Thursday, May 16, 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
- Catapult Partners With Prevent Biometrics on Head Impact Monitoring: Wearables companies Catapult and Prevent Biometrics announced a partnership to support the development of a real-time solution for monitoring head impacts. Football, Australian rules football, and rugby teams will be equipped with Catapult’s ClearSky monitoring device and Prevent’s mouthguard to evaluate head impacts. The University of Colorado football program conducted trials using the two technologies in April. “With this data, teams can leverage the relationship between training, performance and head health to work proactively to reduce exposure to impacts,” said Albert Tsai, Catapult’s SVP of Global Elite Products, in a press release.
- Ticketmaster Launches SafeTix Encrypted Ticket Platform: Ticketmaster announced the its launch of SafeTix, an encrypted ticketing platform intended to protect against fraud. SafeTix sends a unique digital ticket to a fan’s mobile phone. An encrypted barcode on the ticket automatically refreshes every few seconds to prevent tickets from being captured via screen shot and shared. The tickets also use NFC technology to allow fans to quickly enter venues through “tap and go” at venue entrances. SafeTix will be used across NFL stadiums for the 2019 season.
- ESPN Sets Out Plans to Add More Soccer Content to Streaming Service: ESPN has plans to add more global soccer content to its ESPN+ streaming service. The platform already streams matches from Italy’s Serie A, the Dutch Eredivisie, the Chinese Super League, Australia’s A-League, and out of market games for Major League Soccer. “We’re looking at all territories of the world,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN’s executive VP of programming, according to Awful Announcing. “We could probably do more in Latin America, South America, Central America and Mexico. I think that’s the next place we’re gonna look.”
- Mobile Phone Charging Vending Machines to Be Installed at Citi Field: The New York Mets have reached a deal with portable phone charging company Hoplite Power to install five charging stations at Citi Field. Fans can rent a portable charger for $4.99 per day through Hoplite’s vending machines. The machines accept credit cards, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, and fans will be charged late fees if they do not return the chargers. Hoplite will begin installing its kiosks at Citi Field in June, with plans to keep them at the venue at least until the end of the current MLB season. Chargers are available for both iPhone and Android devices.
