In 2022, a number of new technologies offered glimpses of their promise for sports—and their drawbacks.
An explosion of streaming services has brought more action to our fingertips, while simultaneously making it harder (and possibly more expensive) to find any one game. Meta showed off its vision of online worlds bringing us closer together, but performance issues led the company to put part of its Horizon Worlds team in a “quality lockdown” this fall.
FTX imploded, if you hadn’t heard, largely extinguishing excitement about blockchain’s potential. And that was only days after Twitter began writhing through an Elon Musk-led overhaul.
Over the last year, the Internet writ large seemed poised to offer fans things like better access to their favorite teams, fun new ways to connect with peers, and even literal riches. But the deliverables rarely matched the hype. Instead came another reminder that “new” doesn’t necessarily mean “better” and that, with a few poor decisions, the sports fan experience has the potential to actually get worse.
During 2023, we’ll see how the following tech developments impact sports, for good or for bad.
Streaming
This year, Amazon, Apple, and Google-owned YouTube have set themselves up to apply their unique philosophies to live sports. (Netflix remains on the sidelines. For now.)
Amazon went first, with its operational focus helping it successfully set a new standard for streaming sports with Thursday Night Football. Apple, meanwhile, has always put an emphasis on top-to-bottom design, which often requires a high degree of creative input if not outright control. In a league-level partnership with Major League Soccer, they’ll get the chance to show how they think modern sports fandom should operate.
Then there’s Google, which will lean on its decades-long history of organizing information and making it accessible as it builds a product to help fans watch the right out-of-market NFL games at the right time. YouTube made one of the biggest sports media splashes of 2022 by securing seven years worth of NFL Sunday Ticket. Now it will need to meet fans’ expectation of an improved experience—and sell a lot of subscriptions.
So far, tech companies have mainly only changed where sports are broadcast, not what it is like to watch them. After shaking up music and TV, streamers need to give fans a reason to be excited about games making the jump to digital. AltCasts might be that reason, though right now the best one—the ManningCast—resides on ESPN2.
Social
It’s not just Twitter that’s in flux; some pundits are declaring Instagram to be “Over.” TikTok continues to face regulatory scrutiny. Numerous other platforms have recently suffered layoffs in the face of discouraging advertising projections.
Athletes and properties have turned into 365-day brands thanks to social media, and that won’t stop even if the platforms change. Instead, look for teams and leagues to build even more direct relationships with their fans—the NBA and NFL are already taking cues from social companies with new features in their own apps.
Sports is primarily a community product. Teams sell an identity and an invitation to a group. As more of life takes place on the Internet, it’s crucial fans have a digital place they’re proud to call home.
Augmented Reality
While the Metaverse hogged more of the hype spotlight last year, AR has quickly found a home in sports. Broadcasters ranging from ESPN to Nickelodeon are incorporating virtual elements into their shows. Numerous properties are also experimenting with how phone-based tools could improve or enliven the in-person experience.
More radical change will come when (and if) a critical mass of people decide it’s time to buy (and wear) advanced headsets. Live sports content could drive adoption, but rights holders might also be wary of being burned on the idea for a second time in 10 years.
In the meantime, VR games like NFL Pro Era and Golf+ are already demonstrating interesting use cases. We’ll see if any leagues are able to leverage advanced simulators to develop a new generation of fans.
Artificial Intelligence
AI (called as much because we’re evidently on a nickname basis with our computers after all these years) will only intensify the speed of all those above changes. Automated cameras will soon be paired with AI-commentating to elevate the production values of more sporting events, including youth-level games. Online, AI promises even more personalized feeds and viewing recommendations, like a customized RedZone channel. Computational wizardry might also hold the keys to creating more advanced AR graphics and life-like digital spaces.
But then come the buts, such as the potential for brand-damaging fake videos and the possibility of minimizing the human element that has made sports sports.
There’s a lot of change on the horizon, and by now we’ve learned it won’t all be positive. It can’t be. In each of these categories, some tech will prove itself; other stuff will prove itself … to be a headache. Here’s hoping 2023 is not another rebuilding year.
May the best ideas win.
