A fan of inductee Trevor Hoffman takes a photograph of baseball art for sale at Clark Sports Center during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 29, 2018. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Monday, June 17, 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
- National Baseball Hall of Fame and The Great Courses Produce Video Series: The National Baseball Hall of Fame has partnered with The Great Courses to produce a video series titled Play Ball! The Rise of Baseball as America’s Pastime. The course contains 24 30-minute videos, covering the history of the game while including shots of museum artifacts and archival film clips. Fans can purchase the course on DVD or watch it online through The Great Courses Plus subscription service. The series was written by baseball historian Peter Morris and is narrated by Bruce Markusen, Manager of Digital and Outreach Learning at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- PointsBet Announces Global Initial Public Offering at $2 Per Share: Online sports betting operator PointsBet announced a global IPO at $2.00 per share with 37,500,000 shares available. PointsBet was founded in Australia and expanded to the U.S. this past January through its New Jersey mobile sportsbook. The company also has deals in place with casino retailers in Iowa and New York. Funds from the IPO will be used to finance continued expansion into evolving markets, according to PointsBet. “Similar to the way we allow fans to take part in sporting events, our public offering allows fans to take part in us, as a company and as a platform,” said PointsBet global CEO, Sam Swanell, in a press release.
- Tokabot Sports Fan Bot Receives Investment From HYPE Capital and BILD: HYPE Capital and German media company BILD have announced their lead investment in Tokabot, an Israel-based fan engagement startup. Tokabot integrates with Facebook Messenger to provide fans with interactive chat, trivia, and predictions related to their favorite sports teams. The company has partnered with online betting operator BWIN since the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup, as well as German soccer clubs and the DFB, the German soccer association.
- Major League Lacrosse Will Stream on ESPN Player in Europe, Middle East, Africa: Major League Lacrosse plans to stream regular season games throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa on ESPN Player this season. The streaming service will exclusively broadcast one game per week throughout the MLL regular season, which began this past Saturday. ESPN Player will also bring subscribers exclusive coverage of the MLL All-Star game and the Playoff and Championship games in October. A total of 18 live games will stream on the platform as part of the partnership.
- Dailymotion Video Platform to Feature Professional Squash Association Highlights: The Professional Squash Association has signed a partnership with video-sharing platform Dailymotion. The platform will feature extensive highlights from the PSA World Tour and exclusive interviews with players and coaches. The partnership launched during last week’s CIB PSA World Tour Finals. Videos from that tournament reached almost 100,000 views on Dailymotion throughout the six-day event. According to a press release, Dailymotion is the world’s second largest video platform and its website reaches more than 300 million unique users every month.
