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Conclusion

There are so many different things that I loved about this class. It really opened up my eyes to so many different forms of digital technology platforms that are occurring right now. I also love this class because it gave me the ability to learn how to forecast the future of digital media. I genuinely feel like I'm able to see the trends of the future and predict where companies and organizations should go in order for them to stay on top of the trends. This is a quality that is extremely beneficial to me when I'm going through the career search. I also really appreciated how professor brannigan allowed us to make this Tumblr post. I think that this Tumblr post is extremely beneficial to me because it allowed me to connect my passion of sports to the world of digital media. I have a passion for working in the sports industry in this Tumblr blog has allowed me to focus on the different trends that are occurring in the sports industry. Throughout this class I have been through multiple interviewing processes this Tumblr blog has stood out to a lot of different people I have interviewed with. In particular I am in the interviewing process with a position with the NFL in their international marketing section. For the last 10 years the international Department for the National Football League has genuinely struggled with how to market the NFL and American grown game to other countries. In my interview I told them about synthetic media and deep fakes and how I believe this futuristic technology can help The NFL market the game of American football to new countries. My interviewers have never heard of this technology before and they were immediately impressed by my knowledge of the future. I plan to continue this blog throughout my life that way I can have a platform where I keep all of my information together and in one place. I genuinely have learned so much from this class and I am extremely happy that I petitioned to take this class.

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Works Cited

Bagah, A. (2019, Feburary 24 ). The 10 Best Shopify Apps for Direct To Consumer Brands. Retrieved from E-commerce Magazine : https://www.ecommerce-mag.com/10-best-shopify-apps-for-direct-to-consumer-brands

Brain Hoot . (2020, September 11). The Hidden Opponent: student-athletes and stigma surrounding mental health. Retrieved from The Brian Hoot : https://brandeishoot.com/2020/09/11/the-hidden-opponent-student-athletes-and-stigma-surrounding-mental-health/

Chen, D. (2020, July 21). The astronomical rise of esports. Retrieved from The Chronical : https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2020/07/the-astronomical-rise-of-esports

Forbes . (2020). How The Pandemic Could Accelerate AI-Powered Professional Sports. Retrieved from Fobes : https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/09/04/how-the-pandemic-could-accelerate-ai-powered-professional-sports/

Greenberg, E. (2019 , December 19). The Story Behind The Virtual Raven that Took Flight at M&T Bank Stadium. Retrieved from Baltimore : https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/community/the-story-behind-the-virtual-raven-that-took-flight-at-m-t-bank-stadium/

Group TOurs . (2020). 7 Best Entertainment Districts in America. Retrieved from Group TOurs : https://www.grouptours.net/7-best-entertainment-districts-in-america/

Harder, J. (2020). National sports reach into the community through the arena of sustainable design. Retrieved from USGBC+ : https://plus.usgbc.org/sustainable-stadiums/

Heffer, G. (2020, April 14). Coronavirus: Tottenham stadium to offer NHS services after criticism of club's COVID-19 response. Retrieved from Sky News : https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-tottenham-stadium-to-offer-nhs-services-after-criticism-of-clubs-covid-19-response-11972900

Hulu . (2020, September 10 ). Hulu Has Live Sports: The Deepfake • Hulu • Commercial. Retrieved from Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPCnVeiQsUw

Manners, D. (2018, January 3). Year of the Humanoids. Retrieved from Electronics Weekly: https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/year-of-the-humanoids-2018-01/

McCaskill, S. (2019 , August 30). Future Of Sport: Biometric Technology And Bionics Will Boost Performance And Reduce Injury. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevemccaskill/2019/08/30/sport-in-2050-biometric-technology-and-bionics-will-boost-performance-and-reduce-injury/?sh=76d9482f3fba

