New Era of Sports

Among the few things that made me want to be a social media specialist was reading Douglas Rushkoff’s 2010 book Program or Be Programmed, when I was 15 years old. In it, Rushkoff argued that humans need to understand how technology works or they risk being manipulated by it. In the age of algorithmic recommendations determining our every desire and voters being targeted and manipulated by the likes of Cambridge Analytica, Rushkoff’s warning from nearly a decade ago seems like an understatement.

In his new book, Team Human, Rushkoff argues that our focus on technological development means we’ve lost sight of what was supposed to be the whole point of all this tech in the first place: making life better for humans—or maybe, just maybe, making humans a better version of themselves

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The development of new technologies always takes time to impact societies. It is only in the last decade that we have really come to witness the impact of the internet on how societies come to organise themselves, how individuals have come to interact with one another, the newer more emancipatory changes to business practices and participatory nature of entertainment. These changes will continue to reshape our understanding of how certain forms of social activity can be enhanced by the introduction of newer forms of technology.

The internet changed everything. The way we conduct business, the way we interact socially, the way we shop and the way we spend our leisure time have all been radically altered by the digitalisation of society. Indeed, how we follow and take part in Sport has also been radically altered by the same process which has caused such a transformation across the rest of how we live our lives. The consumption practices have changed and the participatory practices have evolved along with them. Technology has acted to pull down the barrier between the athletes and the fans and bring them closer together. It has also engendered new possibilities for athletes to become noticed.

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This is down to a few crucial factors. But let us ask ourselves some important questions:

1. What are the issues which currently block the discovery of sports stars in the most underdeveloped regions of the world?

2. Why is it that some regions are able to produce sports stars whereas others are not?

These questions, although different, are linked. The first way to answer them is to consider the structural problems which exist at the heart of the international sport. It is more likely than not that the sports stars which have the highest chance of success are the ones which have the access to the best facilities. This — as a prerequisite — means that the highest chance for success a sports person has usually stemmed from the fact that they have had the best access to the best facilities, which generally translates to athletes from more economically developed countries.

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The convergence of three of the most cutting-edge technologies, blockchain, AI and wearables, have the possibility of raising innumerable numbers out of poverty and enable undiscovered talent, which has been so often overlooked by the occluding tendencies of the structures which have had control over the industries over the past decades, to become the best that they are able to become.

However, it must be noted at this juncture that this convergence of technologies will not just enable chances for the players themselves, there will also be a whole new dynamic which is opened up to the fans and those who invest in sports. The disintermediation of third parties which is enabled by blockchain will create a whole raft of new possibilities for fans to interact with and play an interactive role with the clubs and the sports stars they follow. Indeed, direct player funding is one such example and one which Bitcademy intends to expedite.

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One of the biggest influences on sporting experiences for both participants and spectators has been the evolution of the Single-Chip Microprocessor. In 1969 the Intel 4004 was invented and was as powerful as any complete computer available at that time. Fast forward 4 years and the first call on a mobile phone was made. As we know, this has developed from a mere telephone to a handheld computer allowing sport to not only be watched in the palm of our hand but also allowing comprehensive analysis, monitoring, management and improvement of our sporting performance, health and physical activity levels

We can now train and compete with technology incorporated at every level; from a physiological perspective we can monitor heart rates, sleep quality, GPS tracking, muscle activity, recovery etc. From a movement perspective, 1971, saw sports fans introduced to the first slow motion replays. Now of course, we can use 3D motion capture to look at our performance from any angle, assess the forces being created by, and imparted on, our bodies during sport and we can track our training speeds with technology attached to weightlifting bars. Never before have we had access to so much information and data on our performance in sporting activities.

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Alongside the development of the computer, the 80s and 90s saw rapid changes in the design of sports equipment. In the early 80s composite tennis racquets shook up the sport by allowing greater spin, ball speeds and shot control, quickly rendering their wooden predecessors obsolete. However, a young John McEnroe delivering the immortal line “you cannot be serious” to Wimbledon umpire Edward James provided enough evidence that further technology was needed to overcome bad line calls. In golf the ‘Big Bertha’ went on sale and converted many golfers from wooden drivers to metal. Finally, from the perspective of the ‘Good’: 2017 saw Nike using technology to invent and test the Vaporfly 4% Elite running shoe, used by the runners in the Nike attempt to break the two-hour marathon barrier, and was reported to increase running efficiency by 4%. Currently this efficiency comes in at a cost of just under £210, and the two-hour barrier still stands.

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As far as I can recall they were basically some sort of robotic, flying soccer side. Even as a pre-teen, it sounded pretty crap.

Now the only joy I get from tech in soccer is the moment a ball either clearly has or hasn’t crossed the goal-line, but the Powers That Be have decided we must view a replay anyway, and the commentator offers something tired and truculent like, “Ok, ok we get it, let’s move on.”

