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Friday Grab Bag: Magic Johnson Issue

November 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Twitter wings its way over Mexican Soccer team
Are you a fan of Mexican soccer? Maybe follow the Jaguars in the Primera Division? Then you have already noticed that the team has gone one step further than any other sports team and has replaced the players’ names from the back of their jerseys and replaced it with their individual Twitter handle. In addition the jerseys, which have no sponsor logo, use Twitter’s teal color as well as its bird logo. I am sure that Bud Selig looks on in envy.

Cybersquatters combine iPhone and Porn-is that wrong?
Apparently Apple is upset that a mobile porn website has acquired a number of web site names that give the impression that they are related to Apple’s iPhone for the purpose of luring the unwary to its sites. A report filed by Domain Name Wire and forwarded by the ever popular Register that seven URLs redirect to pornography web sites. Apple has experience with this type of legal fight in the past but the question remains how did it not register www.iphone4s.com, although it now seems to be out of commission. Just checked for professional purposes of course.


20 years ago- Magic Johnson retired (for the first time)
On Nov 7, 1991 one of the most electrifying players in the NBA announced his retirement due to the discovery during a routine preseason physical that he had been found to be HIV-positive. Following his retirement he did play in the 1992 NBA All-Star game and was voted MVP, the 1992 Sumer Olympics basketball “Dream Team” and subsequently had two brief comebacks with the LA Lakers and a stint as head coach. It is nice to say that he seems to be going strong today, 20 years later.

Who will buy the Dodgers?
Now that Frank McCourt has seen the light and agreed to sell the Los Angeles Dodgers the question arises- who will buy them. The rumored going price is in excess of $1 billion, which would be a nice return on investment for McCourt, who paid $421 m in 2004, except that he has paid no taxes in the interim. One announced prospective buyer is former owner Peter O’Malley, as is former player Steve Garvey.

Apple has new iPhone and iPads in future plans- shocking
According to Taiwan-based blog Digitimes, Apple is building iPad 3s as fast as it can and seeks to have 1 million made by the end of 2011 in hopes of avoiding the supply bottleneck that is hurting its sales currently when the new iPads roll out in early 2012. In addition the much hyped iPhone 5 is expected at the end of 2012, late Q3 or early Q4, according to the publication. Hopefully long battery life is a feature with the new phone.

New 24 hour Sports News Channel-A rival to ESPN? Just kidding.
Al-Jazeera has launched what is believed to be the Middle East’s first 24-hour sports news channel, which it will call Al-Jazeera Sports according to the Associated Press. The TV Network already has 18 channels that broadcast a range of sports including the World Cup, Champions League soccer and men’s and women’s tennis tournaments. According to the channel’s general manager, Nasser bin Ghanem al-Khelaifi, says the aim is to “uncover the ins and outs of everything that surrounds and affects sports, quickly, accurately and around the clock.”

Filed Under: Al-Jazeera Sports, ESPN, iPad, iPhone, Major League Baseball, NBA, Soccer, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: Mostly Football Issue

October 21, 2011 by 4 Comments

Get your vote in for Straight Outta Stockton
The good folks at Awful Announcing have added a new bad announcer category. For regulars on the site they are already familiar with the “Pammies” named after Pam Ward and given to the worst college football announcer have been joined by a weekly award for the NFL broadcasting corp. The new award is called “Straight Outta Stockton” in honor of Dick Stockton. The winning comment in its first week was “The Lions undefeated season is over… for now” – Scott Hanson (via Real_DWM).


NFL Games DVDs now widely available from NFL Films
Have some gaps in your home library of great games by your favorite NFL team? Well the league has taken steps to fix that by offering the entire NFL Films DVD catalog for the first time. Approximately 115 titles can now be purchased from iTunes, Best Buy Cinema and Vudu as part of a distribution deal between the NFL Films and Vivendi Entertainment. The videos will range from Super Bowls, team histories and a range of classic games. The deal helps NFL Films aggressively push into the home entertainment market for the first time. In the past limited films were available.

Android app market continues to see strong growth
The number of apps available for the Android platform continues to grow, and has reached the half a million market in September, compared to Apple’s iOS 600,000, according to market research firm Research2Guidence and forwarded by readwriteweb. This shows that the huge lead that Apple once enjoyed is getting narrower by the month as a solid influx of apps for the Android continue to hit the market. The one downside for the Android space, according to the report shows that 37% of apps are removed from Androids while 24% for the iOS.



