The evolution of Technology in Sport

Preface

There have been a lot of advances in technology over the past century that have touched every aspect of our lives. New advances in computers and semiconductors have allowed for a wide range of sectors to improve their efficiency. Sport is no different. In the first half of the last century, sportsmen received little assistance from science. However, the second half of the 20th century has brought about a revolution in almost every sport there is. From better tracking during races, to a more accurate understanding of the games played. Today judges receive extremely precise information regarding the situation on the field. Ball speeds can be measured to a high degree of precision. Statistics assembled and analyzed to predict future player’s scores.

Currently all the big sporting events can be watched live on the internet. Previously people had to attend games in person to see their favorite teams play. First, matches started to be broadcast on the television. And later, online. As access to sporting events has become more common, the fan base of games such as soccer and basketball has grown exponentially. Billions of people now tune in to the elite matches and wager money online on their favorite sportsmen. Technology also allows an average supporter to get access to proper information regarding each game. Statistics are presented in a comfortable format on a computer or on a mobile device.

Sports apparel has improved drastically over the last 60 years. Whereas previously designers made outfits which simply absorb athlete’s sweat, today clothing that evaporates the moisture has been developed. A lot of research has gone into designing quality clothing for sportsmen playing soccer, basketball, American football or baseball. The newly developed items have been fabricated with the use of modern technology and science. Player’s movements have been analyzed to make shoes with better grip for various races. A revolution has taken place in tennis, where improved racquets and gear massively enhanced the tournaments.

Technology has allowed sports to become safer, more available and fun for everybody involved. Stadiums today have been designed to house many more spectators. Arenas can house up to 100 thousand people today, allowing a greater number of fans to watch the matches. It has become far easier to purchase tickets for a game. Previously obtaining a ticket for a UEFA or NFL championship was extremely hard. Today, these tickets can simply be purchased online. Fans can also choose the spots where they want to sit during the tournament. The internet has allowed people to follow their favorite athletes, reading their online posts.

For games such as basketball or baseball, technology has massively improved statistics for each match. As a result, sports scouts can look at an individual player’s record and thus find a good recruit for their home team. Further, improved game statistics have allowed scouts to better predict the outcomes of major tournaments. As strong and weak sides of each team can be analyzed with computers, athletic training has become more personalized and allowed for improved performance of the teams.

A general overview of how tech has improved our games

Technology has enormously improved sports over the past 50 years. Below is a list of the major changes that have taken place in the sports industry:

• Instant replay has provided for better judgement of scores in each game. Immediately rewatching a KO or a goal can give better information to the referee.
• Ability to watch a greater number of matches. Previously people had to tune in to TVs or go to tournaments. Now they can see it all online.
• Sport statistics have become publicly available. Accessing ESPN from a mobile device allows a fan to glance at the performance of their team in a second.
• Better provision of information. Certain parts of matches can be hard to understand for a common person. With the help of IT difficult details can be explained better.
• Improved gear for athletes has made sports safer. For example, better helmets are provided for American football and baseball players. This has reduced injury risk.
• Sound equipment made of titanium alloys and nicer clothing made of nylon have drastically improved athlete’s performance in tournaments.
• Massive stadiums have been built, housing up to 100 thousand people. Modern tournaments held in large arenas have improved fans’ experience massively.
• Technology has helped players improve their performance. Analyzing swings and kicks on a computer, champions can better see where they go wrong and how to fix their mistakes.
• Sports fields have become nicer. As technology permeates the world, clubs are now improving the quality of the playing fields.
• Scores are now displayed directly on the fields, on television or online. This allows for much better entertainment for the fans.
• Small towns today have better chances of taking part in sports championships. As the industry has grown, sports have become more inclusive. Smaller teams are now welcomed in matches.
• The job of a sports scout has become much easier. Previously, scouting was about getting a feel of how well a particular athlete will perform. Nowadays there is plenty of statistical information describing each player’s performance.
• It has become much easier to weed out the sportsmen that took steroids or other synthetic boosters. Drug testing technology has improved a lot, thus helping to remove cheaters from the game.
• Tickets have never been so easy to obtain. Previously people had to queue in long lines for hours to buy a ticket to a popular championship. Today it can all be done on the internet.
• Sports training has become more efficient. Further, there have been significant improvements in nutrition for the athletes. The latter has made gaining weight easier and massively improved performance in matches.
• There are now plenty of various video games that people can play. This is a great way to introduce teenagers to sports and get them interested in supporting a particular club.
• Playing fantasy sports has improved the understanding of games for many people. They can now learn about the basics of American football or baseball in a virtual world.

The list presented here gives a general overview of how technology has improved sports for the average person. As technological progress continues, there will be additional improvements coming from science. The sports industry has benefited immensely and analysts are expecting further improvements to various games. Betting on sports has never been easier. Currently there are plenty of online worldbookmakers that offer a variety of gambling options for a wide plethora of sports supporters.

A deeper look at how tech has changed various sports

Technology has helped sports become better and made training more efficient. Advances in science have trickled down to every segment of society. Sports has been one of the benefactors of technological progress. The list presented below shows improvements that have taken place in particular sports.

