The National Football League is getting all Kim Kardashian on us. It wants to break the internet. Or at least try to.

As John Ourand reported for Sport’s Business Daily on Monday, the league aims to air one regular season game on the internet in 2015 as a test run. Commissioner Roger Goodell announced his plan during the Super Bowl press conference, and Ourand provides us with some details that have finally emerged.

The game would be carried in both team’s respective markets on television and broadcasted online to the rest of the world. Or, as Ourand’s sources tell him, to anyone outside of the Buffalo and Jacksonville markets, as the NFL is “looking closely” at the October 25 game in London. And if that one isn’t chosen, it’s likely it’ll be one of the other two London games on the schedule.

“That 9:30 a.m. [ET] time slot is interesting internationally when you start to think of parts of Asia, where it reaches into Sunday night, as well as parts of Europe,” NFL senior vice president of media strategy Hans Schroeder told Sports Business Daily. “The one-off, over-the-top game is more of a test to see if digital companies can handle the large audiences that watch NFL games.”

An over-the-top broadcast refers to one which is provided over the internet, or via mobile, directly to the viewer, rather than distributed by a multiple-system operator.

While Ourand lightly speculated in his piece that YouTube, Google or Yahoo could carry the game, there isn’t any sense yet of which digital companies the NFL will talk to. Likely, those three will be involved, as the NFL will perform its due diligence. Whichever company it will be, it will have to be able to prove to the league that it can accommodate millions of viewers at one time from across the globe. Because really, this is what the whole thing is about.

Sure, the NFL sees that the future is in digital. And the present is as good a time as any to lay the ground work for a multi-billion deal with whichever company it eventually strikes an expansive deal with. Streaming games, at no additional costs to fans (if it worked out that way), would go a long way to rebuild a perception that the league has developed over the years as greedy and money-hungry. And more eyes watching more games gives the NFL the leverage it needs when it develops relationships with corporate sponsors and asks for dump trucks full of money for broadcasting rights. But it’s more than that.

The whole thing is about reaching Asia. The National Basketball Association has fantastically marketed itself throughout Asia to the tune of 70 million followers on Sina Weibo and Tencent’s microblog platforms, which are similar to Twitter or Facebook. Conversely, the NFL has fewer than 400,000 followers.

Reuters ran a story prior to the Super Bowl regarding the NFL’s attempt to market globally. In it, the author interviewed a female Chinese student studying business and economics. And she succinctly summed up the NFL’s issue in her country.

“Most Chinese people don’t have the foggiest idea of American football,” Zhao Yaginq said. “Instead, many boys in China are familiar with NBA and European soccer.”

So if you’re peeved that the lone streaming game will start before you wake up from your Saturday night hang over, this isn’t about you. It’s about Zhao and her university buddies and Europe. The NFL already has its claws in you. It wants to reach those that don’t know what a 4-3 defense looks like. And if all goes well for that lucky provider, it won’t break the internet.

Image via Mike Sanchez 

Will MLB.TV be blackout free? Say it’s so, Joe. According to Forbes, Major League Baseball and FOX are negotiating a deal that would remove blackouts from any games streamed by FOX regional sports networks. Last year, FOX-owned regional sports networks aired 37 percent of all broadcasted games.

The biggest roadblock to a deal is how this affects FOX. If MLB Advanced Media, the digital arm of the MLB, can offer the games on MLB.TV without blackouts, it’d cut in to the amount of viewers on FOX Sports GO, the network’s streaming service, and on foxsports.com. In 2014, the nationally broadcasted games, including the All-Star Game and World Series, streamed to FOX’s mobile app without blackouts. And while they’d attract viewers that don’t subscribe to MLB.TV, they’d still lose a piece of the pie.

The real news here, though, is that blackouts are finally being addressed. And for that, we have to give thanks to the new commissioner, Rob Manfred. As far as we know, Bud Selig never pushed for a resolution. And while Manfred is at least making a deal with FOX  a priority, he does acknowledge the challenges that television territories carry in order to lift blackouts completely.

