UCF football team is trading jersey numbers for QR codes

This spring, the University of Central Florida’s football team will don QR codes instead of numbers on the back of their jerseys. The team showed off their new garb on Twitter, sporting large custom QR codes beneath their last names that you can scan to access players’ biographies on UCF’s website.

What's the deal?

In a video posted by UCF coach Gus Malzahn, who also has a QR code stamped on his team polo shirt, you can see how exactly the feature works. Judging by the video, it looks like UCF will display players’ QR codes on its home stadium’s jumbotron as well.

Last year, the UCF Knights kept the numbers on the back of their jerseys but swapped their last names for Twitter handles. If you’re in the stands, are you supposed to zoom in on your phone while attempting to track a QR code that’s attached to a player sprinting across a field? Questions remain.

The bottom line:

It’s certainly a creative use of the QR code and a clever way to promote players. Of course, it is enough to attract media attention...and maybe get potential recruits to move the school up their list.

Read: The Verge

NBA’s Golden State Warriors step into movies, music and events with a new entertainment division

The Northern California NBA franchise announced the launch of Golden State Entertainment or GSE. The new division will create licensed documentary content, produce music and hold nonbasketball live events in the Bay Area. The team’s top legal executive, David Kelly, will oversee the division as its chief business officer. The Warriors want to leverage the team’s brand outside of sports, “telling the stories of people that shape culture and move culture."

GSE will launch with documentaries recapping the stories of two former NBA guards but couldn’t reveal the names as the deals are still being finalized. GSE will also release a new single featuring K-pop star BamBam.

Read: CNBC

NBC Sports to connect college athletes to brands

NBC Sports has launched ‘NBC Sports Athlete Direct,’ a platform linking college student-athletes and advertisers through a trusted marketplace, enabling student-athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness. NBC Sports will also collaborate with the universities to create content for student-athletes focused on NIL best practices. In addition, NBC Sports will collaborate with CNBC, the world leader in business and financial news, to provide personal finance resources.

“We’re excited to launch NBC Sports Athlete Direct, which will add significant value to the NIL ecosystem by connecting student-athletes and advertisers through a trusted marketplace that will have real scale,” said Damon Phillips, SVP, Strategic Initiatives, NBC Sports. “We look forward to growing NBC Sports Athlete Direct by working with additional institutions moving forward.”

Read: AdAge

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The Detroit Pistons didn’t make the playoffs but they're winning off the court

The Detroit Pistons sit under the Los Angeles Clippers and the Denver Nuggets in total home attendance for the season—two teams in larger markets and with MVP-level players. The Pistons made the move from Auburn Hills to downtown Detroit in 2017 and expected the city to support them, without taking the time to embrace the city, its people and the unique culture that makes Detroit, Detroit.

This meant the Pistons had to start doing things differently to connect with the fans in their new backyard. It all started with a new campaign, “D-Up,” that highlighted people within the city and set a new tone for what the Pistons wanted to champion—the Detroit community and what it represents.

Read: Adweek

Warner Bros. Discovery aims to become aggressive ‘global operator’ in wide world of sports

Warner Bros. Discovery, the newly combined company, will be home not only to Turner Sports in the U.S., but also Eurosport, a French TV network that holds European rights to broadcast the Olympics and is available in 54 countries. Turner already enjoys a significant relationship with the NBA, shared rights to the NCAA March Madness basketball championships; and rights to Major League Baseball and National Hockey League games.

Discovery’s key advantage is that it can offer both global reach via streaming and the traditional production services that many tech giants have been hard-pressed to replicate. “There will be opportunities to make joint international bids for some properties, easily,” says Patrick Crakes, a former Fox Sports executive who now works as a media-industry consultant.

Read: Variety

Padres announce Motorola as official jersey patch partner, first team to land uniform ad deal

The Details

The San Diego Padres, in conjunction with Motorola, announced that the Chicago-based telecommunications giant will serve as the official jersey patch partner of the organization beginning with the 2023 Major League Baseball regular season. A patch of the iconic Motorola “batwing” logo will be woven into the shoulder of the different versions of the Padres uniform. The jersey patch partnership, which was unveiled through a video featuring third baseman Manny Machado and pitcher Blake Snell, is the first of its kind across all 30 Major League Baseball clubs.

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