21st Century Sports: How Technologies Will Change Sports in the Digital Age PDF
Preview 21st Century Sports: How Technologies Will Change Sports in the Digital Age
Future of Business and Finance Sascha L. Schmidt Editor 21st Century Sports How Technologies Will Change Sports in the Digital Age Future of Business and Finance TheFutureofBusinessandFinancebookseriesfeaturesprofessionalworksaimed at defining, describing and charting the future trends in these fields. The focus is mainly on strategic directions, technological advances, challenges and solutions which may affect the way we do business tomorrow, including the future of sustainabilityandgovernancepractices.Mainlywrittenbypractitioners,consultants and academic thinkers, the books are intended to spark and inform further discussions and developments. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/16360 Sascha L. Schmidt Editor 21st Century Sports How Technologies Will Change Sports in the Digital Age 123 Editor Sascha L.Schmidt Chair/Center for Sports andManagement WHU- Otto Beisheim Schoolof Management Dusseldorf, Germany ISSN 2662-2467 ISSN 2662-2475 (electronic) Futureof Business andFinance ISBN978-3-030-50800-5 ISBN978-3-030-50801-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50801-2 ©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2020 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained hereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregard tojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland Foreword Weliveinatimeinwhichsocietyischangingmorerapidlythaneverbefore.This can be experienced especially in the wide field of digital transformation, which is running through all areas of life and increasingly influences our behavior. Digital transformation has strongly influenced our life in general. The insights we gain from the digital world raise new questions especially when technology starts to penetrate the living organism of sport. Priortomytimeinthemanagementofaprofessionalfootballclub,Iworkedfor almost 15 years in the management of health organizations and institutions. In the early 2000s, the organizations were still using paper and pencil. Early, when compared to the sports industry, we transitioned to digital work—with digital files and integration of robotics and early methods of artificial intelligence. When I switched from healthcare to professional football in 2015, it quickly became clear that even in a prospering global mega-market, the use of technologies was bur- geoning but not particularly viable. Not until that time had any club assigned innovationdirectlytoaCEOandestablisheditasindependentsubjectarea,withits own personnel and necessary infrastructure. Despite this lag in technology adop- tion, the two areas, healthcare and football, that initially seemed so different were actually very similar in terms of organization and models of thinking. And, many of the initial questions were the same. First, there was the question of whether sport, in general, and football, in par- ticular, would be able to provide adequate and sustainable answers to the digital challengesofthefutureinordertoremainviable.Asalways,widespreadbuy-into changewasimportant.OurmainsponsorSAP,withwhomweworkedclosely,and all involved players intensively supported this challenge. Under Bernhard Peters, whohadafieldhockeybackground,manymentalobstacleswereremoved.Evenif innovative ideas were still occasionally ridiculed internally, it was more from the lack of transformational thinking than due to a fundamental obstinacy. Under the direction of WHU-Professor Sascha L. Schmidt, the first Harvard Business Case in 2015 on the use of data analytics and our football simulator Footbonaut were developed; and our digital transformation received the attention of the wider football-loving community. It became clear, however, that to adopt technologieswithoutclarityonthespecificrequirementsandneedsoffootballisnot goal-oriented. We realized that we had to start thinking in terms of specific and v vi Foreword relevant goals and went through several iterative planning loops with interdisci- plinary teams to ensure this was the case. Toimplementinnovationsinagame thathasbeentriedandtested forover100 years and isloved precisely because ofits simplicity, demanding change must add value. Through these meaningful, iterative loops, guided by specialists, we clearly formulatedourinterestininnovationandvaluecreation.Wewerereadytoevaluate virtual reality, augmented reality, machine learning, and wearables, for example. Wedidnotrejectthemasunfamiliarbutdidnotcommittoadoptinganytechnology withoutunderstandingwhattheintegrationprocesswasormightmeanforfootball. Another aspect is that sport is becoming a more advanced example of digital change. However, the performances offered must arouse the interest of the con- sumersandareconsumedprimarilybecauseoftheemotionstheytriggerandnotto thetechnologiestheyshowcase.Ofcourse,inthecourseoftransformation,welost matches,wewerelaughedat,andwerejectedtechnologiesandideas;butwewere rigorous, disciplined, and only integrated those ideas into our daily business that really made sense. We created innovation in football without losing consumer interest or emotion. Muchofthischangewouldnotbepossiblewithoutfreeexchangeanddiscussion with researchers like the editor and authors of this book and an organization-wide opennesstowardnewmodelsofthinking.Otherwise,forexample,holdingthefirst MIT Sports Entrepreneurship Bootcamp at our stadium and using innovations like the Footbonaut or the Helix would not have become an integral part of the cur- riculumofaprofessionalfootballclub.Theopennesstoseeusasalearningsystem is one thing, the exchange and transfer with the best technology experts without wanting to make football scientific is another. But the job is never done. Wedopeoplebusinessattheendoftheday;therefore, itisnecessarytoaccept