“Television territories that cause these blackouts are integral to the economics of the game,” Manfred told Forbes. “They’re a foundation of the very structure of the league. Blackouts are actually caused, not by our desire not to cover that area, but by the inability of the rights holder to get distribution in certain parts of the television territories. It’s not solely our issue to resolve. Having said that I am aware of these complaints and whenever we have an issue like this we are constantly evaluating how we do business to make sure we are as fan friendly as possible.”

Maury Brown, the Forbes contributor that broke this story, published a MLB Blackout Map to illustrate the TV territories. “While there has been a thawing of blackouts on the national level,” Brown wrote, “it is local broadcasts that create the most trouble due to territories for each club that started out as over-the-air reach, and ran amok as pay-TV took hold. They are, to the fans, arbitrary, and at the very least, arcane.”

These regional sports networks that run TV territories want to get paid. Ultimatley, this is the problem facing any solution to blackouts. Paul Swydan of FanGraphs dissected this issue brilliantly on Friday, and included his idea of a Super Premium MLB.TV package that would keep the local networks from losing revenue generated by carriage fees (due to lost cable customers) and allow the networks to run their local ads, rather than the MLB.TV ads we get now.

These are complicated issues to work through. But I like I wrote earlier, the real news here is the problem is finally being addressed.

“This reported agreement between MLB and FOX is a nice first step,” Swydan wrote. “Hopefully we’ll see more steps soon.”

Image via Billy Bob Bain

MLB Trade Rumors (along with sister sites Hoops and Pro Football Rumors) rolled out a big update on its Trade Rumors app last week, which now includes notifications. The free app available for iOS and Android has also been redesigned, with feeds laid out in vertical columns on the home screen. And did I mention that it’s free? Because I wasn’t aware. I was still rocking their old app on my iPad, which I paid a handsome penny for a couple of years ago.

In terms of the layout, each column is customizable. For example, I set up notifications for only the top stories out of the MLB, because really, I don’t need to know the instant that Joe Beimel signs on with a team. For my second column I added a stream of Victor Martinez, my top free agent signing in my Strat-O-Matic league (two-year, $29.4 million contract), so I can monitor his rehab following surgery to correct a torn meniscus. I set notifications to off for VMart as I just want a quick way to view updates on my own time.

Conversely, I added the Angels feed as my third column, as they are the team I follow, and set my notifications for all stories. Because when general manager Jerry DiPoto signs Rickie Weeks to a minor league deal and invites him to spring training, I want to know that immediately. And really, I want to be the first in the Angels community I interact with to curse Josh Hamilton when he jacks up his thumb sliding head first in to first base or waits three weeks before Spring Training starts to have surgery on an already ailing shoulder.

Multiple feeds can be added, depending on your preference. I added five, but didn’t attempt to add more. Perhaps the sky is the limit?

For those that prefer the design of the web site to that of the photo-heavy app, you can utilize the Power User option. It removes the images from the home screen and allows for more headlines. It’s pure text, just like the previous MLB Trade Rumors app. Right now it’s only available for the Android version, but it will be built for iOS.

According to Tim Dierkes — owner of MLB Trade Rumors, its sister sites and the Trade Rumors app — mobile usage has grown 16 percent since 2012, with 43 percent of its readers now consuming news and rumors from smartphones or tablets. He told me they continue to make it a priority to provide a mobile-friendly experience and are targeting two big changes to accomplish that, the biggest of which will be redesigns of the MLB Trade Rumors and Hoop Rumors web sites, part of which will be more mobile-friendly versions. Dierkes said they will resemble the Pro Football Rumors experience, which provides a more “stripped-down layout” for mobile users.

The second change will be a native commenting system. The site uses Disqus right now. Once the new commenting system is in place, comments will be integrated in to the Trade Rumors app.

“I think it would allow for better customization, better page load speed and also the content would be under our roof,” Dierkes said.

