The technological industry has the ability to push a lot of others forward. Many industries out there will lean on new tech in a bid to show themselves off, and show their fans what they can do.
When it comes to sports, there are millions of people around the world who follow many different sports each day. Some take this seriously, others are involved by playing or coaching, and some are just casual fans who like to sit back, enjoy the action and sometimes even bet on it.
However, what they all have in common is that they want sports to be fair, and give us the right winner every time. Technology has been used in many ways to enhance our enjoyment of sport, and make sure the decisions that are being made are right.
Yes, controversy has been taken away in many respects because of this, but now we are seeing the right calls made and ultimately the right results, most of the time.
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Technology for Officials
We have seen some of the biggest leagues in the world implement video reviews, referees or something else that is based around technology helping the officials.
For example, the Premier League in England have VAR in place, which uses technology for offside decisions, video replays for fouls and assistance for the on-field referee via an ear-piece.
It is fair to say that the response to this so far has been mixed from fans, but the fact is that technology will help when the minor details are all ironed out.
Other sports have seen great success with technology, and if any sporting league wants to be taken seriously over the next decade and beyond, tech to help officials must be implemented.
How Tech Has Changed Sports Betting
When you talk about sports, you also have to talk about sports betting, as millions of fans enjoy a wager on the action. One of the biggest technological moves for sports betting has been the introduction of live betting, which is betting during play rather than before.
This was led by the biggest bookmakers when technology was available to make this happen. We have seen bet365 build one of the best cash out products, allowing players to not only bet in play but also cash out their bet if they want to.
This can only happen because of the lightning fast information feeds between the stadium and bookmakers. These are fast and more importantly, trusted, so they can be used by bookmakers who have potentially millions of pounds resting on these information lines working.
Thanks to these lines, a bookmaker can offer live betting a game at the other side of the world and they trust to have information about goals and other key moments almost instantly.
The Future Relationship Between Tech and Sports
When you look at any aspect of the entertainment industry and the latest entertainment news you will see that technology is the driving force behind that.
The sports industry is no different to this and is part of the wider entertainment industry. There are two key areas that the sporting side is expected to work upon.
The first of these is continuing to use technology to get decisions and results correct. Ultimately, there is too much money involved in sports to not focus on this, everyone wants the right result called.
Secondly, look out for the sports industry to make their product more accessible, especially in terms of mobile. The future appears to be a combination of being mobile friendly and convenient, two boxes the sports industry will look to tick in the future.
