Rewiring sport: Is tech ruining sports fandom?
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What technology is changing how we compete in sports?
Technology is changing how we compete in sports. It's also changing how brands compete for attention. Right now, someone is asking AI a question about your industry. When AI gives an answer, is your brand a part of it or not? Most companies have no idea which. GIST changes that.
How is AI influencing brand visibility in sports?
We show you where you're visible, where you're not, and give you the tools to do something about it. It's time to make AI work for your brand with GIST. Learn more at gist.ai. For as long as he can remember, Alistair Lorry has been obsessed with one football team.
Lifelong fan of Heart of Midlothian Football Club. I think I went to their first game when I was about five years old, and to be fair, it's a bit of a blur from then.
Heart of Midlothian, or Hearts as they're known, are a team in the Scottish Premier League based in Edinburgh. They've struggled in recent years. For decades, in fact, Scottish football has been dominated by two teams, Celtic and Rangers. No one else has won the title for 40 years. But last season, it seemed like Hearts might actually have a chance.
You start well, but Hearts had been there before when they started well and they get to about November time and they kind of fade away. I think the first telltale sign probably would have been when they got to New Year's and they were top of the league. And then the weeks go by and you're still top of the table.
They had a new backer, a man named Tony Bloom, who brought in a focus on football analytics using data and machine learning algorithms to pluck talented players from obscurity. The approach had already produced results for Bloom at his English Premier League club, Brighton, and it seemed to be working for Hartz.
We had a lot of good quality of player. You can tell that some of the players they'd fit in were very seamless. We brought in a guy called Claudio Braga, who basically won all the individual player awards in Scotland. He came from Norwegian second tier. Hartz was so long irrelevant in the title race. were now in the ascendance. I think Hearts were top of the table for 250 days consecutively.
So Hearts fans are getting excited.
What is the significance of VAR in modern sports fandom?
They're on track to win the title. But Celtic are catching up. It came down to the final week of the season in May. Hearts were playing Falkirk, while at the same time Celtic were playing Motherwell. Hearts needed to win their game and hope that Celtic didn't win theirs. Hearts won comfortably at their home ground of Tyne Castle. Then fans like Alistair followed on their phones as Celtic played out the final minutes of their game.
It was the last home game for Hearts, so usually the players will go around and, you know, kind of clap the fans and the fans will reciprocate and... News kind of spread around that there'd been a 97th minute goal for Celtic at Motherwell and you just had that feeling that it was going to be something controversial.
And it was controversial. Deep into injury time, with the score even, a long throw into the box from Celtic is headed away by a Motherwell defender.
Final push here from Celtic to try and win this game. Trustee's gone down holding his face.
The referee plays on, but then the video assistant referees, sat 10 miles away, intervene.
I wonder whether it's a hand, that raised hand, the arm up, the left arm. Where's the verdict?
The video assistant referees had spotted a handball. Fans started to boo. The referee gives Celtic a penalty.
Penalty! Kelechi Iheanacho!
They score and win the game.
Iconic scenes! Iconic scenes! That goal changes everything for Celtic.
Absolute disgrace. Disgraceful decision.
This was no isolated incident. Angry fans raging against VAR is increasingly common. In the past, an incident like this would have been handled differently. The on-field referee's split-second decision would have been final. but technology can now force an alternative outcome. For aggrieved fans, this can feel against the spirit of the game.
I've watched it back subsequently. It still comes up in the feed. I think there's a torture in me and I'm still not conclusive.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What technology is changing how we compete in sports?
0:00–0:19
2
How is AI influencing brand visibility in sports?
0:19–2:09
3
What is the significance of VAR in modern sports fandom?
2:09–4:35
4
How did Hearts Football Club's performance change with new analytics?
4:35–10:47
5
What controversial VAR incident impacted Hearts' title chances?
10:47–22:32
6
How is technology reshaping the officiating process in sports?
22:32–26:32