Sports data revolution: AI reshaping athletes’ performances, gives fans content boost
It can potentially help coaches further refine training and game-day strategies, along with enticing fans to online betting markets
From tracking the trajectory and speed of a footballer’s strike to monitoring a Tour de France rider’s real-time power output, performance athlete data is deepening its reach in sports, with specialised firms eyeing to score big business.
The potential is huge, analysts say, not just for helping coaches further refine training and game-day strategies, but for providing novel content to broadcasters or enticing fans to online betting markets.
Sports data analysis has surged since the days of Moneyball, the hit 2011 film with Brad Pitt that recounts manager Billy Beane’s groundbreaking exploitation of player statistics at the Oakland Athletics baseball team.
Wearable performance sensors, new camera technologies and the power of artificial intelligence are drawing in companies looking to exploit the possibilities.
“When a professional club or federation has data on their players, we can analyse it and make recommendations on how to optimise their performance or avoid an injury,” Frank Imbach, a director of the French group SeeSports, said.
Some firms use the cameras in stadiums and arenas to track individual players at all times, whether they have the ball or not.