AI is changing everything in the modern age, and lots of industries are having to very quickly adapt to the way that new technology is altering the landscape.
One industry that is not short of funds and is looking to embrace AI to create a better product is the sports industry. So, what are some of the ways that AI will change the industry? Below, we discuss some of the ways that AI is already being used as teams try to get ahead:
Setting the odds
Setting the odds is just one of the ways that AI can play a part in the gambling side of sports. Many people are wondering how AI and sports bookies will work together, but with such a great capacity to analyze data, companies are already using AI to pore over loads of data to help determine the odds for a game. On the flip side, some gamblers are also using AI to study the statistics to try to get a better understanding of what might happen in upcoming games.
AI can change many other aspects of the gambling world too. For instance, AI algorithms may be able to provide more specific and attractive offers for people based on their interests and habits.
Refereeing
Something that a lot of fans will be calling for in certain sports is for assistance for the referees. In recent years, we’ve seen technology being used to help referees in the world of soccer with some very mixed results. Soccer fans don’t necessarily want the video assistant referee technology that they have been subjected to over the last few years.
This doesn’t use AI itself, but there are other systems that are using the technology, such as semi-automated offside calls in soccer tournaments.
Lots of sports can potentially benefit from artificial intelligence in terms of both accuracy and the speed of making decisions. Imagine in tennis, if all the calls of “out” were based on a camera system that was able to provide 100% accuracy and a near-instant result fed to the umpire.
These things take time before they become a mainstay of an industry. The technology to evolve refereeing is only partially in place, but just like in the music industry, it is definitely expected to make a big difference in the future.
Each sport will need to make its own decision on how the refereeing or umpiring works. In some scenarios, this will continue to cause more controversial calls, and some people definitely want the human impact to continue.
Scouting
Scouting is an incredibly competitive part of modern sports with a lot of teams doing everything they can to try to get ahead. American sports with draft systems make it really important for teams to know what young talent is coming through from the college system and elsewhere.
Huge teams of scouts are involved in looking for players at amateur and junior levels to evaluate if they are able to make the step up to the professional level of sports. You can see why this is worth such a lot of money to teams. Some have developed a reputation based on their scouting, and their ability to buy players when they are young, develop them and sell them on.
Can AI really replace humans when it comes to scouting? There’s undeniably a lot of skill required to work out which players have what it takes, but a lot of the metrics can also be measured using video footage and AI may have the capacity to create a shortlist of players. In some sports, the athletic side of the sport is really important, and AI analysis of video footage may be able to tell scouts things like the distance players have covered within a game.
This is an area where it is possible we will always need some level of human involvement. There have been examples in the past of teams trying to move to data and statistic-based models. Famously, the Billy Beane-led “Moneyball” team, the Oakland Athletics, used a model to try to spot players that were undervalued, and take the human involvement out of scouting to some degree. Perception of things like how a player looked on the field were replaced by statistics.
Training
Of course, there are a lot of ways that training can be changed and optimized with the use of AI. A lot of this will come from data that is collected by professional sports clubs.
For instance, over time, AI may be able to analyze which training schedules offer the best results and preparation for games.
There are also ways that VR and similar technologies could be incorporated. A similar technology in the world of soccer is the “Soccerbot360”, which is effectively a specific 360-degree platform where players can interact with screens all the way around them, passing the football to the correct places or spotting things like the runs of teammates. This allows players to be thrust into a replication of the sport without having to actually play the game with 21 other players!
Ticketing security
We’re already seeing the world of ticketing change with AI. In some sports, ticketing is a big issue, as resale tickets aren’t always allowed, and there is also a need for people to be checked as they enter the ground.
Some examples of this include facial recognition technology that is driven by AI. This can help to ensure that the person who bought the ticket is the person who is trying to enter the stadium.
Similar technology has the potential to check that people are sitting in the right area, or even help fans with things like finding where they need to sit.
AI can be combined with cameras to help with a lot of different levels of fan security too. AI could be used to potentially spot any signs of unwanted activity, such as when flares are used.
Commentary and coverage
This is something we haven’t seen a great deal of yet but could be on the way. Imagine if smaller games could have an AI commentator!
Using video footage and similar technology, an AI program could potentially learn who each of the players on a field is. This could lead to a situation where commentary could be automatically generated. While this will probably never replace commentary teams on games, it could be a good way to get play-by-play updates on smaller games and those that don’t have commentators working on them.
Of course, the capacity for AI to change the coverage of sports offering new levels of personalization as well as new methods to communicate with fans.
Conclusion
There are a lot of different ways that AI will change sports, and there’s no going back on that now that Pandora’s box has been opened. Each sport will need to determine where and how AI makes sense to introduce. For example, there may be a desperate need for more refereeing help and assistance, leading to a focus on the officiating side of things.
Many teams are already trying to use AI to focus on things like training schedules and to learn more about how their players perform, including scouting potential new talent. We’ve only scratched the surface of applications.
