Here, winning brand Singular.live, which claimed the Best Technology for Fan Engagement this year, enjoyed some great coverage in SportsBusiness. This focussed on their delivery of the October 2019 Eliud Kipchoge sub-two hour marathon.

Kenyan runner Eliud Kiphchoge made history in August last year when he became the first athlete to run a sub-two-hour marathon, completing the course in Vienna in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40.2 seconds.

While the event, the Ineos 1:59 Challenge, may not have produced an official world record, it was widely regarded as a turning point for athletics and what the human body can achieve.

It also represented a significant milestone for the company responsible for providing live graphics on the video feed to the website of sponsors Ineos. Singular.live, which also worked with Sunset+Vine to produce the graphics for its world feed of the event, was tasked with delivering a more complete and immersive experience for the audience which followed the epic challenge via the Ineos website.

The work, which won Singular.live the award for Best Technology for Fan Engagement, at the 2020 Sports Technology Awards, marked the next step in the development and deployment of interactive graphics technology designed to take users deeper into their sports experience by giving access to a range of data and features accessed via the company’s graphic overlays.

By clicking on the 1:59 Challenge logo on the Ineos livestream, viewers revealed menu bars either side of the live action. Each menu offered a number of options ranging from a course map to running speed, estimated finish time, the current and predicted weather, and access to social media to chat and compare notes about the event.

“It was the first time we had gone mainstream and we were delighted with what was achieved,” said Mike Ward of Singular.live.

“We have continued to build on that and, very recently, we have provided interactive overlay graphics for the world championships of a major esports event on YouTube and the publishers’ own website which adds different experiences. In that case the interactive overlays facilitate merchandise sales, give the ability to select player cams, and offer access to a second screen experience by scanning a QR code which is unveiled by clicking an on-screen graphic icon.

“That’s a breakthrough because it means the publisher, governing body or rights-holder doesn’t have to build their own second screen app and users don’t have a rarely used app sitting on their phone,” he said.

That breadth of functionality is an indication of how far Singular.live has come since it was first envisioned some five years ago by founder and CTO Hubert Oehm, one of the creators of the Vizrt graphics system.

“I was working with Hubert on a project for beIN in Doha and we were amazed by the amount of equipment, space and manpower which was needed to provide what were essentially very simple graphics for live sports. We were looking at rows and rows of racks and hardware in their machine room and Hubert had the idea that there simply had to be a more effective and modern way of doing live graphics,” said co-founder Thomas Molden.

“He realised that it couldn’t require purpose-built hardware just to add graphics to video and we set out to find a better way,” he explained.

According to Mike Ward, that ‘Eureka moment’ came alongside the understanding that the way that sports content was being created and consumed was changing rapidly.

“The established way of providing graphics was fine for top-tier broadcasters like Sky doing Monday Night Football but outside that sphere, or if you needed to scale-up an operation to operate multiple channels, the legacy broadcast graphics systems weren’t ideal.” he said.

The outcome of the resulting discussions and collaboration between some of the most experienced individuals and companies in the world of live graphics, was the development of Singular.live, a native cloud platform that allows users to create and control custom graphics from a web browser.

Singular.live works seamlessly with OBS – used by the majority of Twitch streamers – Vmix, EasyLive and Grabyo, as well as the latest Sony Virtual Production platform, Grass Valley AMPP, Amagi CloudPort Live and most other cloud-based video production and playout products.

“The powerful thing is that it is a platform with a full authoring environment. The things we say we can do are just those we have thought of to date, but our clients can author (other) uses and are using merchandising – buying through the graphics – and betting. The flexibility of an open platform with both a full authoring tool and APIs is incredible. Our customers are already doing things with Singular.live that we never imagined,” said Ward.

“Because all of our overlays are HTML we can render graphics onto video upstream in a traditional, linear model or client-side on the viewers’ device. That means it is possible to deliver different graphics for different audiences watching the same event, enabling localisation and personalisation of things like language, choice of stats or having different sponsors onscreen. Regardless of the type of graphic or where it is rendered, everything is created and defined in the same Singular.live authoring interface called Composer.

