EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES | BDO LLP
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41 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES | BDO LLP
SPORTSTECH
This prospective growth was, at the time, attributed to improvements in audience engagement, growing demand for data- driven decisions and operations, and an increasing number of sports events both online and offline. And then, of course, came the pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 upended sport globally, with professional leagues everywhere suspending their activities to limit spread of the virus. Before the pandemic the sports industry as a whole was estimated to be worth $471 billion . But as countries fell into lockdown, every part of the sporting chain from athletes, leagues, media and technology had to be suspended. In the absence of live coverage, the industry has been forced to find to find new ways to engage fans. The global value of sports media rights comes to around $50 billion . It makes sense therefore, that the industry’s first move was to capitalise on the spike in media consumption during lockdown, creating a deepening pool of past content
Swedish networking giant Ericsson is another noteworthy addition to the list. Edging into the connected stadiums market, Ericsson technologies focus on getting fans closer to the action, investing in everything from action replays for live viewers in the stadium, to live sports streaming and feature-rich second screen apps for a more interactive viewing experience. And finally Fujitsu , valued at $23.15 billion in June 2020, is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company that has recently turned its focus to sports analytics, supporting the Japanese government’s mission to grow the sports business market by three times (to 15 trillion yen) by 2025. CORONAVIRUS AND BEYOND Technology has been quietly transforming the world of sports for years. In 2018, the global sports technology market was estimated to be worth $8.9 billion , and expected to grow to $31.1 billion by 2024, at a growth rate of almost 21%.
can be put down to a number of key turning points in the technology sphere, many of which are not directly related to SportsTech but have readily lent themselves to adaptation for sports entertainment – advances in smartphone technology, the rise of streaming services and, more recently, the introduction of 5G. The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro was another key driver in the acceleration of SportsTech, prompting investments in a number of innovative technologies – among them, augmented reality, digital media and Internet of Things (IoT) – designed to engage spectators around the world. Then there’s the investment in stadium experience technologies, with in-venue services such as ticketing, safety and security, and real-time game analytics taking big strides in recent years, including the introduction of video assistant referee (VAR) technology to the FIFA World Cup 2018.
SCOPE AND DEFINITION A relatively new addition to the world of emerging technology, SportsTech has two main strands. The first – once the preserve of professionals, but now increasingly mainstream –focuses on developing technologies that change the way an athlete competes or helps them enhance their performance. This includes software and devices such as wearables that track vital stats and recovery times, technologies that allow athletes and their coaches to analyse body movements in slow motion, and equipment or playing surfaces that artificially simulate gameplay under different conditions. The second branch of SportsTech is focused on the sports consumer and includes any technology that better enables the viewing of sport, making it more accessible to fans. Fan engagement technologies have been developing at an accelerated rate over the past five years. This acceleration
American multinational tech powerhouse that specialises in developing customised cognitive solutions for players, coaches and event organisers. With operations in over 170 countries, IBM is valued at $115 billion. Another American multinational conglomerate, Cisco Systems is paving the way in the connected stadiums market with StadiumVision, marketed as an end-to-end video and digital content distribution solution designed to enhance the fan experience and provide the venue with additional revenue streams through targeted advertising with customisable content. Cisco was valued at $213.2 billion in September 2018. Back in Europe, software giant SAP looks to partner with world-class sports teams and leagues to provide software and solutions that improve fan experience, the game on the field, and back office operations. Founded in Germany in 1972, today SAP has a net worth as of $163.56 billion as of June 2020.
ACCORDING TO NEWZOO GLOBAL’S 2020 REPORT, GLOBAL ESPORTS REVENUES ARE EXPECTED TO GROW TO $1.1 BILLION IN 2020 ...
The Tokyo Olympics, now to be held in 2021, are already exciting a similar enthusiasm for developing new ways to make viewing sports more interactive, with some estimates predicting the SportsTech sector will reach $30 billion by 2024 . NAMES AND NUMBERS The world’s leading SportsTech companies include IBM Sports , the
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