Meisenzahl, M. (2020, October 18). Flippy, the $30,000 automated robot fast-food cook, is now for sale with 'demand through the roof' — see how it grills burgers and fries onion rings. Retrieved from Business Insider : https://www.businessinsider.com/miso-robotics-flippy-robot-on-sale-for-300000-2020-10

Mons, J. K. (2019). How will the blockchain impact sports. Retrieved from Sports Tomorrow : https://sporttomorrow.com/how-will-the-blockchain-impact-sports/amp/?doing_wp_cron=1607613495.3986740112304687500000

Play USA. (2020). HOW LEGAL SPORTS BETTING IS SLOWLY INFILTRATING STADIUMS AND ARENAS. Retrieved from Play USA: https://www.playusa.com/sports-betting-stadiums-arenas/

Rawat, M. (2020, August 19 ). Hour One raised $5M to generate AI-driven synthetic characters. Retrieved from Market Tech Post: https://www.marktechpost.com/2020/08/19/hour-one-raised-5m-to-generate-ai-driven-synthetic-characters/

Rogers, S. (2019 , January 1 ). These Window-Cleaning Drones Make Cleaning Skyscrapers Look Easy. Retrieved from Intresting Engineers : https://interestingengineering.com/video/these-window-cleaning-drones-make-cleaning-skyscrapers-look-easy

Seventy Six Capital . (2020). Jessica David . Retrieved from Seventy Six Capital : https://www.seventysixcapital.com/news-all/2019/12/3/jessica-david-named-to-forbes-30-under-30-class-of-2020

VV. (2019, September 28). What is Volumetric Video? Retrieved from VV: http://volumetric-video.com/what-is-volumetric-video/

Wilson, S. (2019, December 9). Dallas Cowboys launch revolutionary 'Pose with the Pros' feature at AT&T Stadium. Retrieved from Givemesport : https://www.givemesport.com/1504010-dallas-cowboys-launch-revolutionary-pose-with-the-pros-feature-at-att-stadium

WIST . (2020). Information . Retrieved from Women in Sports Tech : https://www.womeninsportstech.org

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Biometrics Technology

Another future technology that’s blowing up in the sports industry is biometric technology. Many scientists believe that biotics and biometric technology will boost performance and reduce injury within athletes. This new type of technology will be able to look at an athlete’s body and be able to protect which injuries they are more likely to be susceptible to. For example, you could look at a women’s lacrosse player and see that based off of the way that she stands in the amount of pressure that she puts on her legs she is at more risk for tearing her ACL. Rather than doing normal Training and then having a season ending injury this technology could let trainers and staff members of the team know that this athlete is at more risk. The athlete then could do more preventative treatments and work out that way that she is at a less of a risk to tear her ACL. This type of technology will also help athletes be able to perform at a higher level. Their technology can help them study their movements in the way that they are playing in a level that was impossible in the past.

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E-Sports

One of the fastest growing sports within the sports industry is esports. Within the last several years esports popularity has grown immensely. This rate of growth it’s only going to continue. To provide some statistics in 2017 there was around 335 million people in the total audience of the sports. Then in 2018 it went up to 395 million total fans. Been in 2019 the number jumped to 454 million total fans. In 2020 due to the coronavirus esports popularity took a giant leap. This is due to the fact that esports was one of the only sports within the industry that could technically still participate at a high level remotely. Although they could no longer fill stadiums full of thousands of people, they still were able to have high competitions and broadcast them on all of the streaming platforms. Mini sports forecasters believe that by 2020 to the total audience of fans for esports will be around 645 million. This means that an only five years number of fans has almost increased by 200%. This rate of increase is astronomical, and I believe through digital technologies in the growth of the sports tech industry esports will only continue to grow within popularity.