Singular.live currently has over 10,000 sign ups. Schools, houses of worship and other not-for-profits, can use Singular.live for free. At the same time Singular.live maintains a growing roster of Enterprise accounts, including many of the largest media companies in the world.

“Our users do a huge range of things from major sports events, to churches using graphics in their online services during lockdown, to a school in Hawaii which uses graphics in streaming its Spelling Bee,” Ward explained.

“Our approach is to be very collaborative and we currently have over 50 certified partners and are natively compatible with many more. We are very focused on the fact that we are an overlay graphics and engagement platform which is one part of the production pipeline and we rely on being compatible with the other parts. We want to make the graphics the best they can be and focus on that aspect alone,” he said.

Elite Sport and Business Share the Desire for Delivering Excellence… These Brands Did Just That!

The STA Group is delighted to announce a partnership with leading sports trade media group, SportBusiness.

SportBusiness will work with the Group to identify and celebrate the very best in sports technology, featuring some of the outstanding examples in coverage at www.sportbusiness.com. Recent examples include interviews with 2020 Sports Technology Awards winners, Goodform – for its work with F1, and Singular.Live – for its work with Sunset+Vine on the INEOS 1.59 Challenge.

Rebecca Hopkins, CEO of The STA Group, explained: ‘Our mission is to ‘Inform, Inspire and Celebrate’ and SportBusiness’ support ensures we’ll do this with even more leading industry executives, more often. Their operations in London, New York, Miami and Singapore are testament to their global status, and reflects our ambition of keeping our place as the leading celebration of tech-led innovation in the sports world today.’

SportBusiness  group editorial director, Kevin Roberts, said: ‘We share the STA Group’s desire to identify and celebrate the technology which will shape sport in the years ahead. Our recently launched Technology and Innovation Portal will be the place to go for coverage of the individuals and organisations whose foresight, imagination and determination to push the barriers of what can be done will continue to change the nature of the business and create new opportunities and revenue streams.’

The STA Group’s other partners include Capgemini, Charles Russell Speechlys, EIS, The Londoner and Ticketmaster Sport.

The Sports Technology Awards are open for entries until 30^th November 2020. For more information please visit https://www.sportstechgroup.org/awards/sta/

https://www.sportstechgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/27-WINNERS.pdf

It seems that however experienced in business you might be, there’s always a new term or acronym that comes along to stump you. If you are a start-up business, especially one navigating its way through this minefield for the first time, this can be especially baffling so here’s an A to Z of terms, put together by our friends at Sightline Ventures, that it will pay you to get to know.

