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July 2019

The sports app I wish I had when I was a kid

By Sports app

Our Voice of the Athlete Series provides a forum for athletes to talk about the impact of technology on their careers and lives outside of the games. This week, Brooklyn Nets shooter Joe Harris talks about his recent investment in HomeCourt and the technologies that helped him become one of the NBA’s top marksmen.

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Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris has been in the NBA since 2014 and carved out a career sinking 3-pointers. His 42.7 shooting percentage from beyond the arc is the 11th best in league history and ranks fourth among active players, behind Seth Curry, Steph Curry and Kyle Korver. Last February, Harris won the 3-point shooting contest at All-Star weekend.

Last winter, Harris began integrating the HomeCourt iOS basketball shooting app into his coaching. And last week at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, he was announced as an investor in HomeCourt’s $8.5 million Series A funding round along with half a dozen current and former professional players, including eight-time All-Star Steve Nash. As part of the NBA’s official partnership with HomeCourt, Harris and Nash and other players will appear in workout videos on the app.

A slam dunk…

“I invested in it because I was above all a user. I run a youth camp every year and have seen the impact it has had on the kids. It just blew my mind to think of the spectrum it covers – you have seven, eight year olds using it, but then I use it almost every day when doing shooting practice.

“In one case, you develop the game, you learn, you enjoy it, but this technology is sophisticated enough that college teams and NBA players use it to practice. And that’s not a prank, everyone really uses HomeCourt because the AI ​​and technology is as good as anything I’ve seen in my time playing.

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On mobile training…

“It’s amazing to me that [HomeCourt] take everything on the phone. I’ll take my phone and place it against the baseline when I shoot in Brooklyn. And when the kids were using it at camp, they all had their iPads lined up. As long as you have a phone, it’s accessible and reasonably priced. Much of the technology that exists today that measures analytics and data is so expensive and difficult to install. And that you can take anywhere. Children use it in their garden. The opportunities with this are kind of endless.

To grow…

“I think it’s going to really engage young players and make them want to practice because it’s fun to use. I consider myself a kid: I’d be in the gym shooting and keeping track of my hits and misses when I was shooting. If I could have had something like that, where I had hard evidence to back up what I might feel when shooting… I could just see it. I could still go for it and say to myself, ‘Okay, am I consistent? Am I shooting flat? Am I shooting with too much arc? Am I moving fast enough? different things that will help you become a better player, but now it’s like having your own coach to help you.

Harris’ 42.7 shooting percentage from beyond the arc is the 11th best in league history and ranks fourth among active players. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

“It’s going to really engage young players and make them want to practice because it’s fun to use. I consider myself a kid: I’d be in the gym shooting and keeping track of my successes and my failures.

The videos I made…

“Basically these are some of the exercises that I did at my camp with my kids and do myself. HomeCourt filmed me doing them, running through them, talking about proper mechanics, footwork, numbers you should aim for, how fast you should run through them. Just a whole bunch of different stuff. And now the kids can continue there, they can watch me do it and explain it, and they can do it themselves and even compare their stats to mine, which is pretty cool.

Inspired by…

“It’s the first [investment] that I got involved with. My buddy Matthew Dellavedova, [the point guard for the Cavaliers and an investor in HomeCourt], he’s pretty savvy in the VC space, especially with technical stuff. When I first talked to her about it, it was one of the first opportunities where there was a real synergy and connection with her. There are things where you go to intuition, you say to yourself: “Oh, that’s really cool” or “That could be revolutionary”. But it’s another thing to be like, ‘Okay, this is something I love and actually would have used.’

“I could see the impact it could have on the game. Even the only data he’s going to be able to collect is amazing. It’s definitely one of those things where you don’t need someone super experienced in this space to see how big this could be. And I’m just thrilled to be a part of it all.

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Future business…

“I had several different opportunities, but if I don’t know about it, I don’t just want to invest. I’m one of those people who do their due diligence on everything. I almost get analysis paralysis and I overanalyze. With HomeCourt, I was much more excited to be a part of it because I had used it.

Kinexon and Wearables…

All the data and analytics people use…we track it all [at the Brooklyn Nets]. We use wearables, such as Kinexon [a player-tracking technology that measures metrics such as load and movement]. I’m sure a lot of teams use it; we’ve been using it for a while. Our sports performance team uses it all the time to dictate the flow of workouts. We have a chip that is placed in the back of our shirts and we wear them pretty much all the time except for games.

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For more, check out our ongoing Voices of Athletes series…

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Big Ten Network transfers conference content to the Fox Sports app

By Sports app

The Big Ten Network (BTN), the Fox-owned Big Ten Conference-sanctioned college sports channel, to shut down its BTN2Go over-the-top (OTT) service amid plans to transfer its content on the Fox Sports app. .

