Technology in Sports: IBM HorizonWatch Trend Brief

© 2016 IBM Corporation
IBM Market Development & Insights
Note: This report is based on internal IBM analysis and is not meant to be a statement of direction by IBM nor is IBM committing to any particular technology or solution.
Technology in Sports
IBM HorizonWatch 2016 Trend Report – External Version
Contact: Bill Chamberlin, Principal Analyst, IBM
October 3, 2016

About This HorizonWatch Trend Brief
2 Technology in Sports: HorizonWatch Trend Brief (External Version)17Aug2016
 Purpose: The slides provide a quick overview of trends in Sports Technology.
The slides provide summary information, a list of trends to watch and links to
additional resources
 How To Use This Report: Use these slides as a learning document and a
springboard to further research and reading on this trend. You may want to view
the slides in slideshow mode so you can easily follow the links
 Available on Slideshare: The latest version of this file (and other HorizonWatch
Trend Reports for 2016) will be available publically on Slideshare at
http://www.slideshare.net/horizonwatching
 Please Note: This report is based on internal IBM analysis and is not meant to be a
statement of direction by IBM nor is IBM committing to any particular technology or
solution.

Table of Contents
 Summary of Key Findings
 Market Drivers, Enabling Technologies and Inhibitors
 The Five Use Cases
 Seven Trends to Watch through 2017
 Secondary Research

Key Findings: Technology is changing the business of sports and
impacting all participants, including athletes, management and fans
4 Technology in Sports: HorizonWatch Trend Brief (External Version)
 For teams and professional athletes, performance data
and insights are enabling competitors to realize their full
potential. The competitive edge for athletes and teams is
fast becoming data, analytics and cognitive computing.
 For fans: Access to big data, analytics and social media
is changing how fans consume sports content and how
they interact with their favorite teams
 For major sports leagues, venue operators and team
owners, it's all about improving the experiences for the
fans by engaging them before, during and after events...
wherever they are and however they choose to interact.
IoT and cognitive computing are on the cusp of totally
transforming the way sports are played, teams are
managed and how stadiums are built.
 For amateurs: Sports technology will impact how
amateur athletes train and how they enjoy sports,
whether that is for fun or for competition.
17Aug2016
The Ultimate Fan Experience
– Infographic by IBM
“The global sports industry is worth
up to $620 billion today. With growth
that is faster than global GDP, its
long-term prospects appear strong.”
A.T. Kearney

Key Findings: Technology is disrupting the sports industry in five key
use case areas
1. Professional Athlete Performance: Data collected by sensors in equipment, on the field of play and
wearables (devices, clothing and ingestibles) worn is changing how athletes prepare for and play the
game. Analytics helps improve individual and team performance, during competition, training and injury
rehab.
2. Team and Franchise Management: Big data and analytics can give teams a competitive advantage.
Analytics will improve team performance and reduce athlete injuries. Teams are now focused on gathering
and calculating statistics that help them manage assets including athletes, staff, equipment and venues.
Also, this focus on analytics helps to improve the financial performance of professional sports teams.
3. Fan Engagement: Digital and social media marketing technology is transforming how teams reach,
engage and build a loyal following of fans. Fan experience is a huge market for emerging technology,
including the streaming of real-time data to fans. Some teams are already exploring how to leverage
virtual reality devices to improve fan experience and engagement.
4. Optimize Venue and Stadium: Sporting venues and stadiums are becoming a powerful Internet of
Things network. Technology embedded throughout the venue/stadium is improving both the collection of
data, the analysis of that data, and then delivery of information to the fan, the athlete, the team coaching
staff and team management.
5. Non-Professional Sport Athletes & Consumers: The adoption of consumer sports and fitness sensor
and wearables benefits from the technology being deployed throughout professional sports. Sensors and
wearables designed for consumers are tracking all types of measurements from players, equipment and
the field of play. This data helps improve the experience for all athletes no matter what the level of
competition. Looking forward, athletes born this year will grow up with conversational cognitive
coaches… it will be second nature to them to have this technology.
17Aug2016

