NASCAR to Include 3D Printed Parts in Next Gen Cars With Help From Stratasys Direct Manufacturing
By Joe Lemire
NASCAR has named Stratasys Direct Manufacturing a competition partner, as the firm produces the first 3D printed parts to be included on the Next Gen cars.
Stratasys first printed a windshield air cockpit ventilation unit for the Next Gen cars that debuted on the NASCAR Cup Circuit in February. NASCAR R&D facility has also used Stratasys to print an underside NACA duct for engine cooling.
Though this is the first full field deployment of parts made by 3D printing—which is also known as additive manufacturing—individual NASCAR teams have used the technology for years. Stratasys SVP Pat Carey described the relationship as having been borne out of 18 years of work with Joe Gibbs Racing and Penske Racing.
Penske driver Brad Keselowski told SportTechie in 2018 that he had raced with 3D printed parts in his car. A big believer in the technology, he started Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing, which opened for business in January 2019.
La Liga soccer club Real Betis has signed a three-year deal with metaverse clothing startup Fancurve to launch digital jerseys for fans. Fans will be able to dress their avatars on Fancurve’s platform with the officially licensed Betis-themed jerseys, which were made by Fancurve’s 3D fashion designers.
The first of multiple Betis-inspired kits will drop June 7. Fans can use their credit or debit card to buy the digital jerseys for $43 exclusively on Fancurve. Fans will be able to resell their virtual items on Fancurve and access exclusive club benefits from Real Betis. Fancurve also says that fans will soon be able to merge their avatars and digital jerseys into various partnered metaverse platforms.
Spain’s Real Betis is the first club to join Fancurve, which raised $6.25 million in April from investors that included German soccer star Mario Götze and media company OneFootball. MLS debuted team-themed digital gear in metaverse app GreenPark Sports earlier this year, while the NFL partnered in January with Meta to sell Super Bowl-LVI themed digital shirts for fans’ avatars.
“Our intent is to develop a marketplace where those [digital] jerseys or shirts can be sold,” Meta executive Rob Shaw said during April’s State Of The Industry conference. “There will be a business model where the monies can go back to the leagues and teams or whoever owns the IP.”
Already at 7,000 Feet, Northern Arizona University Athletes Use Altitude Control Technology to Simulate Even Higher or Lower Elevations
By Tom Friend
Northern Arizona University athletes, who already train at 7,000 feet on their campus in Flagstaff, will be able to workout in other simulated elevations due to the school’s new partnership with Altitude Control Technology.
The University’s new 77,000 square foot Student-Athlete High Performance Center has just been equipped with the Altitude Control Technology (ACT) that utilizes a smart thermostat to simulate different altitudes. According to ACT, the technology “seamlessly recalibrates the oxygen and nitrogen mix’’ to create either a lower-altitude room or an even higher-altitude room.
Adjusted with a touchscreen much the way someone would operate heating or air conditioning, the ACT system will particularly help Northern Arizona’s nationally-ranked cross country and track athletes maximize their training, as well as help with strength, recovery and endurance workouts.
Colorado-based ACT is known for its whole room oxygenation installations that help limit the onset of altitude sickness and improve sleep quality. But athletic training is another intriguing benefit.
“Only a handful of NCAA athletic facilities have altitude training capabilities, and we are thrilled to be one, as now we are on the leading edge of new research exploring the physical benefits of sea-level and variable altitudes for athletic performance,’’ Northern Arizona athletic director Mike Marlow said in a statement. “Coupled with our nutrition counseling, strength program and expert staff, we know the altitude simulation environment will enable a whole new student-athlete experience.’’
Nielsen Impact Score Expands to Pro Teams, Mets Join as First Client
By Andrew Cohen
Nielsen has expanded its Impact Score sponsorship valuation software to include teams across the big five North American professional sports leagues. MLB’s New York Mets have signed as the first pro team to use Nielsen Impact Score Pro to support its sponsorship sales strategy.
The Impact Score was originally launched last year for college football and college basketball programs to showcase the NIL marketability of their schools to recruits as the software analyzes data such as a school’s time spent on national television and engagement on social media. The database will now expand to include sponsorship metrics from teams across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS.
