Whether it be on the sidelines during an NFL game, on the track during a NASCAR race, or on the TV via advertisements, sports fans have likely seen Microsoft’s branding or products appear in one form of another during the past few years. That’s because the tech giant is making a big investment in the sports world, highlighted by the 5-year, $400 million contract it signed with the NFL in 2013. Microsoft has since inked deals with the PGA Tour, NASCAR, Real Madrid, and many other organizations. While reporting from Atlanta at Microsoft Ignite last month, GeekWire spoke with two long-time Microsoft execs… Read More
ATLANTA, GA. — Deion Sanders was probably the last celebrity guest expected to show up at Microsoft’s Ignite technology conference, where thousands of IT geeks are in Atlanta this week learning about everything from Azure cloud infrastructure to containerized apps. But it was “Prime Time” who walked on stage during the keynote presentation on Monday afternoon to help Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella show off an unreleased fantasy football advice bot. During his hour-long keynote that described Microsoft’s vision for how artificial intelligence can shape the future of computing, Nadella brought Sanders on stage in Atlanta, the city where the two-sport freak athlete not only starred… Read More
ATLANTA, GA. — Most NFL followers are likely now familiar with the Microsoft Surface, given that the device has become a mainstay on sidelines as a training tool that players and coaches use to review past plays during games. It’s part of the $400 million deal Microsoft signed with the NFL back in 2013. But now the device is making its way into another sport: professional golf. In November of last year, Microsoft announced a three-year deal with the PGA Tour, and we’re starting to see partnership come to fruition on the golf course. GeekWire is in Atlanta, Ga., at East Lake Golf… Read More
The Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers kick off the NFL season tonight in a rematch of Super Bowl 50, and based on a Bing prediction that gives Carolina a 57 percent chance of winning, quarterback Cam Newton may actually stick around for the full post-game press conference. Microsoft’s search engine is back with weekly predictions for all the NFL games thanks to Bing Predicts, which uses “search, social, and other relevant data to make intelligent predictions about upcoming events.” Scanning the schedule shows a few lopsided predictions in the week one mix. The Seattle Seahawks are a 78 percent favorite… Read More
