Squaresbook.com is the newest player in the world of online sports betting. Despite stiff competition from other online betting companies, Squaresbook’s innovative format promises a reprieve from traditional sports betting. Using a betting method familiar to anyone who’s attended a Super Bowl party, Squaresbook is perfect for beginner and veteran betters alike.
That’s right – Squaresbook uses the Score Square Pool format you’d find at a football viewing party for a recognizable betting experience that feels entirely fresh. And right now, they’re offering sports fans the perfect opportunity to start betting. For a limited time, Squaresbook is giving users a 50% bonus on their first deposit up to $200 using promo code BONUS50!
Not a football fan? Not an issue! Squaresbook has developed squares for all major sports. You can start betting on the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, and more today. They even offer online square pools for all major cricket tournaments!
Interested in getting started with Squaresbook’s fresh take on online sports betting? Visit them at www.Squaresbook.com today to sign up. Don’t forget to use code BONUS50 for a 50% bonus on your deposit!
The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) announced today that veteran NBA columnist and renowned basketball insider Peter Vecsey ([email protected]) has joined its content team, sharing his thoughts via his popular Hoop du Jour platform each week. Hoop du Jour will be featured content for Legends Media & Entertainment (LME), the multifaceted story-telling platform producing, distributing and quantifying the wide-reaching stories of many of the NBA and WNBA’s biggest stars that was launched in September and has seen record growth since launch. Athletes First Partners represents the NBRPA in its marketing endeavors and is working on engaging with brands on the platform as well.
Vecsey, the long-time columnist for the New York Post and analyst for TNT/TBS, NBC and NBATV, is one of the most connected and engaged media members in the sport. His opinions, insights and quips about the game–both past and present–have long been required reading for anyone involved or interested in basketball.
The native New Yorker has been enshrined in four Halls of Fame, including Naismith Basketball (Class of 2009), NYC Basketball, Rucker League and Archbishop Molloy.
“If there is any media member who knows our players and our audience, it is Peter Vecsey,” NBRPA President and CEO Scott Rochelle said. “Hoop du Jour was a business and lockerroom must read for decades. Peter’s ability to tell stories in his own style will certainly resonate not just with our current audience, but with a growing number of new fans who love basketball and its personalities. We are confident it’s going to be a must-read and must-follow as our other content has become this fall.”
“The men and women who make up the NBRPA were, and are, the most engaging and interesting athletes anywhere,” Vecsey said. “I’m looking forward to having some fun with them, telling and retelling their stories, and showing a new (and not-so-new) audience just how much noise we can make in this space.”
The NBRPA represents over 1,000 former NBA and WNBA players, making it the largest agency of its kind in basketball. In three months LME in both audio and video has drawn almost 600,000 views and listens, more than three times the combined numbers of audio and video around the players in the previous nine months. Viewers and listeners have come from over 20 countries, and have enjoyed content from some of the most unique storytellers in the history of professional basketball. The key unified elements of LME include: Legends Magazine, Legends Studios, the All-Access Legends Podcastand the NBRPA’s social media strategy and content.
Compare.bet has successfully completed the registration process in Colorado and is now able to operate in the newly regulated US state.
Colorado is the second state license obtained by Compare.bet, following the company’s earlier New Jersey vendor license award.
Compare.bet has been assigned vendor ID 94452979.
“Sports betting in Colorado has started with a bang this year – handle has climbed impressively despite COVID-19, and we’re seeing plenty of appetite from both customers and bookies in the state,” said Luke Eales, founder of Compare.bet.
“We have a number of license applications in progress for other regulated US states. We are excited to serve the expanding US market with the best offers, fresh sports content and a range of comparison tools.”
Colorado betting handle hit new heights in December, surpassing $200m. The figure represented the State’s fifth month in a row of record-beating betting activity, and was almost double the handle recorded in August 2020.
It has been forecast that most US states will offer some form of licensed sports wagering in the next 2-3 years*. The impressive growth in revenue of newly-regulated states like Colorado continues to make a strong case for wider legalization across the country.
OwnersBox, an innovative sport-tech company behind the new Weekly Fantasy Sports (WFS) platform is ecstatic to announce that they have partnered with top NHL fantasy sports content site DailyFaceoff.
As OwnersBox gears up for their inaugural fantasy hockey season, the team wanted to expand their reach and make a big splash. Daily Faceoff has been a leader in the hockey space for over a decade and prides themselves on being the fastest and most accurate site for projected and confirmed starting goalies as well as line combinations. They provide daily news, projections, and tools for fantasy hockey players across North America.
When asked for comment, President & CEO Brian Kipp stated: “As we actively prepare for the upcoming NBA & NHL seasons, we wanted to target a well-known trusted platform such as DailyFaceoff to leverage their network and help grow the Weekly Fantasy Sports movement. I’ve been an active Daily Faceoff user for years and am excited to work with the DFO team this year.”
OwnersBox and the Daily Faceoff will begin their relationship at the start of the 2021 season and will be collaborating through content, social media & weekly fantasy sports strategy articles. This partnership will allow OwnersBox to keep their momentum going from the NFL season into the new year with the NBA and NHL on the horizon.
HeadsUp Entertainment International Inc. announces today its strategic plan to enter the regulated sports betting market in Canada. In November 2020, the Canadian federal government introduced a bill (C-218) to the House of Commons that, if passed by both House and Senate, would legalize single-game sports wagering within the country’s 10 provinces and three territories. It is anticipated that this bill will pass in the spring of 2021 and HeadsUp is positioned to be a major player in the sector.
The forthcoming legislation and subsequent changes to the Criminal Code of Canada will allow for HeadsUp to be positioned for rapid growth, taking to market platforms in sports betting, into an industry estimated to be over $14 Billion in annual gross gaming revenue as estimated by the Canadian Gaming Association.
