The NHL brought its third annual Technology Showcase event to Seattle this week, a stone’s throw from the global headquarters of Amazon. It was fitting, given the growing connections between the tech giant and pro hockey. The league took over a private lounge Thursday evening at Climate Pledge Arena for the event, which featured a bevy of technology partners helping the NHL develop new statistics, increase fan engagement, and much more. I checked out the action at Climate Pledge — named after Amazon’s carbon neutral initiative — and ran into Amazon Web Services chief Adam Selipsky. “AWS has a great partnership with the… Read More
Technology and tech culture are taking a permanent spot in the lineup at T-Mobile Park this season. The Seattle Mariners have added three more food and beverage stores with Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” cashierless technology at the baseball stadium — and another food location is named with just emojis. The three “Walk-Off Markets,” which will be operational on Opening Day this Thursday, join another that debuted last season. T-Mobile Park is the leading ballpark in the country when it comes to this style of concession service. The new Market locations are in sections 141, 185 and 341. The flagship Market is… Read More
American football fans who use the Rec Room social gaming app can now grab their favorite team’s gear for their in-app avatars, just in time for the NFL playoffs. Rec Room, the Seattle startup behind the eponymous app, announced Thursday that it partnered with the National Football League for a new “digital fan experience.” In the Rec Room app, players can create and customize avatars, then use them to participate in a wide variety of user-created activities, such as sports, paintball, or simple social interaction. Over the course of the last six years, both Rec Room and its player community… Read More
The Seattle Seahawks took a loss against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, but fans at Lumen Field who are into cashierless concession stands can at least count the day as a win. The Seahawks debuted three more stores at the stadium utilizing Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology, designed to eliminate checkout lines and get fans back to their seats faster. The new locations are on the main stadium concourse in sections 103, 105 and 123. They are called District Market, just like the store that opened in section 323 at the start of the season. The stores serve beer, wine,… Read More
Football fans looking for a break from the holiday shopping rush will have some NFL action to watch next year as the league and Amazon announced plans for the first-ever “Black Friday” game. Amazon will exclusively stream a game on Prime Video the day after Thanksgiving in 2023, adding another day of football to a holiday weekend already packed with games. The game is expected to kick off at noon P.T. and participating teams will be announced when next year’s schedule is released, the NFL said in a news release on Tuesday. “Black Friday is the unofficial start of the… Read More
