CHEQ is bringing its mobile ordering app for fans at Nissan Stadium through a new deal with the Tennessee Titans for the upcoming NFL season. The Titans are the third NFL team to announce a partnership with CHEQ, joining the Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders.
Fans seated in Nissan Stadium’s 200 level can order concessions on CHEQ for them to pick up at designated locations, with the program expected to expand to the 100 level later this season. The Titans also plan to add in-seat delivery through CHEQ as well as express self-order kiosks powered by the startup.
CHEQ’s app includes a remote social gifting feature that will let users from anywhere in the world place orders for concessions that they pay for to be delivered to their friends seated inside the stadium. The University of Washington football stadium recently became CHEQ’s first college partner. The company also works with MLB’s Miami Marlins.
The Atlanta Falcons are among the NFL teams using a drone detection system to monitor the activity of unauthorized drones flying near their stadium. Last season, the NFL reportedly counted 1,400 cases of drones flying over or around stadiums during times of those air spaces being under flight restrictions.
“With the deployment of our drone detection for Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and around our campus, we're very aware of the drone activity,” says Joe Coomer, VP of Security for AMB Sports + Entertainment. “It's very top of mind at the NFL and our security leaders. Over the last five years, we're starting to see drones become weaponized in some form or fashion.”
The Falcons share the retractable roofed Mercedes-Benz Stadium with MLS club Atlanta United, as both teams are owned by AMB Sports + Entertainment. Coomer says the organization is working with two technology providers, drone software company Aerial Armour and Dedrone, whose DroneDefender radio frequency-jamming device can be pointed to force aerial drones to land. The combined system from Aerial Armour includes RF detection, drone radar, and optical thermal cameras.
“If there's temporary flight restrictions around the stadium for our events, our NFL games, college football games, when that TRF is in effect we can actually give some teeth to our law enforcement partners through our drone detection,” Coomer tells SportTechie. “Not only does it identify the drone, but also the source of the driver. And we can do a true interdiction on the driver to get that drone down.”
Earlier this summer, the NFL, MLB, NCAA and NASCAR sent a joint letter to congress that supported a Biden administration proposal for expanded drone flying regulations. Mercedes-Benz Stadium notably partnered with Lucid Drone Technologies in 2020 to use drones to aerially spray disinfectant across the stadium’s 71,000 seats as a cleaning measure against COVID-19.
GZ6G Technologies, otherwise known as Green Zebra, will integrate its wireless and monetization solutions for the Texas Rangers at Arlington’s Choctaw Stadium.
When spectators log-in to the venue’s Wi-Fi network, Green Zebra’s technology will launch to give fans access to in-stadium messages, food and merch discounts and security updates. There will also be alerts of fan giveaways, through Green Zebra, either from push notifications or by scanning QR codes on digital displays.
Sponsorship opportunities will also be possible for brands and businesses, via Green Zebra’s smart enterprise solutions. Fans logging onto the Wi-Fi networks during Rangers games will see sponsors’ advertisements across Choctaw Stadium’s IPTV, as well as on their mobile devices.
The Rangers have a congruent partnership with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise-owned Aruba Networks, whose Edge Services Platform cloud network powers the stadium’s mobile ticketing, temperature control systems, a pair of Daktronics video boards and the venue’s retractable roof.
WSC Sports will create automated football highlights for Conference USA this season, using artificial intelligence to disseminate real-time game footage across the conference’s social and digital platforms.
WSC’s AI technology will produce instant highlights after the first, second and third quarters of each contest, followed by full-game highlights. WSC will also intermittently distribute footage of the best individual plays throughout every game to gain more visibility to the league’s 11 member schools: Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, UAB, UTEP, UTSA and Western Kentucky.
Conference USA joins the Pac-12 as a WSC partner, as real-time highlights continue to permeate college football. WePlayed Sports’ machine learning, AI and computer vision similarly automates instant short-form game clips for top conferences such as the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big East and Ivy League. WePlayed, however, also has deals with 32 collegiate websites, producing individualized player highlights that are attached to a players’ name on the roster. The WePlayed clips also live forever on the company’s website, and its platform also generates real-time highlights for other NCAA sports such as basketball, baseball, volleyball and more.
WSC’s initiative with Conference USA also includes NIL opportunities for the league’s players. WSC Sports generates automated highlights for roughly 250 entities world-wide, including the NBA, NFL, NHL, NASCAR, ESPN, Warner Media and YouTubeTV, Bundesliga, FIBA, FanDuel and Extreme E Racing.