HeadsUp is currently negotiating with 2 sportsbook software providers and is in negotiations with a strategic media partner as a potential merger candidate or acquisition to create unique market access and lower than industry standard costs for player acquisition.
“The rapidly evolving opportunities in the Canadian market, as well as in other countries, are very encouraging and our team has been anticipating licensing and government regulation that we are strategically poised to take advantage of” commented HeadsUp President and CEO Doug Wilson.
The Company will be launching its media content delivery platforms the first week of January which are designed to target viewers and build its base of players in anticipation of the launch of its online gaming products once the path to legalization and licensing in Canada is complete.
Canada is an explosive market for sports wagering and the country is following the lead of New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania as US States that have legalized sports betting.
The NFL will offer plenty of offense this Christmas, with two of the top offenses in the league set to square off and four games with an over/under set at 51.5 points or more in Week 16. So many high point totals shouldn’t be a surprise, according to analysts from TheLines, which tracks odds in U.S. regulated sports betting markets. In fact, the NFL is on a historic scoring pace.
Sunday night’s game between the Tennessee Titans, which leads the NFL with 31.1 points per game, and Green Bay Packers, which is third at 31 points per game, promises two of the most prolific scoring teams in the NFL. Total points for the game as of Monday morning is 56, according to a consensus of the nation’s largest legal online sportsbooks — including DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, PlaySugarHouse, BetMGM, Unibet, and William Hill. No game has offered more points this season.
But games offered at 50 total points or more have not been uncommon this year. In fact, there were five such games in Week 15 alone. Points have been up significantly all year. Through the first 15 weeks, NFL teams are averaging 24.8 points per game, up dramatically from 22.8 points per game in 2019. Barring a points outage over the season’s final games, it should break the scoring average record of 23.6 points per team per game, set in 1948.
“In a season of anomalies, we may never see so many high point totals again,” said Brett Collson, lead analyst for TheLines.com. “There are so many reasons why scoring is up, and many of them are related to the pandemic, from fewer distractions with teams being in relative isolation to quiet stadiums helping road teams stay in sync. Regardless, oddsmakers continue to do well in making adjustments.”
The consensus point spreads for Week 16 and remaining Week 15 games, as of Monday, Dec. 21:
Pittsburgh Steelers (-14.5) at Cincinnati Bengals; over/under 40.5
Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints (-7); over/under 51.5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-9) at Detroit Lions; over/under 53.5
San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals (-3.5); over/under 49.5
Miami Dolphins (-2.5) at Las Vegas Raiders; over/under 47.5
Carolina Panthers at Washington Football Team (-1.5); over/under 44.5
Chicago Bears (-7) at Jacksonville Jaguars; over/under 47
Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans (-8.5); over/under 45
Cleveland Browns (-10) at New York Jets; over/under 44.5
Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers (-3); over/under N/A
New York Giants at Baltimore Ravens (-10); over/under N/A
Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers (-3); over/under 48.5
Atlanta Falcons at Kansas City Chiefs (-10.5); over/under 53
Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks (-1.5); over/under 46.5
Philadelphia Eagles (-1.5) at Dallas Cowboys; over/under 49.5
Tennessee Titans at Green Bay Packers (-4); over/under 56
Buffalo Bills (-6.5) at New England Patriots; over/under 45
To access the updated futures lines for every NFL team, and for more analysis, visit TheLines.com/odds/super-bowl. To access Week 16 odds, visit www.thelines.com/nfl-week-16-lines-2020.
For Soccer Ventures (FSV), an organization focused on the growth and long-term development of American soccer, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Alianza de Futbol and JUGOtv, groundbreaking Hispanic soccer companies engaging with and offering opportunities for the underserved Hispanic soccer community in the U.S.
For nearly two decades, Alianza de Futbol implements identification programs, coaching clinics, and tournaments in Hispanic communities throughout the U.S. that have historically existed outside of the traditional structure of American soccer. These programs have offered the opportunity for participation to male and female players, and led to the identification of dozens of future professional players such as Mexico’s National Team player Jonathan González. JUGOtv has operated as the content studio and social media arm of Alianza de Futbol, featuring one of the premier American Hispanic social channels.
“As we set about our mission to transform soccer in America, we began identifying the entities and the stakeholders who’d been doing it successfully for years. Alianza de Futbol and JUGOtv are the benchmarks for creating a more inclusive American soccer community,” FSV founder and Philadelphia Union investor Richie Graham said. “As part of FSV, we hope to bring these organizations closer to the fold with our partners, offering even greater opportunities for Hispanic soccer players in the U.S. and establishing a richer and more robust soccer community for everyone.”
Founded in 2004 by Richard Copeland and Brad Rothenberg, the son of former US Soccer Federation President and 1994 FIFA World Cup organizer Alan Rothenberg, Alianza de Futbol has been a one-of-a-kind opportunity for male and female soccer players outside of the traditional club system in the U.S. Since the program’s launch, players have come from 46 states and more than one thousand U.S. cities, connecting over 3.2 million hispanic families to the Alianza de Futbol community. Additionally, over seventy seven alumni have gone on to play professionally and twenty three have received youth national team invitations.
Working with commercial partners, Alianza de Futbol hosts weekend long activations in Hispanic communities throughout the country that feature tournaments for youth and adults and identification programs for players hoping to take the next step in their career, all at little to no cost. Guest appearances from legends of the game such as Carlos ‘Pibe” Valderrama and Jorge Campos, brand activations, and more round out an experience that often draws more than a quarter of a million attendees per year.
As part of the FSV portfolio, Alianza de Futbol and JUGOtv will leverage relationships with organizations such as Major League Soccer and US Soccer Federation to expand opportunities for its participants.
