Technology has been changing sport for more than a century. What athletes wear, the way they prepare, how matches are officiated and how spectators interact with their teams and favourite players has been continually altered by advances, from the first photo-finishes in horse racing (invented in 1948 to stop cheating but not used widely until the 1960s) to motion sensors and multiple cameras to catch an offside or foul in the 2022 men’s FIFA World Cup final.
With sport now a global business worth $600 billion annually, the stakes are high. Tech is constantly evolving as teams and individual athletes jostle for the edge that can mean the difference between winning and losing. These developments then spill over into consumer items and online apps for fans. The sports tech market is expected to double to $41.8 billion in just five years.
At the recent Australian Open, tech giant Infosys developed a bespoke “tennis platform” for the 2023 tournament for fans, players and tournament officials. One of the innovations was artificial intelligence-generated videos to provide players and coaches with game and competitor insights for post-match reviews and pre-game analysis.