Fair warning, there are small ads that will pop up in the app. And while Dierkes replied to a commenter that he wouldn’t rule out disabling ads for in-app purchases, it doesn’t sound like it will be any time soon.

“Developing and maintaining the app does add up,” Dierkes said,” and we’re a long way from reaching break even on all that.”

Wondering if your old MLB Trade Rumors app will continue to work? It won’t. Dierkes said those apps are out of the store and may stop working at some point.

On Wednesday, Wired published an opinion piece written by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler which unveils proposed rules to “preserve the internet as an open platform for innovation and free expression.” YES to real network neutrality and NO to fast lanes fantasies dreamed up by internet service providers. Can we get an amen? AMEN! Need a refresher on net neutrality? Check out this short video from Stanford Law School professor Barbara Van Schewick in which she explains why this direction is critical to the future of the country’s economy. Van Schewick is also the director of the law school’s Center for Internet and Society.

Over the last 15 years, the internet has been the sporting world’s performance enhancing drug. Twitter has changed the way fans engage socially. The emergence of streaming media has changed the way fans watch live sporting events, thanks to MLB.TV and streaming Super Bowls. Sports web sites and blogs, such as the monster that is SB Nation, have injected fans with focalized news and rumors to cater to their interests while building a community to digest the 24/7 news cycle. There are no more water cooler conversations. Because there’s the internet.  Mix in growing mobile device consumption and you have an industry that hangs on a consumer with a fast, affordable connection. It’s why net neutrality, whether you’re for it or against, is so important to sports fans.

Wheeler takes advantage of Title II of the Communications Act to implement and enforce his proposal with the authority to selectively decide not to enforce sections of the act, which were put in to place 80 years ago. He writes that his rules will “ban paid prioritization, and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services.” And he intends to fully apply these rules to mobile broadband. He promises no rate regulation, which should calm some fears of those that oppose the government’s wrap around our internet. “All of this can be accomplished while encouraging investment in broadband networks,” Wheeler said in the piece. “To preserve incentives for broadband operators to invest in their networks, my proposal will modernize Title II, tailoring it for the 21st century, in order to provide returns necessary to construct competitive networks.”

But that’s not to say Wheeler’s proposal is a perfect one. Gigaom’s Stacey Higginbotham wrote a fantastic summary of a fact sheet the FCC distributed regarding Wheeler’s plans to implement net neutrality. In that piece, Higginbotham sounded off on a loophole which should concern us all:

Finally we have the catch-all rule, which seems to be the agency’s way of future-proofing the open internet as much as it can. The proposal would create a general Open Internet conduct standard stating that ISPs cannot harm consumers or edge providers. It’s likely that things like zero-rating and sponsored data plans such as the one that AT&T offers will be adjudicated under the general conduct rule.

While it sounds nice, a concern is that the more things that fall under this vague general conduct rule, the more flexibility the agency will have in determining what a network neutrality violation is. Flexibility can be a good thing, but in the government, it can also change with each administration and the political climate. I am concerned that this could be a loophole, but a senior FCC official objected to that characterization. “We see this as a safety net to catch any issues that are not covered as a bright line rule and to protect against new practices that may discriminate.”

The five commissioners will vote on Wheeler’s plan on February 26. If it passes, expect the broadband providers to tie this up in court for a long, long time.

Back to Van Schewick’s video. Her key question is who gets to decide what we do on the internet, the consumers or the ISPs? It seems to be a simple answer, right? Not according to some. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas infamously referred to net neutrality as the “Obamacare for the internet” in November. To give the senator, along with those against net neutrality, a fair space, check out Cruz’s speech below.