“We’re beyond excited to join the FSV team,” said Joaquin Escoto, Managing Director of Alianza de Futbol. “The future of soccer in America is so bright, and we’re thrilled to be joining FSV on their mission to ensure all communities are part of that future. FSV are the perfect partners to help amplify our impact in bringing the Hispanic community closer to the most important organizations in American soccer.”
Additionally, FSV’s unrivaled creative, American soccer storytelling and strategic capabilities will provide Alianza de Futbol a greater platform to evangelize their transformative work in grassroots soccer, while also connecting them to new brands and advertising agencies.
New initiatives that expand upon Alianza de Futbol, both on-and-off the field, will be announced by FSV in the forthcoming months.
Nothing major to report in the sports and entertainment today, but we wanted to draw attention to the major upswing in games coming to the forefront. Going into the weekend, the first this year to feature Saturday NFL games, and the 2020-21 NBA season starting on Tuesday, we suddenly have a lot to look forward to in the sports world.
This weekend marks the final Thursday night game of the season as the NFL shifts into its weekend heavy schedule. The Los Angeles Chargers (+ 3 1/2) took down the Las Vegas Raiders in that matchup last night on Fox and NFL Network. The Thursday game will shift to a Friday matinee for Week 16. Both Week 15 and Week 16 will feature multiple Saturday games as well, with both having day and night matchups. Monday Night Football, however, remains on ESPN over the next two weeks. Finally, Week 17 hosts its full schedule on Sunday, as the league traditionally closes the season the same day for all teams.
Of course, Wild Card Weekend and the Divisional Round subsequently follow, both having Saturday and Sunday games. Point being, the NFL is mixing up its schedule to spread games across the next few weeks, so chances are when you flip on the TV any given weekend, you will have an NFL game to watch.
College Football sees a transition from conference championship games to bowl match ups next week, so NCAAF is there as well. The Power Five championships are as follows:
Pac-12: Oregon vs. 13-USC – 12/17 at 8PM EST
Big Ten: 14-Northwestern vs. 4-Ohio State – 12/19 at 12PM EST
Big 12: 10-Oklahoma vs. 6-Iowa State – 12/19 at 12PM EST
ACC 3-Clemson vs. 2-Notre Dame – 4:00PM EST
SEC 7-Florida vs. 1-Alabama – 8:00PM EST
All the great football leads into our biggest development: the NBA regular season’s return this coming Tuesday, December 22. Opening night features a Warriors vs. Nets early contest, followed by the Lakers and Clippers. With the league trying to cram a 72-game schedule into the coming months, we will see more back-to-back sets of games as well as “baseball series.”
In the latter format, teams will play each other multiple nights in a row. This style is uncommon in a normal NBA season, but the new schedule promises an abundance of NBA games throughout the week while you wait for football. Wednesdays and Fridays will be particularly packed with the requisite ESPN/ABC nationally televised packages.
And similar to football, the NBA is piggybacked by the college schedule, which is now entering its full swing of conference play. Check for those games to be typically packed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on ESPN, FS1, and regional conference networks.
TL;DR: We shoot into the new year with a very healthy dose of live sporting events. Before you look up, we will have hockey and later baseball back, returning to a full slate of the four major American team sports. Get excited for the action packed weeks to come.
The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) today announced the numbers for the first three months of the expansion and launch of Legends Media & Entertainment (LME), a multifaceted storytelling platform producing, distributing and quantifying the wide reaching stories of many of the NBA and WNBA’s biggest stars. In three months LME in both audio and video has drawn almost 600,000 views and listens, more than three times the combined numbers of audio and video around the players in the previous nine months. Viewers and listeners have come from over 20 countries, and have enjoyed content from some of the most unique storytellers in the history of professional basketball. Athletes First Partners represents the NBRPA in its marketing endeavors and is working on engaging with brands on the platform as well.
“Basketball is a team sport, and by unifying efforts under the LME brand, we have been able to start building an audience, and a destination that fans from around the world are enjoying,” said NBRPA President and CEO Scott Rochelle. “The first three months have shown that consistency is key, and now that the season is upon us, we are expecting the concept to continue to grow both in content and in audience with our players, some of the most identifiable and engaged athletes and personalities anywhere.”
The NBRPA represents over 1,000 former NBA and WNBA players, making it the largest agency of its kind in basketball. This has allowed for direct access to players for opportunities domestically and internationally. Some of the most popular segments to date have included sessions with hoist Trill Withers talking with Charles Barkley, Bill Walton, Grant Hill and many others. The content can be seen, and heard at https://www.legendsofbasketball.com/legendslive/
Some of the key unified elements of LME include:
Legends Magazinewhich debuted in 2018 and is the official publication for NBA and WNBA Legends. Produced quarterly, Legends Magazine has featured cover stories about NBRPA Director Caron Butler, Jerry Stackhouse, Elton Brand, Jamal Mashburn and “The Knuckleheads” – Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. Each issue is delivered to all former players, active players, coaches, stakeholders, influencers and league officials worldwide.
Legends Studios also debuted in 2018 with the launch of original live-action and animated short videos and two podcasts, the All-Access Legends Podcast and On Deck with Scott Rochelle. In April 2020, Legends Live, a weekly web series broadcasted to multiple social media platforms featuring live conversations with NBA and WNBA Legends, was added to the Legends Studios portfolio. In addition to 32 standard episodes, Legends Live also covered the 2020 WNBA Draft and ESPN’s The Last Dance with live commentary from Legends. Last week, media personality Tyler Johnson, aka Trill Withers joined the LME team as host of Legends Live, where he will spend time with many of the game’s most successful and dynamic personalities and business people. Johnson will also be a key contributor to Legends Magazine, the All-Access Legends Podcastand the NBRPA’s social media strategy and content.
To follow along with LME content from the NBRPA, find them on social media at @NBAalumni on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch or on Facebook at NBA Alumni.
