A few weeks ago I was watching a NY Rangers game (as I am wont
to do) and they had a system that allowed the trainers to monitor
one player’s heart during the game. This was particularly
interesting during his shift as the rate would elevate to the
170-180 bpm range. A hockey shift normally lasts about 45 seconds
and a one minute shift can leave a player struggling to return to
the bench for replacement.
The announcer said that the Ranger staff would eventually
be able to monitor all of the players hearts simultaneously (a
matter of cost and technology I imagine).
Technology is making increasing inroads into our beloved,
multi-billion dollar professional sports industry. Biotech and
testing for performance enhancement are already huge issues, while
training techniques and equipment have incorporated many advances
including computer simulations for improved motion, and high tech
exercise machines and programs. Instant replay and other monitoring
devices have found their way into the way most professional sports
are officiated and, on the production side, graphical statistics
overlays are all the rage. All you have to do is watch a rerun from
30 years ago to see how far we’ve come.
So where are we headed? (cont.)
In the seventies and eighties there was a constant battle in the
Olympics about what constituted an ‘amateur’. Ultimately, it came
down to what type of economic system an athlete lived in. A pro in
the USA was essentially an amateur in the
Soviet Union, and as a result, college students ended up facing
real professionals on the field (setting the stage for the Miracle
on Ice in 1980 when a team of young college kids beat a seemingly
invincible, professional Soviet hockey machine known as the Red
Army). As human beings begin to integrate more intimately with
their technology, these ethical lines will continue to blur and the
focus will shift more to what is possible and what is entertaining
(often one and the same). People, younger ones in particular, will
explore more radical, hybrid sports and experiences (the X-games is
a harbinger of this trend) and traditional sports will begin to
lose appeal unless they incorporate more technology, loosen their
grip on performance enhancement and make design changes that make
their games faster and more interactive. A consumer that likes to
increasingly affect the action, oft times in groups, will demand
this and will have a myriad of other entertainment avenues to
pursue if not so provided. It won’t be long before prediction
markets and social networks begin calling plays and making
personnel decisions. We are already starting to see examples of
this. MyFootballClub is a social
network formed around the pursuit of team acquisition and
management. Formerly the exclusive domain of the billionaire club,
this is being enabled by the web 2.0 social technologies of
wikinomics and
micro-investing. It’s all part of a trend that is increasingly
seeing the game being played more off the field than on, with the
actual games and athletes serving as models for simulations and
contests that are being run on computers and the internet. You
don’t have to look any further than to the explosive growth of
fantasy leagues and video games, with their the mind-boggling
realism, to see this being played out.
Given the immense passion for and power of the home team meme, I
don’t think professional sports will die a quick death – but like
so many things in the immediate years ahead – it’s evolve quickly
or perish.
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