Technology Takes Over the World Of Sports
Technological advancements have revolutionized the ways that sports are being played
The Bay Area does not shy away from technological advancement as Apple, Twitter and Google all started in the technological innovation capital of the world. However, this high level of innovation in the Bay Area is not limited to technology companies, as many sports teams have adopted analytics to their system.
In 2002, the Oakland Athletics trademarked the strategy “Moneyball,” to use a cost-effective, statistically-based plan to win games and change the way baseball experts view overall performance.Consistently one of the most under-funded Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, the Oakland Athletics (A’s) altered their approach to coaching, scouting and game management in an attempt to compete with the professional baseball powerhouses.
Through advanced analytics, modern technology and a team of Ivy League coders, the Oakland A’s took a data-driven approach towards individual statistics in order to compile a team of players with maximized results for the cheapest costs.
In the early 2000’s, sports teams relied heavily on their scouts’ and coaches’ experience to effectively evaluate players. However, the Oakland A’s analytical approach to the game forecasted players’ performance with more efficiency and accuracy than ever before.
The Oakland A’s changed how baseball decision-makers think, and sports have since seen the rise of big data, modern technology and artificial intelligence deliver increased performance for their teams and players. Two decades later and with the immense improvements to technology, we now sit on the beginning of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in sports.
Artificial Intelligence takes information and responds to it without human instruction. It can take large amounts of data and analyze it so people can see results in real time. Countless uses for AI exist in the world of sports, including but not limited to: injury management, fan engagement, broadcasts and referees.
In December 2019, the National Football League (NFL) partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to apply their advanced statistics to artificial intelligence in order to predict injuries to players. The NFL calls this program the “Digital Athlete” platform as they attempt to embrace the new era of artificial intelligence and machine learning in sports. The league also added Zebra Technologies Corporation’s microchips onto players’ uniforms to track a player’s speed, motion and acceleration during practice.
Zebra’s Manager of Client Services and Operation, Adam Petrus, explained the positive outcomes that Zebra’s wearable technology can assist injury rehabilitation and prevention.
“Coaches can track their players' performance during practice. . . and it's a great tool for if a player is injured,” Petrus said. “You're able to utilize their pre-injury data as a baseline [so] you can really monitor their rehabilitation to ensure that they're fully game-ready.”
This type of technology does not prevent or accurately predict freak accidents such as ACL tears–rather it helps athletes with lingering injuries through the rehab process. This is important to a league that averages 6-7 injuries per game and whose injuries have incredibly long-lasting effects on its players.
Wearable devices linked with artificial intelligence capabilities have erupted in the sports technology sector as tennis, golf, soccer and many other sports have all adopted this new product line.
The Adidas MiCoach elite system lets soccer players wear sensors that monitor speed, distance and heart rate which can be relayed back to coaches to determine individual fatigue and performance in order to make substitutions as well as adjustments to the game plan.
Coaches can use platforms such as Adidas MiCoach elite system to compare players’ overall movement statistics to previous games. Coaches now have evidence for their theories that their team is not playing hard in certain games as they can compare an individual’s distance, speed and acceleration to past games.
AI increases players’ performances as well as injury prevention, which improves the overall quality of the sport and leads to a more entertaining product for sports fans.
Fan experiences have enhanced through the implementation of artificial intelligence and modern technology in stadiums, broadcasts and additional sports outlets. Wimbledon, the world’s largest tennis professional tournament, has partnered with International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) to bring IBM’s Wimbledon Messenger to the tournament.
Wimbledon Messenger allows fans at each match as well as those watching from home to ask the AI chatbot anything from Roger Federer’s game statistics to where the closest bathroom is from section 210.
With their instantaneous response time, Wimbledon Messenger allows spectators of the sport to spend less time on their phone or waiting in line for the restroom and more time watching the match.
IBM’s artificial intelligence is not limited to chatbots. Perhaps the most influential change they have brought to Wimbledon is IBM Watson, which can produce full game highlights minutes after a match ends. IBM at Wimbledon’s chief architect, Simon Boyden, explained that IBM’s analytical team has spent years developing IBM Watson to provide a labor efficient process to create game highlights.
“We've taken all the data and statistics and we've pushed that together with triggers, like the crowd cheering or a player getting excited, to highlight key points in the match,” Boyden said.
IBM Watson’s sensors are strategically located around the stadium and Boyden’s analytical team taught Watson how to identify crowd noise and cheers in order to create highlights that recap a game with all of the major moments included.
This new process for highlight creation allows for fans watching the broadcast as well as on social media to instantly see the video recap and analysis of the match.
With the extensive benefits of modern technology in sports, its flaws still exist. Currently, soccer has attempted to introduce Video Assistant Referees (VAR) into the Premier League, soccer’s top professional league, as an attempt to eliminate human errors in referee calls such as offsides.
Kenan Malik, a British data scientist, discussed the enablement of artificial intelligence in the form of VARs in soccer and how taking away the human element can cause issues within the integrity of the sport in a scope of the offsides rule.
“A player is offside if any part of his body is nearer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent,” Malik said. “The rule is there primarily to stop a forward gaining an unfair advantage by ignoring the play and simply standing near the goal waiting for the ball.”
However, Malik later points out VAR ignores the context of gaining an unfair advantage and how this loophole caused Liverpool forward, Roberto Firmino’s goal to be called off.
Simple misunderstandings such as Firmino’s goal exemplifies why VAR in theory should work to eliminate human error, but in practice still isn’t perfect.
VAR as well as other technology has revealed we should be cautious of relying on technology to provide more accuracy than humans because machines can only be as effective and smart as the humans who created it.
Eventually robots and artificial intelligence could replace our beloved coaches and athletes that people idolize.
The exploitation of artificial intelligence represents an ethical dilemma as this form of technology could lead to the depletion of jobs in coaching, general management and even athletes.
The acceptance of technology in sports has enhanced sports as we know it and has led to wearable technology that monitors injuries and automated highlights analysis for broadcasts.
Teams and players have benefitted from better player development, in-game coaching and rehabilitation processes. Meanwhile, fan viewership has drastically changed through instantaneous highlights and AI chatbots at sports venues across the world.
As this industry will most likely explode in the upcoming decade, we need to be cautious about eliminating the human element of sports games before it tarnishes our favorite pastimes.
Contact Kieran Bradford at ncarpino@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.