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At Home Virtual Reality- Immersive Media

I think an additional trend that is going to happen in the sports industry is virtual reality viewing stations at home. Due to the coronavirus, I believe many people are creating desires to stay at home rather than going to stadiums filled with people. Consumers and people are getting used to remote viewing experiences and with a rising desire to stay at home different technologies are going to have to be created in order to increase the at home viewing experience. This is not to say that I don't believe that there will still be a lot of people who prefer to go to stadiums and watch games because I think that is true. But I do believe that there is going to be a new consumer market that have a desire to stay at home. On top of experiences like volumetric video like I had mentioned above I also think that there is going to be a desire for virtual reality. This is an addition to the idea of immersive media. I think companies like Samsung with their virtual reality goggles are ahead of the trend and entering into a market that has not been yet created. Having the ability to put on a virtual reality goggles while you're sitting on your couch at home, but it creates the experience like you're sitting in the stadium is something that I think a lot of people will have a desire to have. Putting on virtual reality goggles will create an immersive experience that makes you feel like you are in a stadium full of thousands of people when really, you're at home in your living room.

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In Stadium Sports Betting

Another trend that is coming about in the sports industry is the legalization of sports betting and the implementation of sports betting into stadiums around the United States. Every year more and more states are allowing sports betting and many stadiums are recognizing this as a potential revenue boost to the stadiums. Different digital technologies and digital platforms have come and are starting to create different ways that sports betting can be organized. I predict in the next 10 years sports betting will be extremely common in every single stadium. There are many benefits to sports betting. Some people believe that sports betting allows a way for people to be more engaged in the game. If they have money on the line, then they are more willing to pay attention to every little thing that happens. For centuries there are certain elements of sports betting that have been a part of our world. For an example sports betting has always been allowed in horse races so I don't see the point of why sports betting shouldn't be allowed for other sports like football, basketball, hockey, and baseball. Many states are already putting the implementation of sports betting into the stadiums and they're seeing major success. Sports betting as a new technology an future of the sports industry and I believe that stadiums need to get on top of this trend before it's too late.

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Transformative Pitches

Another new form of technology that can be utilized in the sports industry and especially stadiums is the transformative pitches. Example of a transformative pitch is in Tottenham stadium in London. This stadium provides two different forms of fields to play on. One of the fields that we played on is a normalize turf field while the other format could be played on is a Grass field. The Grass field is the foundation of the ground and the turf field can be pulled on top of the Grass field. The transformative pitch allows multiple different types of games to be played in the stadium. There could be football games that are played on turf and then soccer games that are played on the preferred grass. The great thing about the stadium is that these two fields also provide the correct site line to watch the games. Well, the soccer game is playing lower to the ground and people view overhead people who watch football games on turf fields prefer to watch the game more I eye level. The fields can be raised and lowered so the perfect site lines can be for the consumers. I believe that these transformative pitches will be implemented in two more stadiums that way multiple teams and multiple sports can be played within the same stadium. This was their space and money. I think potentially it is possible for one day there to be a stadium that has a basketball court, a baseball field, a Grass field, turf field.

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Sustainable Stadiums

There are also a lot of Technologies that are being created to make major stadiums be more sustainable. Many people in the sports industry have a large desire to reduce their carbon footprint and build stadiums and run programs that have a main focus on the aspect of sustainability. Order to increase sustainability and reduce the carbon for prince mini technologies have been created in order to fulfill this goal. Whether it be groups that go to farm stand and vineyards to have homegrown food and alcohols. We’re implementing new ways to reduce waste such as no plastic straws. Many stadiums have transformed the way they handled waste. Whether it be increasing recycling or transforming the way that they bring waste. For example, if concession stands have leftover food or drinks weather than throwing them away like normal they now bring that leftover food to food banks that way that the food can be utilized. Not only is it helping them achieve their goals to sustainability it is also helping them within their goals of reaching out to the communities. Different technologies are really helping the stadiums are sustainable goals.

