In What Ways have Wider Technological Developments Impact the Delivery and Consumption of Sports Events?
II. Introduction
Innovations in modern technology and its developmental progression have affected every walk of life. Undoubtedly, the sports industry is one such area where technological developments have left numerous long-lasting effects compared to conventional ways. These developments have revolutionized the delivery and consumption of sports events in the modern world (Chanaron, 2014, p. 9). Due to these advancements, sports events have acquired diversified types of games in alliance with remarkable high quality. Indeed, the overall landscape of sports events has been dramatically changed due to the influx of technological developments. Hence, technology plays a vital role in the delivery and consumption of sports events. It allows practical training of athletes, précised coaching and management of events and tournaments on a larger scale, i.e., regional, national, and international levels. Mills (2017, p. 189) opined that technological advancements also contribute to accurate results, clash-less umpiring, an increased crowd of spectators. Similarly, these advancements have posed enormous effects on the administrative and legal aspects of sports events with the safety and rehabilitation of athletes. At the same time, they allow financial management of sports events to grab large slots of viewers along with funding and sponsorship from multiple agencies and corporate sectors. In fact, wider technological developments have impacted the delivery and consumption of sports events by leading all the concerned stakeholders towards positive growth with a bit exception of negative contribution.
III. Impacts of Wider Technological Developments
In modern sports events, technological advancements play an essential role in some games and also in improving some of them. Indeed, it is very difficult to think about sports events without modern technology and its advancements. The following manifestation reveals some peculiar impacts of wider technological developments on the delivery and consumption of sports events.
Enriched Sports Performance & Coaching:
The most charming aspect of modern technology regarding sports events is to enhance the sport performance manifold. Technological developments have helped players and athletes to improve their performance scientifically. So, the utility of modern sport-specific equipment according to body mass index (BMI), weathering conditions, and set goals has enhanced performance. Similarly, using software like Body Byte has eased the players in their training and nutrition routine by devising nutrition and diet plans. By following health planners like taking adequate sleep turns, and good training sessions in the practice fields are gifts of these technological advancements.
Similarly, Seshadri et al., (2017) concluded that coaching had gained perfection in extracting the maximum from athletes’ bodies. The application of wider technological advancement has improved their substantial athletic potential. In this way, the lack of communication between trainee and coach has been improved by using multiple coaching apps these days. For example, “earpiece technology” can communicate and even deliver instructional data to the athlete during play. Similarly, video technology has paved the way for distant coaching where a coach can train many trainees and scientifically assess them. In this way, the technological implementation leads to personal polishing of players and well-established coaching. Ultimately it makes the sports events more productive, organized, healthful, and enjoyable for the masses. Thus, the organizers of such sports events owe their performance and success to applications of modern technology.
Exactitude Judging, Umpiring, and Refereeing:
Over the years, the sports world is under continuous change to ensure betterment. This constant change has bred multiple situations where decision-making personals come under immense pressure. In many sports, the decision-makers have to face high pressure to determine the exact and accurate decision. To fulfill such a hectic duty, these persons must have a firm grip on rules and regulations applied to respective games. To ensure the accurate results and decisions, multiple governing bodies devised and implemented modern technologies in sports.
Moreover, these technologies have improved the refereeing standards in multiple games to acquire the required accuracy and transparency (Beckingsale et al., 2018). For example, the most popular technology is the hawk-eye system. It is a computer vision system and is enormously used in various games like tennis, football, badminton, hurling, and cricket. Similarly, Umpire Information System is used in Baseball, while the Microchip Balls System is used in Soccer. As far as cricket is concerned, umpires use various technological advancements like The Spider Cam, Stump Cam, and Umpire camera to ensure accuracy and precision in decision making. And ultimately, the sports events have achieved remarkable value addition under the usage of above said technological developments. Hence, modern technology ensures fair gaming under the umbrella of sports events around the globe.
Safety and Quick Rehabilitation of Athletes:
Berkowitz and Moll (2017) argued that the adoption of modern technology in the physical education and medical system had lessened players’ chances of getting injuries. At the same time, the technology has improved the healthcare system to ensure easy accessibility of treatment for injured athletes. Health IT allows researchers and experts to devise such mechanisms to ensure effective healthcare facilities to players. In this way, sports events have become secure and safe concerning health problems. There are fewer chances of players getting injured compared to the past.
However, the injured athletes have maximum opportunities to get recover in a short time. In this way, the virtual environment ensures that patients are at ease and relieved by using multiple exercises with various instruments. These exercises are fun, and the patient gets rehabilitated. Furthermore, multiple tools and devices are being used to recover the injured players. For example, a circulation booster is an electronic device that is used to recover the lower leg and knee. After minor injuries, this device accelerates recovery in a speedy manner by giving periodical movement to muscles.
Incredible Stadiums and Better Sports Equipment:
The adoption of technological advancements has enabled the respective quarters and authorities to construct incredible stadiums for sports events. The facilities and construction patterns have encouraged the organizers to conduct sports events without any break. The capacities for hosting spectators in huge numbers are worth noting in this regard. In this manner, due to modern technology, the guest profiles are built by using the collected data of spectators. The organizers use this data to facilitate the personals through their staff at respective sitting places.
Furthermore, modern technology has revolutionized sports equipment in almost all games. The said improvements have been achieved through continuous research and development efforts by the respective stakeholders. The conventional ways and equipment are undergone to modern ones with much more durability, ease, and safety (YOKESH & KUMAR, 2018). For example, raving cycles and rowing shells are made to cherish lightweight material. Similarly, the swimwear has made of polyurethane to ease the swimmers in swimming competitions. Likewise, safety helmets ensure more safety for athletes during sporting events. Like these innovations, all the other games like cricket, football, tennis, soccer, and hockey have advance wearing and equipment to ensure the safety and ease of the players.
Beneficial Financial Management and Sponsorships:
The technological developments enable organizers to make efficient financial management of the sports events according to their budget. It starts by using multiple finance tools and techniques regarding financial quantifications. Likewise, the overall estimates of expenses and turnouts can easily be handled by using various finance software. The main purpose of financial management is to discover ways to enhance profit up to maximum limits. Modern technology helps organizers to earn maximum profit without wasting a single penny (Ratten & Jones, 2020, p. 961). The revenue generation comprises various strategies that the organizers adapt to meet their goals. The main strategy is getting some sponsorship from multiple agencies and the corporate sector.
However, to get some sponsorship, organizers have to adopt various techniques. For example, the first technique is to publicize the sponsor’s signage. The sponsor’s signage must be placed where visibility is high. It can also be placed on organizers’ websites or get promoted through social media. The other way is to utilize your own magazine or newsletter to publicize the sponsor’s product or services. Similarly, the advertisement of sponsor’s logo on clothing screen-printed or brochures or pamphlets is also a technique in this regard. By using all or anyone above methods, the technology helps organizers to grab maximum revenue.
Young Athlete Development:
Sports events need young blood from time to time to fulfill the place of old athletes. Modern technologies have bestowed the sports events by developing young athletes. In this aspect, modern technology works in a dual dimension. Firstly it creates lavishing interests in the heart of youth to become athletes. Secondly, modern technology paves the easy road for youth to trace various platforms and coaches to fulfill their desires. In this way, the public tends towards sports at an early age, and more refined stuff is available to sports events. Digital technologies have urged school-going lads to step into the world of sports as professional as well as amateur athletes (Girginov et al., 2020).
Ensuring Security of Crowd:
Since 9/11, the present age is considered as the age of extremism and terrorism in the long run. To handle such a massive crowd in sports events with surety of their security is a considerable challenge. The main concern of the organizers is to make such arrangements that such a terrorism incident of mass destruction cannot happen. Meanwhile, technological developments have a huge storage of modern security equipment and devices, which help the respective authorities and stakeholders to secure the crowd as their priority. The CCTV cameras and communication devices have played a vital role in curbing terrorist incidents before they happen. Modern security agencies and personals are equipped with modern counter-terrorism tools to ensure the security and safety of the masses.
Furthermore, modern technology had enabled the counter-terrorism departments, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies to detect and defuse explosives. The bomb disposal squads have special instruments to detect and defuse the bombs and mass destruction materials. Modern technology can break the nexus of such terrorist attacks and terrorist groups by using artificial intelligence (Shortland & Forest, 2020, p. 57). So the threats of terrorist attacks and killings are there in such sports incidents, but the authorities are trained to nip the evil in the bud. The main concern of organizers should be to cooperate with the state agencies if they will organize any sports event as a private entity without involving the respective govt. It is necessary to make appropriate arrangements and provide total confidence to the participants as well as spectators.
Handling of Legal Issues:
Technological advancements have also helped sports administration on legal grounds. The application of modern technology urged the respective authorities and stakeholders to efficiently handle legal matters and legal issues. The same technology ensures justice and fair play among parties in sports events. For example, technology warrants transparency in disciplinary hearings, conflict resolutions regarding different contracts, certifies consumer protection, and protects intellectual property. The adoption of modern technology in these matters gives fruitful results, mainly guarantees the resilience of sports events in the long run (Losavio et al., 2018).