• Accelerator: a place where start-ups are offered mentorship, office space, education and sometimes funding
• Accredited Investor: a wealthy individual who could put funds into your business
• Advisory: industry terminology meaning advice
• Annual Revenues: how much income your company achieves each year, commonly known as ‘turnover’ in the UK
• B2B / B2C: this refers to your target market and means whether you sell to businesses (ie B2B) or the public (ie B2C)
• Beta Product: pre-release product which has been tested in-house and is shared with selected third parties before being put on sale / made widely available
• Bootstrap: a way of funding a young business through securing money from family, friends or personal savings
• Bottom Line: a company’s income after all expenses have been deducted from revenues
• Burn Rate: how quickly a company is getting through its money
• Business Development: essentially this is sales but goes beyond simple transactions insofar as it is also about creating longer-term, meaning relationship with future business prospects
• Churn Rate: the annual rate at which customers stop buying your product / fail to resubscribe
• Competition: other businesses which create an identical, similar or partially competition product
• Pitch Deck: a presentation document that provides an overview of / markets your business
• Exit Strategy: the timing and style of how you sell your business
• Financials: most commonly this refers to three core figures: annual revenues, sales and profit
• Fundraising: this isn’t just about getting money, it’s about the type of money you raise – ie investment via shares or debt from loans
• Hockey Stick: this is a way of describing business growth meaning after a short period of establishing themselves, businesses hit a turning point and achieve sustained and significant income
• HNW: High net worth – ie rich people!
• Incubator: see ‘accelerator’
• Initial Validation: this is where a business or software has undergone research or testing to prove it is viable
• IP: this means ‘intellectual property’ – ie something which has been created by a person or business that is legally assigned to that entity via patents, copyright or similar
• Iterate: this is the process of refining a proposition
• M&A: meaning ‘mergers and acquisition’, this is a catch-all phrase that relates to the consolidation of companies or assets through financial transactions
• Market Opportunity: the identified need of businesses or consumers for a specific product or service
• Market Penetration: how to achieve sales into a defined market sector
• MVP: meaning ‘minimum viable product’ this refers to the initial stage of creating a workable and marketable version of a commercial product or service
• Pivot: to pivot is to alter a company’s business strategy in order to accommodate changes in its industry, customer preferences, or any other factor impacting the bottom line (see bottom line)
• PMF: meaning ‘product market fit’, which means does a company’s output meet the needs of its target market and does so better than its competitors – for many investors this determines the attractiveness of a young business
• Proposition: this is what your business offering is
• ROI: meaning ‘return on investment’, this is the calculation of the sum repaid relative to the money put in
• Seed Funding: the sum of money needed to launch a new business venture; often start-ups do several rounds of seed funding before seeking series A investment
• Series A: this is usually the first venture capital funding for a business so involves significantly higher amounts than earlier levels of funding
• SIV: this means ‘structured investment vehicle’ – forget it, it’s not for start-ups
• SVP: an SPV is a ‘special purpose vehicle’ which allows multiple investors to pool funds to invest in a start-up
• Sweat Equity: essentially this is unpaid effort by founders or suppliers which is exchanged for a stake in the company
• USP: meaning ‘unique selling proposition’, which the point identified by a business owner as the reason its product or service is different from and better than that of its competition
• Value Proposition: this is how a business is defined and differentiated from its competition
• Venture Capital: this is funding from businesses which provide private equity to young businesses with long-term potential

If you have a great, young sports tech business, you should learn more about The Startups here

Sports Technology Investment Set for Disruption

Sightline Ventures Launches ‘Growth Partnership’ Model

Yesterday (London) three industry executivess, Rebecca Hopkins, Garth Shephard and Martyn Ryan, launched Sightline Ventures. Aimed at sports technology business, the business will ‘support, develop and invest’ young companies with its ‘growth partnership’ concept.

Garth Shephard explained: ‘We’ve created a unique growth partnership proposition which is a hybrid offering advisory and funding, that accelerates the development of a company. We’re ‘stage-agnostic’, so will be equally relevant to start-ups, scale-ups or later stage businesses. We give exciting sports technology businesses access to experienced, sector-specialist consultancy spanning marketing, commercial, strategic, M&A and fundraising advisory, with funding from our own network’  He added:  ‘Times might currently be tough however, as 2021 becomes an ever more ‘golden year’ for sport, companies which undertake good business management now could be excellently placed for next year – but they need the right funding and advice.’

This concept has emerged from the 80 years’ collective experience of the partners:

• Garth Shephard is an experienced corporate finance (fundraising and M&A) professional, who has advised a significant number of technology businesses, including their institutional investors, helping them execute and realise their strategic ambitions;
• As well as being a director of Cardiff Blues, Martyn Ryan holds several non-executive, consultancy and trustee positions across a range of organizations in sports, finance and the arts. His career spanned finance, risk, operations and compliance, primarily at Genesis investment Management where he was a Partner and COO; and
• Rebecca Hopkins is a sports communications professional, entrepreneur and CEO of The STA Group, the international comms, events and consultancy business which celebrates all aspects of tech-led innovations in sport.

