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NFL celebrates 100th season with Snapchat AR Lens that comes to life
The National Football League and Snap have made another augmented reality experience together. In celebration of the NFL's 100th season, which kicks off on September 5th, the companies are unveiling an AR Lens that lets people scan an NFL 100 logo and bring it to life inside the Snapchat app. The feature uses Snap's Marker technology, introduced in 2018, to let people use their Snapchat camera to unlock a special video created by the NFL. After scanning an NFL 100 logo, the video will show historic highlights between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, the two teams that are playing the first game of the 2019-2020 season next Thursday. And right beneath the video, as pictured above, there's a clock counting down the days, hours and minutes to the beginning of the NFL 100 season.
Twitter and Adidas are bringing back their high school football series
Friday Night Stripes, the livestreaming series of high school football games on Twitter, is coming back for a second season later this month. The show, which was created by Adidas, Intersport and Twitter, debuted in 2018 and focused on broadcasting eight football games from high schools across the US. And it turned out to be quite a success. According to Twitter, Friday Night Stripes generated more than 32.6 million total views and had over 15.6 million live viewers tuning into the series, which are great figures for what was essentially a social media experiment.
EA is finally improving Career Mode for 'FIFA 20'
Even though 'Street' soccer will be the biggest addition to FIFA 20, hardcore fans of the franchise know the importance of Career Mode. And this year, with the new game launching on September 27th, developer EA Sports is promising to make the feature more authentic and customizable than ever before. Not only will you be able to change the body type, skin tone, clothing, hairstyle of your managers, but in FIFA 20 you'll now have the chance to create and choose female characters. In addition to that, taking a cue from Football Manager, your coach will be able to have a direct impact on team morale based on his or her press conferences, squad rotation, chats with players and more.
What we're listening to: 'Soccer 101' and 'Athletico Mince'
In this month's installment of our audio IRL, we're getting ready for European football with a podcasts. The season starts this week, after all. Senior News Editor Billy Steele is getting a proper soccer education while Senior Editor Dan Cooper takes a more comedic route.
How to stream college sports without losing your mind
Thanks to all the services that let you stream live TV, it's easy to watch sports without a commitment to cable. The channel lineups vary, and some are more limited than others. What's more, the television rights for college sports, especially football, are tied to the conference, so you'll need to find out which channels have the deal covering your favorite schools. From there, it's a matter of making sure the service you choose has all the channels you need so you don't miss a game. Lucky for you, we can help.
Amazon has bought yet another soccer documentary
Amazon is getting to set to stream the Premier League this year, and even though it only has 20 mid-week matches, it wants to multiply the impact as much as possible. To that end, it announced that it has acquired a four-part documentary on BVB Borussia Dortmund's quest to capture the German Football League (Bundesliga) championship. Called Inside Borussia Dortmund, it will air globally starting in August, coinciding with Amazon's first round of Premier League streaming.
Fox Sports created a USWNT Snapchat AR lens for the World Cup
The United States women's national soccer team laid down a clear statement of intent to their World Cup rivals after a record-breaking 13-0 win over Thailand in their opening game. Alex Morgan grabbed the headlines by scoring five goals against the Asian side in France, and now the co-captain of the defending champions is taking on another starring role.
Things are looking up for ‘Pro Evolution Soccer 2020’
After Konami lost the UEFA Champions League licensing rights to EA Sports in 2018, I was quick to count out the future of the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise. That's because, for me, having that European club competition was the only thing keeping from playing FIFA almost exclusively -- even if I do find the PES gameplay more fluid and realistic at times. Thankfully for PES fans, though, Konami isn't drowning in its sorrows over losing the Champions League to FIFA. And this year, the company is moving forward with eFootball PES 2020, which doesn't only comes with a shiny new name but also plenty of exciting features.
'FIFA 20' is a lot more than just street soccer
For the first time since 2012, street soccer is coming back to the FIFA franchise. Today, at E3 2019, EA Sports revealed a new mode called Volta that will bring small-sided play to FIFA 20, which takes a cue from the FIFA Street series that launched in 2005. While we saw a glimpse of street football in FIFA 18, as part of The Journey campaign, this year's game will feature a fully fledged mode. In Volta, you can create your own character and play in cages and futsal pitches all around the world, including London, Amsterdam and Tokyo. The teams will be made up of three-to-five players, which you can play with your custom character or professional players, and you'll have both story and league modes.
Fox Sports will stream every Women's World Cup game in 4K
Fox Sports offered 4K streams for the 2018 FIFA World Cup last year, but in order to watch them, you had to own a HiSense TV. For the Women's World Cup that begins Friday in France, those higher quality streams will be more readily available. The network told Engadget that for the first time 4K broadcasts will be available inside the Fox Sports and Fox Now apps. They'll still be somewhat limited though: You'll need an Apple TV or Roku device to watch the action on the pitch in 4K (2160p).
