Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019 — A roundup of some of the key sports technology news you need to know, including SportTechie’s own content and stories from around the web.
- The NFL has launched a design contest to spur engineers and manufacturers to create prototypes for safer helmets. The NFL Helmet Challenge will last 18 months and will offer a $1 million prize. Applicants will have access to resources provided by the NFL, including $2 million in grant funding, league video review data, models of modern helmets, and an updated methodology for helmet testing that is slated to be introduced next year. According to Bloomberg, the new test leverages recent data that identifies the conditions under which players have sustained concussions. A kickoff event for the NFL Helmet Challenge will be held Nov. 13-15 in Youngstown, Ohio.
- Intel and the International Olympic Committee are planning an esports competition ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The Intel World Open esports tournament will be based around both Street Fighter V and Rocket League. Online qualifiers for each national team are planned for early next year, and a live final qualifier event will be held in Poland in June. The championship finals will take place in Tokyo July 22-24. “We are excited Intel is bringing the Intel World Open esports tournament to Japan in the lead up to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. As we explore the engagement between esports and the Olympic Movement we are looking forward to learning from this event and continuing to engage with the passionate esports community from around the world,” said Kit McConnell, IOC Sports Director, in a press release.
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- A new multi-year deal between the NFL and Facebook will bring more video content to Facebook Watch. The platform will now feature news clips produced by the NFL Network, video versions of NFL-produced podcasts, and archived NFL Films content. The league will also create Facebook Groups based around NFL-related themes, and will host a weekly “Watch Party” during the regular season to enable fans to chat together about the past week’s games. In a separate deal announced earlier this week, the NFL is producing a new weekly digital video series that will stream exclusively on YouTube.
- Esports organization Team SoloMid will start construction on a 25,000-square-foot training center in Playa Vista, Calif. The venue will be the largest esports training facility in North America and will cost $13 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. It will feature studios, streaming rooms, gaming rooms, a fitness studio and a wellness center. “We’re focused on data science and physical science so we’re going to have a gym and a full-time sports psychologist there so our players have everything they need in order to perform better,” TSM CEO Andy Dinh told The Times.
- Stadia Ventures has announced four startups selected to participate in its Fall 2019 accelerator. They include augmented reality hologram creator 2mee, interactive video service Clicktivated, fundraising technology provider Funder, and venue customer engagement platform LiveStyled. The program is set to run for 14 weeks and will be based in Frisco, Texas.
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