Rebecca’s roles in both Sightline Ventures and The STA Group means that there will be strong links between the two companies, she explained: ‘We are all experienced sports sector entrepreneurs but have earned our knowledge in very different areas of the business. As such, we are uniquely well placed to understand the sports market, the technology which best serves it and the challenges businesses face when looking to operate successfully within it.’

To find out more about Sightline Ventures visit https://www.sightline.ventures

In line with current industry thinking, The STA Group, owners of The Sports Technology Awards, has taken the decision – in partnership with our colleagues at The Londoner – to move the Sports Technology Awards ceremony to Thursday 10^th September.

The ceremony is always an exciting, fun and commercially useful evening, largely because executives and investors from the global sports community fly in to meet and engage with their peers. We care passionately about providing an atmosphere where everyone present is confident of enjoying the experience fully and since the current climate doesn’t permit us to do that, we have taken the step of delaying this year’s ceremony accordingly.

All tickets sold are fully transferable and our Commercial Team will be making contact with our network to ensure everyone likely to attend the event is fully informed of these changes. If you have any immediate questions please email us on info@sportstechgroup.org or call +44 (0)20 3150 2080.

You do not have to worry about these changes when booking tickets as everything has already been updated on our ticketing page.

In the meantime, The STA Group team wishes you the best of luck with sustaining your organizations throughout the forthcoming months and hope for happy and healthy times ahead for us all.

Stay safe.

93 Brands, 19 Unique Sports and 10 Governing Bodies make the List

LONDON, UK: On 11^th March 2020 the Sports Technology Awards 2020 shortlist was revealed, featuring the innovations and technologies that are now in contention for an internationally coveted STA trophy.

Having received hundreds of entries, from 31 countries, representing 45 sports, 50 industry leaders from sports, technology and business spent approximately 25 days collectively determined which were the best in 15 individual categories. One again the full shortlist comprises some of sports biggest organizations as well as many of its most visionary, including F1, ASICS, World Athletics, Manchester United and La Liga lining up to contest the silverware against emerging brands such as ShotTracker, WearTech Therapeutics and Let’s Do This.

Rebecca Hopkins, STA Group CEO, said: ‘The range of technology showcased this year, as well as the caliber of organizations participating, has been outstanding. The Sports Technology Awards are a highly prized, globally respected mark of excellence but this has only been possible thanks to our amazingly knowledgeable, committed judges and the support of visionary brands across the international sector. Consequently, it is reasonable to claim that this shortlist is a comprehensive, unique and authoritative representation of what innovations are important in sport. We look forward to announcing the winners at our ceremony on the 10th September at The Londoner, Leicester Square.’

Asha Philip, multi-medalist Olympic sprinter, and Bryan Habana, legendary Rugby World Cup winner and members of the judging panel added: ‘Any athlete serious about their performance embraces technology; we thought our knowledge was good but having seen the range of technologies now out there, as well as how innovative they are, we are staggered by how fast our world is evolving. Being shortlisted is a real achievement given the standard of entries we reviewed.’

The 2020 ceremony will be held at The Londoner, London’s newest ‘super-boutique luxury hotel’ on the hugely prestigious Leicester Square – giving guests the chance to walk the red carpet at an iconic landmark. Gathering to see which brands will win are leading sports industry figures, technology visionaries and elite athletes. Tickets are available through the Group’s Global Ticketing Partner, Ticketmaster Sport, on its Universe platform.

