Release the Kraken! On Thursday, Seattle's new NHL franchise unveiled its team name and a line of merchandising on their team site.
The Kraken, who will be the NHL's 32nd franchise, will take the ice beginning in the 2021-2022 season. Kraken co-owner Jay Deutsch explained to Cheddar how the franchise came up with its name.
"The fans came out with over 1,000 names suggested. We did a poll locally a year-and-a-half ago." Deutsch said. "Throughout this entire process, the Kraken kept going to the front. That's what we're so excited about. We listened, we heard what the community wanted, we then developed a logo that we felt would be incredible."
Although the team won't be taking the ice for more than a year, they are already pushing merchandising online at releasethekrakenstore.com. Deutsch said that not only is merchandise "hot off the presses," but proceeds are also going to a great cause.
"All net proceeds are going to charity in the local area for youth care and for other community charities that are embedded in taking care of the youth through these COVID times and dealing with bringing the community together around our new mark."
Deutsch also said making the merchandising exclusive to the club for the first month was important for their charitable mission.
"Instead of letting everybody sell it, we said for 30 days, let's take the profits and put it right back into our community, and that's what we did."
The Kraken will be playing at the currently-under-construction Climate Pledge Arena, named by Amazon, which will be the first zero-carbon arena in the world powered exclusively by renewable energy. In addition to playing in such an environmentally-friendly stadium, Deutsch, a Seattle native, says the arena will present an intimidating presence to opponents due to being partially underground.
"It's like a pit. It's almost like a lair. The Kraken's lair you're going to come into." Deutsch added, "It's going to be like fans are on top of the ice. This is going to be, whether you are a fan saying 'I want to go experience this,' or you are the Krakens that are going to come, we are going to release fury on our opponents."
Speaking of fury, Deutsch mentioned he has already been hearing trash talk from nearby regional opponents. But the Kraken co-owner isn't backing down.
"The Kraken's not afraid of a Canuck or a Shark, let's just say that."
PlayVS is the first esports league for high school students. The company announced $15 million in funding that will go towards preparing for its upcoming inaugural season.
Facebook is facing more backlash after a New York Times report revealed the social media company shared user data with at least 60 device makers. It turns out Facebook shared information with four Chinese firms, including Huawei. The Chinese company Huawei is the third largest smartphone maker in the world and has also faced intense scrutiny from U.S. government officials.
Tesla shareholders voted to keep Elon Musk on as chairman of the electric carmaker. At the annual shareholder meeting, Musk said the company is on track to deliver 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week by the end of this month. Tesla will also open a new gigafactory in Shanghai, its first outside of the U.S.
And we talk to WNBA legend and Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie. She stars in the new film 'Uncle Drew' alongside Kyrie Irving, Chris Webber, Shaq, and other comedy and basketball greats. Leslie also weighs in on the NFL kneeling controversy.
Denying people the right to express their opinions doesn't represent America's democratic values, says Lisa Leslie. Trump "focuses so much on trying to be the dictator of our country," Leslie tells Cheddar.
The U.S. didn't qualify for the World Cup this year, but Tab Ramos, who played in three championship events, is still "bullish" about the sport's future in America. "We have a lot of young players -- 18, 19, 20, 21 -- who are ready to take that step and ready to take the U.S. to new heights," he tells Cheddar. Ramos is now the U.S. under-20 national team coach.
The media exec points out that people will pay for sports content before they even pay for dinner. Discovery inked a $2 billion deal Monday to broadcast golf tournaments internationally, across platforms.
Facebook is under fire again for its privacy practices after reports that it gave device makers like Apple, Amazon, and Samsung access to user data. The New York Times claims that over the past 10 years, the social media site struck deals with at least 60 companies for user information. This latest report is just another setback for Facebook as it tries to repair its reputation following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
Apple's developer conference, or WWDC, kicks off today in San Jose, California. This year, the tech giant is focusing on software developments rather than new hardware. Cheddar's Hope King reports live from the conference about what we can expect ahead of the keynote speech.
The 2018 World Cup is just days away. We're joined by Tab Ramos, soccer legend, head coach for the U.S. Men's National U-20 team, and World Cup analyst for Telemundo Deportes, to talk about the big event.
Tab Ramos, soccer legend, head coach for the U.S. Men's National U-20 team, and World Cup analyst for Telemundo Deportes, previews the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The NFL's decision to ban players from taking a knee during the anthem propagates the narrative that the athletes belong at the bottom of a hierarchy and are just supposed to "do as we say," says ex-Giant Victor Cruz. "I think you'll still see some kind of protest," he tells Cheddar.
The skateboarding legend, who became the first person to land a '900' trick back in 1999, has successfully turned his sporting career into a business empire. It all boils down to perseverance and taking risks, he tells Cheddar's Jon Steinberg.
The social media network's live video platform will help grow its monthly active users, especially as consumers rapidly ditch cable for on-demand content, says Motley Fool analyst Jason Moser.
