For any Mariners fans hoping to watch today’s game against Texas, your only option is Facebook. That’s because of a deal Major League Baseball inked in March to stream 25 games on Facebook Watch, the new video platform created by the social media giant last year. It’s part of an experiment that allows MLB to test new ways to air live baseball as more and more sports content is streamed online. It’s also part of Facebook’s push to get more sports video content on its site as it competes with other tech giants — Amazon and its deal with the… Read More
Amazon is poised to become a live sports powerhouse as soon as next year, a new report predicts, as more tech companies are seeking out streaming rights for top leagues in the U.S. and abroad. The report from Juniper Research covers 10 tech trends for 2018. The presence of Amazon, and to a lesser extent Facebook, as top contenders for major sports packages is the firm’s number one trend to watch for next year. Amazon’s biggest foray into live sports so far came when it dropped a reported $50 million to stream 11 NFL Thursday Night Football games. Amazon beat… Read More
[Love sports and technology? Sign up for our sports tech newsletter to receive this rundown from GeekWire’s Taylor Soper via email every week.] TAYLOR’S TAKE: There’s only one place this week where you can catch a Cardinals game, eat mouth-watering BBQ, go on a Budweiser tour, and attend an awesome sports business conference — St. Louis, of course! I’m on the road this week in St. Louis, where Washington University is hosting the Olin Sports Business Summit. Today I’m helping emcee the event, which invites business and tech leaders from the sports world to speak on stage about the latest innovations… Read More
Bleacher Report CEO Dave Finocchio has some advice for Facebook. Speaking at the 2017 GeekWire Sports Tech Summit the co-founder of what has become the second largest sports website in the United States said social media can be a struggle for publishers big and small. He noted that Facebook pushed publishers to use its platform as a way to spread content far and wide, but over the years it became harder to get stories linke back to a website promoted. “I think the days of being able to drive massive referral traffic back to your website are coming to an… Read More
Golden State Warriors fans now have a new tech-powered assistant at their disposal during the NBA Playoffs. The Bay Area-based NBA team rolled out a new Facebook Messenger bot today that will give fans — both those watching at home and at the arena — a virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence. The bot, built by Chatfuel, will engage with fans on a 1-on-1 basis within Facebook Messenger and provide live news updates, highlights, player stats, and help purchasing tickets or merchandise. For fans at Oracle Arena watching the top-seeded Warriors, who are facing off against the Portland Trail Blazers in the… Read More