Brands and teams such as the Mets can leverage Nielsen Impact Score Pro to compare sponsorship ROI and KPI benchmarks across leagues, such as exposure of an ad during a World Series game versus an NBA Finals game. The database categorizes social media engagement metrics by platform, team and league, as well as providing viewership trends per game, team, sport and part of the season.
Pixellot Reportedly Raises $161 Million to Grow Its Sports Streaming in Asia, Latin America
By Andrew Cohen
Automated sports video production company Pixellot is raising $161 million at a $500 million valuation, according to the Israeli news site Calcalist. The round is being led by Boston-based firm Providence Strategic Growth and will help expand Pixellot’s sports streaming services in Asia and Latin America.
Israel-headquartered Pixellot develops unmanned cameras that use artificial intelligence to automatically follow ball and player movement. More than 18,000 Pixellot systems are deployed across 62 countries to broadcast live sports. The NBA and MLB use Pixellot to livestream youth and college-level competitions. Other Pixellot partners include FC Barcelona, ESPN, Genius Sports, NBC’s SportsEngine and the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Before this latest reported round, Pixellot’s total funding eclipsed $80 million, including its $16 million round led by Shamrock Capital in 2020. The new funding will help grow Pixellot’s presence in Latin America, where its cameras are already used by LigaMX clubs and Brazil’s Group Globo—as well as in Asia, where Pixellot is already used to stream soccer in China and the United Arab Emirates.
Bartesian Cocktail Machine Reaches 15 MLB Stadiums Through Expanded Deals With Aramark, Delaware North
By Andrew Cohen
Automated cocktail maker Bartesian is being deployed across MLB, NFL and NBA stadiums through expanded partnerships with venue concessionaires Aramark and Delaware North. Fans can access Bartesian’s cocktail mixing machine at suites, clubs and concession stands across participating venues.
MLB stadiums offering Bartesian this season include Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Minute Maid Park, RingCentral Coliseum, Citizens Bank Park, Kauffman Stadium, Truist Park, Great American Ball Park, Progressive Field, American Family Field, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Target Field, Comerica Park, Angel Stadium and Globe Life Field. Bartesian’s machine pairs liquors and packaged bitters, extracts, juice concentrates and mixers to pour cocktails with a push of a button. The machine lets users customize the alcoholic strength of each drink.
Delaware North, which is owned by the Jacobs family who also owns TD Garden and the Boston Bruins, began testing Bartesian at suites inside MLB venues in 2019. The machine will be available at all of Delaware North’s MLB, NBA and NFL venues this year. Aramark deployed Bartesian last NFL season at Paul Brown Stadium, home to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Similar cocktail-pouring machines to Bartesian include TendedBar, which is being deployed at select PGA Tour events. Unlike Bartesian, TendedBar’s machine uses facial recognition to process self-checkout payments for drink orders.
Statistics From Baseball Savant Power New Pitch Tempo Leaderboard for MLB
By Joe Lemire
Baseball Savant, an advanced statistical website operated by MLB Advanced Media, recently began sharing a pitch tempo leaderboard of how fast or slow big league pitchers work with the bases empty or with runners on.
MLB’s pace of play has been under scrutiny for a while but especially in 2022 when a new pitch clock has shaved an average of 28 minutes per game off the duration of minor league games. Upon receiving the ball from the catcher, pitchers have 14 seconds to deliver a pitch with no one on and, at most levels, they have 18 seconds with a runner on base (which increases to 19 seconds in Triple A).
The new Baseball Savant pitch tempo leaderboard does not make the exact same comparison, as its data is calculated from the time stamp of one pitch release to another (and not taking into account the catcher’s return throw to the pitcher). But it is the closest publicly available proxy to how big leaguers might have to alter their tempo if a pitch clock arrives at the major league level in the next year or two, as predicted. A key consideration is that preliminary research indicates a pitcher will accrue higher levels of fatigue when asked to pitch more quickly.
