WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan flies off the ropes during the WWE Smackdown Live Tour at Westridge Park Tennis Stadium on Jul. 08, 2011. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2019 – A roundup of some of the key sports technology stories you need to know, including SportTechie’s own content and stories from around the web.
- Combined WWE Social Media Following Tops One Billion: World Wrestling Entertainment announced it has eclipsed one billion global social media followers across its official accounts on 15 platforms. Instagram (226 million followers) is WWE’s fastest-growing channel, though Facebook remains the WWE’s most-followed platform with 501 million likes. John Cena is the most followed active American athlete on Facebook with more than 44 million likes. WWE’s YouTube channel (46 million subscribers) is the second most-viewed channel in the world behind only T-Series, India’s largest music label and movie studio.
- VSiN and Blok Sports Launch Basketball Blockchain Bracket Challenge: Vegas Stats & Information Network and Blok Sports have partnered to launch a new blockchain-powered bracket challenge for the upcoming NCAA Division I basketball tournament. Users will receive free BLOK digital tokens, which can be used to place simulated wagers on each game. “Thanks to BLOK SPORTS’ blockchain technology, our ‘Beat The Spread Challenge’ will be even more challenging this year,” said Bill Adee, COO of VSiN, in a press release. “In addition to picking winners, money management is essential to being a successful sports bettor and this new platform enables us to simulate the sports betting experience.”
- NBA G League Video Will Be Distributed Through Dailymotion: On demand content from more than 1,300 NBA G League games over the next two seasons will be handled by Dailymotion’s video player technology platform. Dailymotion’s hyper-personalized recommendation engine will allow NBA G League video content across all of the league’s digital platforms to be targeted toward fans based on their preferences and interests. “Through this new partnership with Dailymotion and its commitment to providing premium content to its audiences, the NBA G League will be able to expand its footprint both domestically and around the globe,” said NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim, in a press release.
- Laserfiche Sponsors Clippers SciFest SoCal STEM Education Event: The Clippers SciFest SoCal festival, running Mar. 22-23 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will be backed by local content management and business automation firm Laserfiche. The goal of the two-day event, which is being co-hosted by the Los Angeles Clippers and USA Science & Engineering Festival, is to inspire and educate students about career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. “The support from Laserfiche as a local tech company is priceless as we expand the festival to the West Coast,” said Marc Schulman, Executive Director, USA Science & Engineering Festival, in a statement.
- Baltimore Ravens Upgrade Stadium Video Production Control Room: BeckTV has built a new production control room at M&T Bank Stadium, the home venue of the Baltimore Ravens. The control room is now equipped with Sony 4K cameras and Panasonic 4K outdoor PTZ cameras to support in-game content and promotions that will be displayed across video boards throughout the venue. “We are proud that we provide more replays than broadcast TV and offer unique camera angles that fans can see only at our stadium,” said Jay O’Brien, VP of broadcasting and game day productions for the Baltimore Ravens, in a press release.