Vast Promotion of Events and Facilitating Spectators:
The developments in modern technology have eased the event organizers concerning its promotion and publicity. Digital media is too advanced in this aspect that the promotion of specific events worldwide is not a problem. The public gets information and updated news at home in no time. So the communication through social media is like addressing the globe regarding one’s stance. Similarly, multiple audio-visual instruments are the product the modern technology. These instruments have allowed spectators to enjoy sports and competitions even at far away event venues. The worldwide live streaming and live transmissions of sports events owe their existence to wider technological advancements (Mademlis et al., 2019).
IV. Negative Contribution of Wider Technological Developments
The wider technological developments also pose some negative impacts on delivery and consumption for sports events. Undoubtedly, the negative consequences are far less than that of benefits, but negative contributions are strenuous in nature. Various negative impacts in this regard go on as:
High Expenses of Sports Events:
The adoption of technological developments has increased the expenses of sports events manifold. The budget allocated for sports events has to bear a cut of the lion’s share in the name of modern technology application. Likewise, contemporary technology enhances competition among organizers, and the expenses of sports events reach sky heights. Similarly, modern sports equipment has high prices, including wearing apparel for athletes and players. Meanwhile, the rate of taxation by respective governments also becomes enormous. So, collectively the expenses of sports events have become higher due to modern technology (Storm & Jakobsen, 2020, p. 163).
Boosted Doping in Sports:
Technological advancements have urged players and athletes to use illegal substances to enhance their performance in sports events. In competitive sports events, this usage of unlawful drugs is termed as doping. Usually, breaking previously set records in a specific sport is the dream of every new player. To break the said specific record, athletes use these drugs to increase stamina and performance, which is illegal and unethical (Horcajo et al., 2020, p. 2242). For example, the tour de France has a tarnished reputation where athletes use illegal drugs during a bicycle race. The usages of illegal drugs vary from sport to sport, but the health risk of athletes increases manifold.
Technological advancements have made easy availability of illegal substances to athletes. The gamblers have strong ties with owners of various clubs, athletes, and organizers of sports events. They tend to urge the athletes to use these illegal substances for their sake. The health risks are high in this regard, and anti-doping tests are also applied to discourage this practice. But still, this evil is prevailing in the world of sports, and technology has become a source to enhance this hideous practice.
Gambling and Match Fixing:
Technological developments have opened the doors of various hideous practices regarding sports events around the globe. In this regard, the main illegal practice is gambling in multiple games like cricket, football, tennis, badminton, golf, and polo competitions. The online availability and access to sports competitions have energized gamblers to gamble according to their choice and wish. Indeed, digital technologies have left no difference in gambling and sports betting in modern times. The gamblers cherish online betting in multiple games in various sports events, and the amount of betting depends upon the magnitude of the vents. Online gambling has prevailed in almost all regions of the world due to the advancement of digital technologies. The worst aspect of sports betting and gambling is that it leads towards match-fixing in various games (Gainsbury & Blaszczynski, 2017, p. 482).
Undoubtedly, online gambling has paved the road to match-fixing and the respective authorities and institutions are struggling to eradicate it. Various agencies are affiliated with different games and are responsible for handling and holding competitions in an organized way. They have made rules and regulations to diminish this corruption from sports, but their struggle has not successfully eradicated this disguise. For example, ICC is one such organization that is trying hard to cope with this hideous practice. ICC has heavily punished many cricketers belonging to different countries in the past, but this evil still exists. And at the same hand, it is getting prevailed with time due to modern technologies (Forrest, 2018, p. 91).
V. Conclusion
Finally, it can be conclude that modern technology has left long-lasting impacts on the delivery and consumption of sports events. Technological developments have emancipated positive and beneficial effects on sports events along with fewer negative ones. Undoubtedly, technological developments improved the performance, health, nutrition, and practices of athletes. Technology has enabled coaches, trainers, judges, referees, and umpires to fulfill their pious duties with complete devotion, transparency, and accuracy. It has made the strong bond and nexus between trainer and trainee with sports point of view. Meanwhile, it has bestowed administrative, managerial, financial, and social benefits to sports event organizers. Technological advancements have aroused youth to be professional athletes and also opened a new global world for them. The legal or financial issues, advertisement or equipment preparation issues, and security or safety issues: all pay their gratitude for solutions to modern technological developments. On the contrary, it also has enhanced harmful influences like gambling, match-fixing, and drug use. However, it bestows new life to the whole sports industry. The need of the hour is to cherish its beneficial aspects and bury its harmful impacts into soil depths.
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