The Impact of Emerging Technology in Sports
The sports industry benefits significantly from advancements in technology. In fact, technology in sports is rapidly changing the game for athletes, sports professionals and fans.
Sports professionals have been finding ways to use technological innovations for decades, using data to enhance recruitment, employing innovative technology to enhance the viewer experience at home and incorporating training tools that track progress. Advancements in sports technology offer new and exciting ways to train and support athletes, build successful teams, engage the audience and analyze performance.
What is Sports Technology?
Sports technology refers to technologies developed to enhance the sports viewing experience and athletic performance. Sports tech includes wearable technologies meant to optimize and track athletic performance, sports management databases, tools to prevent injury, technology that improves infrastructure on athletic fields, and new ways to engage fans.
No matter the application, sports tech allows the industry to push the limits of athletic performance and entertainment.
Who Uses Sports Technology?
Advanced technology in sports influences every aspect of sports, including training and events. A look at those who might benefit from sports technology includes:
- Athletes
- Trainers
- Statisticians
- Marketers
- Fans
MobiDev, a business and technology consulting firm, has witnessed the impact of advancements in sports technology on the industry. In an article about trends in sports technology, they stated that they are seeing rapid change in the sports industry due to machine learning, augmented reality, smart wearables and more. They believe these new technologies are changing how organizations approach athlete preparation, manage their teams and analyze on-field and off-field activities.1
Professional sports leagues like the NBA and MLB, as well as some college athletic programs, already use sports analytics and technology to analyze player performance, train athletes effectively and scout and recruit more successfully using data. Sports technology is not limited to professional and college sports, though. Some youth and high school sports teams purchase equipment and train their administrators to implement technology, ranging from heart rate monitors to video analysis. As sports technology becomes more affordable, amateur and youth sports teams will incorporate it.
Even those who participate in athletics in their free time can benefit from sports technology. Most amateur athletes benefit from a fitness watch or tracking application on their phones.
Sports technology has a significant impact on sports fans. For example, Apple announced the integration of Apple Vision Pro, a wearable display device, into the broadcasting experience, allowing viewers to watch multiple games simultaneously. The NBA, MLB and PGA all launched apps to support the technology.2
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Types of New Technology in Sports
The way athletes and administrators can harness the power of advancements in sports technology, alongside brand-new technology, for better overall experiences has the potential to transform how our society interacts with sports.
Technology for Athletes
Many advanced technologies affect how athletes train, track progress and protect themselves. Below are just a few examples of the way athletes use sports technology.
Wearable Technology
Wearable technology in sports is incredibly helpful for communication, goals and monitoring. A couple of popular wearable technologies include:
- Fitness Watches: Most people are familiar with wearable technology thanks to fitness watches. Fitness watches can measure heart rate, calories burned, steps, distance and pace, allowing athletes to track their progress based on their personal goals.
- Communication Helmets: Thanks to advanced sports technology, helmets can include built-in headsets that help athletes communicate with teammates and coaches.
Data Tracking Tools
Data tracking collects personalized data about an athlete and uses that data to help them reach goals. Some data tracking tools used in sports include:
- Global Positioning Systems (GPS): GPS can track location, pace and other metrics when athletes are running or cycling, among other things.
- Sleep Tracking Devices: Sleep goals are vital to athletic performance. Sensors in sleep trackers can indicate whether individuals are getting proper sleep.
Sports Injury Prevention Tech
Performance is important but athletes must also prevent devastating injuries. Luckily, sports tech is ready to help. Some technology used to prevent injuries includes:
- Diagnostic Programs: Using biometric data, these programs can help athletes prevent potential injuries.
- High-Tech Mouthguards: Mouthguards with sensors can notify athletes when they need to rest or hydrate and can signify the intensity of hits.
- High-Tech Helmets: Helmets can protect athletes from injury even more with technology that releases air to reduce whiplash and prevent trauma.
Virtual Reality
Thanks to virtual reality, athletes can prepare for games more effectively than ever, putting themselves in game-like scenarios during practice. Virtual reality training can help athletes feel prepared to perform at their best and remain safe on the field or court.
Technology for Administrators and Fans
Of course, athletes aren’t the only ones seeing the benefits of technology in sports. Here are a few tools used by sports leadership and spectators:
Data-Driven Recruiting
Scouting new talent for sports teams is a lengthy process. Now, player performance metrics can be evaluated more efficiently using advancements in sports analytics. Recent technologies can help recruiters visualize how players will perform against each other or with teammates, allowing incredible insight for recruiters.
Event Scheduling Tools
From little league to professional sports, technology can help planners organize a season economically and manage registration, payment and performance statistics. These tools can also track loyalty programs and payments for tickets.
Goal-Line Technology
Goal-line technology helps determine if a goal has been scored using electronic assistance. Primarily used in soccer, goal-line technology has already been implemented in major events, assisting officials who make the calls and helping create a more objective environment for players.
These are just a few incredible tools that athletes, administrators, trainers and fans can use to enjoy sports entertainment and excel in their athletic life.
What are the Benefits of Technology in Sports?
The benefits of sports technology depend on the type of tech being used. Significant benefits are:
- Enhanced training capabilities
- Injury reduction and prevention
- Enhanced sports viewing experiences
- Data-driven athlete recruitment
- Streamlined event scheduling
These advantages affect everyone participating in sports, from administrators to athletes to fans.
Even those not in the sporting world can take note of how sports professionals use technology. The lessons learned from sports use of data analysis, enhanced training and better connections with clients can be applied in other fields.
Michael Ede, entrepreneur and sports agent, wrote in Forbes, “By embracing these lessons and looking into new technologies, I believe you can drive success in your organization, whether it's regarding athletes or other employees reaching their full potential.”3
Use Sports Tech as a Sports Administrator
The successful use of sports technology requires a firm educational background. Ohio University is the birthplace of sports business education. With Ohio University's Online Master of Sports Administration (OMSA) degree, you can score the credentials you need to strengthen your skills and build a successful career.
Students in the program develop a firm mastery of concepts essential to sports leadership, including sports law, analytics, business, revenue strategy, and more. For those interested in sports technology, our Introduction to Sports Analytics course provides learners with the fundamental concepts and tools to understand the emerging role of analytics in sports, on and off the field.
Sources
- Top 7 Sports Technology Trends and Innovations to Adopt in Sports Apps in 2024. MobiDev. Published August 15, 2024. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://mobidev.biz/blog/sports-technology-trends-innovations-to-adopt-in-sports.
- NBA, MLB and PGA roll out apps for Apple Vision Pro. NBC News. Published February 12, 2024. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/apple/nfl-mlb-pga-roll-apps-apple-vision-rcna138067.
- Eade, Michael. How Business Leaders Can Benefit from the Impact of Technology in the Sporting World. Forbes, Small Business. Published May 3, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/05/03/how-business-leaders-can-benefit-from-the-impact-of-technology-in-the-sporting-world/.
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