VAR, VAR, VAR

December 22, 2023

Welcome back to The Sports Road, ladies and gentlemen! As you may know, it’s a pretty big week… I mean, what better place is there to spend the holidays than here with us!? With that, enjoy and – albeit early – Merry Christmas!  

Here's what we got for ya today:

  • VAR, VAR, VAR

  • The Future?

  • The NHL’s Newest Announcement 

  • Jake Paul x the Olympics?

Most Valuable Sports Teams:

Let's get into it!

VAR: The Comeback…

Ah, VAR. The gift that keeps on giving. 

You know, if ‘giving’ meant constantly disappointing and angering people all over the world… 

So, you may be wondering why – for the 3948593th time this year – we’re speaking about the system. Well, it all starts earlier this year.

Historically, LaLiga – and more specifically its president, Javier Tebas – have not been the biggest fans of technology. Finding it to be too expensive for what it actually brings, things that seem common in other leagues actually don’t have a place in Spain’s top tier. 

Not implementing goal-line technology, the league only hastily utilises VAR. For that very reason, recently there has been a SERIOUS reshuffle.

Deciding on splitting the system into two distinct areas – one dedicated to VAR services and another to semi-automated offside tech (SAOT) – the Spanish league is looking to iron out the issues which have plagued Europe’s elite over the last couple years. 

Signing on with Mediapro, LaLiga will be switching their VAR provider. Having worked with Hawkeye for a number of years, this switch could prove to be absolutely massive. 

Placing an extended focus on the competency of VAR, that isn’t the only switch up that fans should expect.

In fact, Tebas and LaLiga are bringing us closer than ever before to the action.

Agreeing to publish images and, more importantly, audio from VAR decisions, fans can now be provided with a better understanding of why – in especially controversial scenarios – referees make the decisions which they do.

“This initiative marks a new scenario of collaboration and joint work between the RFEF and the Referees' Technical Committee (CTA) with La Liga, with the aim of providing refereeing in professional football and the competitions themselves with greater transparency… With the broadcast of the images and audios once each day of competition has ended, the experience of the fans will be improved and a greater understanding of the referee decisions will be promoted, thus improving the competitions as a whole.”

Joint Statement between the RFEF and La Liga 

Sport is changing forever and you do NOT want to miss out…

Everyone knows just how important AI can be, but we’re here to help you reach the next level!

Want to improve performances? Learn a new sport? Push yourself like never before? Well, look no further than SportsIcon.AI

Acting as your very own AI sports coach, our platform allows anyone – from amateurs to athletes – access to world class coaching anytime, anywhere, and for whatever need!

With our system evolving right alongside you, by using your unique progress, results will be optimised to help you realise whatever athletic need you have!

Already backed by thousands, this is your chance to play a key role in the future of sports training. 

It’s time to unleash your athletic potential.

Join to begin your journey today! Visit https://sportsicon.ai/ for more

The Future is NOW

 Look, we know. At this point we sound like a broken record…

But, we cannot stress this enough. SPORT HAS NEVER BEEN PLAYED AT AS HIGH A LEVEL AS IT CURRENTLY IS! 

And while for us fans that’s a pretty good thing, for young athletes, let’s just say it makes things a bit more complicated. 

Making it more difficult to be recognised at the elite level, loads and loads of exciting talents are unfortunately not getting the credit and opportunities which they deserve. 

With technology, though, that could be becoming a whole lot easier…

Specifically, in an acquisition of Mojo Sports by experts in youth sports management softwaring, TeamSnap, youth sports could be changed forever.

Working with over 19,000 youth sports teams and leagues, TeamSnap will be looking to utilise Mojo’s streaming capabilities to flesh out its content distribution for coaches and players alike.

Allowing for a widespread distribution of coverage collected from a variety of different games, the merger could see grassroots players get more and more opportunities in the future.

Offering the ability to also hold interviews, as well as track statistics and highlights, the system can also offer those interested a rounded understanding of any given team or player. 

“The Mojo team has built the leading consumer-focused digital experience in youth sports. Their professional league and club partnerships, video streaming platform and coach development tools will add compelling new value to our TeamSnap community… This is a defining moment for TeamSnap and for youth sports. This acquisition, combined with the significant investment we have put into the TeamSnap platform over the last 2+ years, and the distribution power of our millions of active users, solidifies our position as a leader in this next evolutionary phase of sports technology.” 

Peter Frintzilas, TeamSnap Chief Executive 

The NHL’s Newest Deal

Another week, Another big deal. And yet again, we find ourselves talking about the NHL. 

Making massive strides in the technology world recently, the world’s biggest Hockey league has made massive announcement after massive announcement.

Being trailblazers in the industry, the NHL continuously breaks down the barriers of what is commonly expected from sports organisations in the tech world. I mean, just listen to this… In the last few months alone, the league has struck deals with Disney, Roblox, crypto startups, Blockchain firms, and more. 

But, it’s not stopping there. 

Signing a deal with Deltatre, a leader in the sports entertainment and technology industry, the NHL has become the fourth North American major sports league to utilise the firm’s FORGE publishing system.

Managing all 32 individual teams’ websites, Deltatre’s technology will streamline a variety of processes and, in turn, also manage to aid in bringing eyes to the sport. 

With FORGE being operated on by 370 different website editors, the teams will be able to link the sports global fanbase. Supporting eight different languages, fans can stay up to date on the sports most exciting bits of news. 

“We’re excited for users to enjoy NHL.com’s cleaner visual design and mobile-first platform, made possible through our collaboration with Deltatre… Our fans are very tech savvy, and it’s important that we deliver a high-quality experience across our digital platforms.”

Nili Doft, Senior Vice President of Digital Media at NHL

We Need to Talk About: Jake Paul

Next week is 2024. We know 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

And for those who don’t know – in the lovely world of Boxing, it’s actually a pretty big deal… Not because of Tyson Fury, not because of Anthony Joshua, and definitely not because of Deontay Wilder.

Why? Well, it’s Olympics time! Bringing in some of the world’s most exciting talents, fans are treated as the world’s best compete against one another.

Being the case, you’d expect them to receive the best training – right? Right? No. Seriously. Right?

No.

Enter: Jake Paul.

That’s right. This week, it was announced that the social media superstar will travel down to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado.

Coming off a VERY impressive knockout last weekend, Paul’s presence is set to help young athletes better deal with the stresses associated with a young athlete’s rise.

“Within just three years of becoming a professional boxer, Jake Paul has become a standout inspiration to younger generations and has emerged as one of the most exciting, influential figures in boxing history… Jake's mentorship will be a vital resource to the young athletes on Team USA to ensure they capitalise on building brand IP as they get the opportunity to perform on the biggest stage in the world at the most iconic contest in history: the Olympics.” 

Mike McAtee, Executive Director of USA Boxing

Quick Bites

Meme of the day

😂😂😂😂😂😂

Quote of the day

It is to become a three-time heavyweight champion. But it's also to become a dominant fighter, a better fighter. What that means is the championship will follow that."

Anthony Joshua

Picture of the day

Do you want to rep your favourite newsletter? Refer your friends and colleagues to the Sports Road and you could win big

It’s easy to spread the word. Copy and paste your unique link below and share it in an email or on your timeline

Ps - please respond to this email to help us beat the dreaded spam filters!

Chat to ya next week! ☮️