Motorsports gaming startup GridRival has released new research that says 78% of sports bettors would prefer to use a motorsports-specific betting platform as opposed to current offerings from mainstream betting operators. The findings stem from GridRival’s userbase of 200,000 racing fans and come ahead of GridRival’s daily fantasy motorsports launch this summer.
GridRival is aiming to capitalize on the North American fantasy and betting market for racing leagues such as Formula 1 and MotoGP. The company’s survey also found that 73% of those who do not currently engage in sports betting said they would prefer a motorsports-specific platform were they start gaming, and that 32% of surveyed users have never bet on motorsports before but said they are likely to do so following GridRival’s real-money daily fantasy app launch.
“GridRival’s research backs up the consensus within the industry: motorsports fans are loyal, highly engaged, and keen to improve their viewing experience with gaming—but a suitable gaming platform is not yet in place,” Ross Fruin, CEO and Co-Founder of GridRival, said in a statement. “With the unique challenges that motorsport data represents and traders who are less familiar with how to price the action, motorsport remains seriously undervalued as a betting commodity.”
Investors in GridRival include Sharp Alpha Advisors and KB Partners. NASCAR’s managing director of sports betting Joe Solosky joined GridRival’s advisory board earlier this year.
SimplyLive, a cloud-based remote production tool for sports broadcasts, has been acquired by Riedel Communications, a hardware-focused global media company based in Germany. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.
Headquartered in Hong Kong with a US office in Easton, Pa., SimplyLive aids broadcasters in produced multi-camera feeds for live coverage with instant replay capability. Among its partners are ESPN, NBC Sports, SkySports, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, IMG and the Pac-12 Network. Riedel Communications also has a number of existing sports partners, such as the DFL (Bundesliga), SkySports and the International Swimming League.
“With this acquisition, we deliver on our strategy to move into the heart of live productions, offering new workflows, deployment types, and business models answering the fast-changing needs of our sports, media, and entertainment customers,” Rik Hoerée, CEO of Riedel Communications’ product division, said in a statement.
Verizon has a new deal with Wicket to accelerate deployment of the company’s facial recognition ticket entry system in sports venues that run on Verizon’s network. The partnership’s announcement comes just ahead of the NFL season kickoff, in which Verizon is the league’s official 5G network partner and 5G provider in more than 25 NFL stadiums.
Verizon will now offer 5G Edge Accelerated Access to stadiums in partnership with Wicket, which includes opt-in facial authentication ticketing for fans entering a venue. The companies are not yet disclosing which specific stadiums will offer Wicket’s facial ticketing supported by Verizon, but Wicket’s opt-in system is already separately active at stadiums for the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons. More than 75 U.S. venues run on Verizon’s 5G, including dozens in the NBA and NHL.
The Browns also plan to roll-out Wicket’s sensors for opt-in facial age verification for fans purchasing alcohol at their stadium later this NFL season, with an in-stadium facial payment offering also in the pipeline. Other current pro teams using Wicket’s facial ticketing include MLB’s New York Mets and MLS’s Columbus Crew.
Teams also currently use Wicket for internal building access in which front office members can use their face instead of keys or a card to unlock a door. Wicket’s CEO and co-founder Sanjay Manandhar will speak on a panel about biometric and facial recognition ticket entry at sports venues at Sports Business Journal's upcoming Sports Facilities & Franchises and Ticketing Symposium in Nashville from Sept. 13-15.
With the NFL opening its 2022 season Thursday night with a high-profile matchup between the Rams and Bills, the league remains concerned about unauthorized drones infiltrating stadiums and potentially causing "catastrophic outcomes."
The NFL’s Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier told Bloomberg Government that the league is worried about "the nefarious actor" who could navigate a drone near or inside a league venue and either crash or perhaps instigate an attack.
"The frustration is twofold: keeping pace with the technology so that we have the technology to counter the threats as they evolve, but also having the legislation to support our ability to keep pace with that threat," Lanier told Bloomberg.
As of now, federal officials have the authority to intercept threatening drones, generally by hacking into their communication signals, although the legislation mentioned by Lanier is about to expire on Oct. 5th. The Biden administration has proposed a bill that would grant federal officials the ability to counter unauthorized drones, as well as empower local law enforcement to do the same. But that bill is currently in limbo.
