Sports

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.

Richard LawlerFeb 15, 2024

Here’s our first real look at the NBA’s LED basketball court for All-Star Weekend 2024.

After showing off a rendering, the NBA has now posted a clip of the ASB Lumiflex court installed in Lucas Oil Stadium for the Celebrity Game, 3-point shootout, and Dunk Contest that can show real-time stats, animations, and more.

For an idea of how it looks during games and how the LED panels under laminated glass are installed, check out this German video of the court being used for regular-season Bundesliga play.

The ultimate sports streaming service will have to fight itself

Emma RothFeb 12, 2024

Wes DavisFeb 12, 2024

Larry David thinks his FTX Super Bowl ad in 2022 was a prettyyyy, prettyyy big mistake.

That was the vibe when the Curb Your Enthusiasm star called himself “an idiot” during an interview with The Associated Press recently. He was part of the glut of FTX Super Bowl 2022 ads angled on FOMO the same year FTX collapsed, and we know how that story went.

Of course, there were no crypto ads during Super Bowl LVIII — unless you count Jack Dorsey wearing a Satoshi shirt again.

Disney’s big bets on sports, streaming, and Fortnite

David PierceFeb 9, 2024

Richard LawlerFeb 7, 2024

The real standalone ESPN streaming channel will launch in the fall of 2025.

Disney CEO Bob Iger had previously targeted next year for the launch of a streaming version of ESPN’s main channel (no watered-down ESPN Plus, just ESPN).

Now that the deal for a sports streaming Voltron with Warner Bros. and Fox is sewed up, Iger said to CNBC’s Julia Boorstin that direct-to-consumer ESPN could launch in late August 2025, and confirmed to investors that it will be available in a bundle with Hulu and Disney Plus.

ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. are putting together a juggernaut sports streaming app

Emma RothFeb 6, 2024

YouTube TV listened to sports fans, and it’s fixing multiview’s biggest problem

Quentyn KennemerJan 30, 2024

Richard LawlerJan 15, 2024

Peacock’s AFC Wild Card game was the “most-streamed event ever in the US.”

Initial numbers from Nielsen and NBCUniversal are out, showing the audience Peacock pulled for the first streaming-exclusive NFL playoff game that reportedly cost around $110 million. They note a total of 27.6 million viewers, with a peak average of 24.6 million during the second quarter -- much higher than last month’s “holiday exclusive” game.

The Peacock Exclusive AFC Wild Card ranks as the most-streamed event ever in the U.S. with an average audience (AMA) of approximately 23.0 million viewers across Peacock, NBC stations in Miami and Kansas City, and on mobile with NFL+, according to Nielsen custom fast national data.

The streams we were watching mostly held up, if you saw the game, how was the experience for you?

Disclosure: Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.

Image reading “Peacock Exclusive AFC Wild Card Game is Biggest Live-Streamed Event in U.S. History”

Image: NBC Sports (X)

The NFL and Taylor Swift surprisingly aren’t enough to crash Peacock

Richard LawlerJan 14, 2024

Max’s live sports add-on will be free for a few more months

Jay PetersJan 5, 2024

Emma RothDec 28, 2023

Peacock’s exclusive NFL holiday game raked in almost 10 million viewers.

Over the holiday weekend, Peacock aired its first exclusive NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers, where it averaged about 9.9 million viewers.

That’s still a far cry from Sunday Night Football viewership, though. In October, a Sunday Night Football game between the Cowboys and 49ers averaged 26.1 million viewers when aired on both Peacock and NBC.

Disclosure: Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.

Bills-Chargers Thriller in Peacock Holiday Exclusive Delivered Primetime’s Largest Audience on Saturday Night

[NBC Sports Pressbox]