Archive for January, 2015

ESPN and Major League Gaming are Teaming Up for the X Games

The Aspen 2015 X Games have kicked off already — they can be viewed on various ESPN networks, provided you have a cable subscription — however one portion of the X Games can be viewed without any pay access. Partnered with Major League Gaming, X Games is streaming the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament on MLG.tv at no cost. Highlights from the CS:GO tournament will be shown during the television broadcasts of other X Games events.

Some controversy already surrounds the CS:GO playing field. After qualified team Clutch Cats pulled out of the tournament, Torqued (formerly team iBUYPOWER) the second highest in both qualifiers, was overlooked in favor of Team Liquid. Despite going out in the second round of each qualifier, Team Liquid was chosen over the arguably more deserving Torqued. Many reasons had to be a factor in MLG’s decision, however a match fixing scandal involving Torqued and previous team iBUYPOWER members may have been a factor.

The Daily Dot initially broke the news of a potential scandal, citing particularly poor decision making and gameplay from iBP, text messages, as well as suspicious betting. The last part is of particular note, as betting on CS:GO matches yields thousands of dollars of in-game weapon skins (patterns and designs) every tournament. The biggest betting site is CSGO Lounge, where there are active bets for individual matches made nearly every day. With this much real-life money on the line, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility for match-fixing to be a major concern.

Given that this is the first major ESPN and X Games venture into CS:GO, it is no surprise they decided to “play it safe” and invite Team Liquid. While CS:GO tournaments regularly receives over 100,000 unique viewers, the partnership of highlights and cut-ins to the main ESPN broadcast could bring about more growth to the Counter-Strike community. The games begin Friday with a round robin group play where the four teams in each group play a matchup against one another, with the top two teams advancing to the bracket stage. Up for grabs is a $50,000 prize pool split among the top four finishing teams, plus betting wins — and losses — for viewers at home.

(Featured image via Monster Gaming)

The Mariners Are Now Using LEDs to Light Safeco Field

Night baseball in Seattle, both in person and on TV, will look a great deal crisper thanks to some recent upgrades to Safeco Field. In the first such move in Major League Baseball, the Mariners have replaced their outdated lighting structures with new LED fixtures, which should bring a whole new level of clarity for fans both at the game and on their couches.

LEDs are popping up in all kinds of places including our gadgets, our TVs, and even the bulbs in our lamps. But illuminating a whole baseball field with LEDs should prove to be a very new experience for fans. There will be less glare, more even distribution of light, and the green of the field should really pop under the new lighting.

There are other advantages to the conversion as well. The Mariners are predicting a drop in energy consumption of filed lighting by 60-70 percent. The new bulbs will also last much longer, reducing waste and maintenance costs. TV viewers will get some added bonuses as well, as the lights will not only make the game look better on their HDTVs, but LEDs will also eliminate the flickering effect seen when super-slow replays are presented.

There haven’t been a whole lot of advances in field lighting since the Cubs were the last to install the fixtures in 1988. Though the upfront costs might be significant, the lasting effects and cost savings of LED lighting on a ball field will hopefully make their way to more parks soon. As very few games are played during daylight now-a-days, working to upgrade the fan experience at night would be a welcome addition. Reducing energy usage and waste is certainly a bonus, and watching Robinson Cano bash homers under the best possible lighting should give the fans at Safeco something more to enjoy.

(Image via Dave Sizer)

MLS Joins NFL and NHL In Adopting Concussion Tracking Technology

Major League Soccer has announced they will begin implementing the concussion tracking device xPatch next season in order to further study the effects of head trauma on their players.

The xPatch was recently used in a rugby match by the London-based Saracens (no relation to Friday Night Lights character Matt Saracen, unfortunately). Some in London have dismissed the patches, calling them gimmicky, but Edward Griffith, the Saracens CEO, responded tersely saying, “It is the furthest thing from a gimmick. This is not something we just thought would be good to try out last weekend. This has been nine months in the planning. We have set aside a budget of £350,000 for it for next season funded by the Drake Foundation because we believe wholly in the significance of the research. I don’t want to be visiting these players in 20 or 25 years time in a hospital where they are suffering from dementia or some other neurological condition.”