Verizon Media, the global media and technology company and Entain plc (LSE: ENT), the international sports-betting and gaming operator (formerly known as GVC Holdings), today announced a global innovation alliance to develop new opportunities across interactive sports and entertainment. Entain brands include Ladbrokes, bwin, PartyPoker, and BetMGM in the United States, which is co-owned with MGM Resorts.
The new alliance coincides with initial findings from new research for Entain by YouGov, revealing that the use of technology is increasingly shaping consumer behaviours in gaming and entertainment around the world, notably in the United States and Australia. Social media has become central to consumer enjoyment, with new immersive experiences, driven by virtual reality and 5G, accelerating growth of both gaming and e-sports.
Verizon Media and Entain will collaborate to develop a first-of-its-kind highly immersive proof of concept virtual reality experience, that will combine live sports viewing with interactive layers of sports data and gaming. Consumers will be able to participate in sports events, check data, socialise with friends, and place bets on Entain platforms.
Additionally, Entain will work closely with Verizon Media to develop concepts for new formats with emerging technologies like 5G, virtual reality, and augmented reality to bring the best experiences in immersive content and gaming to sports betting and gambling. Along with betting on the Entain platforms on live streaming sports events, the goal is to create realistic, immersive experiences for sports fans, such as being in the stadium, participating in play, competing and betting on outcomes on the Entain platforms.
“To win in the future we need to understand where consumers will be in five, ten years’ time and work with other global businesses also investing in that,” said Shay Segev, CEO of Entain. “We envisage consumers meeting at a game with friends, who could in fact be elsewhere, using virtual reality headsets to watch, interact and share the experience together and, potentially, compete between themselves at half time or feel like they’re on the pitch with the players.”
“This new alliance takes the collaboration between our two companies to a new level and will allow us both to maximize new opportunities across sports-betting, content and entertainment,” said Guru Gowrappan, CEO, Verizon Media.
“Together, we are building the next-generation of content experiences for sports and gaming fans. Our world-first 5G-enabled production studios in LA and London, creative technology teams and Verizon Media’s Immersive platform, that enables extended reality (XR) content to be created and distributed across digital channels at scale, allow partners like Entain to bring next-level immersive and interactive experiences to their customers.”
The collaboration builds on an existing successful relationship between Yahoo Sports, part of Verizon Media, and BetMGM, a joint venture with MGM Resorts through which Entain operates in the United States. BetMGM is integrated throughout Yahoo Sports in the US, and in legal jurisdictions fans can place a bet with BetMGM without leaving the Yahoo Sports app.
The new alliance coincides with first findings of new research for Entain from YouGov, revealing that gaming and entertainment is converging across multiple devices and becoming increasingly interactive, with two-thirds of consumers combining it with social media to increase their enjoyment.
Across all markets, men aged 25 to 39 are the most likely to be innovators or early adopters and are the key audience for e-sports and gaming. Half of e-sports players are in this age group, with most also interacting in social media and more than half enjoying a bet. When it comes to conventional sport, interaction is also increasingly important to this audience, with 31% of 25 to 39-year-old and 34% of over 55’s also engaging digitally to increase their enjoyment of watching sport.
TheElectronic Gaming Federation, the national governing body for formalized collegiate D-I esports and high school level leagues, today announced the election of its first Board of Governors for EGFC, EGF’s Division 1 esports governing body.
“We have had tremendous success growing our position in the space in the past year, and being able to bring on this group of educators who are the center of gaming growth on college campuses is essential as we expand our reach in 2021,” EGF Founder Tyler Schrodt said. “The election of this Board is a tremendous milestone for the League and Division 1 esports and we’re so excited to work with such a remarkable group of people from our member schools to continue the development and advancement of collegiate esports”.
“I’m excited to join the Board of Governors and look forward to helping EGF continue its growth in the collegiate esports space,” said Steve Kramarck, of the University of Delaware. “There are so many great elements already in place and I believe that the next few years will further establish EGF as a national leader in the industry.”
“Thank you to the EGF for the selection, and I look forward to serve on the first EGF Board of Governors and am energized to grow the Esports program here at Marist as well as across the collegiate landscape,” added Julie Byron, Marist College. I look forward to working with both students and school administrators in the coming months to create a new and innovative gaming community.”
The Board of Governors will work directly with EGF on League policy and governance and furthering the initiatives important to the League like student development, diversity and inclusion, and a slate of other topics and projects. This group of seven is the first cohort of the board that will eventually include 21 representatives from member schools as the League continues to grow.
The following individuals were elected by their peers to serve on the Board for a three year term:
Courtney James, DePaul University
Michele King, William & Mary
Steve Kramarck, University of Delaware
David Tomczyk, Quinnipiac University
Nyle Sky Kauweloa, University of Hawaii
Julie Byron, Marist College
Bill Newton, Niagara University
Now in partnership with the new Board, EGF is will start the second half of EGFC Season 2 on February 1st with conference and national championships starting in March, 2021 across a wide range of games.
In more than 7000 Major League plate appearances over 16 years, Ozzie Guillén faced some of the game’s great fireballers, with his share of success. How would he have fared against intimidators like Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson and Aroldis Chapman? When the three-time All-Star and host of La Vida Baseball’s Being Guillén wanted to know, he turned to the experts at Strat-O-Matic, the market leader in sports simulation, for the answer.
Revealed on last Friday’s episode, the series of 10 simulated at bats against the three marked the start of a content partnership between La Vida Baseball, the digital media platform that celebrates the passion of Latino baseball’s past, present and future through original video, written and social content, and Strat-O-Matic, through which viewers and readers can see how some of the sport’s great “what if” moments might have turned out, as well as the results of fantasy events that only the world of Strat-O-Matic can simulate with unmatched accuracy.