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Entertainment Districts

Another form of technology being implemented into the sports industry or the designs of entertainment districts. Rather before were stadiums were built in parking lots around the stadiums with nothing else around them engineers have designed entertainment districts to benefit the profits of the stadiums. Entertainment districts include at times casinos, concert venues, additional stadiums, hotels, apartments, and etc. these engineers have designed an experience for consumers where they come to these entertainment districts earlier and spend more money than they would have if they just would have gone to an old stadium. Statistics shows that consumers show up to entertainment District around four hours earlier than they would have previously gone to areas for a game. There are so many benefits of these entertainment districts but the main benefit being money. Consumers are more likely to spend more money on entertainment district than they would have before. Entertainment districts are becoming the norm with the build of main stadiums.

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Robotic Concessions in Stadiums

There are also a lot of new different forms of technology that are being implemented into stadiums around the world. Stadiums are looking for fast and innovative ways to grow technology and make things more effective. One way that they have been looking at elevating the stadiums is by increasing the technology within the concession stands. In 2019 a robot named flippy was designed to be a fast-food cook within the stadiums. Flippy has the ability to grill burgers chicken sandwiches and also create fries and onion rings. In total flippy can make 19 different menu items. Will be the robot cost around $30,000 which honestly isn’t that much for the budgets of these major stadiums. Implementation of flippy the robot would be able to make faster food and also eliminate human error. If stadiums don’t flippy to do all of the work he can also be used as a kitchen assistant rather than the incomplete chef. Flippy the robot will also be extremely beneficial to the stadiums post Covid. Stadiums are looking for different ways to be extremely clean in the post Covid era. Flippy leaves no room for creating a situation where they could be out of health codes. I’m extremely interested to see how robotics are going to be implemented into stadiums within the next several years.

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Mental Health- The Hidden Opponent

This post doesn't necessarily talk about new trends within the future of digital media in the sports industry, but it is something that I am extremely passionate about. Mental Health is such an important topic, and everyone should come together to remove the stigmatization surrounding it.  Being an athlete myself and just a human in general I am very passionate about all thing’s mental health. Personally, I struggle with anxiety and depression and it is a constant battle to keep myself in a safe and healthy place. At times being a normal person is stressful enough but add being a student athlete to that the stressors that surround me sometimes seem unbearable. Anxiety and depression are something that many student athletes and athletes around the world struggle with. Unfortunately, we participate in an industry where mental toughness and overcoming huge obstacles is built within who we are. We are trained to fight through battles and work hard to overcome anything in front of us. We are taught to be perfectionists and not to let things get to us. This is unfortunate because the way that we are trained to think and overcome makes us think mental health is not important and if we need a break or help, we will be considered weak. The stigmatization around struggling with mental health means that “you're weak” is something that must be ended. Due to the stigma's surrounding mental health Many athletes do not ask for help in this can create awful circumstances. Personally, I've lost three friends to suicide and there are more and more athletes committing suicide every single year. This is something that must be stopped that way that young people do not lose their lives. I'm very passionate about mental health and destroying the stigmatization's that surround it. These passions are driven by my desire not to lose any more friends or fellow athletes. Mental health is often the hidden opponent that many people cannot see. We must come together in order to defeat this hidden opponent.

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12 Passion Drivers of Sports