According to Bloomberg Government’s report, there were 1,400 instances of drones wading into NFL air space last season. According to federal law, drones are not permitted to fly within three miles of a stadium from an hour before a major event until an hour after -- an edict that applies to the NFL, MLB, NCAA football, NASCAR Sprint Cup and Champ Series racing. Violators of the law can be fined as much as $37,377 and potentially be criminally prosecuted.
Those rules do not apply to stadiums that seat less than 30,000 fans, which impacts minor league and smaller facilities. As it currently stands, the FAA estimates there are 860,000 registered drones in the U.S. and that the number could grow to 2.6 million by 2025.
Last year alone, the FAA claims there were 2,595 unauthorized drone sightings overall in the U.S. To counter that, venues such as New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium have partnered with AeroDefense to use the company’s drone detection system. AeroDefense’s AirWarden system can capture radio frequencies emitted by drones, and its sensors can decipher the location of the drone on a laptop in real time.
"The attitude of most of the stadium personnel that I have talked to over the years is it’s just a matter of time before something goes wrong," Mike McCormick, legal counsel of the Stadium Managers Association, told Bloomberg Government.
Apple designed a new device, Apple Watch Ultra, that caters to endurance athletes and runners and is expanding its Fitness+ programming to all iPhone users and not just those with an Apple Watch. The tech giant made these announcement’s during Wednesday’s keynote.
Apple watchOS 9 adds a slew of new running metrics such as stride length, ground contact time, running power, heart rate zones and more. A new hardware offering, Apple Watch Ultra, features an extended battery life—up to 36 hours during normal use and as many as 60 hours during a new energy conservation setting—while offering aerospace-grade titanium durability, a larger display and new algorithms that triangulate voice from three built-in microphones to mitigate the effect of wind.
For serious adventures, it offers dual-frequency GPS for more precise wayfinding and distance tracking as well as a feature called Backtrack, to help explorers retrace their steps. The new Oceanic+ app supports kitesurfing, wakeboarding and recreational scuba diving up to 40 meters, with a built-in depth gauge. New Trail Loop, Alpine and Ocean bands are available for endurance athletes, climbers and extreme water sports, respectively.
The entire library of Fitness+ workouts, meditations and Time to Walk and Time to Run experiences will be accessible for anyone with an iPhone. For those who do have an Apple Watch, many of the workouts will now include additional metrics and feedback based one on the exercise tracking.
With Kansas fully launching retail and online wagering on Thursday, Sportradar revealed that it has received a sports betting provider license for the state of Kansas.
Sportradar, which specializes in sports data and content, has what amounts to 40 gaming licenses throughout the U.S., its territories and tribes and Canada. With Sportradar's sports wagering service provider provisional certificate, the company will assist the state of Kansas in ensuring betting transparency and integrity.
As of its soft launch on Sept. 1st, mobile and online wagering in Kansas became possible through third-party vendors who have worked out deals with casinos in the area. For instance, Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kan., will offer mobile sports betting via Barstool Sports, while Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, Kan., will deploy mobile sports betting via FanDuel. Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Dodge City will offer their mobile betting through DraftKings, and Kanas Crossing Casino in Pittsburg, Kan., will use Caesars, PointsBet and BetMGM. Sportradar has a specific data deal with BetMGM through 2026.
Sportradar has also amassed data distribution partnerships with a myriad of sports league and federations, as well, such as the NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, USFL, UEFA, FIFA and the ICC. The company’s CEO, Carsten Koerl, previously told SportTechie that he is monitoring the biometric data clauses in many of those leagues’ collective bargaining agreements in hopes Sportradar can eventually deliver player data from wearable devices to states’ sportsbooks for fans to analyze before placing bets.
“The issue is player rights and how to share revenues," Koerl told Sporttechie in May. “Wearables is a valid source of data points. But it's unfortunately at the moment a little bit distracted by these discussions. I say, ‘Hey, that’s a huge market, let’s work together.’ I’m sure in two years’ time we will laugh about this discussion."
Trailblazer Venture Studio, the world’s first accelerator focused on women and sports, announced its first cohort of nine companies. Each startup is participating in a 12-week program focused on strategic business development and will receive an investment.
Billie Jean King Enterprises joined Elysian Park Ventures, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and R/GA Ventures in conceiving and developing Trailblazer Venture Studio. Elysian Park, the Dodgers and R/GA previously collaborated in launching the LA Dodgers Accelerator, the world's first such program dedicated to sports tech, in 2015 before also helping found the Global Sports Venture Studio.
The first class of female-led sports tech startups are: