Imagine being an athlete coming off a big loss. While you’re just about to hang your head in defeat and try to forget what happened, you instead realize your jerseys, your shoes, your stadium, your entire team office are all equipped with the latest technologies, tracking your every move, measuring the efficiency of each play and player. You and your team are in gear to change the outcome of the next match. Even fans – both at home and at the venue – are in a position to bring a positive outlook to current and upcoming games! Digital business transformation in sports is now extending the reach and power of modern athletics from the physical realm to the digital.
The analytics behind athlete efficiency, popularized by the book, Moneyball, has quickly picked up steam in most sports today. The physical, mental, and social factors affecting an athlete can all be aggregated, processed, and analyzed to help team staff make more informed recruiting decisions, and to help athletes up their game, both on and off the field. And adding to the effect of watching game film or video recaps, even coaches and trainers can utilize advanced analytics, or even wearable tech on the athlete, to understand what the most optimal path to success is, utilizing those insights to help their students be ready to perform at the next level.
But these new-age technologies are not just for the athlete. Thanks to the rise of smartphones and other portable devices, the fan experience has become just as integral to an athlete’s success as the athlete’s own performance. Immersive, in-venue experiences using augmented or virtual reality allow fans to feel like they’re actually part of the game, playing with their favorite athletes. Stadiums are even utilizing new networking and connectivity technologies to ensure each fan is connected to the team, the game, the stadium itself, and every other fan, inside and outside the stadium. In today’s day and age, a fan’s cheer is amplified tremendously, not only by voice, but by the click of a few buttons too – a huge contributing factor to a team’s morale and results.
From the grounds of the stadium to the comfort of your living room, many of the same immersive experiences had at a venue can enhance the engagement of viewers at home as well, across a plethora of media, including mobile, computer, and television. Moving past the reach of traditional TV ads, digital analytics on personalized content online can inform marketers of what excites a viewer, and when and where, helping create tailored engagement initiatives that keep a fan glued to their screen and cheering for their team. In a world where data is as dominant as the best player, utilizing this data can create new revenue streams and unlock championship potential.
New technologies have been rapidly transforming businesses across industries of all sorts. The sports industry is no different. And for as long as innovation is alive and well, digital business transformation will continue to alter and enhance business processes. Sports franchises and businesses engaged in the sports world need not only employ digital talent but set up the right processes and acquire the right technologies to create that all-encompassing winning experience.
For over 30 years, Mastech Digital – a leading Digital Transformation Services company and a premier Data & Analytics Services provider in North America – has been helping SMEs to Fortune 500s tackle digital business transformation and enhance the value they deliver to their customers. In short, we’ve been building winning teams with one of the best records in the industry.
The clock is running. Who’s your pick?
Vincent Moses
Senior Account Executive
