The rapid pace of technological advancement in the modern world has revolutionized every aspect of our lives. Sport is no exception to this rule, and several areas have seen a particularly heavy change in recent years due to the ability and availability of modern hardware. One of the most obvious examples of this has been the implementation of video assistant referees in many sports, which proved controversial in many cases.
Technology has not just affected sports on the field, though – it goes much further than this and includes significant changes to player nutrition, training, and even sports betting. When placing a bet required sports fans to visit a sportsbook per https://www.888sport.ca/son, the number of people placing such bets was a small fraction of the total audience. Today, our smartphones allow fans of sports betting in Canada and elsewhere to bet on our favorite at any time, wherever we happen to be.
Refereeing
Sport doesn’t work when fair play is not enforced, so the advent of technological assistance technologies for those expected to monitor games has proven to be a huge benefit in many sports. Referees have always had a difficult job – they are expected to see everything that happens on the pitch or field, which sometimes just isn’t possible given that we only have one set of eyes! This has led to various scenarios where match officials have been accused of favoring one contestant or team after making what others deemed a poor decision.
The ‘video assistant referee’ (VAR) allows referees to watch an instant replay of events before deciding. The technology also provides officials a means to take a closer look at what happened from several angles. Although it was somewhat controversial before it was introduced, few would argue that VAR has been anything but a benefit to the sports where it has been implemented.
Let’s take the example of soccer – penalties, red cards, and offsides can often dictate the outcome of a game. While games that utilize VAR tend to take a little bit longer to complete, it’s essential that human error is eliminated as much as possible and that fair play is enforced from kick-off to the final whistle.
Training
Keeping track of your workout or training routine can be challenging, even for sports professionals. Furthermore, the monotony of a typical gym workout is not always the best way to convince players to put in their best effort. Modern training equipment has had a huge impact here – take Peloton’s cycling-based hardware, for example, which allows athletes to virtually tour thousands of locations using a futuristic version of an exercise bike.
Performance can now be tracked more accurately than ever before, allowing managers and coaches to create personalized training routines for every one of their players. Wearable devices help to track and monitor heart rate, hydration levels, temperature, and brain activity. Every athlete is different, so having access to these metrics enables individuals to determine better when they should push harder or take a break. The effect of technology also extends to the diet consumed by athletes, who now have a better understanding of their body weight, type, and other physical conditions than ever before.
Distribution
The industry has benefitted enormously from the widespread availability of broadband internet and mobile consumer devices such as tablets and smartphones. In the past, cable and satellite broadcasters would battle it out for the rights to show the most popular sports on their channels, forcing fans to subscribe to their services – and be at home – if they wanted to keep up with the action. This is no longer the case, as streaming technology now allows fans to watch games using their smartphone wherever they are.
Social media has also changed the sporting landscape dramatically, as athletes are some of the most popular on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Because of this, sports personalities have had to adjust to the reality that they now have a huge responsibility as role models being followed by millions of young fans.
Older sports fans have also been quick to adopt modern technology, particularly in sports betting on SPORTS NO1. Some countries have been slower than others in adapting online sportsbooks, but the appeal of websites and smartphone apps as betting platforms is impossible to ignore. In some countries, the availability of this much easier means of placing a bet has seen a ten-fold increase in the number of people ‘having a flutter’ on their favorite players and teams.