Fox wins TV rights to 2018 and 2022 World Cup
Fox Sports has won the TV rights to the 2018 World Cup to be held in Russia and the 2022 World Cup that is scheduled to be held in Qatar. This gives the sports network all FIFA events from 2015 to 2022. Telemundo won the Spanish language broadcasting rights in the United States. The amount has not yet been announced but the company outbid ESPN and Univision which had the rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and had gained those broadcasting rights with a $425 million bid. Not sure how well Fox Sports will do here, but ESPN had seemed to be putting an effort in its soccer coverage in the last few years and I now expect it to disappear from the network. My one hope is that Joe Buck does not feature on Fox’s broadcasting team.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, ESPN, FoxSoccer, iPad, iPhone, NFL, Soccer Tagged With: , , , ,

ESPN Tests Casino Advertising Through Soccer Sponsorship

October 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment
In-Running

ESPN agrees to provide advertising space to online casino

Sports betting company William Hill said Monday that it has reached an agreement with ESPN to sponsor Italian Serie A, Dutch Eredivisie and Russian Premier League soccer. The deal marks the most aggressive move to date by ESPN to cater to a sports book, and increases William Hill’s profile among U.S. consumers.

Under terms of the deal, William Hill will sponsor all ESPN television coverage of the three leagues. In addition, it will be the exclusive betting partner of ESPN’s upcoming ESPNsoccernet mobile application. It will also have banner advertising on the ESPNsoccernet website.

In striking the deal, ESPN is tip-toeing into the potentially lucrative arena of selling advertising and providing direct marketing links to people interested in opening online betting accounts with sportsbooks. Although soccer is a niche market, ESPN could eventually enter into similar advertising and sponsorship agreements for football, basketball and baseball coverage.

Based in England, William Hill purchased in April 2011 the Leroy’s and Cal-Neva chain of sports books for $39 million. That deal that is awaiting regulatory approval to be completed. With Leroy’s and Cal-Neva, William Hill will be positioned to compete in the domestic market for legal sports betting on mobile phones and iPads, if federal laws are overturned that make wagering in any state other than Nevada illegal.

Eventually, largely because of the innovations forged by Cantor Fitzgerald subsidiary Cantor Gaming, it is possible that sports fans will be able to conduct on-going prop betting at games they are attending (called In-Running). Cantor Fitzgerald is a Wall Street investment firm that was devastated by large losses to its workforce during the 9-11 Attacks. As a means of survival, the firm branched into proposition sports betting built on the same analytics platforms once used to manage its hedge funds. Today, it provides “in-running” bets for a growing number of Las Vegas casinos, and real-time proposition betting is the largest growing segment of Nevada’s annual sports bet handle.

Filed Under: ESPN, Soccer, Uncategorized

Friday’s Technology Tidbits

September 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Microsoft deals Flash another blow

Microsoft has decided to not support plug-ins in its Tablet version of Windows 8, which means that it will not support Flash. For the uninitiated but mildly interested this does not mean the type of Flash that got Uncle Ernie in trouble but rather the technology from Adobe that is used to add animation, video and interactivity to web pages. The thinking is that Flash is old technology and the the more recent HTML5 is better suited for the mobile users because of its low power demands, among other features. Microsoft is following Apple in this move, which also does not support Flash for its iPad and iPhone platforms. However Microsoft will offer an option that is expected to enable users to continue to use the technology if they so chose.

Come for pease pudding, stay for Football?

While the use of tablets seems to be growing every day, this is a tack that might actually get me off the sofa when a game is on (well not really). A British supermarket chain in London is testing the use of iPad-equipped shopping carts. The purpose of the iPad is not as a tool to check your list or to do comparison shopping. No, it is there so that you can view streaming sports while deciding if the beer on sale is worth saving a few quid. Sainsbury is teaming with Sky Sports for the service. Sainsbury provides a cart that has an iPod dock. iPod owners can download a free app called Sky Go iPad , available to Sky subscribers, that enables them to watch several sports channels. The carts will include special bumpers and sensors to help prevent collisions while watching the latest goal. Of course I guess you could also use it for the shopping list, but why bother?

Android-based tablets losing ground to RIM? Really?

According to the latest report from market research firm IDC, tablets that run the Android operating system are losing ground to newer players, including both Research-in Motion’s PlayBook which managed to gain a 4.9% market share for the quarter. The firm said in its second quarter report that the tablet market continues to be led by Apple’s iPad, shipping 9.3 million units that account for 68.3% of the market. The Android devices fell from 34% market share in the first quarter to 26.8% in Q2. Only part of the drop was due to growing RIM sales. The Hewlett-Packard fire sale on its TouchPad has a huge impact as well, expecting to comprise 4.7% of the market by the end of next quarter. The demand was so great for the cut rate devices that the company built an additional run. At $99 per, it makes you wonder what the real breakeven point for the devices is. Still HP will be out of the running soon and expect the Android systems to continue their upward growth in sales and market share.

