Microsoft told GeekWire in August that having NFL players and coaches use the company’s Surface tablet on the sideline during games to review past plays is “the greatest technology integration in sports.” Bill Belichick would disagree. The New England Patriots head coach on Tuesday blasted the devices, telling reporters that he’s “done with the tablets.” Embed from Getty Images Belichick ripped Microsoft’s product, saying that “they’re just too undependable for me” and noting that he’s going back to the traditional printed black-and-white photos. “I’ve given them as much time as I can give them,” he said. “They’re just too undependable for… Read More
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
Twitter’s first attempt at live-streaming a National Football League game on Thursday night appeared to be a success based on performance and feedback. Now the ratings are in for Friday evening quarterbacks everywhere to dissect. According to the NFL, Twitter reached 2.3 million combined worldwide viewers total for the pre-game show (“NFL Thursday Night Kickoff”), the New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills game, and the post-game show. Twitter reached 2.1 million viewers for the game alone, and the average audience watching on the platform was 243,000 (with each viewer watching an average of 22 minutes of game action). The league says the… Read More
So far, so good for Twitter’s NFL live streaming ambitions. The company’s first attempt at streaming an NFL game went smoothly, and the overall response from users was positive. Twitter aired the New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills game on Thursday evening after inking a reported $10 million deal in April with the NFL to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games this season. Our bunker room @twitter we have unbelievable team️#golive #TNF #OneTeam pic.twitter.com/0W1PgXcfrH — Anthony Noto (@anthonynoto) September 16, 2016 For the most part, folks seemed impressed as the #NYJvsBUF hashtag was trending worldwide. Watching the game on Twitter on AppleTV with Tweets… Read More
