Figure 1 All top sports athletes use technology to help performance
The 2024 Summer Olympics which has recently taken place in Paris, France has been a reminder of everything that sports should be about. The event’s history and tradition champion the amateur days of competition, disregarding monetary gain and extolling the values of “faster, higher, stronger – together”.
With the modern world of sports seemingly more interested in the earning power of its star athletes and teams, those original values have become more and more rare in sports discourse. But even the Olympics is a good example of how technology has transformed the world of sports as we know it.
Although ”the taking part is what counts” is a welcome ethos, sports is ultimately about winning and losing. We check all the sportsbooks to see who might win the biggest events. One way that athletes and teams have given themselves a better chance of being on the side of victory is through technological advancements. And tech has also improved countless other ways we experience sports these days. Here are just a few examples.
Data Analysis and Performance
Even if you are not a massive sports fan you will probably have noticed athletes using wearable technology in recent years. Many times, this is in the form of a vest that is worn underneath the jersey or top. These “wearables” record everything the athlete does and how they perform on the field of play.
The sheer amount of data this tech can record is incredible and has spawned a whole new industry of sports analysts who dissect what is taken in to help the future performance of the athlete. Training regimes are structured around what is learned from the data and the athletes benefit from being able to improve the way that they play.
Injury Prevention
The improvement in sports medicine and recovery times in recent times has been nothing short of staggering. What used to be season-ending – or even career-ending – injuries not that long ago are now temporary issues for athletes who can oftentimes come back just as good as before, if not even better.
Figure 2 Fans are far more involved with their favorite teams now
However, the same wearable tech that is used to analyze performance is also used to detect the potential for injuries well before they occur. This allows coaches and medical staff to ensure that athletes can avoid suffering injuries in the first place and are kept healthy. This obviously benefits both the team and the athlete in the short and long term.
Officiating
If you enjoy watching soccer you may be forgiven in your thinking that not all technology has improved the world of sports. Video Assistant Refereeing (VAR) has been used in soccer around the world in recent years and has not always been welcomed for its decisions and the way that it has changed the game.
But there is no doubt that technology, as a whole, has vastly improved the way that referees and umpires are able to officiate sports events. Being able to check incidents, quickly and precisely, has given the officials more confidence in what they are doing – and also helped fans and athletes understand what is going on.
Event Management
It is not just on the field of play that technology has transformed and revolutionized sports though. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used as a scare story in some quarters for a while now but there is also no doubt that it can really benefit all kinds of industries – including the world of sports.
By crunching huge amounts of data almost immediately, AI helps sports event organizers manage crowds and stadiums before any issues occur. Fan flow is greatly enhanced and even what might seem like more mundane issues, such as the management of food and merch lines, can be controlled more efficiently.
Fan Engagement
Some sports fans over the years may have been under the perception that their enjoyment and experience of events was sometimes only an afterthought for the teams and franchises they support. But these days there is far more engagement as the fans enjoy a more immersive experience.
Social media has been a particular standard bearer for greater fan engagement. Not only do the fans feel as though they are more involved in the way their teams are run, but these platforms are a great way for the sports organizations to reach out and inform – and also sell more tickets and merchandise.
Figure 2 Fans are far more involved with their favorite teams now
The Rise of Esports
Even what we consider to be “sports” has been transformed by advances and developments in technology. Video games used to be a more niche pastime for kids but in the last 20 years or so the industry has evolved into a global phenomenon in which the top gamers are highly-paid athletes in their own right.
Some of the most popular games and titles are now called esports, which can attract more viewers as fans than some of the most popular traditional sports events. Sports teams have their own esports squads and the big international events are bankrolled by the same global businesses that are involved in Super Bowls, World Cups, and Olympics.
Broadcasting
One of the major ways the fans’ experience of sports has changed is that it is no longer primarily as direct. Gone are the days of fans physically in stadiums watching their favorite teams. Now we can enjoy just about any sports event from all over the world from the comfort of our own homes.
Television broadcasting changed how we watched sports and now the rise of streaming platforms has taken that experience further. Teams now have global fans in countries far away from their own neighborhoods and this is just another example of how tech has revolutionized the entire sports industry.
