Tuesday, May 14, 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
- Weibo Becomes UFC’s Official Social Media Platform in China: The UFC has signed a partnership with Chinese social media platform Weibo. Weibo’s UFC channel in China will post live event content such as athlete and executive interviews, fight highlights and results, athlete metrics, fight announcements, and content highlights from the soon-to-open UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai. In 2018, Weibo’s active monthly users count reached 400 million, making it China’s most-used social media platform. In March, UFC launched a similar content partnership with Qutoutiao, a Chinese short-form video platform.
- Study Investigates Sports Fans’ Opinions of Legalized Betting: On the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s repeal of PASPA, GlobalWebIndex and The Action Network released a study highlighting sports betting interest in the U.S. It found that 80 percent of respondents prefer to bet via mobile app or website, compared to 50 percent who would bet in-person. Additionally, nine out of 10 sports fans support legalized sports betting while 67 percent of fans are interested in betting being integrated into live viewing experiences.
- Real Sociedad Demos Smart Scarves at Spanish Soccer Game: Fans of Spanish soccer club Real Sociedad trialed a new smart wearable during a home match against Real Madrid on Sunday. SOLOS embedded electronic tags into scarves representing Real Sociedad. Fans who purchased the scarves were able to connect them with their smartphones, receiving alerts about in-stadium food and drink offers and unique fan experiences. SOLOS sees such merchandise becoming a contactless ticket to games, a payment method for food and beverages, and a way to register authentic club apparel.
- The Overwatch League Signs Trading Card and Collectibles Deal With Upper Deck: Upper Deck has signed a multi-year exclusive trading card and collectibles deal with the Overwatch League. The deal marks the company’s first venture into esports and grants it exclusive licensing rights to distribute trading cards, prints, posters, stickers, and autographed memorabilia representing OWL players and teams. Using a smartphone, tablet, or computer, fans can also buy and trade Overwatch cards with other collectors across the world through Upper Deck’s e-Pack.
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic Disputes Call, Rejects Use of Video Referees: LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic said after a loss to NYCFC on Saturday that he thinks MLS should stop using VAR. Ibrahimovic felt he should have received a penalty kick for a foul that was ultimately called on him in the in the second half of the game. He said officials refused to use the video-assistant referee technology available. “I said afterwards to look at VAR because that’s why we have this VAR. But he didn’t look at it or didn’t review the other ones. Again, we have this VAR. I think we should take it off and not play with it,” Ibrahimovic said, according to ESPN.