TAYLOR’S TAKE ON THE WEEK IN SPORTS TECH: A new football league controlled by fans is the latest endeavor to make use of blockchain technology. The Fan Controlled Football League begins play next year and will allow fans to be apart of everything from play-calling to hiring general managers. The FCFL will feature eight indoor football teams playing one hour-long games in a production studio on a 50-yard field. Games will air on Twitch, the Amazon-owned streaming platform whose video overlay technology will allow fans to call plays in real-time. The league is also using helmet cameras, embedded chips in balls,… Read More
As a Seattle-area golfer, I have to admit to suffering a bit of FOMO when it comes to the increasingly popular high-tech Topgolf driving ranges springing up around the country. For those unfamiliar, they’re like glitzy bowling alleys with flashy targets, RFID-enabled balls and computer screens to track their flight, all letting you play a variety of games along with monitoring all sorts of stats like driving distance. But my fear of missing out has been a bit allayed thanks to the new Toptracer Range system that quietly debuted at Seattle’s Puetz Golf Superstore this week. Toptracer Range, owned by… Read More
Seattle esports betting startup Unikrn continues to grow and today announced another acquisition. The company has swooped up Berlin-based ChallengeMe.GG, an esports matchmaking service and long-time tournament partner of Unikrn. Unikrn CEO Rahul Sood said it was a multi-million dollar acquisition and called it “one of the biggest deals of my career.” Unikrn said it will create the “first crypto gaming platform” with the acquisition. “This is going to be the platform we use to bring skill-based betting products to our users as well,” Sood said in a blog post. “Remember, Unikrn has patent-pending technology on placing crypto bets on… Read More
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Vicis makes the safest helmet in football. That’s the verdict again from the NFL, which ranked the Seattle startup atop its 2018 Helmet Laboratory Testing Performance Results. The league worked with the NFL Players’ Association and its biomechanical experts to assess 34 helmet models made by six companies that could be worn in the upcoming 2018 season and determine which was best at reducing head impact severity experienced by NFL players on the field. The 2018 version of Vicis’ ZERO1 helmet ranked No. 1. The 2017 version finished second. Vicis ranked No. 1 last year, too, in the same test. The NFL notes… Read More