The xPatch, made by Seattle-based X2 Biosystems, contains a gyroscope and accelerometer that are encased in plastic. They are 1” by 3” and placed on a bone behind the players ear and taped down for games. The xPatch records all of the head trauma a player experiences and sends the information to trainers via an app.

A device like the xPatch may have been able to better track the head trauma former MLS star Taylor Twellman experienced during his career (he retired after suffering his sixth concussion). Twellman has since committed to donating his brain after his death for concussion reasearch and has his own foundation, Think Taylor, to raise money and awareness for concussion prevention.

Further implementation of the device could also help prevent scenarios like the one that occurred during the NFL playoffs on January 3rd, when the Ravens Courtney Upshaw had a rare clean sack of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who’s helmet bounced off the turf when he went down.

Roethlisberger returned to the game five minutes later after having his neck and shoulders tested and going through the NFL concussion protocol. He looked shaky when he returned to the huddle and proceeded to throw an interception on his first snap, causing some to speculate that he returned to the game too soon.

Dr. Matt Matava of the NFL Physician Society explained to the Guardian previously that X2 Biosystems technology, “has allowed us to accurately diagnose concussions immediately following an injury [about six to eight minutes after a hit]. The software also allows us to compare the players’ injury date to their baseline in order to objectively assess changes in mental status.” All 32 NFL teams currently use X2’s concussion management software.

The hope is that the technology becomes unobtrusive enough for players of all contact sports to use during games to detect in-game head trauma and track the sub-concussive impacts a player experiences over the course of his career. Considering the tragic deaths of former NFL stars Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, and the nightmare that the NFL concussion settlement has become, it’s a breakthrough that can’t come soon enough.

(Image via Bay Area Bias)

Don’t Worry, Super Bowl Streamers. You’ll Still Be Able to Get the Commercials

We mentioned yesterday that the Super Bowl will be available to stream on NBC for freesies. However, if you were to watch via NBCs web stream, you wouldn’t get to see all those commercials everyone would be talking about the next day at work. Social suicide, to be certain! But fear not, cord cutters. Tumblr has you covered.

According to Reuters, NBC will be posting the highly-anticipated (and highly-priced) ads on Tumblr shortly after they air. This will allow people watching via stream, people not watching at all, or fans looking to re-watch their favorites an opportunity to catch all the spots that run during one of advertising’s biggest days.

While many companies post their commercials to sites like YouTube and Vimeo, NBC will curate their own one-stop shop for the ads. For some, the commercials are just as (or perhaps more) important as the game. NBC is smart to offer those taking advantage of their new streaming service to also catch the ads online — not to mention a repository for repeat viewings. It will take a little multi-tab navigation, but at least game streamers will now know what the hell everyone is talking about on Twitter.

(Image via The Inspiration Room)

Instagram’s New Beta Test

Succumbing to the world of selfies — and of course selfie sticks — is nearly inevitable at this point. Given the rapid growth of Instagram, now owned by Facebook, it isn’t hard to envision how social media integration is making people’s lives and interests public. Just days ago at the NCAA National Championship football game fans used more than a staggering six terabytes of data. Recently, Instagram launched their latest beta test update for Android platforms, a voluntary way of helping them troubleshoot as well as give feedback to the developers for what will eventually be their next update.

Despite just pushing out a major update back in December where five new filters were added, the brains behind IG seem keen on keeping up to date with new versions of the app. The beta update is free, you just have to join the Google+ group and then opt-in to the beta test. Once you’re in, you’ll see a confirmation message.

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You’re also given the option to opt-out whenever you’d like. Given the very nature of beta testing, there may be some kinks to work out, however in the early going the changes have been for the best. Officially, the only changes to this beta version are various bug fixes, though more features could be unrolled as the beta progresses.

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Be it concerts or sporting events or even a just a group of friends watching a game, wherever there are groups of people, posting pictures and videos are a part of lives now.


NBC to Live-Stream Super Bowl, No Strings Attached

Make sure your laptop and tablets are locked and loaded come Super Bowl Sunday. You’re going to need them.