Various drivers, enablers and inhibitors impact the pace of adoption
of technologies for sports athletes, teams, management and fans
6
Drivers:
• Improved sensors and wearable devices
• Increasing amount of data, coupled with improved data
management and analytical tools
• Increased need to improve fan engagement and
experience.
• Growing demand for real-time data and video access
• Increasing demand for predictive and prescriptive analytics
• New venues and stadiums
• Intelligent service delivery
Enabling Technologies:
• Cloud applications and services
• Big data technology - Apache Hadoop
• Internet of Things – Sensors & Wearables and Platforms
• Personal Technologies & Mobile Devices
• Social Media Listening & Analytics
• Cognitive/Natural Language Processing
• Advanced Analytics – Predictive / Prescriptive
Inhibitors:
• Lack of awareness of technologies
• Multiple offerings / platforms
• Budget constraints
Technology in Sports: HorizonWatch Trend Brief (External Version)
“The rising need of sports
organizations to analyze and gain
insights from increasing volume of
on-field and off-field data obtained
from various sources is increasing
the adoption of the sports analytics
solutions.” MarketsandMarkets: Sports
Analytics Market - Global Forecast to 2021
“The extensive technological
adoption and increasing
digitalization trends, such as
wearables, social media,
smartphones adoption, and mobility
among players, fans, and sports
organizations is giving rise to the
large volumes of data that needs to
be analyzed and used accordingly.”
MarketsandMarkets: Sports Analytics Market -
Global Forecast to 2021
17Aug2016

Use Case: Improve Professional Athlete Performance
• Enhance performance on and off the playing field.
• Get maximum benefit out of training sessions
• Put power, biometrics and weather insights into athletes’ and coaches’ hands, in real time.
• Empower athletes with real-time feedback using smart eyewear, video analytics, audio
technologies, and other connected device technologies.
• Prevent injuries through proper nutrition and training
• Gain instant visibility into athlete health / fitness
• Monitor individual and team performance.
“The English Premier League’s Southampton FC have broadly adopted wearable electronic performance
and tracking systems (EPTS) during training, and finished last season in their highest ever Premier
League position.” Gartner
“IBM has developed a groundbreaking analytics solution that automatically links rider and environment
data to the IBM Cloud through the IBM Watson Internet of Things Platform, allowing coaches and staff to
track athlete power watts, lap timing, new muscle oxygenation and match burned results in real time.
The data is then transferred instantly back through the cloud to Solos high-performance smart eyewear,
which integrates innovative, heads-up lens display and audio technologies.” USA Cycling.org

Use Case: Improve Team and Franchise Management
• Create player personnel assessments that automatically quantify team dynamics and
financial impact.
• View, organize and surface relevant historical and real-time data to evaluate individual and
team performance.
• Watson-enabled “Cognitive Coaches” could help coaches coach better and trainers train
better.
• Reduce injuries by monitoring player health, training and performance.
• Reduce injury rehab time by leveraging health
• Monitor emerging amateur and professional athletes progress and predict their long term
success
• Automate evaluations of current roster and potential player changes.
• Integrate operational and information data to maximize enterprise performance
management
“In an effort to gain a competitive advantage, professional sports teams are leveraging ICT and digital
technology.” Gartner

Use Case: Increase Fan Engagement and Improve Fan Experience
• Provide immersive, interactive experiences that turn fans into loyal life-time customers and
brand advocates.
• Give fans access to selected and non-strategic data collected about athlete and team
performance
• Improve experience for fans no matter where they are before, during and after the game.
• Listen to and engage with fans on social and digital media
• Help sports teams learn how the various segments of fans interact with owned and third-
party content.
• Create personalized visitor experiences that measure, drive and reward fan engagement
and loyalty.
• Gain deeper insights into fan preferences and behaviors to effectively target customers and
increase ROI.
“IBM Fan Insight turns fan engagement into breakthrough revenue for sports teams and venues. A predictive
analytics solution available on the cloud, it enables a 360 degree view of the fan, which forms the basis to
engage fans and enhance their experience.” IBM

