Damar Hamlin's on-field collapse sent shock waves across the sports world, and following the heroic efforts of the Buffalo Bills athletic trainer Denny Kellington performing life-saving CPR, the NFL wants to equip young athletes with the same skills.
In partnership with the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross, youth CPR training programs are being set up all over the country. The campaign is being boosted ahead of the Super Bowl and will last all February long, and the league will be holding a fundraiser to back its heart health efforts with a goal of $1 million.
"Amid the current national dialogue on emergency preparedness in sports, the NFL is supporting these efforts through activations during Super Bowl week, amplifying CPR educational materials, and enhancing long-term partnerships on the national and local levels," the NFL said in a statement.
For fans attending the big game itself, there will be interactive stations to learn the skills directly from professionals. Hamlin is also working closely with the league to bring awareness to heart health during Super Bowl week by promoting his #3forHeart CPR Challenge.
"The tools and trainings exist to keep young athletes safe — we embrace our responsibility to ensure that knowledge is in as many hands as possible for the greatest positive impact," said NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell.
The professional gamer and Twitch streamer told Cheddar CEO Jon Steinberg that it's hard to get fans to follow you from game to game, no matter how big your following. The 31-year-old also championed the "shenanigans" of Fortnite maker Epic Games, which allowed him to ride a rocket launched by fellow esports hero Ninja ー a combination of words that aren't typically uttered in a traditional workplace.
Fintech companies are taking notice of the rapid growth in esports, and Quicken Loans has partnered with 100 Thieves, a League of Legends expansion team. Quicken CMO Casey Hurbis said this venture opened the company's eyes to the endless possibilities of esports and its personalities.
The Twitter Esports Business Summit ran from Oct. 1-3, and it held its focus on the growing market of esports and how Twitter fits into the business. Rishi Chadha, head of gaming content partnerships at Twitter, said the company is focusing on the communities that foster players and fans, as well as publishers and developers of different platforms.
The team became the first in the NBA to introduce GIFs for the Facebook platform. Sandro Gasparro, director of social media for the Los Angeles Clippers, told Cheddar it's not just another way to promote engagement, but can also connect fans to players on a more personal level.
Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, sat down with Cheddar at this weekend's tournament at the Barclays Center and talked about the esports world and what he believes is needed for the enterprise to grow.
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Ron Darling, a former MLB starting pitcher and current TBS baseball analyst, said the easiest way to attract younger people to baseball is to get more kids playing it when they're kids. Darling said there are more children opting out of football due to concerns about head injuries, and those athletes should be primed to take up a different sport.
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18Birdies has seen success as a one-stop shop for golfers, both amateur and pro, gaining 1.3 million members since its launch. The app lets players book tee times, navigate a new course, and choose the right club. But CEO Eddy Lui says the main goal is to create a community ー a social network ー of golfers.
The blockchain has made its way into a slew of industries. Next at bat ー the sports world. The Los Angeles Dodgers are moving away from traditional promotions and have begun using crypto tokens to give away digital bobbleheads to fans. Ralph Esquibel, VP of information technology for the team, said this is the first giveaway of its kind and could lead to more experiments with cryptocurrencies.
