Sports has been a major unifier worldwide, transcending geographical borders and rising above political and social borders. This industry has also significantly benefited from technological advancements, influencing how athletes train, compete and engage with the fans. Technology also influences the construction of world-class venues and how the fans content, transforming the sports industry into a multi-billion-dollar business.
Technology has been silently transforming the sports world for years, with investments in sectors such as esports still rising to surpass $2.5 billion in funding by 2018 and expected to hit $30 billion by 2024. But which technologies will make the biggest impact for leading sites like the online casinos in India, which are always updated with the latest technologies and ensure a great gambling experience for their users, and across the sports world?
Fan Engagement Technologies
Sports fan engagement plays a crucial role in the success of sports teams and clubs. With billions of fans spread worldwide, more and more sports teams, leagues, and athletes are continually looking into technologies that can help with fan engagement. That includes technologies such as esports, live streaming, and content platforms.
According to Genius Sports Media sales publisher Tom Masterman, the next fan engagement trend will be critical whether you’re a brand, team, or media company. Masterman has worked on two Olympics with former digital media companies, and he understands how quickly games can come and go. Sports tech experts will be focusing on how the fans will adopt the tech, choosing the right channel partners, and whether their sponsorship integration offers a good experience.
Using Wearables For Better & Safer Performance
While wearables were launched as luxurious products, they’ve grown to become among the most used sports tech gadgets globally. These devices can leverage cloud services, big data analytics, and AI, allowing athletes to perform better and exercise safely. Brazil is among the countries that have chosen to leverage these sports gadgets after recently contracting a sports tech supplier to offer player monitoring devices to their soccer players through their Football Confederation.
Wearables monitor the player’s activity during training and games, sending sensor data to the coaching team. These data can include the player’s distance and speed, which helps the coaches make better decisions to substitute players for fatigue. The coaching staff is also well-informed of when a player might have an injury. That’s why this tech is becoming popular in the global soccer industry in national teams like Denmark, Germany, the USA, Belgium, Poland, and Portugal.
Virtual Reality for Improved Training
Virtual reality is considered among the key technologies that will drive sports tech in the next decade, and many professional sports teams have embraced it for improved training. Japan’s Yokohama DeNA Baystars installed a virtual reality studio at their stadium in 2017, allowing their batters to practice batting better with virtual simulation. Virtual reality makes training more efficient by eliminating the need for a human pitcher, allowing batters to choose pitching types while collecting and analyzing data for better performance. As the technology continues improving, batters will also have the power to face real-life pitchers’ simulations and simulate games ahead of time. That will significantly offer a customized digital experience to the players.
