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It’s a new week, and you know exactly what that means… Welcome back to The Sports Road, everyone! Bringing you the very best in the sports and tech world, this is your chance to be the first to know about how the future of our favourite games will look… Enjoy!
Here's what we got for ya today:
Could This be the Future of Sport?
FIFA
Basketball’s New AI
UFC 296
Most Valuable Sports Teams:
Let's get into it!
Rugby Will Never be the Same…
In the sports-tech world, things tend to work in phases.
What do we mean by that? Well, sometimes teams, leagues, and organisations are fooled by the novelty of how a new piece of technology sounds rather than, you know, how it actually works 😅
Being the case, the industry sees a lot – and we mean a lot – of change… But every so often, something sticks. Something so influential is released, that a sport simply cannot go on without it…
I mean imagine going back to Football with no VAR, Tennis without Hawkeye tech, and more. It’s unimaginable!
With that, it looks like Rugby may have found its technology that will change the game FOREVER…
If you cast your minds a couple of months back, we spoke to you about the ‘Smart Ball’. Introduced to streamline Rugby decisions, as you can probably imagine from its name, this isn’t just any average ball.
Powered using a tracking chip that exists inside of it, the ball will allow officials never-before-available data within seconds.
From throwing direction, to crooked throws, or tries grounded on the line, the ball has changed officiating in the game dramatically – and probably for the better, as well…
With the chip also allowing analytics to be provided for media and other partners, the scope of influence which these balls hold does not only lend itself solely to on-field decisions.
As such, the ball has already been used in the Six Nations, Premiership Cup, and Rugby X events. Seeing developers, Sportable, growing from strength to strength, this week may have just seen another big play being made.
Receiving investment of $15 million this week, it does NOT look like their growth will be stunted any time soon.
In fact, this could just be the start… Planning on bringing their game changing technology across various different sports, this week could prove huge for the future of the company and sport as a whole…
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The Potential to Define a Generation…
When we speak about sports technology, we usually focus on factors which have direct impacts on the played performance of any given game.
And, to be honest, it makes sense. I mean really, in such hypercompetitive landscapes, sport is being played at higher levels than ever and teams are itching to find that one idea or innovation that’ll push them above the rest.
BUT, the influence of technology doesn’t only influence on-field performance. In fact, it could actually be argued that a majority of the industry’s major benefits happen off it!
Helping connect organisations with the wider public, in recent years technology has become the main way in which fans interact with their favourite sports.
How? Well, through quite a few ways. If you’ve read The Sports Road before, though, I think you know where this is heading…
That’s right. Video games! Now – if you’re a Football fan – you most likely grew up playing one game – FIFA.
Shaping the ways in which fans young and old view players, teams, and the sport as a whole, while it may sound a bit wacky, the impact which the game has had on entire generations cannot be understated.
Undergoing big changes this year though, FIFA and its developers, EA Sports, have discontinued their relationship.
Creating a gap in the market, for the first time in over twenty years, there seems to be a free run at the title of best Football game.
For that very reason, UFL – a new free-to-play game – has been making some big strides in the industry. Placing an emphasis on ensuring fairness across its entire user base, creators have taken inspiration from some of the world’s biggest non-sport related games.
And it looks like they have been very successful. In fact, to put it into perspective, you just have to look at what happened this week.
Receiving $40 million investment from a group which includes – get this – Cristiano Ronaldo, massive things are expected from UFL going forward.
Could they be the next big thing?
The Future of Basketball
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has NOT been messing around this year…
Wanting to popularise the sport away from just the NBA, the organisation has been following a path that – here at The Sports Road – we can really get behind.
Embedding advanced technology into a number of their events recently, the last few months has seen FIBA use Augmented Reality (AR) courts, AI, and Blockchain-based technology to bring fans into their products.
And, guess what? As you can imagine, it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop there…
Having been partners with Genius Sports – a leader in sports data and technology – for nearly two decades now, this week has seen an extension (and advancement) in the two’s work.
Signing on until 2035, under the new deal, Genius will provide FIBA access to next-gen AI… Specifically, FIBA will be able to use Genius Sports’ Second Spectrum system.
Acting as an advanced player tracking software, the technology is bound to help FIBA improve the overall quality of Basketball by providing coaches and players more information and tools to aid in performance.
Furthermore, the AI will be able to create augmented and enhanced graphics based on real time data to provide fans with advanced insights into a wide variety of statistics.
“For almost 20 years, FIBA and Genius Sports have joined forces in developing the most innovative tools for Leagues and National Federations across all levels of basketball… Through this automated solution, our objective is to assist National Federations and Leagues to increase their reach and revenue and at the same time, reduce costs. We’re delighted to expand our partnership with Genius Sports to achieve this goal and equip the FIBA Family with first access to this cutting-edge technology in basketball.”
Andreas Zagklis, FIBA Secretary General
We Need to Talk About: UFC 296
It’s that time again, ladies and gentlemen…
The UFC is BACK and this weekend’s card is bound to be absolutely massive… Stacked from start to finish, UFC 296 has everything.
Providing fans with a near perfect mixture of exciting talents, fan favourites, and absolutely ELITE competition, you do NOT want to miss this one.
Showcasing two title fights, let’s kick off with the Co-main. Defending his belt for the first time after defeating Brandon Moreno in a fight of the year contender last Summer, Alexandre Pantoja will be looking to cement himself as one of Flyweight’s great champions.
Having already beaten opponent Brandon Royval once before, you can assume confidence to be high. But, it won’t be that easy. Always bringing 100%, Royval’s exciting style can be a problem for the champ. Constantly improving, this weekend is bound to bring out a more refined version of the challenger than we have ever seen before.
Going onto the Main Event, I mean, does it really need any introduction? WHAT. A. FIGHT.
Returning to the Octagon for the first time since March 2022, whether you like him or not Colby Covington is looking to finally get his hands on the Welterweight belt. Consistently bringing an unbelievable pace to any of his fights, the loud spoken American will be looking to utilise his immense gas tank and top-level wrestling.
Why? Well, he has a SERIOUS problem in front of him. Coming off a trilogy – and head kick – heard all across the world, champion Leon Edwards will be looking to put a stamp on his place as the world’s best Welterweight. Having already spoken about his desires of becoming a two division champ after this fight, Edwards knows what’s at stake this weekend.
The time is NOW…
Quick Bites
Champions League: The Roundup
F1: History
NFL: Times are Changing!
Meme of the day
I’m crying omds
— 🕴️ (@jonahrivr)
Dec 13, 2023
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Quote of the day
"He needs to grow up and go get a girlfriend or something"
Leon Edwards on Colby Covington
Picture of the day
🇪🇺⛔️ 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑: Tonight was the last ever traditional group stage format we'll see in the Champions League again…
From next season, it will be a 'swiss style system'.
36 teams will compete in one big league table, as opposed to groups.
Each team will play 8 matches… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom)
Dec 13, 2023
End of an era…
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