Why sports technologies are poised to grow exponentially

To define and understand the advancements in technology adoption across sports, we will use examples from basketball, baseball, and soccer.

Sports technology refers to innovations and tools to improve training, performance, player health, fan engagement, and the overall fan experience. Technologies are advancing rapidly, and here is what you need to know.

The NBA offers new technologies to improve fan engagement and experience

The National Basketball Association (NBA) does a fantastic job of revolutionizing the game. For example, the new Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, provides a never-before-seen fan experience. The Intuit Dome prioritizes the fan experience and offers many advanced technologies. The double-sided halo board above the court allows fans to see real-time game statistics while offering “Player 360” and “Coaches Corner” to highlight who is involved in the game.

This technology, an innovative upgrade to the traditional jumbotron, keeps fans informed during games so they are more engaged. Elaborate features, including “The Wall,” give the ultimate home-court advantage by packing rows of Clipper fans behind the basket (see Exhibit 1), causing an unwelcoming and intimidating spectacle to the visiting team—especially when they are shooting free throws.

Exhibit 1: The Wall at the LA Clippers’ Intuit Dome

Source: BasketballNews.com, 2024

The building is also designed to maximize the potential of IoT devices, which can be leveraged for energy management and climate control while offering numerous ways to improve the fan experience. The Intuit Dome app is designed to enhance each fan’s experience by providing seamless entry, ticket management, fast merchandise purchases, an interactive venue map, and exclusive offers. Fans can add a photo for facial recognition and link a payment method to enable speedy entry and effortless purchasing by simply scanning their GameFace ID on a Zoom Thru device. IoT devices and the Intuit Dome app team up to make these features possible by providing a unique experience that motivates fans to return.

The NBA also stands out from other professional sports leagues regarding the best virtual reality (VR) viewing experience, with the Meta Quest and a premium viewership subscription called NBA League Pass. A partnership with Meta’s virtual reality company, Oculus, lets NBA fans experience the arena’s atmosphere from the comfort of their home. Xtadium, an app on Meta Quest devices, offers virtual and mixed reality to unlock a world for fans to engage in a 180-degree experience with multiple viewing angles, real-time statistics, replays, and live commentary. Fans can create private watch rooms with friends to experience the action together as avatars—an interactive way to enjoy NBA games. This technology is in its early stages and will continue to evolve as additional innovative features are added.

Exhibit 2: Watching the NBA using Meta Quest

Source: Meta.com, 2024

MLB offers an incredible display of data designed to improve player performance and increase fan engagement

Baseball is arguably the most analytical sport in the world, and Major League Baseball (MLB) offers great insights to improve the game. Google Cloud is the official AI of MLB, and it supports the league’s advanced tracking system, Statcast, which collects and analyzes metrics in every category of play. This system uses cameras and radar, while Google Cloud supports the infrastructure and analyzes data in real time.

This system provides an advanced look at player metrics to improve evaluation, development, and game strategies. Statcast produces comprehensive data on each player’s performance, including where they are most likely to hit the ball, the power of their hits, and which pitches might challenge them. This information benefits both teams by enabling better game planning against opponents and helping players identify weaknesses they need to improve.

These systems also provide information to fans that can interrupt a game when comparing statistics among players or teams. As this system becomes more advanced, MLB will continue to add new statistics about various aspects of the game. These metrics provide more advanced player evaluations while offering a more profound sense of fan engagement. Statistics are running the game of baseball in the Statcast era, and this technology continues to evolve.

Professional soccer leagues offer tools that use data to promote fairness across the game while keeping players safe

Soccer (or football, as it’s known outside of the United States) is a global sport, with many leagues offering similar approaches. Soccer has implemented what’s arguably the best video review system. The Video Assistance Referee (VAR) debuted on the game’s biggest stage—the 2018 World Cup. Since then, the VAR has been a widely successful tool for accurate results. This technological advancement enables in-game referees to use a video replay system to reinforce or overturn the decision on the field. A similar system is used to determine whether the ball completely crossed the plane of the goal line. This goal-line technology works with the VAR to enhance the accuracy and fairness of the game.