We had an additional guest speaker come to class and he discussed the 12 different passion drivers of sports. Although this doesn’t really involve digital technology, I thought that this was very interesting, and I thought it would be a good post to add into my Tumblr blog. The first-person driver of sports is active appreciation. This is based off of personal participation within sports so what this means is that if you play a sport you fall in love with that sport and you have your own personal passion. The second passion driver is the love of the game this is somewhat similar to the first passion driver, but you don’t necessarily have to participate in the sport, but you just love the game. The third passion driver is player affinity. This is the idea that there is a major human connection within sports. Many spectators often build personal connections and bonds with their favorite athletes. The fourth passion driver is talk and socializing. Sports often create social interaction and that is an element of life that people crave. It is a human desire to communicate and socialize with the others around you in sports create a prominent topic for people to speak about. The fifth passion driver is all consuming. This means that sports have the ability to draw you in and create a world that brings you out of outside life. The sixth passion driver is nostalgia. This means that you have a history and personal memories to the potential game, athlete, or sport you were watching. The seventh passion driver is player excitement. This is the fact that these high-level players are extremely athletic, and they have the ability to perform at high levels. These high levels often produce extreme levels of excitement. The 8th passion driver is team devotion. It is not uncommon for people to devote loyalty, time, and energy to their favorite team. The 9th passion driver gloating. People enjoy being able to be cocky about their team success and often enjoy the agony of other teams’ failures. The 10th passion driver is personal indulgences. This is the fact that people are able to be selfish with their personal entertainment and pick what they want to watch. The 11th Passion driver is sense of belonging. This is a like the talking and socializing driver. On top of talking to other humans, people also have the desire to feel like they belong. Sports give people the ability to form communities and connections with others around them. The final passion driver is TV/media preference. This passion drives it’s about the way that people like to consume sports. Whether it be sitting in the stadium with thousands of people are sitting at home in your living room sports can be enjoyed from all different areas.  

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Block Chain and the Sports Industry

Before taking this class the only thing, I knew about block chain was the way that I interacted with the world of cryptocurrency. If I’m being honest, I was extremely uneducated in this entire world and it was extremely intimidating, and I just never really did much research on it. I thought that it was over my head and I never would’ve been able to understand it. Yet when Crystal Harris kept coming to the class, she really intrigued me and what block chain actually was. The way that she explained it also made it extremely easy to understand and it really opened my eyes. I started to think about the different ways that block chain could’ve been utilized in the sports industry that I had not been utilized before. The simplest way that I can explain Blockchain is it’s basically a way to create a safe and open the way for two different parties to complete transactions. Whether that be monetary, content, product, etc. block chain is also extremely beneficial because there is no middleman. The only people or places that the object has to travel through is the two different parties. Block chain is also decentralized so it keeps complete copies of everything that has gone back-and-forth between the parties. I started to think of different ways that this could help the sports industry.  After doing research I discovered seven ways that blockchain could benefit the sports industry. the first way that blockchain could help the sports industry is by handling sponsorships. Blockchain could create an easy way for the two different parties to communicate what type of sponsorships they want to provide to the team or organization. Then when coming down to the transactions of money it could be easily established through blockchain. The 2nd way that blockchain could help the sports industry is by reducing ticket scalping. In the sports industry there is always lots of trouble with people going on in hacking different tickets. People have gotten very good at stealing tickets and creating very good fakes that get them through the door and then the people who bought the real tickets cannot watch the game. This is a huge problem within sports yet through blockchain it could be very easily seen who bought the ticket and who did not buy the ticket. The 3rd way that this could help the sports industry is by securing performance data. There are many different platforms at this point where stats in different statistical analysis is are uploaded for different teams and organizations. Through blockchain it could be a very central area for data access management that way that coaches’ players trainers and fans could all very easily communicate and see what was going on with their favorite teams. The 4th one is by improving drug testing. Blockchain has a phenomenal record management system and this could be utilized with keeping in all the information of different athletes when it comes to their drug testing records. At time records can be lost or manipulated but through blockchain everything would be extremely valid and true. An additional way blockchain can be utilized through the sporting industry is by fan engagement. There's potential that through black chain platforms different teams and organizations could incentivize fans. The more engagement the more coins that they could be given through blockchain. These coins could be used towards different merchandise or potential see upgrades. I also believe that blockchain could help the fantasy sports platforms. Every year alot of people participate in fantasy sports programs and by utilizing blockchain platforms all of their information, stats, and transactions could be easily kept through blockchain. The final way that blockchain could be utilized through the sporting industry is simplifying these sports broadcasting section. Broadcasting networks and teams and organizations normally have to go through a ton of negotiations due to the fact that broadcasting is one of the biggest ways to monetize sports. These negotiations have several different levels of communication and normally can get very unorganized and messy. Through the utilization of blockchain it would be easy for both parties to stay organized.

