If you own a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet and like showing off your NFL team allegiance, Microsoft today unveiled a new product that may be of interest.
The Redmond tech giant is now selling Type Covers for the Surface Pro 4 and Pro 3 with officially-licensed logos from all 32 NFL teams for $160 — a $30 premium over the non-NFL covers. It’s available today in select Microsoft Stores and at microsoftstore.com; Amazon and Best Buy will sell it starting Aug. 29.
The idea for the NFL-centric covers, which do not include fingerprint readers or Alcantara material found in other new Type Covers, originally came about when Microsoft whipped up a custom-made Seahawks cover for team owner Paul Allen more than a year ago. The Microsoft co-founder then tweeted out a photo of the design.
“The response we got was exciting – on Twitter and from coaches and players,” wrote Microsoft Corporate VP Panos Panay.
.@Microsoft gave me custom keyboards for new @surface 3 w/ @Seahawks theme, maybe should make more? (thx Panay/Elop) pic.twitter.com/38QZnBY9q0
— Paul Allen (@PaulGAllen) April 19, 2015
The new Type Covers are an extension of Microsoft’s relationship with the NFL — specifically in regard to the Surface tablet. Back in 2012, Microsoft inked a 5-year, $400 million sponsorship deal with the NFL, part of which included the use of the Surface tablet during games on the sidelines.
For the past two seasons, players and coaches have used a customized version of the tablet to review still screenshots of past plays, replacing the traditional printed paper black-and-white images. Teams are now testing the use of video on the tablets this preseason, as they did during last year’s preseason and Pro Bowl.
The Surface tablets are also now featured in the latest Madden NFL game.
That @Microsoft @surface in action on the @RamsNFL sideline in #Madden17 pic.twitter.com/CsN3YI1y6m
— EA SPORTS Madden NFL (@EAMaddenNFL) July 16, 2016
In Microsoft’s most recent quarterly earnings report, Surface revenue increased $76 million, or 9 percent, to $920 million.
