Articles about Sports

Big data and analytics have transformed the way businesses operate, and big data increasingly has a profound influence on the daily lives of consumers. The sports world isn’t immune to the impact of big data: Statistics-driven sports like Major League Baseball and the National Football League have long crunched numbers to make key decisions, so using big data is a natural progression.

During last summer’s Olympic Games in Rio, analysts and trainers pored over data to predict performance and develop strategies. Whether motivated by profit or the quest for a win, greater efficiency and increased accuracy, the sporting world is embracing big data to improve performance. Here are three ways big data is making sports smarter:

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When people think of Twitter, their minds might conjure images of short-form messages filled with emoji. While it is much more than that, it is how some people view the social network. Lately, however, the company is looking to expand into other markets, such as streaming media. As a publicly-traded company, Twitter could be looking to rejuvenate a relatively stagnant stock.

Today, Twitter announces that its streaming video is no longer limited to your phones and tablets. Yes, folks, it is finally time for Twitter's video in your living room, as the company releases a free app for three popular TV-connected media devices -- Microsoft Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. While the experience on all three will be similar, it looks like Apple's device will be slightly better thanks to an exclusive side-by-side split-screen feature.

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The 2016 Rio Olympics is well and truly underway and technology is now playing a more prominent role -- both for the athletes and fans -- than ever before.

John Rakowski, director of technology strategy at AppDynamic, takes a look at the different types of technology being used in Rio during this Olympics season, featuring payments, video streaming and data.

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College sports is big business -- television, radio, merchandise, etc. While many Americans are fans of professional sports such as the NFL and NBA, not every state has such a team. What every state in the union does have, however, are college athletic programs. Believe it or not, in places like Florida where there are plenty of pro teams, many folks are more wild for the Gators or Seminoles than the Dolphins or Heat.

Today, Twitter announces a media partnership with the Silver Chalice-owned company "Campus Insiders". This deal will bring the live video steaming of more than 300 collegiate sporting events to the social network, bolstering its existing offerings.

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Xiaomi Yi is among the most attractive action cameras for consumers on a budget. For just under $80, you get pretty much everything you could hope for. The only thing that is missing is 4K support, which is now starting to show up in more and more devices in this segment. Its successor, however, addresses this shortcoming.

Yi Technologies, the company behind Xiaomi Yi, has officially announced the second-generation of its action camera, called Yi 2. It packs a new chip, formally known as Ambarella A9, that enables 4K video recording at up to 30 FPS and 1080p video recording at up to 120 FPS.

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Computers and sports have historically been viewed as separate -- at least from a stereotypical point of view. It used to be perceived that there were jocks and nerds, and that computers were reserved for the latter. Over time, however, computers have gone so mainstream that they are ubiquitous in pretty much every sector. Hell, Microsoft's awesome Surface computers are seen on the sidelines of NFL games.

Today, Microsoft and the NCAA announce a partnership to further marry sports and computers with the Bing-powered March Madness basketball bracket experience. The NCAA is also releasing a new universal Windows 10 app! Sports fans -- and bracket gamblers -- should absolutely love the experiences created by this partnership.

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GoPro has announced that it will discontinue older action cameras, following weak financial results in the last quarter of 2015. The company has posted revenue of just $436.6 million in Q4, which represents a 31.1 percent loss year-over-year. In year prior, GoPro's revenue was $633.91 million.

GoPro has had trouble attracting consumers with its Hero4 line, being forced to slash the price of its Session action camera twice. The product, which originally launched for $399.99, can now be had for just $199.99.

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Whether or not you attended or graduated from college, if you are a fan of basketball, you can totally enjoy March Madness. If you aren't familiar, this is a nickname for the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Sixty eight teams will participate, but only one will be left standing at the end. Not only is it fun from a sports perspective, but for bracket competition and gambling purposes too.

While 68 teams sounds like a lot, there are far more colleges that won't even qualify for the tournament. My alma mater, Stony Brook University, has never qualified, but came close last year. Today, Microsoft announces a new website powered by Bing Predicts, which can predict the likelihood of a team participating in March Madness. Will your team make it?

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Today’s modern sports venues have many operational challenges. They often host multiple activities including sporting events, concerts and even the circus and rodeo. Most venues are designed to quickly change in layout and function for these different events. The faster and more efficient these changes can be made, the lower the operational costs and maybe even the more events it can host.

Fans have high expectations for using their mobile devices when visiting arenas. Almost everyone has a smartphone and expects to be able to upload pictures or even shop if the event gets boring. We all expect our mobile devices to work as data devices and be able to access all that the world offers all the time, and being at an event is no exception.

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The number of people who watch e-sports is approximately the same as those who watch NHL hockey and its popularity is continuing to grow. The chief executive of gaming and entertainment firm Unikrn Rahul Sood believes that by 2017 it will be as popular as the NFL. Should the popular game, football, be worried about a virtual pretender to its crown?

Since the advent of online gaming and competitive multiplayer competition, e-sports have experienced rapid growth to the extent that major broadcasters are beginning to take note. E-sports are regularly streamed online via services like Twitch, but TV stations in the US, Norway and East Asia have also broadcast events live.

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Today's the day; Super Bowl Sunday is officially here. The game should be exciting, as the Patriots are rather hated outside of New England. Why? The "DeflateGate" controversy has many NFL fans considering the team to be cheaters. Actually, the team has been caught cheating in the past -- and penalized for it -- but in this case, the footballs have not been 100 percent proven to be intentionally deflated. Still, even though the accusations are only alleged, many think it is serendipitous for the Seahawks to win, as it would right a wrong.

Even with this interesting back story, not everyone likes football. You know what? That's OK -- different strokes for different folks as they say. If you are a computer nerd who wants to do something other than watch the Super Bowl today, here are 5 things you should do instead.

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Microsoft has agreed a four-year deal with Real Madrid rumored to be worth $30 million that will see the technology giant revolutionize Europe’s most successful club with a "digital transformation".

The new partnership sees Microsoft become the team’s strategic technology partner that involves building a digital platform to boost fan interaction across all devices and various other projects in the coming months.

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With high-tech player tracking and analysis systems gaining serious traction in the world of professional sport, data can now be used to instantly analyze player and team performance like never before.

But this hasn’t always been the case, as we found out from former Manchester United player and coach Phil Neville, who helped to shed some light on the role of big data in professional football and how it has changed throughout his career.

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When it comes to sports, I am a born loser. New York is chock full of successful sports teams like the Yankees and Giants, but I am not a fan of them. You see, I love the Mets, Jets, Islanders and Knicks; these teams have historically been horrible and I have had much disappointment in my life.

Today, the team I love the most, the New York Knicks, selects ZTE to be its official smartphone sponsor. Unfortunately, even the basketball team's sponsors aren't winners, as ZTE is the mere fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer in the USA.

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This year's Ryder Cup in Scotland is one of the most technologically advanced golfing events, thanks to the introduction of Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFIT).

Spectators receive a special wristband with their tickets which allows them to take part in various activities around the course, such as the BMW car display, the Ryder Cup Experience with Standard Life Investments and the 'Walk the Course' competition from Active Scotland.

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