This year’s MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference has kicked off in Boston. The annual event brings together the leading figures in sports analytics, business and technology. Several sessions are planned over the two-day event discussing topics such as the next era of college athletes, sports wagering, women’s sports, ticketing and sports media.
Several sessions relate to data and analytics as the name suggests, however, many of the topics come back to engagement with fans and the way the fan is consuming sports and the data that is available to them. One of the sessions, “The Future of Sports and Sports Business” featured panelists discussing innovation and change.
The description of the panel asked, “How do sports organizations position themselves for sustainable long-term success?” The panel explored the future of sports and innovation opportunities within on-field experiences, fan engagement and how sports are consumed. The panel also looked at how organizations can use analytics, AI, and data to improve all aspects of the game.
“Content is king,” said Kate Johnson, Global Marketing Director, Sports, Entertainment and Content Partnerships at Google. She continued and gave examples of where AI could help create content needed. In one example, she noted women’s sports being covered at a much smaller percentage than men’s sports. AI could help create content that could help close that gap.
Another topic the panel addressed is the amount of content now being created by athletes. “The power in the hands of talent,” Johnson said. “… The power is so much in the athletes, the talent’s hands. To talk about and to generate the content that they care about, the stories that they want to tell, the stories that they know their fans will relate to. I think that is going to help traditional leagues and brands that are trying to work through an innovation in terms of a brand perception. The power being in the athletes hands is only a good thng, when those athletes are telling stories that only they can powerfully tell.”
The panel also brought up the topic of how fans consume sports and the change that is happening. A shocking statistic was thrown out that 40% of Generation Z has not yet been to a live sporting event. This is something leagues, teams and media networks need to be thinking about as they plan for the future.
The event continues through Saturday and a live stream of the conference can be seen by clicking here.
