We are all resigned to when we do come out of the current situation, the business of sports will not be what it was before March 12 for some time. We have seen the images that foreshadow what we will see in North America being played on the diamonds of South Korea and Taiwan, and on basketball courts as well. Games being played with no people in the stands, and in some bizarre cases, mannequins placed to fill seats.
We witnessed WWE events where their athletes go toe to toe and look to beyond the ring instinctively to see…no one…and no sound. We are looking at the Bundesliga returning first to play in empty buildings…and the UFC readying for a fight in a secluded, an empty place. We have also heard players (no pun intended) say that they feed off the crowd and the energy, and playing without them would be hollow and maybe, not worthwhile.
So, with all that in mind, as we rethink the return to play, why can’t we reimagine and use technology to bring fans into the game, even when they are not there? No, we don’t mean artificial crowd cheering or launch tracks from TV production of the past…why can’t we use massive screens, high speed internet, aggregation platforms, and enhanced sound to bring fans into the arenas and stadia?
In the past few years teams and leagues have looked to improving two areas which at times are polar opposite: the at home fan experience and the in-game experience. Bring in better board, better food, move things to an interactive device and keep people engaged when they come to game; also lets go to AR and VR, and more and more interaction whether it be on a primary or secondary or tertiary screen so that communities stay connected and involved. Enhance the fan experience and keep improving it so that it is second to none, whether you are at the game or not.
Now we have all those enhancements, from the rise of 5G to online wagering, and we have stadia with massive screens and lounges and best in class seating, yet we can’t go to games for a while. Now we have to improve the experience for the ATHLETES. There are a number of smart thinking disruptive companies…Kiswe Mobile, Burst and others…as well as innovations at media companies where we have been able to find ways to aggregate video both live and recorded from thousands of sports around the world in seconds. We have companies like Soundcloud that had already started to refine the audio experience in stadia and concert venues to make the level of sound, and the clarity, better than ever before. So lets put them to work for when the athletes come back before too long.
Why not have mass remote…and by remote we mean observing social distancing…viewing parties that are virtual but are aggregated in the cloud and brought to large screens in stadia. Maybe one on each end of a field or at many places, where fans cheers and faces can be seen in real time, synched to audio. The audio levels can be controlled to go up and down as they would be in an actual game, but the connection, even in a distance, would be genuine and engaging and give the feel of more than just a cavernous building. Of course, all that aggregation could also be factored into the broadcast as well, pulling sights and sounds from around the globe and uniting communities as they watch.
It’s another chance for “traditional” sports to also borrow from esports and gaming, which aggregate the feel of thousands despite having a small in venue crowd. Teams sports are different of course, but the concept of pulling in the energy is the same.
Would it feel weird for the athletes and maybe look weird at first? Maybe, but go ahead and define what is normal today. Forget about the past. Lets look to what we are learning and how, at least for a short time we can redefine not just the fan experience, but the athlete experience so that if he or she is playing in a building without fans, he or she knows that they are there…they can see and hear them right over their shoulder.
No, it won’t be easy to do…but the value and the ability to showcase cloud-based video aggregation synched to audio…makes it possible. We love hearing the squeaks and the groans on the field of play, lets just make sure those sounds aren’t the only ones, it would hurt the competitive level, and the quality of our new normal. Let’s make sure those competing can see and hear us, when that time comes.
The technology exists, hope we can put it to use.
