Tanner Swanson was a week away from starting his first full season in the Major Leagues as a member of the New York Yankees coaching staff. As the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, it wiped out the start of baseball and pretty much every other sport and sent Swanson home to Roslyn, Wash. Not content with sitting by as others found ways to contribute their skills and energy toward helping in the fight against coronavirus, Swanson set out to support those entrenched in that fight. He recently helped launch “Coaches vs. COVID,” a grassroots fundraising effort in which a… Read More
Seattle sports fans may be able to place a legal bet on Russell Wilson’s pass completion rate during the Seahawks home opener this fall, but not from their favorite Pioneer Square barstool. Instead, they will have to travel to one of the state’s 29 tribal casinos. All forms of sports — including esports and excluding in-state collegiate athletics — are eligible for bets under the law, but it will be up to the tribes to negotiate with the state over the coming months about which sports will actually be offered. Industry insiders don’t expect esports to be part of the… 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
Amazon is expanding its sports media footprint with a new deal to stream New York Yankees baseball games this season. The Seattle tech giant will stream 21 Yankees games on Prime Video later this year. The live MLB content will be free for Prime members, but only available to those in the Yankees “home-team footprint”: New York state, Connecticut, northeast Pennsylvania, and north and central New Jersey. Related: NFL fans can access live Next Gen Stats for first time via Amazon’s Thursday Night Football stream The games will be simulcasts produced by YES Network. Last year, the Yankees, Sinclair Broadcast Group,… Read More
Here’s what we’re talking about this week on the GeekWire Podcast. Amazon’s second headquarters may be closer to Seattle than you think. Amazon says it plans to grow its presence in Bellevue, in the Seattle suburbs, to 15,000 employees in the next few years. That could be comparable to the number of employees working in the official HQ2 site of Arlington, Va. Will the company find a friendlier climate in the ’burbs? Yes, Virginia, there is an Amazon HQ2, but it’s actually 10 miles outside of Seattle Amazon to bring 15,000 employees to Bellevue as rapid expansion in Seattle-area city… Read More