“It was fun to see how I would do against guys like Drysdale, Gibson and Chapman, and it’s great that Strat-O-Matic has the tools to show us,” said Guillén, who hosts Being Guillén alongside his sons Ozzie Jr. and Oney live on Fridays at noon CT. “I think there are so many things we can do to create scenarios that fans will love to see what would have happened.”
The idea of “What If” using Strat-O-Matic data was first realized with the Marquee Network and the Chicago Cubs this past summer, where Marquee talent Len Kasper, Jim Deshaies and Taylor McGregor looked at some of the iconic moments in team history and created alternative results that delighted fans and had some fun buzz, like Deshaies facing the 1927 Yankees. Strat-O-Matic is currently in discussions with a host of other media partners locally and nationally to reimagine other classic moments in time in baseball and other sports.
While MLB paused at the beginning of the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Strat-O-Matic simulated the season as it would have been played, with results published daily by dozens of media outlets. Strat-O-Matic also posted results of the shortened 60-game schedule and playoff seasons.
“The possibilities are endless with what we can simulate working with La Vida Baseball,” said Adam Richman, Strat-O-Matic president. “From ‘what if’ player and game situations to imagined international tournaments and customized leagues, we look forward to tapping the creativity of La Vida’s personalities and fans to create content that they will enjoy.”
T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) and The Drone Racing League (DRL), the global, professional drone racing property, announced a broad-reaching partnership to advance 5G-powered drone technology. As part of the multi-year deal, T-Mobile has made an investment in DRL via the company’s T-Mobile Ventures fund, and the Un-carrier has signed on as the league’s exclusive U.S. 5G Wireless partner. Together, T-Mobile and DRL will innovate 5G racing drone technology to create the first integrated 5G racing drones, with the aim of authentically building them into the sport. DRL will develop first-of-its-kind, custom racing drones powered by T-Mobile 5G during the 2021 DRL Allianz World Championship Season.
DRL’s high-speed 5G racing drones, running on America’s first and largest 5G network, will enable the companies to stream DRL’s 3D racing action to fans in real-time. And the 5G racing drones will enable the companies to deliver unique, immersive experiences to fans and millions of T-Mobile customers across the country, and open up opportunities for new applications across a wide variety of industries.
“We invested in DRL to fuel innovation in two large and growing markets – drones and tech-powered sports – and we can’t wait to supercharge both with T-Mobile 5G,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “The world’s fastest drones and the nation’s largest 5G network – now that’s a fantastic combination!”
DRL features the world’s top pilots flying custom racing drones through live and virtual iconic locations around the globe to create the New Playing Field, combining the adrenaline of high-speed racing with the limitless possibilities of esports. In live events, pilots race standardized FPV (First Person View) drones at nearly 100 miles per hour, wearing goggles that stream a live video feed from a camera on their drone, as they navigate complex, three-dimensional courses. Tens of millions of next generation sports fans watch DRL on premier sports networks around the world, including NBC, NBCSN, Twitter and Facebook.
“T-Mobile is one of the most innovative marketers in sports, entertainment and technology — sharing our mission to bring the most immersive experiences to millions of fans around the world. With a foundation of the best 5G wireless technology to power our racing drones, we’re excited to set the new standard for sports and create cutting-edge content and collaborations across T-Mobile’s sports, music and lifestyle properties,” said DRL President Rachel Jacobson.
Innovating through new groundbreaking technology is part of DRL’s DNA: The league has launched four iterations of racing drones, a record-setting fastest racing drone, and the first autonomous racing drone — all designed and hand-built with proprietary technology by its in-house team of expert drone engineers. The addition of T-Mobile 5G will propel the sport forward and offer new opportunities to drive fan engagement. Data shows that DRL fans are ready, willing and able to play a part — they are 14X more likely than the U.S. population to be considered “tech-savvy” and 4X more likely to be interested in gaming.
T-Mobile has invested in DRL through T-Mobile Ventures, a multi-year investment fund focused on early and emerging growth companies developing groundbreaking 5G products and services for the T-Mobile network. As a T-Mobile Ventures portfolio company, DRL will benefit from T-Mobile’s network and engineering expertise, go-to-market infrastructure and investment backing as the companies work together to develop the next big thing in 5G racing drones and sports technology.
As part of the partnership, DRL will feature T-Mobile in the 2021 DRL Allianz World Championship Season through advertising spots and branded course elements in the DRL SIM, the virtual platform hosting the elite competition. T-Mobile will also support the DRL Academy, the league’s STEM program, creating educational programming around 5G and drones to inspire the next generation of technologists and digital athletes.
T-Mobile 5G, A Platform for Innovation
T-Mobile is America’s 5G leader, delivering 5G speeds in more places with the first and largest nationwide 5G network. T-Mobile’s Extended Range 5G covers more than 270 million people across more than 1.4 million square miles – 2x more geographic coverage than AT&T and 3.5x more than Verizon. With Sprint now part of T-Mobile, the Un-carrier is quickly lighting up Ultra Capacity 5G with technology that can deliver download speeds of 300 Mbps and peak speeds up to 1 Gbps.
Now is the time for developers to build applications that take advantage of 5G’s transformational power, and drones represent one of the most exciting use cases for 5G. From the engine behind a new self-service economy, to industrial IoT, security monitoring, emergency response and so much more, autonomous 5G drones will dramatically transform industry and commerce.
With its supercharged 5G network as the foundation, T-Mobile is working to fuel this kind of 5G innovation. T-Mobile Ventures backs early and emerging growth companies building the next big thing in 5G. The Un-carrier also collaborates with universities and standards bodies to support 5G research and development. In addition, T-Mobile runs the award-winning T-Mobile Accelerator and is a co-founder of the 5G Open Innovation Lab.
For more on T-Mobile’s plans for 5G-powered drone innovation, read today’s blog from the company’s EVP of Advanced & Emerging Technologies, John Saw.
