The sports world has always been at the leading edge of technological progress. Athletes dominate the list of most-followed celebrities across social platforms. Teams and players have used everything from video games to fitness trackers to AI in order to get an edge over their competition. Nothing has shaped the future of TV more than the bidding wars over live events like the Super Bowl or the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. You’ve seen Microsoft’s Surface tablets thrown all over NFL sidelines, VR cameras promising a courtside view of the NBA Finals, and shoes that make marathon runners even faster somehow. From VAR and robotic umpires to hyperrealistic Formula One simulators and league-affiliated esports, the future of sports is as much a story about technology as it is about wins and losses. It’s taking place across sports, across the globe, and at record-breaking speed.
It finished the 21.1-kilometer race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. The world record was set just a month ago by Jacob Kiplimo, at 57 minutes and 20 seconds. More impressively, when this race was held last year, the winning robot finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes — a stunning improvement.
Correction April 19th: An earlier version used the wrong unit of measurement. A half-marathon is 21.1 kilometers, or 13.1 miles.
The first hint was a sponsored Instagram post on March 31st. But Curry has been spotted wearing the mysterious device (possibly dubbed “Google Fitbit Air”) in a video from Sotheby’s, and it even made an appearance in a behind-the-scenes clip way back from All-Star weekend. We don’t know much, but it looks like Google is getting ready to take on Whoop.
A new Wired investigation details the lengths Jim Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks and venues like MSG and the Las Vegas Sphere, goes to to spy on perceived enemies, fans, and critics. The vast surveillance apparatus includes dossiers, social media posts, and facial recognition tech.
Last year I wrote about one fan who believes a t-shirt design he had made resulted in a lifetime ban from Dolan’s venues — and that facial recognition picked him out of the crowd.
Baseball is back this week and we’ve already got the afterglow of a great World Baseball Classic, an upcoming Heated Rivalry-themed game night, and Netflix completely missing the first-ever robot ump challenge because they cut away to a mid-game interview. It’s a long season — can MLB keep the momentum going?
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Their partnership, reportedly worth up to $300 million over three years, includes giving Polymarket “access to Official League Data from Sportradar, MLB’s exclusive global distributor of data for prediction markets.”
This is after Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz and Luis Leandro Ortiz Ribera were indicted in November over allegedly rigging bets on pitches.
When Victoria Song reviewed the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, she found a lot to like about their slimmer ear hook and wireless charging, even before their iOS 26 upgrade. Now, Beats is launching this color-splashed collaboration, which is at least bright, even if it lacks the internal hardware updates of Apple’s new AirPods Max headphones.
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The Climacool sneakers I reviewed last year are now available in an all-white colorway, complete with ghost stripes and white laces. The $160 Climacool Laced kicks are 15 percent lighter, thankfully, and available to buy worldwide from adidas.com and via the Adidas app. The $140 slip-ons are back in stock too.
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The old sport is going all-in on chasing virality.
Netflix’s latest livestreamed boxing match will take place on September 19th at the Las Vegas Sphere.
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Starting on May 3rd, 2026, five Formula 1 races, including the Miami, Monaco, British, Italian, and United States Grands Prix, will be shown in “select IMAX locations” across the country. The showings will take place in at least 50 IMAX theaters as a result of a new partnership with Apple.
It only took an on-camera F-bomb, accusations of cheating, and then video confirmation to get people to take interest. Is the Olympic sport that features frantic brooming having a Hawk-Eye moment?
These shots have been so cool!
First, no, we’re not, and second, I’d be happier if he said he was joining the Celtics than joining the prediction markets mess, as the still-on-the-Bucks superstar says he’s “joining Kalshi as a shareholder.”
Is this better or worse than the days when every athlete was pitching an NFT scheme/scam?
After adding tennis last June, the free Apple Sports app is introducing golf so fans can keep tabs on “official PGA Tour and LPGA Tour events.” You’ll have access to individual players’ scorecards, hole-by-hole results, and live leaderboards starting with the PGA’s WM Phoenix Open tournament this weekend.
That’s how much Disney says ESPN and its sports business lost in income during the 15-day YouTube TV blackout late last year, totalling $110 million. That’s almost double the daily hit analysts had estimated at the time, and it’s just for sports, not counting any hit to ABC or Disney’s entertainment channels.
The NFL has added prediction markets to its list of “prohibited categories” for commercials in Super Bowl LX. However, as Front Office Sports points out, sports betting isn’t on that list. While there will be limits on the number of sports bettor ads allowed, the league seems to be drawing a distinction between the two categories.
[Front Office Sports]
Tennis’s biggest stars keep being asked to take their Whoop trackers off at the Australian Open. The wearable is permitted by the sport’s governing bodies, but banned by the tournament, prompting frustration from player (and, um, paid Whoop ambassador) Aryna Sabalenka:
“All the tournaments I play, we wear Whoop. It’s just for tracking my health. I don’t understand why Grand Slams are not allowing us to wear it.”
When I wrote about Nike’s “neuroscience-based” Mind 001 and 002 shoes, I thought they looked uncomfortable. The 22 nodes in each shoe are meant to stimulate your foot’s pressure points and relax your mind, and those nodes “hurt,” according to shoe reviewer Chris Chase at WearTesters.
They might be a particularly bad match for Chase, who has arthritis in the balls of his feet. Still, the discomfort and general gimmicky vibe is a pass from Chase (and me).
As part of a partnership between TikTok and FIFA, select media partners can livestream “parts of” World Cup matches as well as “post more curated clips and access special content produced by FIFA for TikTok.”
During the Winter Olympics next month, Peacock will expand on features like multiview and its whiparound Gold Zone show with curated “Rinkside Live” behind-the-scenes angles. For some figure skating events that will add a Coaching Cam view during the routines, as well as a view of team benches during some hockey games.
When Intuit Dome opened last season, the arena staff assumed only a third of fans would opt-in to scanning, but close to 75 percent of venue attendees enrolled. The Clippers promise they are not using facial recognition — sorry, they call it “facial authentication” — for security purposes.
Early facial ticketing pilots were met with some protests. And energy still exists to create more state or federal oversight. But as the technology’s penetration has expanded, pushback seemingly hasn’t. A demand for security is leading venue operators to test out the newest tech, while a desire for convenience and personalization has seen fans increasingly getting in line.
“Prediction markets” continue to appear everywhere, including CNN and CNBC, and Polymarket is shitposting about citizen journalism.
Meanwhile, The Athletic is the latest (following Awful Announcing and Front Office Sports) reporting on sports misinformation X accounts like “Emma Vance” and “Scott Hughes” have spread while sporting those site’s affiliate badges.
John Madden, that is, filling the shoes of the legendary NFL coach and commentator, in David O. Russell’s upcoming biopic for Prime Video. There’s only the briefest still of a video game shown in this short teaser trailer, and a quick glimpse of John Mulaney as EA exec Trip Hawkins.
Madden is scheduled for release on Thanksgiving Day, 2026.
Last night was the first Xbox Bowl, with Arkansas State taking the trophy, presented by Halo’s Master Chief, over Missouri State. Every player received a free ROG Xbox Ally handheld ahead of the game, but the winning team also received a playable trophy to, presumably, lock away in their case.
Stopping to watch the race from outside the track can get you fined, but as long as you keep moving, security can’t do anything about it. Most of the view is obstructed along the pedestrian areas. One of the few exceptions is a pair of escalators at Spring Mountain and Las Vegas Blvd, which are closer than any of the seats and at one of the best turns.
