Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers warms up before a game against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field on Dec. 30, 2018. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Wednesday, Jun. 5, 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
- Aaron Rodgers’ Rx3 Ventures Launches $50 Million Growth Fund: Venture capital firm Rx3 Ventures, which is backed by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, announced the launch of a $50 million growth fund focused on companies across the consumer landscape. Rodgers is a co-founder of the firm alongside Nate Raabe and Byron Roth of ROTH Capital Partners. Rx3 has invested in brands such as CorePower Yoga, sunglasses store Privé Revaux, football helmet manufacturer VICIS, and indoor rowing machine Hydrow.
- Twitter to Host #GoldenTweetAwards During France 2019 World Cup: Twitter announced it will run the #GoldenTweetAwards during the upcoming France 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Throughout the tournament, Twitter’s analytics team will identify the best tweets from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Spain, South Korea, the U.S., and the U.K. Twitter will consider tweets from four categories of user: athlete, brand, fan, and journalist. Twitter has also assigned hashtags that feature a country’s flag emoji for all 24 teams in the World Cup.
- Update to Apple’s App Store Rules Could Affect Sports Betting: Apple’s latest update to its App Store review guidelines could have an impact on the online sports casino gambling industry. The new policy does not allow app developers to code using HTML5 if an app provides access to real money gaming or lotteries. Apple is instead demanding all real money gaming apps to be coded in language native to the iPhone’s iOS platform. The guideline is currently being enforced for new apps, while existing apps must be in compliance by Sept. 3, two days before the start of the NFL season.
- USGA and Deloitte Release U.S. Open Augmented Reality App: The USGA and Deloitte have launched the U.S. Open Augmented Reality app ahead of the U.S. Open Championship at Pebble Beach on Jun. 10-16. The app will feature a virtual map of the course, plus three-dimensional views of the 6th, 7th, and 18th holes. To activate the experience on site, users can point their phones’ cameras at an image within the tee times guide. Users away from the course can download the same image from Deloitte’s golf page.