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Direct to Consumer/ Video on Demand Apps

Another trend within the sports industry that is rapidly occurring is the transition from normal broadcasting to DTC and VOD technologies. DTC stands for direct to consumer. This means that rather going through several middleman platforms such as spectrum, Verizon, Comcast, ECT you would just get the game or product directly to you. VOD stands for video on demand. Video on demand it’s a subscription-based service that allows for unlimited service of videos. Examples are Hulu, Netflix, HBO. Personally, I believe normal streaming service platforms are no longer going to exist. These old streaming platforms will be simply used for Internet access but no longer broadcasting. Consumer behavior has shifted within the last several years and people have a desire to have any time/anywhere access. These normal Types of streaming services can no longer support the consumer desires or needs. Sport platforms also provide additional ways to monetize their platforms by creating separate direct to consumer apps. For an example one of the first people to hop on this trend was ESPN with the creation of ESPN plus. ESPN plus subscription-based platform where people/consumers have the ability to access any ESPN broadcasted event anywhere at any time. Smaller separate organizations such as the PGA Tour have also started creating separate subscription-based apps. The DTC VOD future is here, and I am extremely interested to see what the next platforms are who follow this trend.  

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WIST- Women in Sports Tech

I also decided to dedicate the posting to WIST (Women in Sports Tech). I believe that this program is extremely beneficial to women in sports tech and provide a supportive environment for women breaking into the industry. Historically the sports industry has been a white male-based industry. It is very hard for women to break in and find support throughout their careers. This organization was created in order to support women throughout their educational careers and professional careers. They host symposiums in order to inspire the younger generation of women and also discuss what is occurring in the sports tech industry. They also have a subsection of women in the industry who have opened up their time to be mentors and network with them. On the WIST website They also post job opportunities/internships, fellowships, and capstone opportunities. The fellowship opportunities are extremely interesting because you basically design your own fellowship and then you reach out to someone within the WIST network and they can potentially support you and your desire to grow.

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Jessica David- Intel Sports True View Camera

Another speaker that came to our class was Jessica David. Jessica David works with until sports with their True View cameras in the volumetric department. The True View cameras are designed to have 38 cameras surrounding a stadium that way that you at home viewership can have an experience that they haven’t had ever before. The cameras are designed to give you a perspective from every single angle. It turns a 2D experience into a 3-D experience. You can see a touchdown for a major sack from every single angle. These Cameras have not only been placed in football stadium but also basketball, hockey, and soccer stadiums. Intel has the desire to give the at home viewer perspectives, but they haven’t ever been able to experience. I thought her entire presentation was extremely interesting and it really opened my eyes not only to the opportunities in the sports industry but in the sports tech industry. Just kidding but also introduced me into the organization called WIST. WIST stand for women in sports tech. It’s an organization based around the promotion of women in the industry. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I really appreciated the time that Jessica gave to come and speak to our class.

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Volumetric Video

Volumetric video It’s also a new technology in the sports industry. Volumetric video is designed to create a 3-D viewing experience rather than the normal to the viewing experience. The volumetric video design gives you the ability to review a play from every single angle. It provides a 360° experience into something that is extremely new to the sports industry.  Volumetric video was designed after the biometric set up that comes from esports. Esports was one of the only departments of the sports industry that was providing this 3-D immersive experience. They provided a way for viewers to review the game from every single angle. New designers decided to provide this esports experience also to different sports such as basketball, football, and soccer. Many people believe that this new immersive experience a volumetric camera is creating a new rights section. What I mean by new right section is it is one of the new top ways to monetize sports. They believe that immersive media is going to be one of the new ways to generate money within the sports industry. The opportunities within volumetric videos are endless and I’m excited to see how new companies implement this new form of technology into their platforms.