As the second half of the NFL season progresses, many pundits will be releasing their predictions for the end-of-season awards. But one award race sticks out of particular interest this year: the Comeback Player of the Year Award.
Conventional wisdom may point to a candidate such as the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger or the Texans’ JJ Watt. Both are perennial stars returning to form after injuries last year. However, Alex Smith of the Washington Football Team has redefined what it is to be a “comeback player.”
A catastrophic injury in Week 10 of the 2018 season left Smith with spiral and compound fractures to both his fibula and tibia, ultimately resulting in infections and sepsis that became life threatening. Doctors sought amputation as an option to ensure the virus did not infect his whole body, before several surgeries and skin graft procedures could be used to save the leg. Smith is now not only starting at quarterback in the NFL, a ridiculous thought considering where he was a year ago, but has the Redskins in first place in the NFC East.
On Monday night, he faced Roethlisberger’s undefeated Steelers and dealt them their first loss of the season. The game was expected to be a Steelers route and appeared so with the Washington Football Team losing 14-3 at the half. Smith extended the game play by play, drive by drive, until eventually taking a three point lead as the two minute warning approached. Smith’s simple resilience is ultimate inspiration. Winning and losing do not matter any more in Smith’s story, not as much his pure fight to keep going. And yet, Smith unwilling to settle, is in fact winning. He has now won four in a row.
Smith’s journey over the last 24 months was captured in the E60 documentary Project 11 which aired on ESPN in May. The documentary opens its story February 11, 2019, less than three months after the injury. Smith had incredible persistence that we was going to pursue an immediate comeback attempt, allowing ESPN to document this effort as a show of his confidence in himself.
Project 11, like the CC Sabathia Documentary we highlighted last weekhttp://www.thedailypayoff.com/sabathia-documentary-to-debut-december-22/, is an example of the transcendent power of athlete media. Much of athlete media is filled with podcasts and short form content concerning players’ opinions on everyday news in the sports world and beyond. This content is incredibly insightful, and a component of athlete media involves getting an insight into the minds of our heroes.
But heroes also go beyond to show us how to overcome battles in our daily lives. Both Sabathia, with his fight against alcoholism, and Smith overcoming devastating injuries are inspirations to people every day. Athlete media is meant to do exactly that: inspire people to be the best versions of themselves, to do what they think they cannot.
For Soccer Ventures (FSV), an organization focused on the growth and long-term development of American soccer, today announced the official launch of “Orange Slices,” a new podcast hosted by former US Men’s National Team player and Major League Soccer All-Star Heath Pearce and twenty one year old emerging U.S. international Mark McKenzie of the Philadelphia Union. The podcast celebrates the past, present, and future of American soccer through generational storytelling and unprecedented access to rising U.S. stars around the world. “Orange Slices” is FSV’s second podcast, joining “Best Soccer Show” hosted by Jason Davis and Jared Dubois.
The first two episodes feature 2020 Bayern Munich defender and current UEFA Champions League player Chris Richards, and former U.S. National Team and Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu. Both will discuss their experiences playing abroad, representing American soccer to global audiences, their personal and professional challenges, and the effort to rebuild the fan base and trust of the National Team after the tumultuous 2018 World Cup Qualifying campaign. The two shows will debut on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and iTunes on December 9th.
“Our goal with ‘Orange Slices’ is to dive deeper into the challenges and opportunities facing the current generation of players as both elite athletes and outspoken personalities in a time of global cultural change,” Pearce, who is also FSV’s Chief Creative Officer, said. “My role is to provide Mark and our guests with a bit of perspective on where we’ve come from as a soccer nation, and to help guide a lively conversation that takes fans beyond the on-field discussion. Our athletes have a lot to say, and this podcast provides a megaphone to connect with the diverse soccer community in this country.”
“It’s exceedingly rare for an up-and-coming player like me to have the platform not only to share my experiences with the Union and the USMNT, but also those of my peers, who may actually have a very different experience themselves,” McKenzie added. “’These episodes aren’t just for fans, but also a younger audience seeking great storytelling. In many ways these are universal stories of the struggles and successes and lives of athletes, many of whom I admire and work with, and continue to learn from as well. We think it will be a unique narrative journey many will enjoy and share.”
Through rotating segments, the show will explore the unique culture of American soccer, from the muddy fields and halftime orange slices of youth soccer to the biggest games won and lost on the world’s stage. Each episode will incorporate classic stories and learning examples with a fresh perspective from the younger generation reshaping the game in America.
DDSports Inc. (ShotTracker), a revolutionary basketball technology that captures via sensors stats and analytics with sub-second latency and the leading tracking platform among NCAA schools, announced company executive restructuring in advance of a host of upcoming strategic business partnership announcements.
The Board of Directors has brought on veteran sports data industry leader Bill Moses as Chief Executive Officer, while company founder Davyeon Ross will continue with the company as the COO and President. The company’s co-founder, Bruce Ianni, has chosen to depart to pursue other opportunities. In addition, two other sports business and tech veterans, Tom Masterman and Jason Tilton, have joined the company as VP of Sales and VP of Corporate Development, respectively
“It is a pleasure to join the ShotTracker team to help advance the commercial business opportunities of one of the most innovative and transformative companies in the data and technology side at the NCAA level,” Moses said. “The foundation partnerships with some of the most elite colleges and universities have been built, and we are now ready to push forward with growing that base and expanding the commercial and tactical opportunities in basketball and in other sports with a host of new partners coming on line in the months ahead.”
“Our technology continues to be some of the most widely embraced and supported by college programs across the nation for both men’s and women’s basketball,” Ross said. “Having Bill’s wealth of experience in monetizing and expanding data content, as well as his deep and well respected relationships in media, marketing and technology will be invaluable as we advance and continue to disrupt the marketplace in 2021 and beyond.”
