Wednesday, Apr. 24, 2019 – A roundup of some of the key sports technology stories you need to know, including SportTechie’s own content and stories from around the web.
- Team Liquid Owner Axiomatic Raises $21.5 Million in Funding: Esports organization Axiomatic, which owns Team Liquid, has raised $21.5 million in funding, according to a recent SEC filing. The document does not name the investors who participated in the round, but Axiomatic already boasts an impressive group of investors that includes Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, Golden State Warriors owner Peter Guber, Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, NBA legend Michael Jordan, and The Walt Disney Company. Team Liquid has a franchise in the North American League of Legends Championship Series and also competes in games such as Fortnite, Dota 2, and Super Smash Bros.
- Panini America’s Digital NBA Memorabilia Now Available on Quidd Platform: Sports collectibles company Panini America has partnered with Quidd, a marketplace for digital collectables. Panini’s licensed NBA trading cards and stickers can now be bought and sold within Quidd’s mobile app. According to Quidd, 2.1 billion digital items have been sold on its platform since 2015. “This Panini partnership not only represents an opportunity to introduce the world of the NBA to millions of young digital collectors on Quidd, but also further establishes digital collecting as a mainstream way to collect,” said Michael Bramlage, co-founder and CEO of Quidd, in a press release.
- HERO Sports and Scorebird Partner to Produce Automated High School Football Recaps: Content automation platform HERO Sports has announced a partnership with scoreboard app Scorebird to produce automated game recaps for all Alabama high school football games. HERO’s platform will collect the real-time score data from Scorebird, and convert that into editorial content. HERO Sports is also used by the Associated Press to publish computer-generated game previews and recaps for its NHL, MLB, and NCAA men’s basketball coverage.
- BrandYourself Offers Social Media Cleanup Tool for 2019 NFL Draft Prospects: Reputation management company BrandYourself is giving NFL draft prospects free access to its Social Media Cleanup tool. The company scans a user’s social media accounts and flags any posts or images that might be deemed unprofessional or offensive. The user then has the option to delete the post. BrandYourself has been offering this promotion to NFL draft-eligible players for the past month in the lead up the 2019 NFL Draft, which starts on Thursday.
- Nielsen Report Shows Increase in Non-Gaming Related Esports Sponsorship: Esports brands saw a 13 percent year-over-year increase in 2018 for non-gaming related sponsorships, according to the Nielsen Esports Playbook for Brands released Wednesday. The report also claims 70 percent of U.S. fans on Twitch spend more time interacting with esports versus traditional sports. “Major blue chip brands are now transitioning traditional budgets to esports and proactively helping to shape the future,” said Mike Sepso, co-founder of Major League Gaming, in a statement regarding the report.