Cruz fears politicians and the government will over regulate the internet with Title II, and believes that this will stifle innovation. In his #dontmesswiththenet campaign, Cruz warns that regulations will favor the “big guys with armies of lobbyists” and will burden start ups and entrepreneurs. But isn’t that really what the ISPs will do? Their boatloads of cash are already backing an assault against a plan that will protect consumers and maintain the internet that we’ve grown to love. How can anyone be against protecting an open, fast and fair internet, as Wheeler proposes? It’s because they’ll be negatively affected financially. And those are the ISPs. They’ll continue to lose cable customers as the number of cord cutters grow and won’t be able to charge higher fees for faster internet, as many assume they would. They’d get away with it if it wasn’t for that meddling FCC. And really, the only reason Cruz can justify his position and statements, which many have referred to as ignorant, is because those same ISPs must be funding his retirement. Or at least giving him free access the premium movie channels.

“The internet I want my kids to have is like the internet we have today,” Van Schewick says in the video.

And yes, agreed. Ultimately it’s what we all want, right?

We just want this internet that we know today to stay the same. My children should totally grow up with the freedom to stream movies from 20 years ago, watch three-star TV shows instead of doing homework or reading a book, battling friends online with the Xbox Twenty and learning the subtle nuances of the intimate relationships of pizza delivery men, naughty nurses and babysitters with pigtails. Because this is America, am I right?

Image via DonkeyHotey

It’s Sunday. The sun has set. Katy Perry and all that is horrible about corporate America’s involvement with the Super Bowl have gone with it. You’re stuck on the couch, beyond bloated from stuffing your trap with pigs in a blanket, chips and guacamole and seven Bud Light Platinums. The Seattle Seahawks hold a 17-14 lead with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Tom Brady and his New England Patriots failed to convert on third down and goal at Seattle’s four yard line. Take the sure three points against Seattle’s defense, right? No, no. Go for it on fourth down, because if the Pats don’t make it, Seattle has horrible field position.

What do you do? Flip a coin? It’s hard to think through the fog of booze and carbs. “What do you do?” asks Dennis Hopper’s Howard Payne from 1994’s blockbuster Speed. “What do you do?”

Refer to 4^th Down Bot. He’s got all the fourth down answers.

Carolina punted on a 4th and 4 at the Arizona 37. I would have gone for it: http://t.co/ReNCna7IjZ

— NYT 4th Down Bot (@NYT4thDownBot) January 3, 2015

Produced by The New York Times in 2013 and upgraded for this NFL season, 4^th Down Bot utilizes a model created by Brian Burke of Advanced Football Analytics and ten years of data to live-critique coaches’ decisions via the Bot’s web site and on Twitter. The Times published its methodology here. It bases decisions on expected points, which measures the average number of points each situation is worth. The creators admit the model is similar to that developed by David Romer, a University of California, Berkeley economics professor who authored a paper in 2002 exploring  fourth down options. The Times notes more seasons of data differentiate the two models.

“The game is ball possession, and coaches are losing sight of that,” David Leonhardt, editor at The Times, told Bill Littlefield of Only A Game.

The model assumes both the offense and defense are league average, with its goal of scoring as many points as possible. But once the fourth quarter hits, winning becomes the priority. The Bot measures how often teams won following a punt, field goal kick or fourth down attempt using data from NFL games played previously played.

Here is an example from The Times:

A field goal is worth 3 points, if it’s successful. But there is a catch: after scoring, you must kick off to your opponent, which, on average, will begin its drive on the 22-yard line. Judging from the chart above, a first-and-10 from your 22 is worth about 0.4 points. To NYT 4th Down Bot, a field goal is worth 3 points minus the cost of kicking off: 3 – 0.4 = 2.6 points. (Similarly, a touchdown and extra point is worth 7 – 0.4 = 6.6 points.)

What if the kicker misses? It’s a long field goal, about 55 yards, and the success rate of 55-yard field goals is only about 40 percent.

If the kick is no good, the opponent takes over on its 45-yard line. From our chart above, a first-and-10 from there is worth about 1.8 points. In this case, however, it is a first down for your opponent, so the point value from your perspective is –1.8 points.

NYT 4th Down Bot uses the expected points from success, the expected points from failure and the likelihood of each outcome to compute the net value of a decision.

