“There are some uncertainties as to how the sports industry will look in the future.”

This is a quote from Dr Mathieu Winand, professor of sports management at Lunex University, during a discussion about the digital transformation of the sporting world. The uncertainties relate to the excitingly protean phase in which the industry finds itself: technologies like the Internet of Things, virtual reality, augmented reality and even blockchain are poised to change everything, but it’s too early to see exactly how.

Twenty years ago or so, Winand explains, the goal for sports organisations was merely to have a digital presence: a website, an emailing list, etc. A decade after that, social media brought a new wave of change, as clubs and federations began engaging in two-way communication channels with fans and customers.

As of now, the digital presence of athletes has grown to the point where, in extreme cases, they exert an even stronger presence than the teams they play for. “Players can become a brand by themselves,” says Winand, “which is sometimes bigger than the brand of the club.” Brand, but also activist, he adds. Indeed, when athletes on England’s Euro 2020 football team responded to racist tweets, they entered the social sphere with a directness and profundity only made possible by maturing digital platforms.

In parallel, connected devices are changing how athletes train and play, with wearable technologies in shoes, watches and gameplay objects (tennis balls, hockey pucks, etc.) measuring performances in new ways. “In the future, we can dream about technology integrated into the human body,” Winand adds. “But that’s more like science fiction for now.”

Next come VR and AR. Already these technologies are changing the fan experience by providing new ways of viewing games or accessing extra stats or details, while on the athletes’ side they have been implemented for training purposes. “The issue with the Winter Olympics,” says Winand by way of example, “is that athletes have to travel the world to chase the snow--and when they [skiers, bobsledders, etc.] are on the track, they can only do so many runs per day.” With sensors under their feet, some pressure and VR goggles, however, they can visualise the track they will face during the competition. “They can already improve their senses thanks to digitalisation.”

Blockchain is a little further away but still on the horizon. There might be applications for smart contracts or nonfungible tokens, suggests the professor.

Finding a path

“Digitalisation is quite exciting for sports industries, but it will also create a big gap between organisations,” says Winand. Training and hiring the right people is crucial, he says. “It all goes with the culture and the workforce.”

Along those lines, Lunex’s sports management programme--one of three strata, the other two being physiotherapy and sport/exercise science--has been designed to respond to the needs created by the evolving digital landscape. Winand’s own research interests include innovation and digitalisation in sports organisations, and the department’s recent projects include an investigation of how the pandemic has affected the sports world (in collaboration with the sports ministry), as well as a mission with the Luxembourg Football Federation to improve its use of data, for instance in scouting and developing players.

This article first appeared in the May 2022 edition of .