in development. The new strategic investors will also advise the company on content plans. That group includes music entrepreneur Jimmy Iovine, SpringHill Company CEO Maverick Carter, Main Street Advisors Paul Wachter, Darkroom CEO Justin Lubliner and Grammy-winning singer and producer Finneas. (Notably, Carter, Iovine and Wachter also are all investors in StatusPro, the NFL-licensed VR football game.) Aaron Stone, a seed investor to Yoom, has been named the new chairman.
Explaining the name change in a news release, Yoom CEO Gilad Talmon said the new moniker is an amalgamation of “You and Me,” reflecting the connection between a creator and his or her audience, as well as the second syllable of “volume,” the key premise of this new form of media. Founded by longtime sports video pioneer Miky Tamir, Yoom previously collaborated with the Los Angeles Kings in becoming the first NHL franchise to foray into the metaverse.
Whoop has started a Scientific Advisory Council to guide research and help shape new products and features, with a particular focus on devising benefits for Whoop Unite, the company’s enterprise offering.
The seven-member Whoop Scientific Advisory Council consists of two MDs and five PhDs with a broad range of expertise from global institutions:
Whoop uses wearable technology to monitor a wearer’s strain, sleep and recovery. This group will incorporate Whoop into their own research projects and advise the company on a range of optics spanning women’s health and female physiology, mental health and stress, sleep and circadian rhythm, behavioral science, functional medicine and nutrition, recovery and cardiovascular health.
SportsGrid’s 24-hour sports betting streams will now be available on the VIDAA Smart TV OS platform in more than 160 countries.
Customers who own VIDAA Smart TVs manufactured by Hisense, Toshiba, Loewe, We by Loewe, Newsan , BGH, Element, Schneider, Nordmende , Shinon, Vortex, AKAI, NIKAI, BRUHM, General Gold and others will have access to the SportsGrid app — which features over 300 global and local channel options.
SportsGrid’s streams will include 18 hours of original live content driven by sports betting experts, on-air personalities and guest analysts. In addition, the network will deliver live sports news, analytics and other programming that focuses on daily odds, lines, matchups, injuries and stats for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, major college sports, golf, tennis and soccer.
The programming — also featuring movies and comedy — will emanate from a production studio adjacent to Madison Square Garden in New York City, as well as the SG Studios Production Hub in Holmdel, New Jersey. Already i n August , SportsGrid expand ed its relationship with BetMGM , adding podcasts that include Ferrall Coast to Coast , Pro Football Today ’ and In-Game Live Primetime . SportsGrid’s NFL analyst Warren Sharp also delivers content from MGM Resorts properties that are disseminated over SportsGrid’s platforms.
NBA star Ben Simmons and Philadelphia Phillies co-owner John Powers Middleton have launched TrainingHub, a mobile app for athletes to book in-person sports training and fitness classes with trainers and coaches who are former professional athletes. Users can book one-on-one or group sessions with coaches that specialize in more than 70 different sports and activities, such as basketball skills, golf swing tips or yoga.
Simmons, a three-time All-Star currently with the Brooklyn Nets, is listed as a co-founder of TrainingHub alongside Powers Middleton, a film and television producer whose father John S. Middleton is the principal owner of the Phillies. TrainingHub’s app lets users set their location, sport, skill level, specific skill they want to improve, and the rate they’re willing to pay for services. They are then presented with a list of nearby trainers who match their preferences and can send messages in the app to schedule sessions, make payments, and leave reviews.
TrainingHub also had a rankings system to compare athletes and trainers in their area. The app has a social feature to let users post photos and videos of their progress for others to engage with.
Sportradar is the new technology provider this season for the NHL’s international streaming product, NHL.TV, which is available in more than 120 countries and territories outside of the US and Canada.
A stated emphasis of the updated product is increased personalization features for fans. Sportradar is providing the direct-to-consumer streaming product for live and on-demand games as well team landing pages that load into the app automatically to allow fans immediate access to their favorite team.
This news comes one year after the NHL and Sportradar expanded an existing global data deal. In June 2021, the sides agreed to a 10-year extension that named Sportradar the exclusive data provider to sportsbooks and media companies in North American and globally as well as the league’s official integrity partner.
ESPN+ remains the NHL’s out-of-market streaming partner in the US while Sportsnet Now Premium is the provider for Canada. The Sportradar-powered NHL.TV serves most of the globe with a notable exception of Scandinavia where games are available through a Viaplay subscription.