🔊 Could The NBA Be Coming To Netflix?

📰 TOP STORIES
Could The NBA Be Coming To Netflix?

• NBA On Netflix? The NBA Can Shift The Balance Of Power In Media With Its Next Rights Deal. The NBA’s upcoming decision on which companies will acquire the TV and streaming rights for its live games could transform the entire media industry (more here).

• ScorePlay And Infinite Athlete Team Up To Streamline Sports Media Management With AI. Sports technology companies ScorePlay and Infinite Athlete are to enter a strategic partnership aimed at transforming sports organizations to manage their media content (more here).

• Leading AI Company MeetKai Partners With Charlotte Hornets To Launch The NBA’s First-Ever Virtual Fan Store. Bringing in the next era of experiential e-commerce, this partnership flips the script in how basketball fans interact with their favorite NBA team and improves the shopping experience from the convenience of their home (more here).

💰 MONEY MOVES 
Blockchain Gaming Company Raises $5 Million

• Game of Silks Raises $5M In Second Financing Round. Game of Silks, the first blockchain gaming platform to mirror the real world of thoroughbred horse racing, has announced that it has closed its Series Seed 2 round, raising $5 million from a prominent group of strategic investors (more here).

• Color Star Enters Into A Letter Of Intent To Acquire Yi Ti Technology To Expand Into The Sports Technology Segment. Color Star Technology, an entertainment technology company with a global network that focuses on the application of technology and AI in the entertainment industry, announced the planned acquisition of Yi Ti Technology, a sports technology solutions provider that organizes sporting events, builds sporting venues, provides training, sports data, and other services (more here).

• Sportradar And Genius Sports Get Hit By US Lawsuits Over Streaming Patents. Panda Interactive, a Las Vegas-based sports technology company, has filed two separate complaints against Sportradar and Genius Sports for what it claims is an infringement on its foundational interactive streaming technology patents (more here).

• Soccer Tech Company Playermaker Raises Funds To Spur U.S. Growth. ADvantage led the round and was joined by Ryan Sports Ventures, an investment vehicle founded by Patrick Ryan, whose family owns stakes in the Chicago Bears and AFC Bournemouth. Financial details of the funding have not been announced. Former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger previously invested in the company as well (more here).

• Dream Sports Is Shutting Down its Venture Capital Arm And Downsizing Rario. Dream Capital, the venture arm of Dream Sports Pvt. Ltd., will reportedly be shutting its operations down soon (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABS
Ball Family Back Into Web3

• NBA's LaMelo And Lonzo Ball—And Their Dad—Star In NFT Game 'StrayShot'. The young NBA stars and their family have signed a deal to appear in the upcoming battle royale shooter StrayShot, which uses the SKALE blockchain (more here).

• Florida Panthers Announce Partnership With CHEQ As Official Point Of Sale And Mobile Ordering. The Florida Panthers revealed a multi-year partnership with CHEQ, one of the leaders in social payments for restaurants, stadiums, and hotels as their exclusive platform for point of sale, mobile ordering, and social gifting transactions (more here).

• Candy Digital And MLB Launch Postseason Activations: Free-to-Play Trivia Challenges, Free Digital Collectibles & More. Teaming up once again with Major League Baseball and MLB Players Inc., Candy Digital is dropping a new experience that allows fans to enjoy the game on TV and their mobile device. Fans can answer trivia questions in real-time and celebrate those memories and moments from the Postseason with Commemorative Digital Tickets (more time).

• Cristiano Ronaldo Partners With Binance To Launch CR7 ForeverZone Collection. This is the third NFT collection of their partnership aimed at revolutionizing fan engagement (more here).

• Sweet Chameleon Debuts Partnership With NBALab. Sweet Chameleon, a “phygital” collectible manufacturer, will go to market for the first time as part of a partnership with NBALab, the league’s independent R&D incubator that grants sub-licenses to young companies (more here).

• Zone7 And Math&Sport Join Forces To Enhance Sports Performance Analytics In Serie A. Zone7, the AI-powered human performance platform, and Math&Sport (M&S), a leader in sports technology solutions, are excited to announce a strategic partnership aimed at further enhancing sports performance analytics in Italy (more here).

🔊 OTHER HYPE
Are NFTs Too Risky For Sports Organizations?

• Athletes & Sports Teams Risk ‘Reputational Damage’ & Harming Fans With NFTs. A report published by the Culture, Media, and Sport (CMS) committee said that although NFTs offered teams and athletes a new source of revenue with very few financial risks, crypto-based products have proved “inherently risky” for fans (more here).

• NHL’s Predators Use AI-Generated Leads To Power Ticket & Sponsor Sales. Nashville Predators vice president of corporate partnerships Jack Burk wants to put AI in the driver's seat instead of adding more sales reps to do the heavy lifting (more here).

• World Rugby To Adopt ‘Game-Changing’ G-Force Tech To Flag Major Head Impacts. The rugby union is to become the world’s first sport to use technology to automatically withdraw players with a suspected brain injury from the field of play (more here).

• Is Web3 Dead - Not According To The Financial Results Of LootMogul. LootMogul is one of the striving startups focusing on the sports technology segment and offering teams, players, fans, brands, stadium & property owners a new way to monetize, entertain, and reward the community (more here).

• You And AI: Artificial intelligence In The World of Sports. Some teams and athletic departments are open to talking about the way they’re using AI and advanced technology, but others aren’t… (more here).

• Why AI Is The Latest Game-Changer For Sports. Allied Market Research says global AI was valued at $1.4 billion in 2020. In 2030, the research group says AI may skyrocket to $19.2 billion (more here).

• AI Scouting App Gives Players Chance To Be Noticed In The Professional Game. Chelsea and Burnley are using an app that allows footballers to complete specifically designed drills and upload match footage of themselves (more here).

• U.S. Sports Betting: Here's Where All 50 States Currently Stand On Legalizing Online Sports Betting Sites. Legal sports betting is available in over 30 states including Kentucky, New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts (more here).