Use Case: Modernize and Optimize Venue and Stadiums
• Provide immersive, interactive experiences that turn fans into loyal customers.
• Understand how fans interact with owned and third-party content.
• Integrate structured and unstructured data to create personalized visitor experiences that
measure, drive and reward engagement.
• Gain deeper insights into fan preferences and behaviors to effectively target customers
and increase ROI.
• Run your venue more efficiently to drive bottom-line profit and top-line revenue. Watson
IoT can help you:
• Make venues more productive, safe and supportive of the enterprise mission.
• Meet the intensity of fan’s demands with pervasive connectivity in and around the venue.
• Align facilities to business outcomes with optimized asset performance and reduced
operational risk.
• Turn stadiums and venues into sense and respond cognitive IoT network systems
“We know that creating the ultimate fan experience means meeting fans where they are, providing them with
the platform to interact in a seamless way, and introducing them to new offerings that exceed expectations.”
Rich McKay, President & CEO of the Atlanta Falcons

Use Case: Scale all capabilities to the Non-Professional Sport
Athletes & Consumer mass market
• Enhance performance on and off the playing field.
• Get maximum benefit out of training sessions
• Put power, biometrics and weather insights into athletes’ and coaches’ hands, in real time.
• Put sensors into equipment
• Empower athletes with real-time feedback using smart eyewear, video analytics, audio
technologies, and other connected device technologies.
• Prevent injuries through proper nutrition and training
• Gain instant visibility into athlete health / fitness
• Monitor individual and team performance.
• Compare individual training or play performance against that of an average professional
athlete. Example: "Your workout was at 65% the intensity of the average NFL player. Try
adding more cardio”
• Fitness and Nutrition applications tied to performance data
• Injury prevention and injury rehab
“The use of tech like sensors, wearables, and data collection and analysis by sports teams and individual
athletes is exciting news for the average fitness buff or tech geek as well, because elite professionals are
often testing out innovations that will eventually become available to consumers.” Verizon Wireless

7 sports tech trends to watch through 2017
1. Sensors: Sensors are getting small enough that they can go into all
sorts of sports equipment, playing venues and stadium assets.
2. Wearables: Smart clothing, glass, watches and other wearable
devices (even “ingestibles”) provide data and information on athlete
and team performance.
3. Predictive Analytics: Big data and analytics is changing the way
sports are played and teams are managed. The amount of both
historical and real-time data available to help the athlete, the coach
and the team management has grown significantly.
4. Cognitive Coaches. As AI makes it way into sports and fitness, all
participants will have access to intelligent conversational assistants
that provide personal instruction and information. Cognitive-enabled
mobile dashboards and wearables all help athletes improve before,
during and after the game.
5. Smart Venues/Stadiums. Venues will become vast Cognitive IoT
networks. Sports teams will integrate the operational and information
data collected by these network to enhance the fan experience as well
as improve the ROI of stadium assets
6. AR/VR. Fans want to be connected to sports teams and content
anytime, anywhere. And they want access to both the historical data
as well as real-time data. Virtual and Augmented realty provide new
ways for sports teams to enhance the fan experience.
7. Sports Data Security. Athletes and Teams will be looking for ways
to secure all their important data and analytics systems
12
“An analysis of 333 teams in 17
major pro leagues, covering
seven sports, 13 countries and
9,731 athletes reveal a
combined salary of $17.94
billion.” ESPN
Technology in Sports: HorizonWatch Trend Brief (External Version)
“Sports apparel and footwear
sales have jumped 42% to $270
billion over the past seven
years.” Morgan Stanley
“The 2015 Super Bowl was the
most talked-about in history, with
65 million people discussing the
game in real-time on Facebook.”
Facebook: Introducing the Facebook
Sports Stadium
17Aug2016
“Athletes can visit stadiums,
locker rooms, weight rooms and
practically every place and
aspect of their future team in the
immersive experience of VR —
without leaving their homes and
stepping on a plane..” Techcrunch

Selected content from IBM’s website
 IBM Sports Services website
http://www.ibm.com/services/sports/
 IBM IoT & Sports: Change the game with IoT
 IBM Interactive Experience
 IBM Sports Insight Central: One-page Offering Sheet
 IBM White Paper: Game On! Winning at the
Business of Sports
 IBM at Wimbledon 2016
http://www.ibm.com/innovation/uk/wimbledon/index.ht
ml
 IBM Stadium Infrastructure: Next Gen Campus
Network Services
 Smarter Analytics: Real time IBM Sports Analytics
(slide deck)
 Case Study: AMB Sports and Entertainment Group
IBM White Paper: Game On!
Winning at the Business of Sports

