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Morning! Welcome back to another edition of The Sports Road. If you’re wondering what to expect – as ever – we have some laughs and cringes in store for today. In a way, we’re a bit like Chelsea this season 😅 Enjoy!
Here's what we got for ya today:
- NBA’s Augmented Future
- Always be There First
- UFC is Changing The Game
- We Need to Talk About: Barcelona
Most valuable public market sports teams
Let's get into it!
NBA Like You’ve Never Seen it Before…
Now more than ever, it seems harder to truly engage fans.
With the rise of social media and the abundance of online content, it’s no secret that attention spans have significantly decreased.
Having become accustomed to consuming information through bite-sized media pieces, if you can’t capture someone's attention quickly, that might be it…
Sports teams are finding this out the hard way. Now though, they’re fighting back.
How, you ask? Augmented Reality (AR).
Yep, the Cleveland Cavaliers have partnered with ARound to enhance all the fun associated with matchday.
With the aim of generating more excitement to further engage their already HUGE fan base, the two are working together to create the ‘Cavs ARcade’.
Starting during the upcoming playoffs, the Cavs ARcade will allow fans to digitally interact with the court, other fans, and see real-time changes in the stadium's giant video screen.
Being the first ever team to use such technology in the NBA, this is what has been being said:
"We're seeing a growing appetite from sports teams to keep existing fans engaged and capture new, younger audiences. As the first team in the NBA to introduce shared AR, the Cavs are opening up an entirely new playing field for their 19,000+ fans at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to feel closer to the game, the players, and the energy of the venue, especially in this notable return of the Cavs to the Playoffs."
Following in the footsteps of some of the biggest MLB and NFL teams, this is what Cavs fans can expect:
- Interactive games related to the team's history and past successes. In these, fans can play to earn rewards and the team can create further excitement for the upcoming game
- Over-the-top visual effects to capture exaggerated versions of players and characters associated with the team
- A partnership that will persist during both home and away games
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Never Miss a Beat
No one likes missing a big game, but sometimes life gets in the way. Whether it’s a work or social event, sometimes you’re just too busy to watch.
Well, if you still want to be kept up to date with what’s happening, Buzzer is for you…
Using live data and machine learning (ML) to predict the most exciting moments across sports, Buzzer allows users to be notified based on their own customised following.
In fact, the app can provide real-time updates through collecting streaming rights across several sports. By doing this, referring back to what we spoke about in the last story, users don’t need to watch the whole event to see the best parts…
Since their conception in 2020, the company has already accumulated huge success.
Gaining investment from Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan and Patrick Mahomes, Buzzer has raised $44 million since 2020. And they aren’t stopping there.
Yep, in an investment round led by Sapphire Sport, the company has managed to raise another $20 million.
With investors including Nick Kyrgios and Kevin Durant, it looks like there are big things ahead for Buzzer.
Planning to use the money to allow third parties to make use of their technology, it looks like Buzzer is about to heavily impact the way we all consume sport.
Is this how we’re going to be watching sports in the future?
Another Big Partnership
Love them or hate them, no one can deny that the UFC is constantly changing the landscape of combat sports.
Bring us big fight after big fight, the UFC consistently delivers the most exciting of what sport has to offer.
Reeling us into the tension and unpredictability of a fight – even when watching on the TV – the UFC have mastered the art of engaging fans with the product. Well, even that’s evolving…
How? Well, this week, the UFC announced a partnership with media company Cosm.
With the multi-year partnership coming into effect immediately, Cosm will present UFC Pay-Per-View (PPV) events in their unique 8K experience.
Bringing UFC events into ‘Shared Reality’, fans will be able to watch fights as if they were cageside…
In fact, in this new immersive experience, Cosm will be able to use their distinct use of lighting and software to replicate an in-arena type atmosphere.
“At UFC, we're always looking for new ways to create deeper engagement with our fans, and Cosm has presented this great opportunity to do that with our biggest events using this unique and immersive viewing technology. It's going to elevate the UFC live experience for our fans who watch beyond the arena.”
One Last Dance?
“Lionel Messi is the best player in the history of the game. Messi was Barcelona’s best player. For Barcelona and the fans, Messi was like a god.”
Look, a lot can be said about FC Barcelona.
With the last few years being littered with drama and controversy, you wouldn’t be surprised if this story was one ripping into the – forgive us for the harsh words – sorry state at which the club has been functioning recently.
In fact, going off the last couple of weeks alone, we could have spoken about corruption, match-fixing, and the clubs links to fascism. Yep, see Real Madrid's scathing attack on Barcelona’s links with ex Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, here.
But, that’s not what we’re talking about today. Today, we’re talking about the return of the king. 780 games, 672 goals, and 291 assists.
Barcelona’s troubles with Financial Fair Play (FFP) have been well documented.
With FFP issues forcing the club to re-register Gavi, one of the club’s brightest talents, as an academy player, Barcelona are obviously very limited in what they can do in the transfer window.
Needing to move on players at the very least, this week the club will be meeting with LaLiga to re-evaluate their current FFP position.
Seeing that Barcelona President, Joan Laporta, has already stated his desire for Messi to return, it looks as though the meeting will revolve around allowing that to happen.
With next season likely to be the legend’s last in European Football, this could be a VERY fitting end.
Strap in, things are getting interesting...
Quick bites
- Boxing: A big Heavyweight win!
- Football: Do Arsenal have what it takes?
- UFC: Class is permanent
Meme of the day
*Arnold Allen challenges Max Holloway to stand and bang in the last 10 seconds of the fight
Max Holloway:
— Super Fan🇮🇪 (@McGregorRousey)
Apr 16, 2023
😂 😂
Quote of the day
“I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.”
Photo of the day
🇫🇷👏 Listening to referees mic'd up and recorded is extremely refreshing: this occasion, it's Ligue 1's Benoît Millot who officiated the game between Lyon-Nantes.
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom)
Apr 18, 2023
More of this please...
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Chat to ya on Friday! ☮️