A New Jersey native and University of Virginia graduate, Moses brings with him to ShotTracker his vast experience in working at the nexus of technology and media, entertainment and sports. After serving at the NFL as the Senior VP of International and New Media, Bill joined IBM as the Vice President of Broadband Distribution where he co-authored the IBM digital media strategy and was responsible for developing and executing the company’s corporate strategy in broadband industries.
While at IBM, Moses also held the position of Vice President of Broadcast, Cable and Sports for the company’s Global Telecommunications and Media Division. In that role, he created and launched ventures that resulted in the PGA.com and NHL.com internet sites, ushering the sports business and leagues into the new media age during the 1990’s. He was one of the first to deploy computer-based scoring systems across many of the leagues and helped launch the age of data analytics.
Masterman has spent two decades in sports technology and digital media, with a focus on enterprise sales and partnerships. Prior to ShotTracker, he was Global Head of Publisher Sales at Genius Sports Group, driving data integrations with clients including NBC Sports and USA Today. Tom was also the founding sales and marketing executive for SportsData, which sold to global leader Sportradar. As Chief Revenue Officer, he led the acquisition of enterprise clients including Google, Twitter and Turner Sports. Tom began his career as an Emmy-nominated TV producer and has had several management roles in digital media.
Tilton joins ShotTracker from Genius Sports Group as well, where he was Commercial Partnerships Manager. Prior to working with Genius on their North American business, he was Video Coordinator with the Phoenix Suns and has spent time on the basketball administration side at Long Beach State University and St. John’s University.
ShotTracker currently has relationships with more than 63 Division I men’s and women’s basketball programs and has a growing relationship with Learfield IMG College and their partner schools. The Learfield IMG College sponsorship teams can provide local, regional and national brands visibility associated with ShotTracker’s cutting-edge technology via scoreboard integration, digital/social platforms and experiential activations. Additionally, a growing number of schools with official athletic websites and mobile apps powered by SIDEARM Sports are adding ShotTracker technology integrated into the website and app. The crossover content provides another opportunity for brand visibility and bolsters the second-screen experience for fans. Broadcasters are also now increasing the use of the depth and breadth of ShotTracker real time data to enhance their broadcasts.
The National Lacrosse League® (@NLL), the world’s most successful professional lacrosse league, today announced it is extending its 2020 partnership with Wilson Sporting Goods® (@Wilson), naming Wilson and their protective equipment and apparel brand EvoShield® (@EvoShield) as an official supplier of performance driven sports protective gear for the 2021 season.
“The National Lacrosse League is proud to continue our partnership with Wilson for a second season. Our goal is to work with best in class brands and help them grow in the sport of lacrosse,” said Kevin Morgan, EVP, CRO for the NLL. “With EvoShield, our elite athletes have the opportunity to use the most advanced technology in protective equipment and continue to perform at the highest levels, so the impact this will continue to have for health and wellness of our box players is important to the expansion of the game for all.”
“The NLL continues to redefine and advance the sport of box lacrosse with a vision that is forward thinking, and we are pleased to keep moving ahead with Nick and his team,” said Pat Ryan, Global Product Director for EvoShield.“We look forward to continuing our work with NLL athletes, gaining their insights and feedback on new protective ideas, and developing additional EvoShield products that keep players on the field.”
Wilson-owned EvoShield makes custom-molded protective and performance gear using a proprietary technology called Gel-To-Shell™. This technology transforms from a soft gel-like material to a hard, protective shield in minutes, creating a custom mold that mirrors the shape of the athlete’s body. The result is wrist guards, elbow guards, rib and chest protectors, among others, that offer professional-grade protection without getting in the way of performance. Athletes, at every level of play, use this extremely lightweight, yet hard, protective gear across multiple sports. EvoShield also makes performance apparel for both on and off field use.
Under the partnership, EvoShield will continue to supply NLL athletes with a variety of protective gear and apparel engineered to keep players safe while competing at elite levels. EvoShield products available to NLL athletes include wrist/slash guards, chest guards, thumb guards, toe guards, thigh guards, rib protective shirts, and more. The EvoShield apparel will be a variety of on-field performance apparel and fan wear.
HBO and MLB announced this week a documentary about baseball legend CC Sabathia, entitled The Grapefruit Tree: The CC Sabathia Story, to premiere on December 22. The doc will cover Sabathia’s life growing up in Vallejo, California, to his final days with the New York Yankees. MLB is licensing exclusive footage taken from Sabathia’s last year with the Yankees in 2019, when a film crew followed him for special behind-the-scenes coverage.
The latter stages of Sabathia’s career were particularly challenging, as he battled personal issues and a well-documented bout with alcoholism. The All-Star starter overcame his troubles to return to the Yankees as an effective veteran presence on a younger team. In a statement to promote the announcement, Sabathia noted the emotional tone of the project: “I struggled for a long time with alcohol addiction and anxiety, which I pretty much hid from everyone I knew. It’s my hope we can inspire athletes and non-athletes alike to open up … You are not alone.”
Sabathia is one of the great starting pitchers of the 21st century, having amassed 251 wins and 3,093 strikeouts over his time with the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, and Yankees. He was the 2007 American League Cy Young and won the 2009 World Series with New York.
The HBO documentary is a continuation of Sabathia’s post-career efforts into media. He currently has a podcast on The Ringer with Ryan Ruocco entitled “R2C2.” They cover the Yankees, the greater baseball landscape, and all general sports topics of interest to Sabathia, such as his long-time fandom for the Oakland Raiders. Sabathia also frequently appears as a guest on ESPN’s “First Take.” He is an example of the modern athlete’s proactive approach toward player driven media.
