The NBA is getting help from Microsoft to improve the fan experience as the league embarks on an unprecedented shortened season amid the pandemic. The two organizations, which announced a multiyear cloud partnership in April, will debut virtual viewing technology powered by Microsoft’s Teams collaboration software when the season begins July 30 near Orlando, Fla. The NBA is installing 17-foot video boards surrounding the courts where games will be held with no fans due to COVID-19. More than 300 fans for each game will appear on the boards and interact with each other using the new Microsoft Teams “Together” mode,… Read More
It’s one thing to hope that your video chat for a virtual work happy hour connects seamlessly, it’s quite another to rely on the technology as a professional football team making a selection in the NFL Draft. But that’s what 32 teams did last week when they used Microsoft Teams, the tech giant’s collaboration platform, as part of the league’s tech-heavy, first-ever virtual Draft. PREVIOUSLY: With high-tech rooms at home, Seahawks ready for remote NFL draft and AWS helps power entire event In line with its ongoing partnership with the NFL, in which Microsoft has supplied Surface tablets as sideline… Read More
Microsoft and the NFL are expanding their alliance to bring more technology to one of the world’s most popular professional sports leagues. NFL players and coaches will continue using Microsoft Surface tablets on the sidelines during games as part of the new multi-year expansion deal announced Tuesday. It’s a key partnership win for Microsoft, which has already deployed more than 2,000 Surface devices across the league. Players in others pro sports leagues such as MLB use Apple iPads during games. Terms of the new deal were not disclosed. The alliance dates back to 2013, when Microsoft inked a reported $400 million,… Read More
Patti Hammond — better known around these parts as “Mama Blue” — knows how much Paul Allen meant to the Seattle Seahawks. A diehard fan since the team entered the NFL in 1976, Hammond has been a regular at home games for 43 years. She was at her front row seat again on Thursday before Seattle’s bout against Los Angeles, donning her feathers, necklaces, and blue-and-green glasses. But this time Mama Blue brought along a special item, holding it up with two hands so everyone could see: a photo of her and the late Allen, celebrating together at the Experience Museum… Read More
Finally, an answer to what Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll maybe should have done with the football at the goal line in Super Bowl XLIX: he should have scootered into the end zone himself. In a new post on LinkedIn — which he just joined — Carroll shared a video in which he is shown racing around the hallways of a Microsoft office on scooters against the tech giant’s U.S. President Kate Johnson. Johnson got the best of Carroll in the close race, in which someone in the video said, “always let the boss win.” The NFL coach, who also… Read More
