Football has been around for a long time, but that doesn’t mean it can’t get high tech like everything around it. That’s probably the thinking behind Wilson Sporting Good Co.’s Wilson X Connected Football, which it launched earlier Monday (Aug. 8).
Billed as a completely new football experience, the Wilson X Connected Football is a regular Wilson football that has a tiny sensor built in. The sensor in the football connects via Bluetooth to the Wilson X Connected Football app, tracking the user’s throw distance, velocity, spiral efficiency, spin rate and if the football was caught or dropped. Players even get their own quarterback ranking score.
“Our Wilson X Connected Football marries the best in digital technology with the top performing football in the world to create an immersive gaming experience for fans that was not possible before,” said Bob Thurman, Vice President of Wilson Labs, the innovation hub at Wilson in a press release. “By embedding a state-of-the-art, undetectable sensor in a football that connects to a cool app on a fan’s mobile device, every fan can become their favorite NFL team’s quarterback and create their own virtual stadium anywhere, anytime they want to play.”
Currently, Wilson is accepting pre-orders for the new ball on its website and it will be launched on a nationwide scale on Sept. 8. The high-tech football is priced at $199.99 and is offered in both official and junior sizes. It comes equipped with a free wrist coach, which is used by NFL quarterbacks and is designed to hold the player’s phone on their non-throwing arm so they can use the ball and app without any restrictions. The app that goes along with the ball will be available on Sept. 8.
The Wilson X Connected Football is yet another example of the burgeoning Internet of Things market where different types of devices will be connected via Bluetooth. Expects predict lots of things will be connected via IoT in the future, whether it’s appliances or cars. Part of the self-driving car movement relies on all of these connected cars talking to each other.
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