How Technology and Social Media Are Changing Sports

Post by Kelley McGrath (@KelleyAnnMac).

From how you do your grocery shopping to how you spend your leisure time, it’s no secret that modern technology and social media are having drastic impacts.

So how have these two forces made their way into the sports arena?

Sports like football and soccer are decidedly low-tech activities, which makes it all the more surprising that modern tech innovations and social media are impacting our consumption of sporting events in such significant and far-reaching ways.

Sports in High Definition

The first and most obvious effect of modern technology on sports is the fact that we can now witness it as it happens, and in stunning high definition.

We’ve reached a point where the in-home sports experience rivals and sometimes exceeds the experience of physically being at the stadium.

Not only do fans get unimpeded viewing of the game, but they have also eliminated (or, rather, greatly reduced) the risk of having a fellow patron spill beer on them.

Social Media and Sports

One of the most important changes that technology has brought to the world of sports is the nature of the relationship between the media, the fans, and the athletes themselves.

For better or worse, real-time discourse is a nearly daily occurrence for fans and athletes; fans can now immerse themselves more than ever in the athletes’ lives.

To some, this represents a sometimes unpleasant look into the lives of people once rendered faultless. To others, it is both a comfort and a thrill to find that in many ways, athletes are not all that different from the fans.

Major events like the Olympics have thoroughly benefited from the increasing prevalence of social media platforms, allowing people who can’t be there, due to geographic or monetary reasons, to connect with the Games and its athletes to more fully enjoy the experience. The London 2012 Games proved to be the most social Olympics ever.

The 2014 Sochi Games, however, pose an interesting challenge as rumors of a social media ban for journalists have started circulating.

Technology in Sports Stadiums

With all of these exciting advancements in technology enhancing the experience of sports fans at home, stadium owners have struggled for some time to entice fans to attend sporting events in person.

Basic accommodations like Internet access have so far been an advantage left almost exclusively to in-home viewers due to the erratic nature of stadium connectivity.

In recent months, however, the NFL has made great strides toward parity between the stadium and at-home sporting experience. By the end of the 2014 season, the NFL hopes to have rolled out high-capacity Wi-Fi infrastructure to each of its league stadiums.

While fans in NFL stadiums typically have access to cell coverage during the game, the local networks frequently prove incapable of handling the bandwidth requirements of massive amounts of people attempting to connect simultaneously.

As a result, the NFL is doubling down on its commitment to providing Wi-Fi, hoping that doing so will add perceived value to the cost of a ticket, prices of which have been increasing, despite the noticeably dwindling attendance over the past 5 years.

Inspiring Partnerships

Recently, a number of high-profile tech companies have partnered with NFL stadiums to either provide one-off events for fans or to bolster the availability of cell and wi-fi coverage.

One such partnership resulted in an unprecedented video game tournament for Madden fans, when Verizon FiOS partnered with Gillette Stadium to create the first #FiOSTailGaming event.

At Lincoln Financial Field (home of the Philadelphia Eagles), sports fans will experience high-density Wi-Fi technology courtesy of the stadium’s partnership with Enterasys Networks, a subsidiary of Siemens.

The bottom line is this: technology and sports, once an unlikely pairing, are bringing huge changes to fans. Have you witnessed any changes to the game as a fan or game attendee?

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About the Author: Kelley McGrath (@KelleyAnneMac) is a recent graduate of Wake Forest University and is working as a digital marketing specialist and freelance writer. She specializes in sports tech and social media.