How big a market is sports technology?

How big a market is sports technology?

Technology has brought a sea change in the sports world. Though earlier its use was originally seen as a deterring factor, wherein as people called its presence as something which mars the spirit of sports, however, things like fair game display and good sportsmanship surfaced with the use of technology. The sports technology has simply made a number of sports popular among the masses. Hence even the most expensive sports have become accessible to common man. The use of technology in sports is not just restricted to get instant replays or giving headset to coaches or rending microphone to referees and umpires. In fact, sports technology is seen taking new leap apart from these named early discoveries. The market of sports technology is simply seen getting bigger and better.

Technology removes and ambiguity and humans errors from sports

In earlier days the referee decisions were considered as final regardless of right or wrong. Though efforts were put forth by the governing bodies to remove the biasness, yet the possibility of human error cannot be ruled out. The advent of sports technology removes all the ambiguities and human error for better fair game play. In today’s sports world, technology has become an integral part of the entire event. Apart from broadcasting and televising a number of sports events, technology has added the element of honesty and integrity in different sports.

Different technologies and sports

In football matches you had several problems faced earlier about decisions and other issues which are now being resolved to a great extent with the use of technology. Confusions on penalty decisions, handball, off-side, goal line conflicts are easily resolved with quick replays. A revolutionary technology known as Hawk-Eye helps people to get computer generated pictures of the ball movement by using different sensors installed at different places in the playing field. The technology is now being used in tennis sport using it in a referral format and thus has given a good impact over the game. Now, you can also see the same technology being used in cricket as well.

The European Rugby teams are now toying with a new technology called as Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RIFD) tags. It’s a micro location technology which helps in transmitting the real time coordinates of the players and ball at an incredible 2000 times per second. It helps in computing movement, accuracy, speed and even things like force of impact. This technology will therefore help you in settling down all the guesses seen during the officiating work. The European Rugby League has also embarked with their first NFL event broadcast in 3D which turned out a big success.

ESPN is now on its verge to launch its first three dimensional network. A couple of European Hockey Teams are now seen implementing this idea under 3D dashboard signage. Also, a number of athletes are seen reaping the benefits of technology. Ace Ice Skaters like Steve Bradbury and Clint Johnson are seen using a pair of new skates powered by rapid prototyping. It helps them in getting custom boot pair along with making them faster than ever before. The researchers are also working on technology which can help them to train and groom over different athletic sports.

Technology strengthens sports star and fan relationship

The buzz of social media has brought sports celebrities and stars closer to their fans. This helps them to build up their personal brand which is even assisting them to make money. It sounds vague but a couple of iPhone apps like Chad OchoCinco are giving money to sports stars via POS and ad revenue and the websites like Fanwave.com. This site helps the athletes, teams, coaches to capitalize on each and every tweet they send out. The third party apps like Twackle and Venuing helps the fans to get connected faster to their respective players or teams in a much better way.

Wrapping up

The bond between the sports and technology seems to be a fruitful thing. This has not only made the sports more visible across the globe but also played a key role in adding the fair game play element in various sports. With different use of technology in sports as discussed above its market is going to stay for long and in much bigger way as its seems today.

About The Author: Claudia is a writer. She loves writing, traveling and playing. These days she is busy writing an article on sports technology.

-Please give a Sports Techie community thank you to Claudia. This is her second contribution to our Sports Techie blog, here is a link to the first:

Are Advanced Prosthetics an Unfair Competitive Advantage in Sports: https://n5y.1cd.myftpupload.com/are-advanced-prosthetics-an-unfair-competitive-advantage-in-sports/.

Sports Techie, Sports Technology has a market size that is said to be in the $200 Billion range, making it a top three global industry.  Claudia discussed the impact sports has undergone by integrating with technology. The camera does not lie so yes, the spirit of sports at it’s core is indeed affected by tools such as video instant replay, super slomo, zoom, pan, and telestration technology, as an unbiased witness to fair play and the right call.

When you consider the amount of sports technology money in one NASCAR racing car or an America’s Cup sailing vessel, added to the amount spent on sports tech for the Super Bowl, March Madness and the FIFA World Cup, plus, the price of Solutions, software and Apps for mobile smartphones and tablets such as the Nike Fuelband or Adidas MiCoach purchased for your kids, and you have a large figure amount. Now consider the amount of money spent on all the ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, and NBC Sports broadcast productions for all the action sports, Olympic and Paralympic games in 3D, etc., etc. etc., and you start to get the drift as to how large a market sports technology really is.

The athletic shoe market has gone super high tech. New jobs are now sports technology driven. Social media software is becoming a standard technology for most all new products to implement. The massive Sports Technology market includes: fantasy sports, gaming, wingsuits, flyknit, GoPro, heart rate monitors, GPS, helmets, prosthetics, bowling, tennis, snowboarding, golf, cricket, mindgames, swimming pools, stadiums, ATVs, RVs, airplanes, super cars and yachts, for grandma, sister and Fido. Sports Technology toys of the one percent are top secret. The list goes on, and on, and on. Sports Technology may very well be the top global industry before our next generation arrives.

I will see ya when I see ya, THE Sports Techie

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