Per the scenario above, 4^th Down Bot would have kicked the field goal and settled for a 17-17 tie with 22 minutes of championship football left.

To be certain, the Bot is a fun tool for couch coaches everywhere rather than a serious, analytical decision-maker. It has its holes (it still doesn’t know what teams are playing, their strengths, or injuries involved). But when you want to look smart in front of friends and family this Sunday following a huge fourth down play, just whip out the Bot. He’s got your back.

“What do you do?” Payne asks again.

Take the three points.

Image via M P R

CNET recently ran a story in which it dubbed the Golden State Warriors’ next arena “the stadium of the future.” With the arena scheduled to open in 2018, team executives are experimenting with new technology. “We can’t light this [new arena] up already being out of date,” said vice president of digital and marketing Kenny Lauer. And, being in the Bay Area, it’s tech’s home team. This should be the stadium of the future when some of Silicon Valley’s finest are at every game.

It seems the most successful experiment so far has been with iBeacons, an Apple product that uses a Bluetooth low-energy signal to notify iOS users as they approach or pass an iBeacon. The Warriors use the tech to alert fans about seat upgrades, discounts at the team store and concession deals. It can also be used to map out an arena and help you find the nearest bathroom to your that beer line you’re going to wait in. But the Warriors don’t offer this solution, yet.

The Warriors will soon roll out sound amplification, which broadcasts sound from microphones placed on the court through the arena’s speakers. Now the dribbling ball on the hardwood, squeaky sneakers and Steph Curry’s sweet swishes won’t just be for the front row fans. During the five-game trial, the Warriors will broadcast to an entire side of the venue.

And then there’s LiFi, which the Warriors are exploring. It’s like WiFi, but uses light rather than radio frequencies to transmit data via LED bulbs. It has a much wider bandwidth and has reached data rates of over 10 gigabits per second. The range is shorter because light waves cannot penetrate walls, but it’s cheaper to maintain than its counterpart. How would the Warriors use it? They’re still trying to figure that out.

They are building two groups, one to focus on the tech and another that will determine how to integrate that tech in to the fan experience.

“Thinking about the challenges we have with Wi-Fi and the available frequency space in the visual light spectrum, the opportunities are unreal,” Lauer told CNET. “These are the kinds of things that are fascinating.”

And while all of this does sound intriguing, I don’t think it completely resolves issues fans have that keep them away from live sporting events. The biggest, most obvious challenge teams face selling tickets is the cost. Let’s assume this won’t be fixed, and focus on some other issues I want to see in my stadium of the future.

Designers of future stadiums aim to mix technology and sustainability. But sustainability is boring. I don’t really care how you make it 70 degrees in the arena, just make it 70 degrees. So let’s let the municipalities worry about that. Here’s what I want to see.

Bathroom Roombas

You know how one guy sober guy doesn’t always get every drop into the toilet even in his own home? Imagine 20,000 men, half of them drunk, rushing to pee between plays in a jam-packed bathroom that isn’t one they have to clean. Then, imagine how many will vomit in same said bathroom. It’s pretty freaking filthy. I want Roombas constantly sweeping through legs and around feet, spotting moisture and soaking it up. I don’t want to worry about soaking my Converse in the leftovers of the beer Kevin in Riverside pounded three hours earlier in the parking lot.

Robots

While the mix of high school drop outs and senior citizens bumping in to each other in a crowded concession stand is entertaining for two minutes, it becomes frustrating and time consuming. I want to order, pay and pick up my food so I can get back to the game. And frankly, the current system isn’t working, except when it’s a Wednesday night game in September in Miami with the Padres in town.

I want Johnny Five of Short Circuit taking my order quickly, efficiently and accurately. Send emo Jade and grandma Helen to parking lot duty.

