Barcelona in Big Trouble?

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Here's what we got for ya today:

• Tennis’ New Broadcasting Partner

• Barca, Barca, Barca

• This could be bad news

• What?! NBA’s new tech

Most valuable public market sports teams

Let's get into it!

Tennis Content Has Never Been Better

We know what you’re thinking, alright. Tennis content has been lacking recently. We get it. 

In an effort to create a more seamless and user-friendly broadcasting of Tennis media, ATP Media have partnered up with WSC Sports.

Using AI-powered technology developed by WSC Sports’, the media company will be able to strengthen its digital ecosystem and allow for the creation of new content solutions to be distributed to all those involved in the ATP tours broadcast.

Here’s what to expect:

• The creation of highlights in both short and long forms 

• Clips generated using the software to be available for near-live distribution on multiple different media forums

• Allowance for more personalised content using the automated footage to segment by specific player preferences

Aiming to expand its digital strategy to capture audiences of a global scale, ATP’s choice of partner makes more and more sense. With WSC Sports already working with The NBA, NHL, ESPN, YouTubeTV, Bundesliga, FIBA, FanDuel, and Serie A, their vast reach is undeniable.

Who knows, this may be the beginning of Tennis’ media revolution. We sure hope so!

Well, This Could Get Interesting 

Uefalona, an old joke talking about Barcelona and referees. Specifically, their willingness to give them soft decisions.

We've heard it all before, but it couldn’t be true, could it?

Barcelona are under investigation again. This past week, it’s come out that – between the years 2016 and 2018 – Barcelona paid around €1.4m to a company owned by José María Enríquez, a top ranking official in Spain’s refereeing body.

That’s not all though. Since allegations have been made, former president Josep Bartomeu has stated that these payments have been going on since 2003!

You’re probably thinking to yourself - “well, that it can’t be right”

If you were to believe what Barcelona are saying – you’d probably be right. So here’s what we know:

• Barcelona’s final payment was in June 2018, the year Negreira left the CTA

• Barcelona claimed that payments halted at this point to reduce costs

• Negeira and the club claim the payments were done to provide external consultancy

• Negeira is yet to provide proof of these services

• The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, said that the league would not impose sanctions as five years have passed since the final payment

Yikes, not a nice situation.

This is Getting Ridiculous Now

Another week, another scandal involving the UFC. This one could have huge ramifications… 

Weight cutting. Whatever you think about the way it's done, it can’t be denied that playing the system could give a fighter a BIG advantage.

Why do we bring this up? Last week, Dan Hooker – teammate and good friend of Alexander Volkanovski tweeted this:

Now to understand this tweet's significance, let’s brush up on weight cutting in the UFC.

Weight cutting in the UFC refers to the practice of fighters losing a significant amount of weight in a short period of time in order to compete in a weight class. 

This is typically done through a combination of dehydration, calorie restriction, and other methods to quickly shed excess body weight before a fight.

In using an IV to rehydrate after the gruelling process, technically, one could bulk up to bigger than what they would normally. This, as well as IV’s ability to mask the use of prohibited PED’s, led to it being banned in 2015 by USADA (although an allowance of 100 ml per 12 hours exists).

So why is this important? Well, if you haven’t guessed by now, there are claims that Islam Makhachev used an IV to rehydrate prior to his thrilling title fight against Volkanovski.

With the punishment for this being up to two years, if proven, Islam Makhachev could be out of action for a VERY long time and stripped of his title. 

This, now deleted, tweet by manager Ali Abdelaziz certainly did not do him any favours.

A New Chapter of Sports Streaming

Ok, this is cool.

Strange, but cool.

During the NBA All-Star Tech Summit, Adam Silver – the NBA commissioner – unveiled multiple new features to the NBA app. The most significant of these being the introduction of new personalised ways to interact with live games.

Yep, fans will now be able to see their own personalised avatar playing against the very best NBA has to offer 😂😂

This is how it works:

• Using the app, fans will be able to scan the person they want to appear in a game 

• Using a dropdown from a menu in the broadcasts layout, fans will be able to pick who they want to ‘take over’

• The scan will then provide an overlay on the chosen player, making their live movements coincide with the chosen avatars

By doing this, the NBA will be able to increase fan engagement and potentially act as pioneers in the Sport tech industry.

Bonkers.

 Quick bites

• Not happy: Arteta hilariously mocks referee during Arsenal game 

• A thriller: Wood loses world title to Lara in great contest

• Another big weekend: The WWE’s Elimination Chamber results

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