Wearable devices are another advanced technology used worldwide in sports to collect data on each player. The Catapult will track speed, movement, positioning, and physical data, allowing clubs to manage workload, tailor training for each athlete, and prevent injury. The GPS device in the Catapult delivers statistics to improve player performance and game strategy based on each player’s speed and position on the field. This device contributes to player safety by detecting heart rate fluctuations and measuring exhaustion levels during games and practices. If a player is overexerting him or herself, the coach can modify intensity and better accommodate each player’s fitness level. Safety is a priority, and this device ensures that while offering a tool to improve a team’s chances of winning the match.

Exhibit 3: Data shown through the Catapult

Source: Catapult.com, 2024

Digital collectibles are a fast-growing market for teams and fans

Sports memorabilia is highly valuable and a lifelong hobby for some. We will use the soccer world as an example to understand the potential of digital collectibles. FIFA Collect is a platform for soccer fans to own and trade digital collectibles related to the history of FIFA. This content is driven through packs at a constant price per theme to deliver digital memorabilia through “Moments” or tangible rewards such as game tickets and jerseys. These Moments are a digital highlight of an iconic moment in FIFA, with each Moment varying in rarity.

Exhibit 4: FIFA Collect

Source: Collect.FIFA.com, 2024

Once the pack is sold out, the content inside can only be sold or bought on a marketplace with various price ranges based on the Moment’s rarity. Like tangible memorabilia, the content will increase in value, creating a profitable platform for many. The digital collectibles industry is growing, with various models continuing to be introduced, but the potential is evident and something to pay attention to.

The future of sports technology

The Intuit Dome provides an exciting new experience for fans that will quickly change how owners approach fan engagement during games. Money talks, and if technology investments drive more fan engagement and, subsequently, more revenue, all major sports franchises will follow suit.

This is the start of a revolution within athletic venues and will soon set the standard for arenas across all sports. The Intuit Dome offers fans a steady supply of statistics and information while providing opportunities to engage in interactive activities throughout the building. This new development will offer fans a fresh experience to enjoy. The advanced technology needed to pull this off is impressive, and within five years, you can expect many arenas to adopt features from the Inuit Dome.

By then, today’s advanced technologies will likely be simplified, allowing for seamless and less costly deployment at current arenas and stadiums, especially older venues. Owners across the league will soon understand that they offer a lackluster experience compared to the Clippers and will be forced to adapt. To echo the success of the Intuit Dome, owners can begin to adopt IoT devices. With this technology, all 17,000 seats in the Intuit Dome are equipped with LEDs in the armrests to sync with the environment around them to create an improved visual experience. IoT devices offer numerous benefits, including seamless entry and purchasing, efficient energy management, environmental control, and enhanced fan engagement. A potentially seamless addition of these devices to current arenas is possible and will improve the fan experience without a substantial financial burden. The potential to pair IoT devices and AI is a reality and will maximize efficiency and output for each venue.

Fans’ expectations will increase significantly due to the new experiences at the Intuit Dome, and other ambitious owners will follow suit to expand the experience of their fanbases, attract more people to their games, and raise ticket prices.

MLB can change the game of baseball by eliminating human error. Since its inception in the 19^th century, baseball has relied on an umpire to call balls and strikes, which creates a sense of opinion rather than fact when calling the game. The automated ball-strike system (ABS) is being developed to use technology to call pitches accurately. This system uses a Hawk-Eye camera to determine balls and strikes based on each player’s unique strike zone. This technology is revolutionary for baseball and has been experimented with and slowly introduced in Minor League Baseball to test its capabilities. In 2023, this system was used during games and will undergo further testing to determine if the system is Major League-ready. ABS would change the game by removing human judgment (and potential errors) from affecting results. Many argue this feature will detract from America’s most traditional sport because umpires and their occasional mistakes are part of the game. However, many fans prefer accurate calls that affect game outcomes. Whether good or bad for baseball, this technology is the future and will change the sport.

The Bottom Line: Don’t miss out on this emerging market. Understand the opportunities and experiences in sports technology and take full advantage of them.

Technology is continuing to boom across all sports. These themes can be crossed among sports as every league prioritizes fan engagement, player performance, and safety. Sports technology is ever-growing, with a window for artificial intelligence to improve upon these advancements. How far this technology can go will be determined by which AI services are being leveraged to propel the sports technology industry to success.