Cubs starter Wade Miley currently rates as the quickest pitcher in the big leagues in both scenarios (11.5 seconds with bases empty, 15.2 seconds with runners on). Cardinals pitcher Giovanny Gallegos is the slowest in both (27.5, 35.8). The big league average is 18.2 seconds with no one on and 23.6 seconds with runners on base.
Premier League Club Fulham FC Expands Playermaker Wearable to Academy
By Andrew Cohen
English soccer club Fulham FC is expanding use of Playermaker’s performance-tracking device to be worn by youth players across the team’s academy program. The Playermaker wearable has sensors that strap onto a player’s cleats to track metrics such as acceleration, kick velocity, time on the ball and top speed.
Playermaker separates data from a player’s left and right foot, and the findings will help create individualized training and recovery plans for academy players. Fulham, which played in the second-tier English Football League last season but will play in the 2022-23 Premier League season, will also provide Playermaker units for the Fulham FC Foundation. The program hosts free soccer sessions in South West London for youth from refugee backgrounds. Fulham is owned by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan.
More than 150 professional and college teams use Playermaker, including Premier League clubs Crystal Palace and Manchester City and MLS clubs such as Atlanta United and LA Galaxy. The startup raised a $10 million Series B in 2019, and its investors include former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who now serves as FIFA’s chief of global football development.
Barracuda Championship Becomes First PGA Tour Event to Accept Cryptocurrency
By Andrew Cohen
Tickets to this summer’s Barracuda Championship can be bought using cryptocurrency, making it the first PGA Tour event to accept crypto as a payment option. The tournament will be held July 14-17 at Tahoe Mountain Club in California. Fans and sponsors interested in paying with crypto should email [email protected] with “crypto” included in their email’s subject line.
Daily grounds tickets sold on the event’s website cost between $35-$50 USD. Fans can pay for tickets with more than 300 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin. An exclusive VIP experience to the Barracuda Championship can only be bought using crypto. The VIP package will include private hospitality and team participation in the tournament’s Pro-Am. The event will also accept crypto as payment for sponsorship packages.
MLB’s Oakland A’s, the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and NHL’s San Jose Sharks are among the pro teams to accept cryptocurrency for tickets and merchandise. The Washington Nationals also planned to accept the TerraUSD cryptocurrency at its ballpark next MLB season as part of a sponsorship signed in February, but that now seems unlikely after Terra’s stablecoin recently collapsed in value.
Muhammad Ali Comes to the Metaverse With New Boxing Simulation Game
By Joe Lemire
Muhammad Ali Enterprises has sanctioned a new simulation boxing game that will be played in the metaverse.
Powered by Altered State Machine, a Web3-based artificial intelligence company, and Non-Fungible Labs, a creative design firm, the game will be called “Muhammad Ali — The Next Legends.” Players will need to collect two NFTs, representing physical and mental abilities, to create a boxer whom they can train and compete with to become The Next Legend.
Authentic Brands Group owns Muhammad Ali Enterprises in conjunction with Lonnie Ali, a trustee of the Muhammad Ali Family Trust.
NY Hospital for Special Surgery to Offer Free Injury Prevention Tools, Training App to High Schools
By Andrew Cohen
New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery, the top-ranked orthopedic hospital in the U.S., will provide free injury prevention tools and a training app to 50 high schools as part of its new Move Better Play Better initiative. Applications for the program are open to schools in the U.S. that don’t have a full-time athletic trainer.
In addition to HSS’s new injury prevention training app for coaches, selected schools will access risk factor screenings for student-athletes throughout the 2022-23 school year. Educational workshops for parents, coaches and gym teachers—as well as on-site and virtual support visits from HSS staff—will also be provided. The initiative is part of the HSS Sports Medicine Institute’s Youth Sports Safety Program that was formed in 2016.
HSS clinicians serve as team doctors for the New York Mets, Giants, Knicks and Liberty, and it opened the Brooklyn Nets’ HSS Training Center in 2016. The hospital collaborates with camera-based training and biomechanics analysis systems such as Proteus Motion and Dari Motion. HSS also previously helped design injury risk-reducing footwear in partnership with Sports Engineering, Inc.
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