There are few industries that are more lucrative, globally viable, and culturally influential than the sports industry, which is now worth a staggering USD$1.1 trillion worldwide. This summer has underscored the importance of the sporting industry, with the likes of the Olympics, Euros, Cheltenham, Six Nations, and more capturing millions of spectators across the world and employing tens of thousands of people.
Much like every other part of the entertainment world, the ways in which sports are played, managed, and engaged with, by spectators, have been fundamentally reshaped by emerging technologies in recent years. Widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, streaming technologies, and 5G have already drastically changed the sports landscape.
Here are some of our top tech solutions for the sports industry today.
Predictive Artificial Intelligence (AI)
For both the fans and the industry experts alike, odds are an incredibly important part of sports. Odds use probabilities to give a precise figure on the likelihood of a certain athlete or team’s predicted success rate. Fans can use these odds to place bets on their favorite teams or horses based on whether they think these odds have been calculated correctly.
Today, numerous AI tools function by crunching thousands of data points in order to generate real-time, in-depth odds. One example of this in practice is within the horse racing sector, where the Beth.bet predictive AI tool offers UK horse racing predictions across a huge amount of markets, so punters can stay ahead of the bookmakers. Factors such as the weather, a horse’s previous performances, and the condition of the track are all taken into consideration before an objective analysis of the data is used to inform bettors as to their best bets. In addition, there’s input from pundits and industry experts, which further customizes the predictions for the benefit of the bettor.
Wearables
The ways in which the performance of athletes is measured has been changed beyond recognition by the introduction of wearable tech. At the most basic level, tech manufacturers such as Fitbit, Garmin, and Polar help coaches and managers keep track of an athlete’s vitals in real-time.
At the more high-end level, you have all-body wearables such as those manufactured by Catapult Sports, which supplies wearable tech to the English Football Association. These devices measure every aspect of a footballer’s performance in real-time, providing coaches with a wealth of information to utilize.
Compliance Applications
As sporting regulations become tighter and more rigidly enforced, compliance becomes all the more crucial. In response to the growing demands of regulatory compliance, some smart cookies have developed tech tools that can help teams and organizations easily manage their compliance duties and paperwork via an all-in-one interface.
One such example is the Sport:80 platform, which is specifically for sports teams and organizations that are governed by the national regulatory bodies of the UK. With this user-friendly tech tool, anyone can keep on top of their paperwork requirements and stay alerted about the specific regulatory changes and demands that apply to them. On the college football side of things, the US-based ACTIVE Network tool offers an all-in-one solution to compliance needs.
These are our top must-have tech tools that are changing the sports industry for the better right now. Whether you’re a manager, a player, a fan, or a support worker, these simple tech tools can empower you to get the most out of your sporting activities.
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