Meyers Leonard of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots over Josh Hart of the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on Nov. 14, 2018. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Friday, Apr. 11, 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.
- Portland Trailblazers’ Meyers Leonard Invests in FaZe Clan Esports Organization: Meyers Leonard announced he has invested in esports organization FaZe Clan. In a Reddit AMA Leonard hosted on Thursday, the Portland Trailblazers forward said he will collaborate with FaZe Clan to produce content this summer. “I make it a point not to invest in something unless I am incredibly passionate about it and I believe I can authentically impact the business,” Leonard posted on LinkedIn. “This investment into FaZe Clan not only represents a belief in the organization, but a belief in the long-term potential of gaming and esports.”
- AKQA Uses Artificial Intelligence to Innovate New Sport “Speedgate”: Creative services agency AKQA has used artificial intelligence to invent a new sport called Speedgate. AKQA entered data from about 400 sports into a neural network to generate ideas, rules, logos, and branding mottos for the new sport. The sport limits physical contact and is a mixture of rugby, soccer, ultimate frisbee, and croquet. “Using AI as a member of a creative team takes us to a new place, that we never could have gotten to without it,” said Whitney Jenkins, AKQA’s Creative Director, according to TechCrunch.
- Fox Sports and Caffeine Pick Up U.S. TV and Global Streaming Rights for FIFA Esports Tournaments: Fox now owns rights to broadcast and stream multiple EA Sports FIFA 19 Global Series events, including the FIFA eWorld Cup and this weekend’s FIFA eNations Cup in London. All rounds of those esports tournaments will also stream globally on Caffeine, a social streaming platform that Fox invested $100 million in last fall. “For this weekend’s FIFA eNations Cup, Caffeine will also feature exclusive live hosted broadcasts where streamers AA9skilz, BuckArmy, and CaliSCG will offer their views of the event and interact with fans,” said Ben Keighran, CEO of Caffeine, in a press release.
- NBA Sets Sales, Social, and Subscription Records in 2018-19: This season, NBA League Pass grew its global digital subscriptions, with an increase of 21 percent over the previous year’s total. Across social media, the league also saw 918 million actions, up 14 percent compared to last season, and accumulated 11.5 billion views across all social platforms, a five percent increase. The NBA now has roughly 1.6 billion likes and followers combined across all league, team, and player social platforms worldwide. For the third consecutive year, NBAStore.com hit a new high for sales during the regular season, with overall sales up 10 percent.
