Stanford GSB Sports Innovation Conference Highlights Trends: MBA News

The arena of sports innovation was put center-stage at a new conference held at Stanford Graduate School of Business (Stanford GSB).

Key talking points at Stanford GSB’s inaugural Sports Innovation Conference underlined today’s major trends in US sport and offered insights for businesses looking at new uses for technology and options for fan engagement anywhere in the world.

In terms of technology, the immense potential of big data to sports innovation was a key theme, particularly in its recent application to basketball. This season the NBA, through the use of a tracking system of cameras throughout every team’s arena, generated more data than at any other time in the league’s history.

The use of this data is still in its infancy but is already beginning to change the way owners and coaches approach the game. Data analysis offers a chance to assess player performance on a much deeper level, encompassing defensive effectiveness and efficiency on the ball, for instance. This can help coaches in their team selections and owners in understanding areas for improvement when looking at player recruitment.

Something else we can expect to look forward to is the use of data analysis to anticipate injuries. By wearing devices, the amount of physical stress a player is put under during games can be determined and their need for a rest could be flagged before an injury enforces a spell on the sidelines.

Fan engagement through mobile apps and social media

New approaches to fan engagement were also a hot topic at the Stanford GSB Sports Innovation Conference.

For those attending games, mobile applications improving the match-day experience were a central consideration. It is thought that 70% of spectators take mobile devices to games and don’t anticipate leaving them in their pockets for the duration. Therefore, apps helping people to find parking spots, arena seats, shortest paths to refreshments and lavatory facilities could easily catch on.

Other new uses of technology focus on providing more routes to effective fan engagement, wherever that fan may be, so that they remain connected to the team and its player roster. International expansion is a further prospect here, where establishing websites in local languages and arranging trips can go a long way to developing markets – methods that have been used to notable effect by teams in the English Premier League for football (soccer).

“Sports is a people business, so we’re looking for ways to use technology to further engage with people,” said John Abbamondi, a Stanford GSB alumnus and a vice president with the NBA’s team marketing & business operations division.

Social media, meanwhile, is an outlet that already offers much in the way of fan engagement – especially in providing a direct link between players and fan. Some influential figures in sports innovation are already of the belief that a player that is very active on social media, attracting a strong following in the process, will become more valuable as a result. The flipside, as to whether a player might become distracted by his level of fan engagement and perform worse, is yet to be seen.

An event dedicated to sports innovation was devised by Stanford GSB out of a desire to bring together industry leaders at a time when the possibilities presented by innovation and entrepreneurship are really beginning to capture the imaginations of those in the business of sport. It intends to provide a platform for debate on successfully implementing nascent ideas and technologies among practitioners, as well as giving MBA students at Stanford GSB a great opportunity to learn more about opportunities in the industry.