One of the customers of global sports analytics data is the media. Sports organizations sell the rights to media organizations who broadcast or telecast the games on TV, on mobile devices, over the internet, et cetera. And one of the ways to present this game is the classic way it’s been presented on television for years, or to provide some of this data and insight that we have now that we didn’t have 10 or 15 years ago to the fan in the form of information.
Oftentimes in sports broadcasting today, you’ll hear something referred to as the “second screen.” And what that means is something that augments and supplements the traditional telecast of a game. We might be watching a basketball game when we’ve got the home team announcers, and we’ve got the regular feed that we’re seeing on TV, which covers the court. It might isolate a couple of players, and it usually follows the ball. However, we might also have something available to us, perhaps on an iPad, to watch on a second screen while we’re watching the game. Not instead of or independent of it, but concurrently. And so, we can iterate back and forth between the iPad or the television screen. And what the iPad is delivering you on that second screen is a lot richer data and information. So, it might be telling you shooting percentages of players as they’re running up and down the court from the position that they are in the court.
Now, the key is to not just present raw data to fans or inundate them and take away from their enjoyment of the game but to integrate this information in such a way that it can add to the enjoyment of the game. But you have to realize that there are different types of fans. There are fans who want the traditional, no-frills broadcast, if you will, where there’s an announcer talking to them without a lot of data and information. And then there are other people-oftentimes the younger generation-who also want to see all the data and information. Oftentimes what we’re seeing is we’re seeing this delivered on a second screen.
So, yes, there’s a traditional broadcast, perhaps on your TV. But on your iPad, you can watch a data-laden telecast or transmission of the game. And when we get to augmented reality, we might even be able to see stats superimposed on the shirts of the athletes. For example, we might see someone going up to take a three-point shot with the shooting percentage they have from that spot on the court.
So, this is the kind of enrichment that some fans will love and really help them understand the game better or just enjoy the game more. And other fans will say, “no, please! I don’t really want this!” So this is how media companies have to be very careful in how they take this to market. It might even be getting some biometric data someday where we basically see their heart rate, or we see their hydration levels. There is all sorts of information that can be delivered on a second screen. It’s just a matter of understanding what the fan is looking for and what would help enrich the game to the fan.
We’ve just discussed this important area of sports data and analytics. And one of the most important things to remember is that in this era of abundant information and data, it’s critical that you understand how to incorporate this information into decision processes. What insights can you mine from this information that can impact the probability of making a better decision in sports management? That’s really what it’s all about.
