Sports Tech Episode 15: After Going AWOL For Two Weeks, We Return

 Show notes:  Rolled out in Australia this week, local Instagram users won’t be able to see how many likes other posts receive, with the social media platform implementing a trial that was first rolled out in Canada in May. Australia will be the second market in the world to participate in the test to remove the total number of likes on photos and video views in the feed, permalink pages and profiles. On the off, the emphasis should hopefully move to quality content and engagement. Indian OTT service Hotstar sets global streaming record during India’s Cricket World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. The OTT service set a staggering number of 25.3 million concurrent viewers for the match from England. US sports data company STATS has formalised its merger with Perform Content to create a new company (STATS Perform) which they have dubbed as the ‘world’s leading’ artificial intelligence-driven sports data platform. The merged company would provide massive data-led solutions including: sports research, news, and video content in combination with live betting streams, integrity services, and more. English Premier Club Liverpool have named EA Sports as their official video games partner under a new multi-year deal. The agreement, which comes into effect from the start of the upcoming 2019-20 season, will see the games developer work with the club produce Liverpool-content specific to feature on the club’s social channels. There has been a bit shuffling between rights holders and clubs moving between EA Sports and Konami – the developers of Pro Evolution Soccer – in recent months.