ESPN+ is the English-language home for Copa America in the US
If you want to watch the hottest soccer (or rather futbol) tourney in the Americas, you'll have to pony up for an ESPN+ subscription. The service has struck a deal to become the sole home for English-language coverage of the 2019 CONMEBOL Copa America in the US, with every game streamed live. That's not hot if you were hoping to watch elsewhere, but it is a rare chance to see games with several of the world's best footie players in one place, including Messi, Neymar Jr. and Suarez.
Nike's latest Snapchat Lens shows support for USWNT
With the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup drawing closer, fans of the US Soccer Women's National Team have one more way to show their support. The creatives at Nike have put together an AR Lens that slaps a team jersey on you, and of course links to Nike.com for a quick purchase. The USWNT soccer Lens will only be available tomorrow, May 9th, and the timing is close enough that users can snag a jersey in time for the team's "Send-Off Series" of matches begin on the 12th against South Africa, followed by Belgium and Mexico. Meanwhile, Snapchat is trying to deal with its identity crisis, but Lenses people like and using its login to power a popular new quiz app could help change the story.
'Madden 19' championship finale breaks series viewing records
EA's Madden esports ambitions appear to have borne fruit. The gaming giant has revealed that the Madden NFL 19 Bowl, the final match in the Championship Series, broke franchise viewing records to become the most-viewed event in Madden's history. In some cases, it wasn't even by a small margin. The simultaneous audience topped out at 97,000 viewers, or 650 percent more than for the 2018 finale, while total view count jumped a whopping 850 percent to 2.5 million. Those aren't records for livestreaming by any stretch (Ninja would have something to say), but they certainly put Madden on the map.
'FIFA 19' eChampions League group stages are underway
The inaugural FIFA 19 UEFA eChampions League just got serious. After weeks of online knockout play, the in-person Group Stages are underway at Manchester's Victoria Warehouse. The more definitive phase has 64 pro FIFA 19 PS4 players challenging each other between April 26th and April 27th to become one of just eight people who'll reach the league final in Madrid on May 31st.
Intel’s multi-angle cameras come to three Premier League soccer stadiums
Intel's work in sports can be found across the world's best leagues, from the MLB, NBA and NFL in the US to Spain's La Liga soccer tournament. Over the past few years, it has been trying to make games more immersive for fans, using camera technologies that offer people more viewing options than a traditional broadcast, like enjoying matches in virtual reality or watching 360-degree video replays. And now Intel plans to bring this to the English Premier League. Through a new partnership with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City (three of England's biggest clubs), Intel will start utilizing its True View tech at their stadiums, which will capture "every match from every angle," the company says.
This 3D printed football helmet liner promises better protection
Football equipment company Riddell and 3D printing and manufacturing firm Carbon announced today that they are teaming up to improve head protection for football players. The pair will produce custom-fitted, 3D printed helmet liners that will aim to absorb contact and provide more protection for football players at all levels.
How to watch the Super Bowl: A cord-cutter’s guide
We all know you don't have to be a fan of American football to watch the Super Bowl. The NFL's Big Game, which this year will be played between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams, goes beyond the sport. Even if you don't like who's playing (we're looking at you, Tom Brady), the Super Bowl is the perfect excuse to get together with friends and enjoy a day full of seven-layer dip, chicken wings and, of course, booze. Thankfully, in 2019, the NFL is making it easy for everyone in the US to watch Super Bowl LIII, even if you don't have a cable or satellite account.
Amazon's all-female NFL commentary team will return next season
SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm and NFL Network chief correspondent Andrea Kremer know exactly what they'll be doing on Thursday evenings this fall. That's because they're returning to Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video. Last season, they became the first two-woman team to call NFL games.
AI is better at bluffing than professional gamblers
The act of gambling on games of chance has been around for as long as the games themselves. For as long as there's been money to be made wagering on the uncertain outcomes of these events, bettors have been leveraging mathematics to give them an edge on the house. As gaming has moved from bookies and casinos into the digital realm, gamblers are beginning to use modern computing techniques, especially AI and machine learning (ML), to increase their odds of winning. But that betting blade cuts both ways, as researchers work to design artificial intelligences capable of beating professional players at their own game -- and even out-wagering sportsbooks.
Twitter and Fox Sports are making a live show for the Women's World Cup
Following their partnership during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Twitter and Fox Sports are now teaming up on video content for another major FIFA sporting event. For the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, which is being played in France this summer, Twitter and Fox Sports are bringing back their live soccer (er, football) show from last year, though it'll now be called FIFA Women's World Cup Now. The premise is the same as the original program: It'll be live-streamed on Twitter, feature match previews, recaps, highlights, guest appearances and, naturally, the best tweets from users across the site.