NBA stars have typically been at the forefront of the movement, including Kyrie Irving, a key investor in Players Media Group, JJ Redick, who hosts the podcast “The Old Man and the Three,” and LeBron James, founder of media empire The Springhill Company. Sabathia is perhaps baseball’s largest figure in this arena. He is also a special advisor to Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and is often seen at New York’s home games. His dual roles with the team and as a sportscaster have positioned him as a form of insider into the current state of the Yankees and Major League Baseball.
After first airing on HBO, the documentary will be made immediately available on HBO Max. HBO Max has been growing its exclusive content over the last several months. The service has debuted Max Originals such as The Flight Attendant and new video on-demand availability for Warner Brothers films such as Wonder Woman 1984. The Grapefruit Tree helps build out HBO Sports’ contributions to the service. HBO Max recently added unscripted show The Cost of Winning to go along with staple shows “Hard Knocks” and UNINTERRUPTED’s “The Shop.”
Sports is an ever growing niche genre for streaming services to differentiate themselves. The level of athletes and brands a service is able to bring in greatly defines what the service can provide consumers looking for sports content. For HBO Max, the Sabathia documentary is another significant entry into this foray.
BIG EAST esports teams will play against opponents from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in a Rocket League tournament for bragging rights.
Participating teams for the BIG EAST are Butler, DePaul, Creighton, Marquette, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Xavier. It will be Creighton’s debut appearance as part of BIG EAST Esports. Participating teams from the MAAC are Fairfield, Marist, Niagara, Quinnipiac and Siena.
Seeding is based on the current standings in the fall EGF Collegiate season which started Oct. 5. Marist and Fairfield from the MAAC take the top two seeds, respectively:
Competition is set to begin on Sunday, Dec. 13. The Electronic Gaming Federation (EGF) will be operating the event. Teams will compete in a best of five format, three vs. three. There are 11 games in the tournament with the first round starting at noon ET. The top four seeds received a bye to the second round. The semifinals begin at 3 p.m. with the final at 4:30 p.m. The matches can be viewed on either Twitch.tv on either the OfficialEGF channel or the EGFrocketleague channel. Links are in the schedule below.
Seeding 1 MAAC Marist 2 MAAC Fairfield 3 BIG EAST Xavier 4 BIG EAST Seton Hall 5 BIG EAST Butler 6 MAAC Quinnipiac 7 BIG EAST DePaul 8 BIG EAST Marquette 9 MAAC Siena 10 BIG EAST St. John’s 11 MAAC Niagara 12 BIG EAST Creighton
MAAC BIG EAST Challenge
Sunday, Dec. 13
Round 1
Game 1: No. 8 Marquette vs. No. 9 Siena, Noon (OfficialEGF)
Famer, the sports coaching and mentorship mobile platform, announced today that it is expanding its landmark partnership with the NBPA with the launch of NBPA Training Ground One. Through the NBPA’s Training Ground channel on Famer, youth athletes will now have the opportunity to participate in one-on-one personal training sessions and receive feedback from some of the best basketball coaches and trainers in the world.
Aspiring basketball players who subscribe to NBPA Training Ground One will receive video workoutsthat focus on basketball training drills, as well as fitness and mental health content from top NBA players and skill trainers. This groundbreaking launch marks the first-time youth basketball players will be able to digitally connect globally and personally train with world-class NBPA grassroots trainers and develop a relationship through skill development and interactive feedback utilizing Famer’s suite of tools like telestration, voiceover and slow-motion capture.
The NBPA and Famer continue to add one-of-a-kind training content from top pros and coaches, all of which can be accessed on the NBPA Training Ground One channel. New training content is being released from current and future NBPA members Bam Adebayo, Cole Anthony, Pat Connaughton, Langston Galloway, Joe Harris and RJ Hampton, top WNBA players and icons Lisa Leslie, and Chiney Ogumike, sports yoga expert Savannah Stevens and grassroots influencers Bobbito Garcia and Remy Workouts.
Since the launch of the partnership in May, the channel has featured training videos with NBPA members such as Aaron Gordon and Andre Drummond as well as NBA-level trainers Chris Matthews and Tim and Ross Burns. Since launching in June, over one thousand athletes from 66 countries and six continents have subscribed to the NBPA Training Ground on Famer with nearly ten thousand total drill video views.
The channel will continue to expand its global reach while driving unique engagement between youth players and professional athletes and trainers.
“At Famer our mission is to empower coaches to positively impact the lives of aspiring young athletes and to democratize personal sports training” said Famer CEO Rich Abend. “This partnership brings pro level training to the masses, and gives NBPA grassroots coaches and trainers the tools they need to work directly with kids anywhere in the world. We’ve combined powerful features like interactive multimedia chat and on-screen video telestration with the world’s best library of NBPA videos covering all aspects of basketball player development, from skills and drills to fitness and the mental aspects of the game. With all the uncertainties families face with the upcoming youth basketball season because of COVID-19, we are proud to be able to provide an affordable solution for player development – whether you are on the court with your team, training at home, or any combination.”
“This next phase of our collaboration with Famer and Spalding allows us and our members to continue to digitally connect with the larger grassroots basketball community throughout this pandemic with new enhanced technology and training content. We look forward to having participants of all ages and skill levels continue to train with us anywhere and to finding ways to continue to innovate with our players and brand partners,” said Chris Jean, Senior Director of Grassroots Basketball & Business Development for THINK450, the for-profit arm of the NBPA.
As a kid I always valued the importance of hard work and the fundamentals I learned from my coaches,” said Bam Adebayo, whose instructional videos will be available on the NBPA Training Ground One. “With youth basketball facing challenges right now, I’m excited that I can help kids train and work on those same fundamentals from anywhere.
“Spalding’s mission is to ignite the soul of the game in everyone, no matter who you are or where you are in the sport of basketball”, said Matt Day, Head of Brand Communications for Spalding. “Now more than ever, athletes need a way to safely work on their game. Spalding is excited to partner with Famer and the NBPA to make professional-level training accessible to every player.”