The 2020 shortlist is listed below

Agency of the Year

• Delete
• Eleven Sports Media
• Engage Digital Partners
• Other Media
• Sportsdigita
• WMT Digital

Best Digital Technology

• Blackbird: Ultra-fast Digital Content Creation
• Datapowa: POWA index AI Sponsorship Valuation
• KORE Software: From Data to Insights and Action
• StreamAMG: StreamPlay End-to-End OTT Solution
• VITEC: EZ TV IPTV and Digital Signage
• World Athletics with Creative Technology and Visual Edge Media: VR Event Planning
• Xperiel: Rox Platform Creating Mixed Reality, Gamified and Interactive Experiences

Capgemini Innovation of the Year

• BT Sport: Ultimate Sports Experience
• Genius Sports: GeniusLive Streaming
• Intel and Manchester City FC: Put Fans on the Pitch
• LifeFuels: Smart Nutrition System
• Nielsen Sports: Nielsen Fan Insights 2019
• Teqball: SMART V2 Table
• Wattbike: AtomX Smart Bike

Best Sports Equipment or Wearable Technology

• AfterShokz: Aeropex Open Ear Sports Headphones
• AfterShokz: Xtrainerz Sports Headphones
• Platysens: Outright Rowing Telemetry System
• PlayerMaker: Performance Tracking and Analysis
• SAP with Keytree and Sports & Wellbeing Analytics: PROTECHT Intelligent Mouthguard
• ShotTracker: Performance Tracking and Analysis
• Vald Performance: AirBands Wireless Blood Flow Restriction Cuffs

Best Technology for Elite Performance

• Catapult Vector: Athlete Monitoring and Performance Analytics
• LaLiga: Mediacoach Integrated Analysis Platform
• PlayerMaker: Performance Tracking and Analysis
• Spiideo: Sports Video Recording and Analysis
• Sportlogiq: iCE & PiTCH Camera Tracking Data and Insights
• WearTech Therapeutics: WearTech Tights

Best Technology for Fan Engagement

• Chiliz: Socios.com Fan App
• ELEVEN SPORTS: Watch Together
• GameOn Technology: Chatbots
• International Equestrian Federation: e-League Dressage
• Pixellot and Sporttotal: AI-Automated Sports Production
• Singular.live: Interactive Overlays

Best Technology for Injury Prevention or Rehabilitation

• AfterShokz: Aeropex Open Ear Sports Headphones
• Capenergy Medical: Tecartherapy Devices
• Contego Sports: N-Pro Rugby Headguards
• Empowerband: Interlocking Ankle Support
• Enertor: Enertor Insoles
• SAP with Keytree and Sports & Wellbeing Analytics: PROTECHT Intelligent Mouthguard

Best Technology for Participation

• Footy Addicts: Game Organization Platform
• Let’s Do This: Online Marketplace for Endurance Events
• Pitchero: Club Management Solution
• Spond: Grassroots Sports Organization App
• Swim England: My Learn to Swim App
• TackleBar: TackleBar Football

Best Technology for Sports Betting

• Colossus Syndicates: Sports ‘Crowdbetting’
• Genius Sports Group: Betgenius Live Sports Data
• Incentive Games: Free to Play
• Scientific Games: OpenSports End-to-End Sportsbook Solutions

Best Technology for Sports Commerce

• ASICS and iRewind: Personalized Video Technology
• fibodo: Booking Management Platform
• Formula 1 and Goodform: F1 Fan Voice Online Research Community
• Formula 1 and Meshh: Project Fanzone Sensor Technology
• Populus and Formula 1: Winning Hearts and Minds with Biometrics
• Tappit and Birmingham City FC: RFID Payment Solution

Most Innovative Sports App

• Apadmi and SailGP: The SailGP App
• Manchester United FC: Match Centre
• Paddle Logger: Water Sports Mobile App
• Racefox Run: Digital Coaching
• Spond: Grassroots Sports Organization
• TCS NYC Marathon: Official Race App

Most Innovative Sports Broadcast or Broadcast Technology

• BBC Sport with dock10 and Alston Elliot: Virtual Reality Studio
• BT Sport: World-first Live 8K Broadcast
• Kiswe Mobile: Cloud-based REMI Production
• Pixellot and NFHS: The US High School AI Revolution
• SailGP, Timeline Television and Whisper: Remote Production
• Sunset+Vine: INEOS 1:59 Challenge