The Atlantic nails the NCAA, hopefully will wash it to sea

In case you have missed it, the October issue of The Atlantic just lays into the NCAA with a well written, well researched piece on what a sham it actually is. I really doubt that anything will come of it, I mean look at the pat on the hand the Fiesta Bowl received for its transgressions. While a $1 million fine might seem like a lot to a working stiff, it is just two years salary of the guy that formerly ran the program. Instead of citing all of the points that I liked I think just these early quotes show where it is going.
“Why,” asked Bryce Jordan, the president emeritus of Penn State, “should a university be an advertising medium for your industry?”
Vaccaro did not blink. “They shouldn’t, sir,” he replied. “You sold your souls, and you’re going to continue selling them. You can be very moral and righteous in asking me that question, sir,” Vaccaro added with irrepressible good cheer, “but there’s not one of you in this room that’s going to turn down any of our money. You’re going to take it. I can only offer it.” Ouch.

Filed Under: Android, iPad, Live sports via mobile, NCAA Football, Soccer, Tablets

A Fluffy Friday Roundup

August 26, 2011 by 1 Comment

Big Changes at Apple with Jobs out

As by now every geek in the Western world knows, Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, chairman and CEO has stepped down as CEO due to health reasons. Many are praising him as possibly one of the greatest CEOs of modern times and say that he has performed the greatest corporate turnaround in history. Hard to argue with this and in any case I am not well enough informed on overall corporate history in America to dispute or support the claim. But to play a game of what if- what if John Sculley had not relieved Jobs of his position as head of the Macintosh division in 1985? I believe that Jobs learned a great deal about focus and proper product development in his years at NeXT Computer and Pixar.
Jobs returned to Apple when it purchased NeXT and he began running the company after the ouster of then-CEO Gil Amelio in 1996. At the time Apple’s stock was stuck trading below $10. He quickly killed a number of products and honed the company’s focus. One of the complaints about Jobs prior to his ousting at Apple had been that he was unpredictable and chaotic managing the Macintosh division. Those traits were now gone. Now it remains to be seen if Tim Cook, his hand picked successor, can successfully follow in his footsteps.

An athlete who does not go to the highest bidder?

I think that Jered Weaver is my new favorite baseball player. No I have not started rooting for American league teams but his reasoning for signing his latest contract really struck a chord with me. Rather than wait until next season ended and let his agent, Scott Boras get the Yankees and Red Sox engage in a bidding war for his services, he instead signed an $85 million extension with the Angels. Now of course $85 million is a lot of money, but how many of us would leave additional millions on the table when it could be ours for the taking? He said “If 85’s not enough to take care of my family and generations to come then I’m pretty stupid.” A refreshingly honest comment IMHO.

Do you really need an HP Touchpad, even at $100?

The Samsung Galaxy

A funny thing happened on the way to leaving consumer electronics for Hewlett-Packard, its Touchpad became an overnight sensation. Stores are posting signs proclaiming they have no more, people are following HP execs on Twitter to find out when and if more will be available. There are lines at some stores and people are purchasing extras in the hopes of reselling them for expected profits. Still why buy a poorly reviewed product with a now obsolete OS, even if it is at the sale price of $99? A friend of mine who is self employed admitted to me that if he had spent the time working and gaining billable hours rather than fruitlessly waiting in line, he could have purchased a Samsung Galaxy or Apple iPad rather than a tablet that he had not even considered purchasing a week ago.

Can NBC Sports Challenge ESPN? NBC has Sports?

Is NBC Sports trying to go head to head with ESPN? That is the topic of an interesting piece at Sports Business Daily. The idea seems to be establishing a honed, professional approach to the sports it has, Major League Soccer and the NHL. I had not realized that the Versus channel was part of the NBC sports empire. The network has worked hard in the last few months to rid itself of the junk sports programming it had and has lured, if that is the word, MLS from Fox. Still it has quite an uphill battle and I wish it the best. I think that ESPN would really benefit from some stiff competition in sports broadcasting, and maybe force it to deliver a more focused, professional product rather than simply running its talking heads by us at every conceivable moment. I believe that the MLB and NFL networks are also putting pressure on the World Wide Leader.

Filed Under: Baseball, ESPN, FoxSoccer, iPad, Major League Baseball, NBC Sports, Soccer, Sports Business Daily Tagged With: , , , , ,

Women’s World Cup Final Available on Sprint Phones

July 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Want to watch the women’s World Cup soccer final game this Sunday but won’t be near a TV? Sprint smartphone users are covered thanks to the carrier’s ability to provide a live stream of the game (which starts at 2:15 p.m. Eastern time) via its ESPN Mobile TV channel on its Sprint TV app.

To watch the U.S. vs. Japan game Sprint users will need to have the “Sprint Everything” data plan which includes unlimited Web, texting and calling while on the Sprint Network. The everything data plans start at $69.99 per month plus a required $10 add-on charge for smartphones.

As I write this I’m watching the British Open live via the Sprint TV app on my Samsung Epic 4G, and the video is pretty good even through a 3G connection. (They are doing an endless loop replay of Tom Watson’s hole in one right now.) Seems like a great alternative for soccer fans who may be out and about when the U.S. and Japan get together to decide the title.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, ESPN, Live sports via mobile, Soccer, Sprint Tagged With: , , , ,
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