Speaking of parking lots…

Maybe I’m just getting old and grumpy, but I hate fighting traffic to get to a game, hunt for parking and then battle 15,000 other vehicles to leave the stadium via three exits. I want sensors that indicate open parking spots I can view on an app that will direct me to open spots. When it’s time to leave, I want to use the same app to avoid the most severe congestion so that I don’t have to spend 45 minutes listening to the callers on the post-game AM radio show theorize why Albert Pujols didn’t bunt with the tying run  on second and no outs in the bottom of the tenth. I just want to get home and get to sleep. I’ve got stuff to do the next day.

Mute buttons

I don’t want to listen to that Top 40 music blaring during play of a NBA game. MUTE. Hey, Oakland A’s fan. You’re being a total jerk and I don’t want to risk you throwing your turkey leg at my head when I turn around after telling you to shut up, or getting stabbed walking out of the stadium, or my heart exploding because you’re stressing me out. MUTE. What, 3-year-old daughter I brought to the game because my tickets didn’t sell online? You want cotton candy and you have to pee and you want to start the wave? MUTE.

This is just a start. What do you want to see in your stadium of the future?

Image via Volker Kotidtz 

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)

The first virtual reality sports game just hit Steam with the release of Motorsport Revolution, a physics-based PC racing game compatible with the Oculus Rift DK2 headset.   It is the first sports VR game added to the Steam library. And based on the VR buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show, this is just the beginning.

The single-player game features multiple 3D tracks to burn, such as California Speedway, Brazil Raceway and Big Country Criterion, as well as over 20 different cars to choose from as one races through five sports classes, starting with economy and ending with the ultimate formula class.

Neal Nellans, CEO of Ghost Machine, the game’s developer, said the game is more about action than a simulated racing experience.

“We wanted to create an adrenaline-filled action scenario,” Nellans told me. “The AI is very aggressive and it (the game) gives very fantastic crash scenarios.”

Nellans said that a racing genre lended itself nicely to VR because first-person, 3D racing games already existed. This made the transition to VR easy simply by adding a 3D camera.

When asked about issues of nausea, a common challenge within VR experiences, Nellans said that cockpit-type games – games in which action moves around a stationary first person or object — reduce those issues.

Waiting for EA Sports to launch a John Madden VR title? Don’t hold your breath. Nellans thinks the big developers will take a wait-and-see attitude with the tech.

Ghost Machine, a virtual reality studio based in Austin, is also developing Extreme Golf and expects to launch in December. This is not your grandpa’s golf. Features include a timer for each hole which affects scoring, along with the ability to smack your opponent with a club and knock them down to gain an edge and improve your score. Nellans said the game will include a multiplayer element.

The company has six VR games currently in development.

Motorsports Revolution is currently on sale for $12.74 (regularly $14.99) while the Oculus Rift DK2 headset costs $350.

Images via Ghost Studio

Shares of GoPro sank 12 percent Tuesday following news that the US Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple a patent for a remote-controlled, mountable camera, Bloomberg reported. The stock closed Tuesday at $49.87, and while it rebounded slightly Wednesday ($52.34 at closing), it wasn’t enough to quell investor concerns that GoPro could face its stiffest competition yet.

“Investors are concerned that the patent will let Apple, the world’s largest company by market valuation, make products that are similar to what GoPro offers,” said Charlie Anderson, an investment bank and brokerage analyst at Dougherty & Co., to Bloomberg’s Peter Burrows.

Patently Apple monitors Apple’s patent filings and acknowledges that many patents don’t amount to an actual product on the market. However, they found an interesting nugget that makes this seem Apple has a real investment in entering the sports camera market.

What’s interesting here is that Apple’s invention that was filed in 2012 appears to now incorporate intellectual property from Kodak that they acquired back in November 2013. In one implementation, Apple’s invention could directly move into GoPro’s territory as the patent specifically mentions the weaknesses of the GoPro devices.

If Apple acquired a specific Kodak patent to bolster their granted invention, it would appear to be one Apple is taking very seriously. Why else purchase a patent if you’re going to just shelf the idea[?] Exactly which part of the technology Apple is interested in […] isn’t known at this time.

