‘Shut Up, My Spot Is On’
Los Angeles — Who was the least valuable player in last year’s Super Bowl? Viewers might say it was the tousle-haired young boy in the Nationwide Insurance spot, talking about all the cool things he missed because he was killed in a household accident. Headline writers dubbed it the “Dead Kid” commercial. Social media buzzed with outrage. The company was forced to issue a statement explaining it didn’t mean to upset anyone....
Virtual Reality, Driverless Cars To Grow in 2016
Virtual reality, connected cars, e-sports, the on-demand economy — all are becoming important elements in the economy, and all are poised for rapid growth in 2016 — along with some challenges. And then there’s Snapchat Inc., based in Venice, Calif., and one of the most highly valued companies currently competing in the latest venture-capital-juiced start-up cycle, which many believe is way overheated. Snapchat The popular disappearing...
Watching Sports on Virtual Reality: Not Ready for Big Time
I took a step into the virtual future of sports recently. I’m glad I got to look around, but it didn’t take long before I was ready to high-tail it back to the real world. The Golden State Warriors season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans became the first ever sporting event to be live streamed in virtual reality video to the public. In a small room in the bowels of Oracle Arena, some fellow journalists and I took turns using...
4 Ways Football Helps Make Americans Poor
The National Football League is one of the richest sports organizations on the planet. The league earns about $10 billion each year, and its leaders project that number to rise to $25 billion by 2027. Although lucrative licensing, advertising and media deals fuel the NFL money machine, in the end it’s the NFL’s legions of loyal fans who are responsible for the organization’s fortune. They fill the stadiums, host viewing parties and...