Most Innovative Sports Partnership

• Ascot and UtterBerry: Smart Ticketing at Ascot
• ASICS and iRewind: Reaching Future Customers
• FIBA and Atrium Sports: The Connected Stadium
• FITE and ITV: Every Which Way
• MLB and Mitel: London Series 2019
• Supponor and Lagardere Sport: Virtual Advertising

Rights Holder or Governing Body of the Year

• International Equestrian Federation for Digital Fan Engagement
• RFU for Digital Fan Engagement with IBM
• World Athletics for Athlete Presentation Projection Mapping

Use of Esports by a Sports Brand

• Dorna Sports: MotoGP™ Esport Championship
• Formula One Digital Media: F1 Esports
• NBA and Take-Two Interactive: NBA 2K League

Please direct media enquiries to ENS on 020 3150 2080 or  email

The brand data contained on this page is an external submission and has been taken in good faith; as such The STA Group is not responsible for the accuracy of the information. However, since The Group wishes only to convey correct intelligence, if you have any concerns over the copy held above, please contact info@sportstechgroup.org

Sports Trends – What Can We Expect from 2020

This article originally was written by Rebecca Hopkins, CEO, The STA Group in City AM. 

Drama is the currency of sport but if 2019 gave us any universal truths, it is that sports brands’ below-the-radar work is the stuff making the real hard yards.

Over the past year, forward-thinking organizations have been focussed on creating highly tailored engagement, often embracing a social message, and better leveraging of newer media platforms. Two organizations which stood out in this regard were AS Roma, which used the transfer window to promote awareness of missing children or World Rugby’s work on TikTok during the Rugby World Cup.

So, what will shape brands in sports’ behaviour in engaging fans next year? Here are the ones I’m backing…

• Don’t Badge, Make Bank:  last year saw marketers focus on creating tangible commercial returns from their investments. Whether driving subscriptions, selling tickets or lowering costs to increase profits, brands are looking to maximize revenues, not simply flag-wave when creating relationships with fans.
• ‘If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product’: this was never truer than in 2019 and sits interestingly alongside brand marketers’ quest to generate returns, but how will the exchange of data for rewards continue? Two clear factors influence sports fans’ data sharing, namely do they trust the brand harvesting the information and is the reward worth it – a moving target if ever there was one? Increasingly this means highly personalized, relevant and engaging content delivered in the manner of fans choosing. Woe betide the 2020 marketer who cannot differentiate Snapchat and Spotify!
• Which R?  VR (virtual reality) has (wrongly) been hyped for imminent and widespread adoption for years; it will undoubtedly score at some point but AR (augmented reality) is far more embraceable. AR comes in two forms, marker and markerless, which roughly means digital images are either related to a product or posted in the sky. Some AR executions have been dramatic (if you missed Estudiantes de La Plata’s Augmented Reality prowling lion, check it out here) but its core attribute is the potential for gamification, a growing force in sports. For example, at live games, rather than firing merchandise into the crowd, fans can catch prizes virtually via their phones. Expect more of this in 2020.
• 5G or Not 5G?  People get very excited about the speeds and capabilities of 5G but with fewer than 20 UK cities currently enabled, it’s still far from a major factor in fan engagement. As the saying goes, quick downloads don’t compensate for boring content so backing 5G in 2020 is an each-way bet at best.
• Social Politics:  Any brand operating in sport which hasn’t yet reviewed its environmental, diversity and equality behaviour is already behind the curve; as sports battle to win over ever-younger fans, these will be key. Most has been done with sustainability: Tokyo Olympians will be wearing medals from recycled phones, the Aviva Stadium has 100% renewable energy and eco-cups keep nine million plastic beakers from landfill annually, but with live sports fixtures generating c.41 tonnes  of CO2 pa, fans will look to sports to improve both its behaviour as well as theirs.

See the full article from Rebecca in City AM here.

There have been some key trends in fan engagement in the sports world in the past year, and exciting developments are predicted for this year.

