Top 5 Trends in Sports Tech 2024
Thanks to tech innovations, the world is shifting fast — not just in our daily lives but also in the sports we love.
IF YOU DON’T peg college students as gin drinkers, Snoop Dogg has some news. The rapper recently became the new title sponsor of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop (disclosure: we secured this partnership). But he was only approached to lend his name to the game after our insights team identified an unexpected stat: gin drinkers at sporting events are 47% more likely than the general population to be college sports fans.
The loosening of regulations by the NCAA to allow alcohol brand advertising is the least of the changes to fan engagement. Thanks to tech innovations, the world is shifting fast — not just in our daily lives but also in the sports we love. Better insights gleaned from fan data, greater convenience and more content are all on the table for the consumer. If there is a theme to the trends in sports tech in 2024, the old rules no longer apply.
1. AI Becomes the Ultimate Statician
One intriguing development in the sport-AI nexus is using live data to create news-style storylines. Instead of people looking up data on a spreadsheet or waiting for journalists to interpret the key moments of a game, content is generated automatically. That text can then be leveraged to create video and images. As long as the media is well-written and accurate, it will likely have a loyal audience.
The Six, built by WMT (a fan engagement tech company), uses AI and machine learning to create automated articles and game recaps written in the style preferred by individual schools. Arkansas, Clemson and Vanderbilt have all been beta customers. This evolution will likely push the market (including sports writers) to embrace AI. Services like The Six are already giving publishers an inexpensive way to get more content at consumers’ fingertips faster and better.
2. Smart Stadiums Go Ticketless
Stadiums are getting smarter. The latest innovations help management know who is attending their facilities and when. The Phillies, Giants, Astros and Nationals utilize “Go-Ahead Entry” facial recognition technology. Baseball fans who sign up for the program and have paid ahead can head straight to their seats without presenting a ticket. “This is an absolute game-changer,” says Giants CTO Bill Schlough.
In the NFL, the Cleveland Browns have started using lost-and-found technology in their smart stadium. The franchise estimates it receives over 100 claims of lost property per event. This solution gives real-time visibility into the stadium’s inventory of lost items and attendees’ claims. Run by the tech company Boomerang, the platform alerts potential matches to operations staff before reuniting people with their lost property.
3. Big Tech Plays Streaming Disruptor
Sports streaming isn’t new, but it’s set to become mainstream this year. Live sports had been the last refuge of cable TV, and now Amazon (Disclosure: whom we have a partnership with) is using it to aggressively drive its business forward with big NFL and MLB packages. The cord-cutting trend is only going to continue with the likes of Apple and Google, ready to take their own bites out of the market of the traditional media companies.
With competition, the value of sports rights continues to be astronomical. To spread the cost, Warner Brothers, Fox and Disney are combining all their sports properties and sports networks into one service. The joint venture is named Venu, but the industry is already tagging it “Spulu” or Sports Hulu, named after the model that put entertainment content from multiple networks on a single platform.
4. New Forms of Fan Engagement
Sports can be somewhat tribal, but building on that sense of community isn’t limited to stadium attendance. Digital platforms and content creation can also be used to drive greater fan engagement. For instance, the University of Maryland has partnered with the Sport & Story direct-to-consumer platform, which creates customized content for college athletic departments. Its free newsletter, the Terrapin Brew, delivers storytelling to fans via email. Sports & Story is also behind the WarEagle+ subscription service, which offers Auburn University fans behind-the-scenes video content.
Another engagement innovation occupies a different lane altogether. F1’s simulation racing arcade was originally launched in London but has now come to Boston and more locations across the United States (disclosure: F1 is a potential partner of Playfly Sports). Billed as a racing and social experience, the arcades are hosted in high-end bars. The experience is often compared to TopGolf. To borrow a line from the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl publicity, combining “sports, libations, and entertainment” will likely be a winner.
5. Data Powers Sport Marketing
Bringing Snoop on board for the Arizona Bowl is a testament to how data shapes marketing. There’s a significant overlap between sport and entertainment consumption, and the rapper is a true crossover artist. Our insights data has shown that over 80% of sports fans are also entertainment fans, so expect to see more celebrity tie-ins.
The need for granular fan data to allow marketers to better tailor campaigns will only grow in importance. For example, by using geo-location information and in-venue apps, marketers can personalize the fan experience by targeting specific fan segments and venues. For example, the company GeoSnapShot uses fan data and fan-submitted photos to drive more targeted advertising and engagement during the game. Sports betting is another area for fan data to excel. Not only in terms of marketing to fans, but companies like IC360 are using fan data to detect fan betting integrity and compliance issues for sports teams and leagues.
The Frictionless Fan Journey
Most of the trends in sports tech offer a parallel opportunity for brands to get their message across. Artificial intelligence and the evolution of smart stadiums are setting the stage for partnerships that will personalize the live sports experience to an unprecedented degree.
Meanwhile, the proliferation of content, and the ease with which it is generated, means fans can stay fully immersed with the fortunes of their teams. In effect, tech innovations are removing friction from the fan journey. Or, as the Giants CTO said of fans bypassing ticket queues, “You don’t even have to break stride.”
