The CenturyLink Event Center is turning into a 285,000 square-foot geeky paradise this weekend. The first-ever GE2 event is taking place Saturday and Sunday in Seattle, where attendees can participate in drone racing, virtual reality, eSports, laser tag, robotics, dodgeball, and more. Virtual Sports, which runs a 30,000 square-foot entertainment center in Tukwila, Wash., is partnering with radio broadcasting giant Entercom to put on the inaugural event. There will be official drone races — the largest ever to take place in the Pacific Northwest — and laser tag competitions, but attendees will also have a chance to try out a variety of… Read More
It was the save heard ’round the soccer world. Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei pulled off what Sports Illustrated called “the greatest high-stakes save in MLS history” on Saturday when he miraculously fended off a late-match shot that ultimately helped Seattle win its first MLS Cup. Frei, who was named MVP of the final versus Toronto after racking up eight saves, almost defied physics with the acrobatic, one-handed save that required quickness, flexibility, strength, soccer IQ, and much more. It not only kept the match tied at 0-0 in the second overtime period but also preserved what ended up being a historic season. To… Read More
Web traffic to GeekWire was a bit down today — perhaps many of our readers were out marching with the Seattle Sounders to celebrate their first-ever MLS Cup victory. The team — players, coaches, owners, staff, and more — rode trolleys through downtown, ending up at a massive rally at Seattle Center. Mayor Ed Murray was there, as was King County Executive Dow Constantine and Congressman Jim McDermott. The rally was the culmination of a remarkable turnaround season for the Sounders, who went from last place in the Western Conference in July and bounced back to win their first MLS championship. It… Read More
Can a high-tech, sensor-infused ball help a generation of device-addicted kids be more active? One startup is about to find out. Seattle-based Play Impossible is coming out of stealth mode and just announced a $1 million investment round that included participation from Two Sigma Ventures, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, and WestRiver Group, the firm led by TopGolf Entertainment Group Co-Chairman Erik Anderson. The company has developed a smart, connected inflatable ball that looks completely normal from the outside but has a bevy of electronics inside — accelerator, barometer, microcontroller, ultracapacitor, etc. — and sends real-time data via Bluetooth to an accompanying iOS or… Read More
Just do it — faster. Nike is lacing up to go after what is considered one of the more unbreakable barriers in all of sports, with a “moonshot attempt” to produce a sub 2-hour marathon time. The Portland-based maker of athletic gear announced a new initiative on Monday called Breaking2. The project will seek to “unlock the limits of human potential through athletes, product innovation, training and environment.” The current men’s world record is held by Kenya’s Dennis Kimetto, who ran 2:02:57 in Berlin in 2014. Nike says the seemingly impossible quest to lower that time by 3 percent is exactly what… Read More
