Wednesday, Apr. 17, 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.
- Twitter to Stream Jordan Brand Classic High School Basketball All-Star Tournament: The Jordan Brand Classic announced its annual tournament will livestream on Twitter for the first time this Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The event is entering its 18th year and features the top boys and girls high-school basketball players from around the U.S. TMZ personality Van Lathan, ESPN basketball analyst Brooke Weisbrod, and Kazeem Famuyide will host the tournament, which will be played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
- ELEAGUE Partners With Xbox Game Studios on Gears of War Documentary: Turner Sports-owned ELEAGUE has partnered with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios to produce a documentary series on the Gears of War esports community. The six-part series will debut Jun. 14 on TBS and will feature hour-long episodes focused on star players competing in the game’s upcoming release, Gears 5. “The [esports] audience is the most coveted demographic in the media landscape,” said Craig Barry, chief content officer for Turner Sports, according to Reuters. “We know they’re out there, we know they’re engaged. No one’s really cracked the code yet.”
- Tiger’s Victory Helps CBS Sports Set Masters Streaming Record: CBS Sports revealed that its live streaming coverage of the PGA Tour’s 2019 Masters Tournament was viewed by more than one billion people, a new record for the event. That number accounts for fans watching via CBS digital platforms, Masters.com, and the Masters mobile app. The tournament saw an average minute audience of 447,000 viewers throughout all four days according to CBS. Tiger Woods’s 15th major victory, and his 81st on the PGA Tour, marked a big career comeback for golf’s greatest of all time.
- Eleven Sports to Stream La Liga Games in U.K., Ireland on Onefootball App: Media company Eleven Sports will begin streaming live soccer matches within the Onefootball app as part of a new partnership. Onefootball will allow U.K. and Ireland-based fans to purchase and watch any La Liga match carried by Eleven Sports. “We can leverage Onefootball’s intelligence on their significant global user base which can be easily targeted through direct and personalised in-app marketing,” said Danny Menken, Eleven Sports Group managing director, in a press release. “We are excited to launch this offer with Onefootball in the UK and Ireland before rolling it out in our other markets worldwide.”
- Liberty Defense Technologies to Deploy New Security Scanner at Rogers Arena: Vancouver-based security startup Liberty Defense Technologies is aiming to test a new security scanner later this summer for fans entering Rogers Arena, home of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. Team and venue owner Francesco Aquilini is an adviser to Liberty Defense and has approved the arena as a test site, according to the Vancouver Sun. The new scanners feature what Liberty calls HEXWAVE technology and will use millimeter-wave radar, 3D imaging, and AI to unobtrusively screen sports fans for hazardous materials.