This article originally was written by Rebecca Hopkins, CEO, The STA Group in Campaign.  

The flurry of reviews and trend forecasting that happens in December is often accompanied by statistics that support the authors’ views. The beauty of these is that they sound impressive but, if you are making claims for a decade ahead, no-one is really going to call you out.

Consequently, in fan engagement, especially technology, there have been some absolute howlers. Virtual reality is very much not fundamental to fan engagement (as was predicted in 2014); the wearables market is only worth $24bn, rather than the $53bn predicted in 2010; and despite assurances in 2010 that paper ticketing would be extinct, there’s a large pile of them on my desk.

While the stunts often get the attention, in truth the past year has seen invisible innovations make the real hard yards. Certainly, we’ve seen some fun work in 2019’s major tournaments, but most activation was “quieter”, with emphasis on more tailored engagement, such as better leveraging of newer social media platforms. Two brands that stood out were World Rugby on TikTok during the Rugby World Cup and AS Roma’s leveraging of transfer-window interest to promote awareness of missing children.

It speaks volumes that Estudiantes de La Plata’s augmented-reality prowling lion enjoyed the headlines it did; it was an undeniably impressive piece of work, but battle arena game League of Legends actually beat the Argentine football club to the punch in 2017 with a remarkable live rendering of Elder Dragon at the League of Legends finals.

So, what were the key trends from 2019 and how will that shape brands’ behaviour in engaging fans next year? From what we’ve seen, here are our stats-free predictions…

More than badging

A major trend was the need to create tangible commercial returns from marketing investment. Whether by driving subscriptions, selling more tickets or lowering production costs to increase profits, brands are looking to maximise revenues, not simply flag-wave when creating relationships with fans.

Data: yours, mine or ours?

The adage “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product” was never truer than in 2019. This sits interestingly alongside marketers’ quest to generate returns, but how will the exchange of data for rewards continue? Two clear factors influence sports fans’ data-sharing: do they trust the brand harvesting the information and is the reward worth it? Increasingly, this means highly personalised, relevant and engaging content delivered in the manner of fans’ choosing. So, in 2020, marketers better be able to differentiate their Snapchat from their Spotify.

AR or VR?

The hype surrounding VR in sport has been deafening for several years, but it really hasn’t justified the talk time. AR, currently the far more embraceable tech, is winning the race largely because it is so nimble. There are two types of AR, marker and markerless, which in layman terms are essentially images related to a product or ones posted in the sky.

AR is dramatic (as Estudiantes’ lion proved) and lends itself much more to gamification, which has been a growing force in sports for several years. For example, at live games, rather than cannons firing merchandise into the crowd, fans can catch prizes virtually using their phones. Expect much more of this in 2020.

5G or not 5G?

This is another extensively discussed topic as the associated speeds and capabilities are so impressive. That said, with fewer than 20 UK cities currently 5G-enabled, it is still a way off being a major factor in fan engagement – and as the saying goes, quick downloads don’t compensate for boring content.

Sustainability

Any brand operating in sport that isn’t yet thinking about its environmental behaviour is already behind the curve. As sports battle to win over ever-younger fans, sustainability will be key – as well as being the right way to behave. Tokyo Olympians can look forward to recycled gold medals; Ireland’s Aviva Stadium boasts 100% renewable energy; and eco-cups keep nine million plastic beakers from landfill annually.

But with fans generating on average 41 tonnes of CO2 per live fixture, they will look to sport to improve its own behaviour as well as theirs. This trend has been a slow but steady burn, but the good news is that it is speeding up fast – in no small part powered by fan expectations.

The past 12 months presented another wonderful sports calendar and 2020 should be even better. The Olympics and Euros are highlights, alongside the perennial favourites of the Six Nations, Formula One, Wimbledon and Ascot. But the year ahead isn’t simply about great on-field action – we look set to see some significant yet subtle changes off it too.

See the full article from Rebecca in Campaign here.