The Sounders may look a little different after the 2018 season — aesthetically speaking, at least. Seattle’s MLS club announced today that it is working with sports management giant WME | IMG to explore a potential new naming rights sponsor for its jerseys, matchday pitch, and training facility. Since the team’s inaugural MLS season in 2009, Seattle-area tech giant Microsoft has paid to have the Xbox brand name and logo appear on all three of those properties. That contract was extended both in 2013 and 2014; the current deal expires after the 2018 season. The original jerseys featured “Xbox 360,”… Read More
VAR made its debut at CenturyLink Field in Seattle this past weekend. VAR, also known as “video assistant referee,” is new technology that Major League Soccer is piloting to help review plays during live matches. It consists of an on-field monitor and an MLS official who communicates with referees while watching the game somewhere at a given stadium. MLS first began testing VAR this past February and expects to fully implement the system next month after the All-Star Game. It’s similar to video review protocols established by the NFL and more recently in Major League Baseball. The Seattle Sounders FC… Read More
At just 23 years of age, DeAndre Yedlin has built quite the resume. The Seattle native was the first “homegrown” player to sign with Sounders FC; he made his first U.S. national team appearance in 2014; and a year later he signed with Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. Now you can add another line to those achievements: startup investor. Yedlin recently invested in Seattle-based sports tech startup Volt Athletics, a maker of an “intelligent” strength and conditioning platform. Yedlin, who now plays for Newcastle United, told GeekWire that he has a passion for both sports and technology. Volt caught… Read More
As a former lawyer, Garth Lagerwey knows about the value of evidence-based reasoning. Now he’s trying to apply that same line of thinking to the professional soccer club he helps manage. Lagerwey spoke about this philosophy at the Sounders Sports Science Weekend in Seattle, an event that focuses on the latest innovations in sports science and analytics. The Sounders have long been pioneers, at least among Major League Soccer teams, in using sports science to help make on-field improvements. The club, which won its first MLS Cup last year, utilizes a variety of gadgets like GPS trackers and heart rate monitors to… Read More
For the Seattle Sounders, sports analytics remains an important part of winning matches and keeping players healthy. The defending MLS Cup champions will make their 2017 home debut today at 4 p.m. in Seattle as they take on the New York Red Bulls at CenturyLink Field. The team held its annual Media Day on Friday and GeekWire caught up with Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey to get his perspective on sports science. The Sounders have long been pioneers, at least among MLS teams, in using sports science to help make on-field improvements. The club, which won its first MLS Cup last year,… Read More
