THE NFL IS CHANGING: HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!

And just like that, we’re back! Welcome to The Sports Road everyone – the Newsletter that reminds you to never get too comfortable. Things are ALWAYS changing… Alright, alright. That may be a bit dramatic 😅Bringing you the best in sports and technology, enjoy!

Here's what we got for ya today:

• The NFL is Changing FOREVER

• Rugby is NOT Stopping…

• AI Has Gone Too Far!

• Sports CRAZIEST Merger

Most Valuable Sports Teams:

Let's get into it!

The NFL’s Future

The NFL is back, ladies and gentlemen! And guess what? It could be better than ever…

Why? Well it all dates back to the end last year when Google beat out competition from Amazon and Apple to the rights for the NFL’s flagship show ‘Sunday Ticket’.

Paying a reported $2.5 billion for the opportunity, the deal was actually met with pretty big levels of scepticism from large sections of supporters...

With the show having used the same broadcaster for nearly thirty years, fans have become VERY used to a certain way of doing things.

When factoring in the NFL’s past troubles with running new systems, fans’ reluctancy became more and more understandable.

Beyond that, under Google’s ownership, ‘Sunday Ticket’ will have – for the first time ever – switched into a streaming-based product on YoutubeTV. Causing images and sounds to be carried digitally, the change was thought to bring about multi-second delays to its broadcasting.

BUT, that wasn’t the case…

In fact, for a heavy majority of viewers, the product ran smoothly and even included some never before seen perks!

With lag times only holding play back between 20 to 60 seconds, this weekend’s showing actually OUTDID similar figures across a number of Super Bowl LVII distributors last season…

Bringing in multiple different angles, along with multi-screen views which allowed viewers to watch a number of games at once, the experience – in many ways – became more customisable for fans.

Thank you @YouTubeTV for bringing me close to football nirvana! I get my own quad box to enjoy my absolute favorite in @ScottHanson but then get to watch 3 other games simultaneously🙌🏼🙌🏼

— CJ Flinter (@CJhasLiveSports)
Sep 10, 2023

Being the first week of production, there were – as tends to usually be the case – some issues. From dodgy audio, to the product simply not being to some people’s tastes, let’s not beat around the bush, it wasn’t 100%

Despite that though, it is most definitely a solid base to build off. Here’s to more!

TODAY'S EDITION IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SPORTGPT

And We’re Back…

Look, every now and then a topic comes up that we just CANNOT stop talking about. Taking headlines globally and announcing tech release after tech release, this is definitely one of those…

So, as you may have expected, here we go again with the Rugby World Cup!

Kicking off last weekend, the event was met by huge amounts of hype. With the opening ceremony alone bringing in millions of viewers, stadiums of nearly 80,000 were sold out, and the stars showing out in full force, the first couple days have undoubtedly been a huge success.

Kylian Mbappé’s reactions while watching rugby 🤣

(via @RugbyWorldCupFR)

— B/R Football (@brfootball)
Sep 9, 2023

With that, seeing as fans have been getting involved at unprecedented levels, it seems as though tournament organisers have thought of yet another way to increase interactions and engagement.

That’s right. Fantasy sport is coming to Rugby!

Giving fans a unique opportunity to showcase their knowledge of the game, this is YOUR chance to get one over your mates 😅

Similar to the Premier League’s Fantasy game, the rules are pretty easy to understand. Starting with a fixed budget, fans have to choose a set of players whose price is determined by how good (or bad) their performances are.

Interestingly though, the game has been released in partnership with Genius – one of the world's biggest sports data and technology companies.

In support of the games launch, World Rugby will release a show to be broadcasted on RugbyPass to aid players in knowing the ins and outs of the release.

AI is at it Again…

Don’t lie. Every single one of you has thought what owning your favourite team would be like…

Or, you know, have at least thought about – how should we put this – giving your favourite team's owner a piece of your mind 😅

It’s actually a pretty weird concept, isn’t it?

Sometimes – as fans – it feels that we put so much into following and supporting a team, yet unfortunately don’t actually have that much of a say in what goes on behind the scenes.

I mean, sure. Our voices are somewhat heard, but just imagine what it would be like to really pick into the brain of someone who makes the final call.

Well, with AI, it looks like that may just be possible…

Yeah, you heard us. Fans of the Dallas Cowboys will actually be able to consistently speak to legendary owner Jerry Jones one on one.

Alright, alright. We know that sounds weird, but let us explain.

Warning: It’ll still sound pretty crazy 😅

Powered using AI, earlier this week, AT&T announced the implementation of a holographic version of the owner that’s literally able to answer a variety of fans’ questions.

NEW at #ATTStadium: Meet Jerry Jones – An Interactive Experience. Ask @dallascowboys' Owner Jerry Jones questions and get his responses generated by AI technology for a unique, interactive experience.

Learn More ➡️ DallasCowboys.com/Tours

— AT&T Stadium (@ATTStadium)
Sep 7, 2023

Although we still don’t know what the hologram is and isn’t able to answer, the above trailer suggests that questions will revolve around the owner’s career and early life.

With the interactive experience set to be available to fans as part of the Owner’s Experience Tour, we’re sure there’ll be some questions that you simply won’t be able to ask…

Ah, AI, AI, AI 😂😂😂

We Need to Talk About: Sports Most Mental Partnership

Times are changing, everyone.

Look, a couple months back we spoke about the groundbreaking WWE x UFC Endeavor deal. With the news coming out of nowhere, it was a shock to everyone. Such a shock, in fact, that it was hard to actually think of it as a proper partnership.

Well, this week that all became a reality…

I mean, where do we even start!? For the first time in over 70 years, the McMahon family DON’T hold a controlling stake in the WWE…

And with that, something new has been born; a publicly traded company combining the WWE and UFC called TKO!

The company has an estimated enterprise value of $21 billion and plans to take in $2.5 billion in annual revenue and over $1 billion in ebita.

Planning to exponentially grow both companies, the vision is clear. In using Endeavor’s expertise in domestic and international media rights, live events, global partnerships, licensing and premium hospitality, TKO will be able to drive increased revenue and support for both companies.

TKO. The home of WWE and UFC

— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful)
Sep 12, 2023

Quick Bites

• Rugby: A big loss…

• Crossover Sport: Well that happened…

• Pogba: A Decline

Meme of the day

Izzy breaking down the fight on his YouTube next week #UFC293

— Lozefc (@Lozefc)
Sep 10, 2023

Quote of the day

Picture of the day

What. An. Edit. - “are you not entertained?!”

— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA)
Sep 11, 2023

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Chat to ya on Friday! ☮️