• Athletics have benefited from advances in tracking technology, improved clothing and advances in neuroscience. Racers can now be tracked with RFID chips, which can give extremely precise timing and help the judge make a more informed decision on who won the actual race. Cameras which shoot up 3 thousand frames per second are used to record races. Clothing has improved massively. Not only do clothes now evaporate sweat instead of absorbing it, thus making them lighter, but they can also monitor sportsmen’s biometrics. That way there is plenty of information available on how well an athlete’s body can cope with stress during races. Technology also allows to train the runner’s brain by helping neurons fire correctly thus improving brain circuitry. Tools such as the Halo headband are available to train the brain. Thus today it has become important to train both the body and the neocortex.
• Football has undergone new changes to accommodate for innovation. Goal-Line Technology has been put in action in 2014, during the World Cup. This has massively improved judges’ ability to decide on whether a hit was successful or a fail. Sometimes it is not clear during a match of whether the strike was a goal or not. The new innovation has fixed this issue. Further, improved video technology is now part of football. This way referees can get assistance and their judgement of games can be more accurate. Reviewing strikes and goals on video can give more information to the referee. This will remove the unneeded bias from the sport. Lastly, massive screens have been installed in arenas to allow the fans to better see the difficult moments of matches. Football supporters will thus have a much better experience watching tournaments.
• Rugby players can now have sensors placed on their bodies to track their physical condition and their game performance. This allows for much better statistics to be collected from each match. Thus team makeup can be improved and better players acquired for the clubs. Further, advancements in video technology have improved referee judgements in rugby, just like in football. Better decisions can be made about each match and unwanted bias can be removed from the results. Advances in virtual reality also allow many fans to have mock rugby games with each other and even compete against established leagues in the sport.

The major aspect is that previously there was a lot of bias included in making decisions regarding each match. Referees and judges would have their own opinion as to which team won the actual game. In difficult situations it is not always clear who is the winner. Sometimes the outcome can be disputed. For example, did the player commit a foul or not. Or was the goal actually successful. The introduction of technology, such as video and tracking devices, will remove 90% of referee bias from the matches. Thus scores can be much more accurate and games more entertaining for the fans to watch. Next, is a list of a few technologies that have massively improved sports.

• Radars are now used in games such as tennis or baseball. Employing a radar can give accurate information on how fast a ball travels. This can help calculate the strength of a strike and provide important statistical information to the referee.
• Instant replays have become very important in soccer, American football, baseball and basketball. Previously the referee would decide on a close call. Now machines help judges make more informed decisions. In a case where it is not clear who scored, a replay shown one second after the hit can immediately help see whether the strike was a score or not.
• RFID chips placed on sportsmen provide an accurate location of an athlete. Although currently they are employed primarily in racing contests, in the future the use of radio chips will grow. Tagging players with these devices can massively improve match statistics and allow for a beautiful replay to be watched once the tournament is over.
• Virtual imaging has been employed in swimming and in tennis. This technology allows for a superimposition of information on the pool’s tracks. Thus current world records can be superimposed on a swimming track. Or the athletes’ national flags can be displayed on the swimming pool. In tennis, virtual imaging can provide spectators and judges with a nice overview of an extremely close call.
• Game statistics have changed radically over the past few decades. Certain sports, such as baseball and basketball, provide extremely good statistics on various games. Using technology, a particular club’s or player’s performance can be analyzed. This is of a great help to scouts, which can now review an individual athlete’s performance on a datasheet. Thus a scout can make a much more informed decision on whether to acquire a particular player.
• Computer technology also allows for making good predictions regarding which team will win the coming match. It has become possible to look into the future and try and predict a club’s performance. Previously this was nearly impossible. However with tools such as AI and machine learning, an analyst can make an informed decision on a future game and submit it to the club’s owners.

How much money is going into sports tech?

There have been a lot of investments done in sports technology. As better apparel has allowed for higher athletic performance in games, sports have been attracting large investments. In 2018, some $2.5 billion has flown into the sector in the form of venture capital funding. Certain analysts are expecting this number to exceed $30 billion by 2024. As there are new innovations being put on the market every day, it is no surprise that investments in the sports tech sector have been growing. Venture capital finances technology start-ups that are generating new and innovative ideas for the sports technology sector. This type of financing has banks and wealthy billionaires investing their funds in small and medium sized companies focusing on improving sports games. The high potential returns from investment in the sports sector mean that there will be a lot of new products coming soon on the market.

Out of the technologies described above, it is expected that innovations that enhance fan’s experience will be of the biggest impact. For example, fan engagement technologies will contribute 77.6% to the general impact that new innovations will have on sports. These include live streaming, betting, replays, electronic gaming and other improvements for the sports’ supporters. Fan technologies should further expand the reach of the sports industry and allow for a greater number of persons to become supporters of the games. Athlete performance technologies, on the other hand, are estimated to only contribute 16.3% to the general impact of technology on sports. This is because the sportsmen’s performance is already stellar but there are new markets to be opened around the world.

Currently basketball is leading the way as top innovation hot-spot. The game has taken a number one spot as the forefront of technology in sports. The second place has been taken by electronic sports, with the third going to soccer. Basketball is an interesting game as there are a lot of scientific principles governing how each match is played and how the scores are made. It comes as no surprise that hoops is leading the way towards innovation.

The majority of respondents polled cited risk aversion, poor decisions and cost as the main three factors halting increased adoption of technology in sports. Unqualified decisions by the club managers or referees is on the top spot of factors inhibiting progress. Not all clubs are managed correctly and some of them can also be risk averse. Sometimes clubs can be afraid to adopt new technology, or the referees are scared that machines will affect their judgement.

Ending

Technology has changed the way the world functions. Almost every corner of the globe has experienced immense technological innovation over the past decades. Currently there is plenty of capital flowing towards new start-ups in the sports technology segment. The industry has changed immensely and the change is going to only accelerate in the future. Although certain clubs have been reluctant to adopt new technologies, the overall trend in sports has been towards greater innovation. Analysts believe that sky is the only limit to how much the sports industry can benefit from venture capital start-ups. As stadiums have become larger and fan bases have expanded, many clubs have been able to increase their revenues from tournaments. The athletes are paid more now and supporters receive much better coverage of the matches. Further, the growing field of electronic sports has allowed for a wider popularization of games across the general segments of society. As more fans are drawn towards games, technological innovation in sports will only get higher.