#7: Tango Squads, a deep-dive into US esports and how AI is being used in sport

After a day off yesterday to attend the very interesting Future Fit event in Central London I’m back for another Daily Digital Digest! If you want to know more about the event then there’s a great link below, or you see my own write up here. We also chat a bit about esports, one of my favourite current topics, and you get to find out more at our own esports event on 27th March in London.

How Adidas fixed the ‘broken’ influencer model with Tango Squads (campaignlive.co.uk)

A brief look at the adidas football / We Are Social presentation from this week’s Campaign Magazine event. Over the last few years they have taken different angles in how they work with their big influencers (players, musicians) and how they really get involved in local communities through local ambassadors.

Leaders in Motorsport: Pau Serracanta on MotoGP’s ventures into esports, electric mobility and more (blackbookmotorsport.com)

Nice interview ahead of the new MotoGP season. We talk a lot about esports with NFL, NBA, La Liga, etc getting involved. But MotoGP started their drive (sorry) last year which went pretty much under the radar. This year is a big one for them and is potentially great way to get young gamer fans involved in the sport.

Why the NBA, NHL, MLS, and NFL Are In On Esports (frntofficesport.com)

This year is without doubt the biggest for Sim Sports we have had yet. I’d say that rather than for esports as I like to try and separate them out. Comparing a FIFA comp with DOTA 2 for scale is a bad one to make as Sim Sports are only just starting out in the competitive space. Where they can work is in support of the main league setups, as MLS, La Liga and NBA are doing. It’s not a stand alone that is expected to make a profit….yet.

Flirting but no commitment: why social platforms failed to pick up Premier League rights (campaignlive.co.uk)

We’re still none the wiser as to who the final 2 packages are going to go to for the new broadcast period of 2018-21. But we do know that the others have gone to BT and Sky, no surprise there. But why didn’t any of the tech platforms get involved? Here’s We Are Social’s take on what is going on.

The dramatic growth of artificial intelligence in sport (snack-media.com)

We hear a lot about AI and how it’s going to take over in the future, will many scaremongering sorties that go along with it. But it is here with us now and especially US sport – as ever – is taking advantage to engage fans on a more regular basis and take out insights from data that hadn’t been possible before. Where this all goes we don’t know. But it won’t be all bad.

 

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Daniel McLaren
Daniel McLaren 820 posts

Dan is the Founder & CEO of Digital Sport. Can be found at sports industry events and heard every week on the Digital Sport Insider podcast. @DanielMcLaren

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