It’s a human reaction to an unnecessarily automated moment. It epitomizes why I think tech should be kept out of football as much as possible — especially when it comes to the video assistant referee (VAR), a concept that so obviously has its roots in a strip-lit conference room, and which has proved a disaster since its inception into the game.

There have been countless VAR screw-ups in the German Bundesliga since it debuted recently. Last week a video assistant was demoted after allegations he manipulated video to hamper Wolfsburg in a match against Schalke, whom he supports. The tech really is only as good as the user, I guess.

But atmosphere-killing pauses and bad decisions notwithstanding, there are other, more fundamental reasons to oppose technology in soccer (I can picture the “luddite” comments already, so bear with me).

There is more than one reason soccer is called ‘The Beautiful Game’. One is that the game you or I can play on a cold, Sunday morning at a municipal park, is essentially the same game Leo Messi plays at the Camp Nou.

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"Social media has allowed fans to connect with like-minded people, which in many ways is a good thing,"

"It can however also become a bubble; an echo-chamber where a lot of misinformation gets even more traction. On the bright side, compared to previous decades, there is easy access to so much more information for fans around the world.

"It has also made it a lot easier for writers and journalists to publicise their work. It allows us to get immediate feedback, whilst also testing out material in tweets. The back and forth with others on social media can be a great way of developing ideas for content. In fact, some of my favourite features started that way."

This sense that the online consumer is more than just a passive audience is echoed by the Guardian's Sid Lowe.

In spite of his more traditional journalistic background, Lowe values the reciprocal nature of social media as not only a channel to share content, but also to gage opinion and receive feedback - even if that feedback can sometimes be strewn with a string of 'pricks' and 'nonces' (as in those are the insults offered, not those expressing them. Although...)

"Journalists have always written about how fans feel about certain topics or issues, but the likes of Twitter allow you to ask them directly," explains Lowe.

"Fans will quite often provide you with certain ideas or perspectives you haven't previously considered. Of course not all fans will think the same way, but when you get an overwhelming surge of responses of a certain type, it does help inform you in a way that wasn't possible before."

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When asked why the most populous country on earth isn't a footballing powerhouse, Marcello Lippi took a deep breath and looked critically at the gathered journalists.

"The most important thing is to invest in youth," said the Italian coach, who has been in charge of the Chinese national team since 2016. "We've made a lot of progress but we still need reliable structures to find talent more quickly and reach the top."

The 17th edition of the Asian Cup, the final of which takes place on February 1 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is an important staging post for Chinese football. Four years ago in 2015, President Xi Jinping declared China's aim of becoming a major power in the planet's most popular sport by 2050. If the country's performances in the Gulf this year are anything to go by, the foundations are there – but the next steps in its footballing development remain unclear.

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"The Chinese Football Association (CFA) faces political and economic challenges from all sides," says John Duerden, who reports on Asian football for British outlets such as The Guardian.

nd, according to Duerden, it's not always clear whether these investors are really interested in football or ir they're just using the clubs to strengthen their networks and establish links to key decision-makers in the ruling Communist Party.

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China has set out its grand plan to produce one of the world’s strongest soccer teams by 2050.

The ambitious goal includes interim targets of becoming one of Asia’s best teams in the sport by 2030 and boasting some 50 million soccer players by 2020.

The time frame given to make China a soccer superpower was announced in a document released on Monday by the National Development and Reform Commission, Chinese Football Association, Sports Bureau and Ministry of Education.

The document was released one day ahead of a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, where 12 nations will learn their opponents for the 2018 World Cup Russian Asian Qualifiers Final Round.

China had rarely touched on plans to boost its national soccer team until President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.

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The history of American soccer includes a number of watershed moments or dates.

There is 1990, when the United States qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years. And 1994, when it hosted the tournament for the first time and spawned the arrival of Major League Soccer two years later.

The next one on the horizon figures to be 2026, when the World Cup comes back to American soil.

But what about 2018?

Hosting a World Cup can be counted on to provide a once-in-a-generation bump in popularity. But a lot more might be learned from this summer.

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The biggest lesson came from the U.S. missing out on qualifying and providing a timely reminder that soccer fandom in this country is many things – none of them dependent on a national team reaching the World Cup.

The way soccer is consumed in the U.S. is more of an international deal than ever. MLS has made great strides, but there are still vast numbers of young and not-so-young Americans who crave the thrill of seeing the true elite, from the biggest and best European clubs.

Bouncing immediately off the World Cup is a part of the American soccer puzzle that doesn’t fit neatly into a box but has nevertheless become a key part of the calendar. The International Champions Cup is the latest and arguably the biggest summer preseason tournament to come to these shores and is stacked with virtually every major European club team you can think of.

There was a time when preseason tours featuring big European clubs had dismal reputations. The teams were only coming for sunshine and relaxation, so went the narrative. The squads featured would barely reflect what lineup would actually take the field when the season began back home.

No longer. No one is pretending that the ICC is an event on the scale of the Champions League and it doesn’t aspire to be. But the story has shifted.