NBCUniversal today announced plans to live stream 11 hours of Super Bowl content, no strings attached. Those strings typically include a log-in process with the consumer’s cable or satellite account information. NBC will not be streaming via mobile app, however, as they do not have NFL live streaming rights. But with a tablet or phablet and the right web browser installed, streaming from nbcsports.com/liveextra shouldn’t be an issue.

The 11 hours, which is five hours too long (figure 3 ½ hours for the game, 45 minutes each pre and post-game shows) will be followed by the midseason premier of The Blacklist. That’s quite a gift for cord cutters that happen to love both Marshawn Lynch and James Spader. NBC’s coverage starts at noon ET and figures to end around 10 pm ET.

NBC’s motive for its “Super Stream Sunday” is to promote its TV Everywhere marketing campaign, naturally entitled “Watch TV Without the TV.” TV Everywhere is the practice of content providers using authenticated methods, such as streaming or video on-demand, to allow customers to access content they already pay for via the internet or mobile devices.

“We are leveraging the massive digital reach of the Super Bowl to help raise overall awareness of TV Everywhere by allowing consumers to explore our vast TVE offering with this special one-day-only access, said Alison Moore, general manager and executive vice president of TV Everywhere and NBCUniversal.

Cord cutters beware – after the Super Bowl, TV Everywhere will only work with a valid user name and password associated with one’s provider account. But maybe this is NBC’s one big step in a direction of genuinely free live streaming – a future of connecting to a stream without a provider account.

“Consumer behavior is changing and people are looking to have content when they want it and where they want it,” Rob Hayes, executive vice president of NBC Digital told USA Today last month.

Katy Perry fans are also in luck. According to the press release, this is the first time NBC Sports Extra Live is live streaming the halftime show.

NBC did add that users will “receive consistent messaging in and around the experience about the ease in authenticating after the end of The Blacklist.”

(Image via The Inspiration Room)

Cheaper Drones Means More Drone Racing and Hoverbikes, or I’m Going to Sue Everyone

The BBC had a drone article recently that surveyed both the history and potential uses for drones, as well as examined their rapidly decreasing cost and increasing quality. This furthers the idea Michael Tunney presented on these pages — the idea of Battle Bots 2.0. And what I’m saying is that the world is ready for drone sport. As costs decrease, there is increasingly fewer reasons to not jump into this exciting world of drones doing athletic things for us.

Behold, France has already turned the corner and is zipping down the next hedgerow:

First of all: What a much of mega nerds. Secondly: How awesome is that?! Recreating one of the better chase scenes in movie history as a drone race? The view these pilots get looks nothing less than an absolute thrill adventure.

What better way to combine the exciting new technologies of our era — virtual reality and drones? Well, here’s another way we could take it up a notch:

There are two things here: a) Those hoverbike drones plus that French drone course equals a world-changing racing event of unparalleled awesomeness. And then b) that same device, maybe made life-size, makes for an awesome actual recreation of the forest chase scene from Return of the Jedi.

Or maybe just hoverbike races on standard race course? Or all-terrain hoverbike races? THE POSSIBILITIES!

  1. Games could be broadcast live on sites like Twitch or even YouTube.
  2. As the sport grows, goggles that show the stationary view of the mounted camera can be replaced with integrated VR-camera technology, so that whenever a driver’s head moves, the camera moves with him.
  3. Or better yet! Maybe the multi-camera technology involved in Google’s Street View cars becomes small enough that all views are broadcast simultaneously. The driver wants to keep his eyes forward? Fine. Joe Blurpington of Constance, Iowa, wants to watch the rear as drones chase the leading vehicle? He can do that too!

What I’m saying is: This will be awesome, or I will throw an earth-shattering tantrum.


The Market for SmartTVs

From the latest Global Web Index report — Q3 2014 — more than one in three households with an internet connection now have a SmartTV. Unsurprisingly, the age range of 25-34 held the highest ownership rate at 42%, however income had a greater effect on SmartTV ownership than age. The top income quartile reported at 50% ownership rate. SmartTVs are no longer a trend, but something that has arrived.

