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
Tim Leiweke is a name Seattleites should be familiar with if they care about potential new sports franchises coming to town or the future of Key Arena. The sports executive is CEO of Oak View Group, which will lead a $564 million renovation of Seattle’s Key Arena and try to lure the NBA and NHL to Seattle. Leiweke, who has more than three decades of leadership experience in the sports industry, will join us at our second annual GeekWire Sports Tech Summit on June 21-22 in Seattle to talk about how technology will impact the future of sports stadiums and… Read More
Updated 4:15 p.m. Wednesday: Promising to build a world-class arena, and with it potentially lure an NBA or NHL team to Seattle, Mayor Ed Murray announced Wednesday that he has selected Oak View Group to renovate the 55-year-old KeyArena. “If the Space Needle is the front door of this beautiful place, KeyArena is the action-packed rec room,” Murray said during a news conference (watch in full in the video above) from the venue at Seattle Center. The mayor was joined by a host of dignitaries, including Oak View founders Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, former Seattle Supersonics head coach Lenny Wilkens, and owners… Read More
FOX Sports is once again tapping new technology to enhance its golf broadcast. The company’s coverage of the 117th U.S. Open, one of four annual major championships on the PGA Tour, kicks off next week. FOX will use everything from augmented reality and drones as it tries to provide a better viewing experience for fans watching at home. Zac Fields, senior vice president of graphic tech and integration at FOX Sports, explained that there will be two versions of augmented reality used for the broadcast next week. The first is during live action. Every tee shot will be highlighted by some sort of… Read More
Seattle Partners, one of two groups aiming to renovate Key Arena, dropped out of the city’s bid process on Sunday. AEG and Hudson Pacific Properties, representing the Seattle Partners group, pulled their proposal and cited concerns with how the city is conducting the bid process. “We remain firm in the belief that our proposal best serves the people of Seattle, but, unfortunately, significant factors through the bidding process have eroded our confidence in the ultimate execution of this project, no matter which group is selected,” the group wrote in a letter to the mayor and city council. Oak View Group… Read More