Selected recent IBM Press Releases
 IBM and Wimbledon launch new apps, cognitive and hybrid cloud
solutions designed to enrich the fan experience 15Jun2016
 IBM aces the fan experience at the Australian Open with real time
alerts and new social sharing features 19Jan2016
 Under Armour And IBM To Transform Personal Health And Fitness,
Powered By IBM Watson 06Jan2016
 IBM Launches First Global Consortium, Consulting Practice To
Modernize Venues and Sports Experience of the Future
19Nov2015
 IBM and Ottawa’s Senators Sports & Entertainment Team Up to
Transform In-Arena Fan Experience 26Oct2015
 Triple Play: IBM Scores Three All-Star Partnerships to Change the
Game for Athletes, Fans Using Watson 21Oct2015
 Pittsburgh Penguins Recruit IBM Watson and 113 Industries to
Enhance Fan Experience 21Oct2015
 IBM Transforms the 2015 US Open with Tennis Apps, Analytics
and Acumen 02Sep2015
 Edge Up Sports Drafts IBM Watson to Help Build a Championship
Fantasy Football Team 12Aug2015
 Cricket fans feel the pulse of Cricket World Cup 2015 with IBM
25Feb2015
 New Atlanta Stadium to Showcase Next Generation Fan
Experience with IBM Technology 19Feb2015
“Under Armour’s new UA Record™
combined with a Cognitive Coaching
System will serve as a personal health
consultant, fitness trainer and assistant by
providing athletes with timely, evidence-
based coaching around your sleep, fitness,
activity and nutrition, including outcomes
achieved based on others “like you.” IBM
Press Release 06Jan2016
IBM Launches First Global Consortium, Consulting
Practice To Modernize Venues and Sports
Experience of the Future 19Nov2015
17Aug2016

Selected recent IBM External Blog Posts on IBM’s Internet of Things
Blogging Platform
 Team up and connect: an IoT soccer project for good causes
(Aug 2016) by Ryan Boyles, Global Social Media Strategist for
Watson Internet of Things
 Watson IoT and Sports: Change the Game (July 2016) by
Amy Bennett, Watson IoT Marketing Manager
 SilverHook: It’s plane sailing with Watson IoT (July 2016) by
Amy Bennett, Watson IoT Marketing Manager
 IoT and sport: An infographic of play (July 2016) Infographic
posted by Liza Cooper, Marketing Intern, IBM Watson.
 Decision analytics for the perfect race (June 2016) by: Jean-
François Puget, Architect - IBM Analytics Solutions.
 IBM Analytics and Race Across America (June 2016) by
Doug Barton, Solution Marketing, IBM Analytics
 What can businesses learn about technology from a cyclist?
(June 2016) by Susan Visser, Social Marketing, IBM Analytics
 David Haase rides with IoT data (June 2016 by Liza Cooper,
Marketing Intern, IBM Watson.
 Create your own luck with analytics (June 2016) by Doug
Barton, Solution Marketing, IBM Analytics
IoT and sport: An infographic of play
17Aug2016

