Articles
Sample Articles from Bob Wallace.
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Tackling Tech: Is the NFL Next for Fan-Controlled Team Venue Cams?
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- Published on 12 October 2017
You don't have to be at a professional sports event to know that fans in the stands spend more time taking pictures of themselves and each other than they do in concessions lines. So, what if NFL team venues started installing robotic cameras that can take pics of fans when requested?
That's the hope of Boston-based Brizi, which has quickly racked up customers (sports teams/venues) in many levels of sports, including the NBA (Portland Trailblazers and Philadelphia 76ers) and top tennis tournaments worldwide.
Tackling Tech: Do Fans Want Their NFL Team TV Apps?
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- Published on 05 October 2017
For some fans, hitting their team's website, following news during the week on TV and tuning in for games on Sundays just isn't enough. That's the belief of a growing number of teams - among them the Minnesota Vikings and the Baltimore Ravens - who have launched team video apps for connected TVs and mobile devices.
By partnering with special application creation companies such as Bottle Rocket, the duo and at least several others have created team apps that bring a wide array of non-game video programming to their fans. Connected team apps are viewed as the latest means to up the ante in the ongoing effort to better engage with fans.
Tackling Tech: What's a DAS and Why NFL Fans Should Care
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- Published on 21 September 2017
Though they likely know the down and distance at all times, fans in the stands probably have no idea what a distributed antenna system (DAS) is, or why they should care.
But tell them that wireless technology improvements will help them stream videos on social media and share pictures with friends at faster peak speeds than ever before from their mobile devices and it's a safe bet that plenty will ask how?
Tackling Tech: Advancing 4K TV, NFL Streaming for Fans
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- Published on 14 September 2017
After relative silence on 4K UHD for sports, there are signs of change as at least one top broadcaster, tech innovator CBS, is planning to experiment with the higher resolution format (twice that of 1080p HD) for some NFL productions this season.
The experts at CBS, which pioneered live streaming of March Madness around the millennium, and helped develop what is now Intel's Emmy-winning freeD technology for 360-degree replays in the NFL, had said several years ago that 4K was years away. Perhaps it's time has now come.
Tackling Tech: A Banner Night for Patriots Fans, Tech at Gillette Stadium
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- Published on 07 September 2017
There will be more on display at tonight’s NFL season opener at Gillette Stadium than a packed house of rabid fans, a smiling Robert Kraft and the unveiling of the fifth Super Bowl Championship banner.
You won’t see the latest in video highlight technology, but you’ll sure notice a night and day difference when Matrix-like 360-degree replays are displayed on Gillette’s big board, on NFL Mobile, NFL.com, TV, and the NFL's YouTube Channel.
Tackling Tech: Inside the NFL's New Social Media Rules
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- Published on 31 August 2017
The NFL has come a long way in the two and a half years since its initial social media rules for teams. The latest set, however, still keep the 15 minutes before kickoff and whistle-to-whistle highlights as no-stream zones. And new challenges are just around the corner.
Content owners were jolted when the entire match was streamed live using smartphone app Periscope. Source: HBO.com
The first set of rules was written after NFL executives recovered from an adrenaline jolt caused by the live streaming via smartphone app Periscope of the pay to view Mayweather-Pacquiao title fight on May 2, 2015. The league wanted to protect its live assets - and thus its revenue rivers - from pirates.