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.
After adding UFC president and CEO Dana White to its board of directors in January, Meta will now serve as the UFC’s first “Official Fan Technology Partner,” and the “Official AI Glasses Partner.” Those totally not made-up titles just mean that more UFC content — maybe even including fights that place Zuck in the ring — will be coming to Meta’s platforms.
[businesswire.com]
The baseball season is only a few days old, and a new “bowling pin” bat has set the game on fire. It’s the result of some fascinating science, and a whole bunch of supply chain optimization:
Bowling pin bats take precision to produce. Every fraction of an ounce in bat manufacturing matters. Bats are measured not only on a standard scale but via pendulum-swing tests. The more balanced a bat, the more it oscillates.
The NBA regular season only has a few games left, but the well-known content creator LeBron James is about to kick off a new season of the Mind the Game podcast.
We’ll see if new co-host Steve Nash can follow in his predecessor JJ Redick’s footsteps to an NBA head coaching job, but I’m also keeping an eye out for the podcast return of NBA analyst Zach Lowe, as he launches his new show with The Ringer / Spotify this week.
Nintendo and the Seattle Mariners go way back. The publisher owned the team from 1992 to 2016 and was responsible for publishing the best baseball game ever played by a shiba inu.
The connection got a little bit closer with the announcement that for the first time ever the Mariners will sport Nintendo logos on their jerseys. Nintendo’s iconic “racetrack” logo will appear on home jerseys while the Switch 2 logo will appear on away kits.
Weeks after the SEC dropped its investigation into Robinhood over possible securities violations, the company announced the launch of a “prediction markets hub” in the app. Robinhood writes:
At launch, the hub will allow customers to trade contracts for what the upper bound of the target fed funds rate will be in May, as well as the upcoming men’s and women’s College Basketball Tournaments.
The company has also offered such trading for the Presidential election and the Super Bowl.
[newsroom.aboutrobinhood.com]
TGL is a brand-new spin on golf, trying to meld the best of sports with the best of the digital world — including the biggest screen you’ve ever seen.
The new F1 season is about to get started in Australia this weekend (you’ve caught up on Drive to Survive right?), and its subscription video package has some changes. For $129.99 per year, the new F1 TV Premium tier adds the above features and a customizable multi-feed view -- Pro subscribers should check out the fan-built MultiViewer app.
Other than the extra cost, the bad news is that availability of the new features is limited. They’re not on Android, or browsers other than Chrome, and 4K / HDR viewing will require Apple TV or Roku for now.
One race of a double-header Formula E weekend saw the first use of Pit Boost stops as the nearly decade-old series required drivers to stop for a quick 600kW battery charge that increases energy by about 10 percent.
Feelings about it were mixed, reports Motorsport.com. Winner Maximilian Guenther called it “pretty cool,” however, Dan Ticktum, whose car required a reset to charge, acknowledged its importance but said, “I’m not f*****g interested if it’s going to screw my races over.”
The next season of Major League Soccer kicks off this weekend, which means that so does another marketing push from Apple, which is the league’s streaming home. New for 2025: Apple TV Plus sleeve patches which have been customized for each of the 30 MLS clubs.
Niantic and Major League Baseball are bringing Pokémon Go to ballparks across North America for three whole seasons. Beginning on Opening Day, March 27th, each team’s home park will get themed in-game PokéStops, gyms, and routes.
The New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, and 11 other teams will even have scheduled Pokémon Go Theme Nights, with wearable in-game home team baseball caps, timed missions, and more.
Originally scheduled to go on sale in spring 2024, the SS version of Chevy’s Blazer EV is finally close to shipping amid rumors the gas-powered Blazer is going away. Orders are now open for the vehicle that promises 615hp in Wide Open Watts mode and a 3.4 second 0 - 60 time.
Chevy will put it in front of the stock car field and the public on February 16th and debut a “Blazer EV.R NASCAR Prototype.”
Though Fubo has always been a more streaming-focused service, the company announced today that it has plans to distribute its Fubo Sports linear network “on over-the-air (OTA) stations in more than 100 markets nationwide including major markets New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.”
If you’re watching the Super Bowl, Streaming Media Blog shares details about Tubi’s stream like its max bitrate (14.4Mbps) and that it’s English-only.
You’ll also need to be logged in, either using a Tubi account or (if on a Fire TV) an Amazon account. The stream won’t work if you’re using the app as a guest, according to the blog.
Tubi is streaming the Super Bowl this weekend, which is pretty much the best imaginable way to get people to try your streaming service. It also has a new original show, The Z-Suite, that is apparently pretty good? This is a fun rundown from our friends at Vulture on what Tubi is, how it’s planning to win big this weekend, and whether it’s going to be able to keep up with the traffic.
[vulture.com]
A report from Wired looks at attempts to plug AI technology into the General Services Administration (along with other departments). According to one source, DOGE’s push is for using AI tools “to analyze huge swaths of contract and procurement data” with a custom GSAi chatbot.
It also notes other shifting AI approaches, with coding assistant Cursor reportedly approved then retracted, and a new push to use Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot.
CNN reports on a former SpaceX intern being set up in the Energy Department’s systems by Chris Wright:
Members of the general counsel and chief information offices “said this is a bad idea” because [Luke] Farritor hadn’t had a standard background investigation needed to access the department’s system, one of the people told CNN. “He’s not cleared to be in DOE, on our systems. None of those things have been done.”
Sega’s quarterly earnings revealed that after two delays, this year’s Football Manager isn’t coming: “Whilst many areas of the game have hit our targets, the overarching player experience and interface is not where we need it to be.”
This reminds me of EA missing NBA Live releases in the 2010s, but it’s still disappointing that last year’s game isn’t getting updated to fill in the gap as Sega and Sports Interactive shift focus to FM26.
MySports, which offers access to live games from the NFL, NBA, and MLB, has expanded access to 122 more cities, including Denver, Cleveland, West Palm Beach, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and others. It was previously only available in 24 metro areas at launch.
After taking a break from the promotion last year, T-Mobile is once again giving away free MLS Season Pass access to “qualified T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers,” Apple has announced.
You can redeem it “for a limited time” using the T-Mobile Life app starting on February 18th.
According to The Information, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy was annoyed by the costs of shows like LotR: The Rings of Power and Citadel and has pushed for the video service to be profitable by the end of this year. As Netflix raises prices, Prime is promoting shows from competing services and focusing more on live sports than originals.
Amazon’s betting that sports can more reliably draw audiences to the Prime Video service than new movies and shows, significantly boosting its ad revenue, according to multiple people familiar with its strategy.
[The Information]
These 10 designs are the finalists in Manchester City’s contest that tasked fans with creating future kits using AI. Not sure why mine wasn’t chosen.