Selected recent IBM External Blog Posts – Other IBM Blog Platforms
 Client Voices: Cognitive + Sports Science: World-class training for
weekend athletes (Aug 2016) by Ryan Bertrand, IBM Cognitive Computing Writer
 THINK: Can cognitive computing help us re-imagine sports training
and technique? (July 2016) By Noah Syken, Vice President, Global Sponsorships and Client
Programs, IBM
 Systems Blog: Serving Wimbledon fans worldwide with IBM systems (July 2016)
by: Simon Meredith, Chief Technology Officer - Systems Hardware Group, UK & Ireland, IBM
 IBM Thoughts On Cloud: Cloud technology: A game changer for athlete training
and health (July 2016) By Laura Gargolinski, Solutions Marketing, IBM Cloud Platform
 THINK: Social, Mobile, & Cloud, Just the Latest In History of Sports Innovation
(June 2016) by Ed Smith, Course Director, University of Buckingham’s London Programmes
 THINK: Wimbledon Aces Digital Experience for Fans Around the World (June
2016) by Sam Seddon, Wimbledon Client Executive, IBM
 BD&A Hub: 5 ways to leverage sports analytics to grow your fan base (June 2016)
by Stacy Nawrocki, Marketing Leader, M&E Industry, Analytics, IBM
 THINK: IBM’s Watson: Helping Sports Teams Make Talent Decisions (Feb 2016)
by Jon Lenchner, IBM Research
 THINK: Embedding Intelligence in the Internet of Things (Feb 2016) by Nagui Halim,
IBM Fellow, Dir. of Streams Technology
 Social Business: Sports Teams Show the Way to Customer Engagement (Jan
2016) by: Daniel Davis, managing editor. IBM
 BD&A Hub: 3 ways big data and analytics will change sports (Dec 2015) by Preetam
Kumar, Portfolio Marketing Manager, IBM Analytics, IBM
 THINK: How Digital-Era Sports Franchises Pump Up the Fan Experience (Nov
2015) by Jim Rushton, Global Leader, Sports and Entertainment Practice, IBM
THINK: Can cognitive computing help us re-imagine
sports training and technique? (July 2016) By Noah
Syken
“Brian Moore is relentless. Moore
has spent 16 years using
technology to dissect the magic
that sets the world’s best athletes
apart from the rest. With his
research, Moore has launched a
revolutionary coaching application
and founded the sports science
firm ORRECO.” Client Voices: Cognitive
+ Sports Science: World-class training for
weekend athletes (Aug 2016) by Ryan Bertrand
17Aug2016

Selected recent media articles about IBM’s involvement in sports
 The Memo: IBM Watson is helping underfunded Rio Olympics cyclists go for gold
(Aug 2016)
 ReadWrite: USA Cycling drafts off IBM cloud in Rio gold hunt (July 2016)
 SportyVerse: IBM Watson Becomes a Sports Coach For Athletes (July 2016)
 BBC: How Wimbledon will use IBM's Watson to serve up data (June 2016)
 Forbes: Advantage Big Data, IBM Serves Wimbledon Ever Deeper Analytics (June
2016)
 IoT Innovator: USA Cycling, IBM, others deliver Project 2016 technology
ecosystem using IoT Platform (May 2016)
 Fortune: IBM Tees Up Digital Birdie’s-Eye View of The Masters (April 2016)
 Sports Techie: IBM Is Helping The U.S. Women’s Cycling Team Prepare To Ride
Past The Competition At The 2016 Rio Olympics (March 2016)
 Forbes: This Watson App Is Helping Athletes Go For The Gold In Rio (Mar 2016)
 Fox News: CES: IBM teams with Under Armour to create 'Internet of athletes‘
(Jan 2016)
 eWeek: IBM Launches Sports, Entertainment Consortium (Nov 2015)
 Sport Techie: Behind IBM Watson’s Intricate Plan To Power 3 Sports Tech
Startups Forward (Nov 2015)
 CIO.com: IBM brings Watson's cognitive computing to sports (Oct 2015)
 The Washington Post What IBM Watson can do for elite athletes (Oct 2015)
 PRNewswire: ORRECO Taps IBM Watson to Boost Performance of Olympic
Athletes (Sept 2015)
“The cycling team is using a
customized mix of IBM mobile
technology, IBM’s artificial
intelligence Watson, IBM Cloud
and IBM Analytics solutions to
help it mine rivers of information
being produced by both the
athletes and their bikes.”
ReadWrite: USA Cycling drafts off IBM
cloud in Rio gold hunt
“On top of this social analysis
by IBM's "cognitive command
centre", sensors and computers
at the venue will be collecting
about 3.2 million pieces of data
from 19 tennis courts across the
fortnight. The tech company
claims a sub-second response
time and 100% accuracy.” BBC:
How Wimbledon will use IBM's Watson to
serve up data
17Aug2016