And really, this patent may not be for sports cameras. Maybe it’s related to the iWatch. Or some other Apple product we have no idea about.

Alex Gauna, an analyst for JMP Securities, isn’t concerned by the patent.

“It does not seem to me that launching an action camera accessory is the most logical product extension for Apple to pursue right now,” Gauna told Reuters.

However, details within the patent, such as the following, lend to the idea that Apple has the power to put a dent in the sports camera market if it wants to. And that’s enough to spook investors.

In some embodiments, the microphone is capable of recording sounds in air and also in an underwater environment when the digital camera is used to record underwater images. In other embodiments, the digital camera includes both a conventional air microphone as well as an underwater microphone (hydrophone) capable of recording underwater sounds.

Apple notes in the patent that the camera could be secured to an object, like handle bars, a helmet or a surfboard. Additionally, the system lets users control the camera remotely, which GoPro offers through an app.

Let’s not kid ourselves, GoPro is a beast. Anderson said that the company earned $1 billion in revenue last year. Along with the lion’s share of the sports camera market, GoPro has the buzz and brand name awareness that most companies envy.

But this is Apple we’re talking about. Describing the company’s faithful as a powerful consumer base is like saying Michael Jordan was pretty good at basketball. And with its history of designing stylish products, sports camera shoppers could very well be swayed by a brand name that squashes GoPro and buy a more creative, cooler-looking camera.

(Image via Andreas Kambanis)

Is the NFL ready for its first defensive Most Valuable Player since Lawrence Taylor in 1986? Pro Football Focus is.

The web site, which provides individual player analytics, recently named Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt as its player of the year. Watt’s stiffest competition for the MVP award, Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay, finished second. However, PFF has named its honor the Dwight Stephenson award after the Miami Dolphins offensive lineman. The best players can play any position, PFF says, as opposed to MVPs mainly awarded to quarterbacks or running backs.

PFF watches game tape and grades each player on their ability to execute their roles on each individual play. The PFF staff blends statistics and performance-based scouting (results rather than technique) in their approach. In defining its grading process, PFF states that stats can lie, and there’s context of a statistic that they value.

“If the quarterback throws an accurate first down conversion that is dropped, the quarterback receives the same credit as he would have with a catch,” writes PFF.

Watt finished 2014 with 20.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, one interception, 59 solo tackles, a safety, two touchdowns and three receiving touchdowns.

“Watt is so far out on his own in terms of play that he breaks every graph we create to try and illustrate it, extending axes and generally sitting off on a data point all to himself,” writes Sam Monson, a PFF analyst. “He is completely redefining what we thought a defensive player was capable of, and is only getting better.”

Following a tedious process which involves three different analysts viewing game broadcast and All-22 footage, PFF awards each player a grade between +2.0 and -2.0 in half increments with zero given for an average play. Zero is the most often awarded value with other values given to plays that are an exception – both good and bad. Watt racked up a +107.5 grade. The next highest 3-4 defensive end was Sheldon Richardson of the New York Jets with a +39.9 grade.

Here is an example:

The varying degrees of positive and negative grades add a little bit more context than a simple plus and minus systems. An offensive lineman might surrender a sack on a given play, but how quickly was he beaten? Allowing a defender to slip past and get into the quarterback’s face in 1.9 seconds is obviously much worse than allowing that same sack in 2.7 seconds, so while both plays are negatives, they certainly won’t carry the same exact grade.

Using that same example, if the pressure is surrendered in 1.9 seconds and the quarterback sidesteps the sack, it’s certainly not indicative of the offensive lineman’s pass-blocking acumen, so there’s no reason to change his grade because he “only” surrendered a pressure and not a sack. The goal of the grading is to isolate individual performance as much as possible, fully realizing that there is always a certain level of dependency on teammates in football.

While PFF supports Watt, history does not. The MVP has not hailed from a non-playoff team since 1973. The Texans didn’t make the playoffs, though they did finish 9-7.

The MVP will be awarded January 31.

(Image via Mike)