thatwhatwehavelearneddoesnotlastuntiltheendofourlives.Weshouldbreak rules to make new sense and take the next steps. We should be aware that it is no longer a matter of discussing the introduction of technology but of action and experiment. If we call this process into question, we will not be able to meet the challenges for football or the industry associated with it. Sport and the sports industry must continuously demonstrate its future readiness to ensure its viability. Throughtheuseoftechnology,possibilitiesarecreatedtoaccompanyathletesor people who are enthusiastic about movement from their childhood to old age. As professionals, we are responsible for the handling of a tiny subset of elite humans whoseperiodofsportiveexcellenceislimitedandshouldbeoptimized.Takinginto account the integration of increasingly specific technology in training, rehabilita- tion,andregenerationaswellastheemphasisontheindividualeveninteamsports, we came to believe that more should and could be achieved by the sportsman. Through the specific use of technology, the athlete will be able to experience optimizations that we have not yet encountered before. Now, technology plays a decisiveroleinelitesport;soon,technologywillberequirednotonlyfortheathlete but also for the layman or spectator. Experts, like the authors of this book, will guide us in the adoption of new technologies and the possible applications for sport. Of course, this opens up Foreword vii completelynewchallenges thatwedonotyetknowhow tomeet.Thatiswhythis book is of immense value. The most interesting minds from different fields of research provide us, the sport practitioners and managers, with their ideas and innovations; together,wewill discuss,develop, andorchestrate thefuture ofsport. And, we should do so with the same passion as we have gained in victory and humility as we have gained in defeats. Because, at the end, it’s for the love of the game. Dr. Peter Görlich Chief Executive Officer TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Hoffenheim, Germany [email protected] Preface Today,morethan ever, sportisexciting, challenging,andeconomicallyimportant. My first exposure to the sports industry, a good 20 years ago, came while earning my spurs in strategy consulting when we developed proposals for potential inter- national sports clients. From a business point of view, sport was still exotic; apart from a few big players in football and a few sport mega-events, there was little to winforyoungprofessionals.Whilealmostnobody—includingme—understoodthe meaning of technology and data in sports at that time, I was keenly aware of my ownfascinationwithandattractiontothesports–technologyrelationship.Idecided then to not only invest my leisure time, but also my professional life on exploring the diverse possibilities and effects of sports, business, and technology. Technology plays a vital role in becoming the best—on and off the pitch. In manysports,wearealreadyatthelimitsofwhatishumanlypossible.Togethigher, faster, and further, athletes are like entrepreneurs who try, experiment, fail, start again,learnastheygo,andeventuallysucceed.Offthefieldaswell,sportbusiness leadersmustanticipate,nurtureideasearlyon,seedevelopmentsbeforeothers,and do things more quickly than others to stay competitive. In a world of growing uncertainty, it is a difficult task; and nobody tells them how to do it. They need to anticipate and judge the relevance of technologies that will affect their business in the next five to ten years and make far-reaching decisions whether to invest in a technology or not. However, the applicability of technologies like blockchain, robotics, artificial intelligence, and augmented and virtual reality in sport, for example, often remains fuzzy. This is where the book, 21st Century Sports: How Technologies Will Change Sports in the Digital Age, comes into play. It is a collection of essays in which leading experts in their fields assess the impact of emerging technologies like artificialintelligence,theinternetofthings,androboticsonsportsandviceversa.In theiressays,myco-authorsexaminehownewtechnologieswillchangesportitself, consumer behavior, existing business models, and how to prepare for it. We also dare to look into the future of sports 20 or even 30 years ahead and think about unknown unknowns brought about by technology. With our book, we aimtocreateacompassforthenextfivetotenyears—andfoodforthoughtforthe time beyond. The book should enable athletes, entrepreneurs, and innovators working in the sports industry to spot trendsetting technologies, gain deeper ix x Preface insights into how they will affect their activities, and identify the most effective responses to stay ahead of the competition on and off the pitch. I asked for fresh thinking from an international, multi-professional author team from renowned institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Queensland University of Technology, and the University of Cambridge, and invited a few practitioners who have deep technological expertise on what lies ahead.Overall,itwasparticularlyimportantformetocreateascientificallysound, buteasilydigestibleandentertainingbookwithreal-worldexamples.Ihopethatthe readers will have as much fun reading as the authors have had while writing the book.Ofcourse,thevariousexpertopinionsinthebookdonotproduceauniform picture or one conclusive future scenario, but rather reflect a variety of prospects. Despite all the uncertainties of our new realities, it is an exciting time and the technological future of sport is likely to be even wilder than is imaginable today. But,forme,onethingiscertain:thesports–technologyrelationshipwillintensifyin thedigitalage.Howwedealwiththistransformationinourrespectivefieldswillbe a make-or-break question for sports. Dusseldorf, Germany Sascha L. Schmidt
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