The NFL is linking up with athlete-founded startup StatusPRO to produce a VR game intended to emulate the player experience.

The game will be available on Meta Quest and PlayStation VR, the companies said on Wednesday.

“We’re democratizing what it’s like to be your favorite athlete,” co-founder and former NFL wide receiver Andrew Hawkins told Front Office Sports. “We want to put you in the shoes of something that you have only been able to experience on TV.”

• StatusPRO raised a $5.2 million seed round in August, led by KB Partners and TitletownTech. 49ers Enterprises, SC.Holdings, Haslam Sports Group, Verizon Ventures, and Greycroft joined the round.
• Naomi Osaka, LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Paul Wachter, Drake, and Jimmy Iovine also invested in the company.
• The StatusPRO team is around 36 people at present, including consultants, but the founders plan to raise money to push that number “north of 100” by the end of the year.

“Authenticity is what we want to drive,” StatusPRO co-founder and collegiate athlete Troy Jones told Front Office Sports. “There are so many different elements that we want to capture and get into the product.” 

Virtual Growth

StatusPRO got its start using player-tracking data to help NFL teams prepare for games. The company currently works with six NFL teams. 

The gaming side of the company leverages much of the same data and technology to produce a VR experience – a selling point for the company in discussions with Meta and Sony.

Editor’s note: SC.Holdings is an FOS investor.

In just the first week of March Madness, brands have already received millions of dollars worth of exposure — and that’s not including commercials.

Between the men’s and women’s tournaments, companies received more than $165 million worth of “equivalent media value,” according to a study by Elevate Sports Ventures and Hive. 

That’s already just a few million shy of what Super Bowl LVI generated — significant considering the study was only conducted through Sunday and hasn’t yet counted Monday’s women’s games or the rest of the two tournaments.

NCAA official corporate partners and team apparel brands received the lion’s share of exposure. 

• Nike earned more than other apparel brands, outfitting 69 of 134 teams.
• NCAA partners received 38% of men’s tournament exposure and 30% of women’s.

The study found that the men’s tournament exposure had more value, but the women’s tournament offered more time — it averaged almost 20% more minutes of exposure during games.

Behind the Rim

One of the most valuable placements, according to the study, was the basket stanchion arm. Spalding, which had a spot there in both tournaments, earned more exposure time than any other brand.

State Farm and several other brands also got value from similar placement at the women’s tournament.

Tencent reported fourth-quarter revenue of $22.62 billion, an 8% increase from the same period last year — the slowest revenue growth for the world’s largest video game developer since 2004, the year it went public. 

Profit “attributable to equity holders of the company” increased 60% year-over-year to roughly $14.9 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of around $4.8 billion.

The technology giant also had its slowest-ever annual growth due in part to Beijing’s new regulatory gaming restrictions, with revenue increasing 16% from 2020 to roughly $87.9 billion.

Tencent’s online games segment has been the company’s largest revenue driver, but domestic regulations enforced last year slashed the amount of time children under 18 could play each day. The company said total time minors spent on its games fell 88%.

• The company has yet to release a game since July — each title needs regulatory approval by authorities.
• Thanks to previous titles such as “Honor of Kings” and “Call of Duty Mobile,” domestic games revenue increased 1% to around $4.6 billion, while international games revenue jumped 34% year-over-year to around $2.1 billion.

The Whole Picture

The company’s fintech and businesses services division, which includes its WeChat Pay business and cloud computing unit, increased 25% year-over-year. Advertising revenue for Tencent has also been affected by Beijing’s regulations, falling 13% year-over-year to roughly $3.4 billion.

CNBC reported that Tencent has lost roughly $470 million in market value since its peak last year.