Technology entrepreneur and co-founder of cloud computing company Qualtrics, Ryan Smith, looks set to buy into an NBA team. With headquarters in Seattle, Washington, Utah, and Provo, it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that Smith is setting his sights on a local team, with the Utah Jazz being on the top of the shopping list.
As was reported in this article, Smith is set to buy the Jazz from the Miller family, who have owned the basketball franchise for 35 years. The sale, which includes the Vivint Arena, the NBA team, its G-League affiliate, and a triple-a baseball club, is said to be over $1.6 billion.
Known for his exploits in the tech industry, Smith further brings sports and technology into the same conversation. While Smith’s experience with Qualtrics probably won’t have significant repercussions across the NBA, technology has been changing sport around the world significantly in recent times.
Making sports better and fairer
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The most effective implementation of technology across sports has been on the field and ice. Through the use of cameras, sports have been made much fairer, with the correct decisions being made more often than when only referees were being relied upon. In the NHL, the above-the-net camera has been revolutionary, helping officials spot when or if the puck has crossed the line. It’s a similar situation in football, with goal-line technology, which creates a plain that tracks if the ball makes it past the goal line.
Many other implementations of technology have further enhanced sports, such as headsets in the NFL and UltraEdge in cricket, but some forms have been less well-received. While it eventually delivers the right decision most of the time, video assistant referee, also known as VAR, has been slated since coming into the Premier League. Even this season, following some adaptations, VAR has been slammed by many managers, including Tottenham Hotspur boss José Mourinho after several apparent infringements.
Enhancing fan engagement
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Sports is essentially an entertainment medium, and like other forms of entertainment, it needs its customers to survive. In the case of sports, the customers are referred to as fans, with technology looked to as the most integral area of growth to allow teams to connect to their fans. As noted in sports analysis research, the tech companies that can anticipate the next fan engagement trend are those which investors are looking to buy into.
While athletic performance technologies and stadium experience tech will continue always be explored, the vast majority of money comes in from successful moves into fan engagement. Perhaps the clearest evidence of this is being seen in the United States right now, where online sports betting is finally being legalised. Barstool is already a major brand for sports fans, with its omnichannel strategy already dominating social media and now shifting into sports betting, which you can click here to read more about.
Not only is the brand looking to further fan engagement through its new online sports betting platform, but Barstool will be going another step further. To achieve ultimate accessibility and convenience with fan engagement, mobile apps have become essential. So, the sportsbook is offering a comprehensive mobile platform for fans to use on-the-go whenever they wish to bet on upcoming matches or on live games.
The Qualtrics co-founder buying into an NBA franchise is just another example of sports and technology becoming intertwined. As the Jazz fans will be hoping from the sale, in sports, it’s very much a case of tech making the improvements, both on the field and for the fans.