As the graphic displays, the way people are using their SmartTVs is also evolving. On-demand services such Google Play was used by 39% of owners, Netflix ranked second with 27% and iTunes usage rates followed at 26%. Amazon Prime services were used by 17% of SmartTV owners and SoundCloud showed a 14% rate.

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Given the popularity of such streaming services — particularly among the highlighted 25-34 year-olds — the continued rise of SmartTVs working with more and more streaming options should come as no surprise.

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While there is not an official Twitch.TV app for various SmartTVs, there are options for watching YouTube streams listed here.

The second screen experience — something sporting events and video games excel at — is of particular note. Two out of three people told GWI they use a smartphone while watching TV, with one-third stating they use a tablet. A simple search at the time of writing of Twitter’s trending topics show 8/10 being related to sports, be it trades, scores, signings or other.

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It’s clear the market for SmartTVs is on the rise. Count on more programming, both on television and streaming services, being catered towards SmartTV owners. The full report can be found on GWI’s website here.


Whistle Sports Raises $28 Million From Investors Including Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning

Burgeoning digital sports network Whistle Sports announced they closed their Series B round of funding, raising $28 million led by Emil Capital Partners and featuring prominent athletes like Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning as investors.

The network launched in January 2014 and has experienced tremendous growth in only a year, with close to 13 million YouTube subscribers, while gaining 10 million new social followers across their platforms each month. The next closest sports YouTube channel is the NBA at close to six million subscribers.

Their most popular YouTube channel partner is Dude Perfect, the group of Texas A&M alums who got their start making ridiculous basketball trick shots. They have also begun forming content partnerships with professional athletes like Jeremy Lin.

The network’s revenue has been more than doubling each quarter and their videos have been viewed over two billion times. This can be attributed in part to the network’s popularity with the much sought after demographic for advertisers—young males (78 percent of their viewers are male).

Along with pro athlete content partnerships, Whistle Sports has partnered with nearly all major pro sports franchises, including the NFL, MLB, PGA Tour, and NASCAR. In an interview with Forbes, John West, the CEO of Whistle Sports, described the companies relationship with sports leagues, saying, “Each is a true partnership, in which they give us access to their libraries that we use to co-create content, and then we distribute that content on our platforms as well as theirs. Why did they all choose to partner with us? They’re losing young viewers and they have to adapt and evolve—we’re the vehicle to make that happen.”

With nearly 40 percent of their viewers from outside the US, the company has recently opened an office in London and is planning opening another in Latin America this year.

Given their amazing growth and plans to go international, Whistle Sports is now a giant in the digital media space, building in one year what took others like VICE years to do.

(Photo by George Bush Presidential Library and Museum via Flickr)

 


College Football Fans Used Over Six Terabytes of Data at the National Championship Game

These days, if a stadium wants to boast about its amenities, it better be sporting a high-capacity WiFi network. Fans are not only there to watch the game, but to keep up on other games, post pictures of themselves on social media, and even watch highlights captured at a much better vantage point. All this can be done over cellular networks, certainly, but for maximum speed and reliability, fans are looking to connect their mobile devices to WiFi. And fans at the NCAA Football National Championship were certainly sucking some bandwidth at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

According to a report by Mobile Sports Report, the in-stadium WiFi at AT&T Stadium carried 4.93 TB of data over its network during the game on Monday night. AT&T also saw 1.41 TB travel over its cellular network. This totals over six terabytes of data from computers and mobile devices, and that’s not even counting data transmitted on Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint Networks. Even so, that number is higher than any data total posted at a sporting event, including last year’s Super Bowl and the home opener of the San Francisco 49ers’ new stadium.

While this number won’t be repeated on your typical NFL or MLB game day, it’s proof that more and more fans want the reliability (and free-ness) of WiFi when using their devices at sporting events. Though these types of things are rarely publicized, I imagine many teams in slightly older stadiums are working on or planning to work on upgrading their current infrastructure. This spike in data usage isn’t something that is going away any time soon. Teams would be smart to be on the front end of this trend.

(Image via Ron Kikuchi)