Commentary: Big data and the future of sports
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Technology in sports is wildly different today than when I played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s.
Congratulate Big Data. Advanced Sabermetric-type stats, instant replays, helmet sensors and goal-line cameras are currently deployed in just about every stadium, giving fans and teams new and valuable perspectives.
But what's next? What does the professional sports landscape of the future look like? The answers are rooted in big data.
As a player, I understood fans are a huge part of the team, but they've never really been considered part of the arena. In the future, big data will blend the two, allowing both parties to interact with each other in ways that give the fans more intimate, valuable and all-around more exciting experiences.
In the near future, using fan data gleaned from team apps, teams will deliver fans more of what they want, when they want it. Let's say, based on your purchase history, the app knows you bought a Colin Kaepernick and Frank Gore jersey last season. At your next game, you'll get a discount on a Michael Crabtree jersey so to round out your Niners' offense collection.
Similar tech will be embedded within stadiums and arenas to alert fans to a bathroom with no line, a food stand that still has some hot dogs left or a less-trafficked escalator to help you avoid the post-game exodus.
Or maybe you're upset about unsatisfactory customer service at the stadium. In the past, using big data, the franchise would send you an offer a few weeks later to appease your frustration, but now fast data technologies -- the next evolution of big data -- will let the team track that sentiment and approach you with a seat upgrade or half off your next ticket. What good is a seat upgrade offer or jersey discount once you've left the stadium?
The new player experience
Some of the largest impacts big data will have on sports will take place on the practice field and in the training room.
Tomorrow's on-field experiences will rely much more heavily on data than they did when I played, allowing teams to make smarter decisions in real time. Teams will use sophisticated analytics, like Omegawave analysis, GPS tracking, RestQ-52 and brain-wave analysis to evaluate players' health and determine their optimal play-time, when they should rest, when they should sit out of practice or when they should enter a game.
Let's say a player is a step slow on the field and it's not clear why. Using complex anabolic analysis, team trainers will look inside a player's body and figure out why he or she isn't at 100% -- maybe it's lack of sleep, vitamin deficiency or an undiscovered genetic condition.
Coaches will also benefit from big data. During a football game, for example, coordinators in the booth will have access to data algorithms that will leverage historical play data, opponents' tendencies and the current game situation to deliver in real time the percentage likelihood that the opponent will pass on the ensuing down. This is priceless information for a defensive coordinator. At practice, coaches will have tablets in their hands that track every single play, the result of that play and how each player performed, and 10 minutes after practice they'll have a full report.
On the collegiate level, coaches will have a more comprehensive look at their student athletes. Athletes and coaches will have tablets to track academic progress and class attendance, in addition to game performance. If an athlete reschedules a tutoring session three weeks in a row, the coaches will be alerted and will look into it. If he or she consistently struggles with a 5 p.m. class but excels at all others, Big data tech will flag this to the team as a trend and it can be addressed right away.
We're not far off from this next generation.
Much of the technology needed to make all of this happen exists today or is far along in development. A few obstacles stand in the way of making these realities, including stubborn technology-averse teams/coaches, small IT departments within sports teams and the challenges tied to consolidating and making sense of all this available data.
But it will happen soon and the implications on the entire sports world -- for fans, teams, coaches and players -- will be massive.
Former San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig is vice president of business development at TIBCO Software. He is a three-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowl selection.