Selected articles about technology helping Olympic athletes
 BBC: How Rio Olympics athletes are using tech to win medals
 BizJournal: The Silicon Valley tech behind the Rio Olympics
 FastCompany: High-Tech Gear for Olympic Athlete
 Forbes: How Can Big Data And Analytics Help Athletes Win Olympic Gold In
Rio 2016?
 Fortune: How Olympic Athletes Are Using High-Tech Gear to Train Their
Brains
 GeekWire: How Olympic athletes use machine learning and data analysis to
reach peak performance levels
 Mobihealthnews: Olympians turn to wearables, virtual reality and other digital
health tools for an edge in Rio
 PCWorld: In pictures: Wearables at the Rio 2016 Olympics
 SI Kids: Tech Will Be In Play at the 2016 Olympics
 StartupSmart: Six Australian sport startups you need to know about for the Rio
Olympics
 TechCrunch: The US women’s Olympic volleyball team is using a wearable by
VERT to monitor jumps
 TechCrunch: 7 Olympic technologies to help the athlete in you go higher,
faster, better, stronger
 TechRadar: Go for the gold: How tech is transforming Olympic training
 VCloud News: Rio 2016 Olympics And The Internet of Things (IoT)
 VDC Research: Wearable Technologies Pave the Way to Rio Olympics
 Wearable-Technolgies: Wearables Making Their Way to Rio
 ZDNet: Five Rio Olympics technology innovations
 ZDNet: Australian Institute of Sport taps into data to help athletes train for gold
“Data collected from bike
sensors, such as power, speed
and pedal revolutions, are
beamed wirelessly to the
cyclist's glasses via IBM's cloud
platform. As the athletes pedal
furiously they can view their key
stats without taking their eyes off
the track.” BBC: How Rio Olympics
athletes are using tech to win medals
TechRadar: Go for the gold: How tech is
transforming Olympic training
Forbes: How Can Big Data And
Analytics Help Athletes Win Olympic
Gold In Rio 2016?
17Aug2016

Other selected articles about Sports Tech
 MIT Sloan: Sports Analytics Conference (March 2017)
 Tech.Co: Wearables Are Making Sports About Skill Rather Than
Money (July 2016)
 Tech.Co: How Sports Tech Changes the Game (May 2016)
 B2C: Databall: 3 Ways Teams (and Fans) are Transforming How They
Use Sports Analytics (May 2016)
 Computer Weekly.com Foxy Leicester City FC won Premiership with
data analytics (May 2016)
 BBC: The wearable tech giving sports teams winning ways (April 2016)
 SportTechie: In Elite Sport, “Wearables” Really Means “Advanced
Analytics” (March 2016)
 MIT Technology Review: Big Data Analysis Is Changing the Nature of
Sports Science (March 2016)
 The Washington Post: How data geeks are taking over basketball
(March 2016)
 Wired: The NFL is finally tapping into the power of data (Jan 2016)
 Umbel: 10 Ways Stadiums & Venues Are Using Technology to Delight
Fans & Keep Them Coming Back (Sept 2015)
 Forbes: CHANGING THE GAME: The Rise of Sports Analytics (Aug
2015)
 The Atlantic: Blood, Sweat and Data (Sept 2014)
MIT Technology Review: Big Data Analysis
Is Changing the Nature of Sports Science
“Analysis of data transmitted to the
cloud from increasingly
sophisticated sensors is helping
teams keep their players at the
peak of physical fitness.” BBC: The
wearable tech giving sports teams winning
ways
“The big challenge in sports
science is to use this data to gain a
competitive advantage, whether in
real time during the game or to help
in training, preparation, or
recruitment.” MIT Technology Review: Big
Data Analysis Is Changing the Nature of Sports
Science
17Aug2016

Stattleship’s Sports Tech Market Map as of April 2016
Source: Sports tech and media market map update by Josh Walker, Stattleship
17Aug2016

Stattleship’s Sports Tech Market Map as of August 2016
Source: Sports vendor landscape update August 1 by Josh Walker, Stattleship
17Aug2016

More Insights on Technology Trends are Available
Other slide decks in this IBM HorizonWatch 2016 Trend Report series have been
posted to Slideshare
You are also invited to check out the following IBM websites and resources
– IBM Academy of Technology
– IBM Center for Applied Insights
– IBM Institute for Business Value
– IBM Research and Research News and 5 in 5
– IBM’s THINK blog

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