✍️ Vaibhaw Tiwari

🗓️ Sep 19, 2024

There was a time when sports were played just for the sake of entertainment. At that time, spectators were passive observers. They either watched it from the stands, tuned in to the radio or followed their favourite team on screen with the advent of television. However, times have changed massively. The rise of technology has completely changed the game, and its impact is palpable in the sporting industry. It has completely transformed how fans can support their teams. So, join us as we trace how fan engagement has evolved over the years.

Digital Revolution in Fan Engagement: Rise of Social Media

Cell phones’ transformation into smartphones has played an important role in changing and shaping fan engagement in recent years. It gave birth to social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Fans on these platforms could now follow players, teams, and leagues in real-time, engage in conversations, share opinions, and even participate in team decisions, such as voting for players of the match.

Sporting organisations were quick to recognise this and leveraged it to the fullest by creating online communities. Furthermore, they created engaging content with insight into their players’ lives outside the field, garnering massive fan engagement over time.

Fantasy Leagues

Do you also constantly check for sports news, wondering how the players in your fantasy teams are doing? Congratulations! You are already a part of the sporting engagement in India.

Fantasy leagues, where fans become the team’s managers, have deepened fans’ involvement in the game. They get a sense of what it feels like to be a part of the game. By tracking player performance and making changes in their team, fans experience a new layer of excitement, further enhancing their sports experience.

Augmented Reality and other technologies

Have you noticed how the sporting graphics have evolved over the years? If you’re a 90s kid, you surely have grown up watching people sitting in mundane studios doing post-match analysis.

Today, the same studios are transformed into grounds for analysis, where the pundits replay the actual scenarios for the audience to better understand the game situation they’re discussing. Augmented Reality has made this possible.

In India, companies like Quidich make this experience possible. They bring immersive visuals to your screen through magnificent camera work on the field. On top of that, they employ real player tracking technology among others to generate accurate stats for fans and pundits to ponder upon.

Want to make a career in Sports?

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The program is designed for sports entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, and professionals who want to excel in the industry. It covers everything from mastering sports management strategies to exploring cutting-edge technology.