Speaking at the Big Ten Media Days 2019 event, Francois McGillicuddy, who was named BTN president in December, confirmed that the move would likely be completed by mid-August, and would mean BTN2Go ‘n’ will no longer exist ”.

In doing so, the streaming platform’s mobile app will instead host content from the BTN Plus service, which hosts non-televised matches from the Big Ten football and basketball competitions.

“It’s important to note that between BTN, Fox and Fox Sports 1, we are talking about the broadcast rights to over 70% of the Big Ten football inventory,” McGillicuddy said. “So with so many games now in our family of networks, it just didn’t make sense to lead fans to separate places.”

The Fox Sports app allows subscribers to stream live Fox Sports sports coverage remotely or from home through a range of connected devices.

In addition to the BTN2Go digital channels, McGillicuddy also revealed that BTN content will no longer be available on the Fox Sports Go website and mobile app.

A statement from BTN read: “Starting in mid-August, all content on the BTN network – including games, studio shows and original programming – will be hosted in the Fox Sports app alongside matches from Big Ten football airs on Fox and FS1.

“This content will no longer live on BTN2Go, which will cease to exist in its current form. Ultimately, bringing everything together in one place will make it easier for fans to find what they’re looking for on match day.

The Big Ten Network (BTN), the Fox-owned Big Ten Conference-sanctioned college sports channel, to shut down its BTN2Go over-the-top (OTT) service amid plans to transfer its content on the Fox Sports app. .

Speaking at the Big Ten Media Days 2019 event, Francois McGillicuddy, who was named BTN president in December, confirmed that the move would likely be completed by mid-August, and would mean BTN2Go ‘n’ will no longer exist ”.

In doing so, the streaming platform’s mobile app will instead host content from the BTN Plus service, which hosts non-televised matches from the Big Ten football and basketball competitions.

“It’s important to note that between BTN, Fox and Fox Sports 1, we are talking about the broadcast rights to over 70% of the Big Ten football inventory,” McGillicuddy said. “So with so many games now in our family of networks, it just didn’t make sense to lead fans to separate places.”

The Fox Sports app allows subscribers to stream live Fox Sports sports coverage remotely or from home through a range of connected devices.

In addition to the BTN2Go digital channels, McGillicuddy also revealed that BTN content will no longer be available on the Fox Sports Go website and mobile app.

A statement from BTN read: “Starting in mid-August, all content on the BTN network – including games, studio shows and original programming – will be hosted in the Fox Sports app alongside matches from Big Ten football airs on Fox and FS1.

“This content will no longer live on BTN2Go, which will cease to exist in its current form. Ultimately, bringing everything together in one place will make it easier for fans to find what they’re looking for on match day.

BTN2Go streaming moves to Fox Sports app

By Sports app

There have been many media developments during the various media days of the NCAA conference this week, from programming announcements for Big 12 Now to the broadcast programming for the ACC Network to the official SEC Twitter account. Big Ten’s media days kicked off Thursday, and these also saw notable media announcements from the Big Ten Network, from Matt Millen’s return to the booth to changes to BTN streaming:

As a result, BTN’s authenticated cable streaming (BTN2Go) will migrate to the Fox Sports app, which is among the larger changes underway. Following the close of the Fox-Disney sale and the subsequent sale of the Fox regional sports networks to Sinclair, the Fox Sports and Fox Sports Go applications branched off; both offered both Fox Cable (Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN) and RSN content, but Fox Sports Go is now RSN only (and will likely be renamed when those RSNs are inevitably renamed under their new owners), and this RSN content no longer exists in the main Fox Sports app. In fact, McGillicuddy has said that Fox is selling the Fox Sports Go app (presumably to Sinclair), with that transaction scheduled to close in August; this is why BTN streaming will now be managed through the Fox Sports app.

On some levels, it can make things simpler. There is now one destination for authenticated BTN cable streaming (the Fox Sports app) and another for streaming on the over-the-top BTN + subscription service (which covers games that are not on TV and requires additional subscription whether or not you have cable). And with BTN + now at the center of this app, maybe that will inspire BTN to find ways to improve and promote this service further. (He is a little hard to sell in some ways, like comparable SEC, ACC, and Pac-12 products are included with a subscription to these networks, and much of the similar Big 12 and Group of Five content is included with ESPN +, which is $ 5 per month. instead of $ 9.99 / month or $ 79.99 / year for BTN + for a school or $ 14.95 / month or $ 119.95 / year for the whole conference), but maybe they can find ways improve it.) However, some have mentioned that BTN2Go offered a better streaming experience than Fox’s apps, so there are complaints about it. We’ll see how this streaming change works for BTN.

[The Lansing State Journal]