As we get deeper and deeper into technology, it is no secret that the use of artificial intelligence has found its place in society, including in the sports industry. Today, we are going to discuss some ways that we already see artificial intelligence (AI) in the sports world and other ways it can be implemented to help make our favorite games better.
Everyone loves discussing the NFL regular season and how it will begin with the opening week, but you can already begin seeing lines from weeks into the regular season. One example of this is seeing the NFL Week 4 odds so you can get some favorable lines and odds before the same week starts.
Assisting in the Actual Product
In the sports world, and especially since sports wagering has become more prominent in society, getting the correct call has never been more critical. With the help of artificial intelligence, we can guarantee that the calls that are made are 100 percent correct and take the human judgment out of the officiating where major missed calls can happen.
There was a study done on NBA games between the span of March 2015 through June of 2018 where they viewed over 26,000 individual plays from the span of 1,476 games. In those games, there was 2,197 incorrect or missed calls by the referees or 8.2 percent of all the calls that were reviewed.
Now imagine a world where we can have in real time a replay system that does not slow the game down where the referees can be told there was a foul or what the correct call is. We already have this in the world of tennis with their replay system and as we continue to develop artificial intelligence, it will help make the game better and more accurate.
Scouting and Development of Players
Artificial intelligence can now even help assist departments in the sports franchise in understanding the type of player that they would want in order to develop in their system. Everything that is happening in the course of a game can be tracked to the point where artificial intelligence can tell us what a player is doing at certain body positions and help make players better.
One example of this could be inside of the batter’s box in baseball. You can film yourself taking 100 swings inside of the batting cage and then upload the video to the system. Artificial intelligence can tell you where you are leaning an inch off of normality or where your point of contact is to optimize your swings.
This can help players develop into better players and make them and their team a lot better in the long run.
Ticketing
In times like we had to deal with in the past few years with COVID restrictions, and even before that happened, one of the worst parts of attending a game is waiting in line to get in. Now with AI helping out, teams are able to let you in without even needing to see your ticket with facial recognition similar to your iPhone. This means less time waiting to get in and having a huge line of people as it is even simpler.
It can also help when attempting to forecast the attendance of an upcoming game and exactly when will be the busiest time. This can really help fans and employees alike.
Conclusion
When we have the technology that is capable of making the sporting world a better place, why not use it to our advantage? This seems to be the answer that will make everyone’s overall experience better as the world continues to evolve and we are able to record thousands of hours of information and be able to condense it to a manageable amount to dissect it.
Artificial intelligence is not only welcomed in the sports world, but encouraged as it continues to make fans, players, and franchises better every time we use it.
