This past Thursday, the Host Committee hosted the first-of-its-kind sports summit focused around the role of technology platforms in sports. The Sports Innovation Summit presented by SAP brought together NFL executives, Bay Area business and technology leaders and Host Committee partners to talk about technology’s role in every aspect of sports. With Super Bowl 50 being held at the most digitally-advanced professional football stadium in the country – Levi’s Stadium – technology and innovation will be a key underpinning of the Bay Area’s Super Bowl.
The day started out on a high note featuring a fireside chat with four-time Super Bowl Champion Lynn Swann in discussion with SAP CEO Bill McDermott about the impact of technology on the world of sports. In their conversation, Bill emphasized that “every sports franchise is now a technology company” and discussed how technology’s benefits extend far beyond the field.
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The rest of the day featured three panels that examined in-depth how recent innovation impacts the fan experience, the player experience and the media business.
The first panel dove into the experience of fans and how they are now more in control of their experience than ever before with social and mobile creating instant and personalized fan experiences. The discussion focused on fan engagement and how technology, connectivity, and outside competition have changed the way fans experience and consume sports events and content with Quentin Clark, Chief Business Officer, SAP; David Pogue, Senior Tech Editor of Yahoo!; Jill Stelfox, VP, Zebra Technologies; and Robin Thurston, Chief Digital Officer, Under Armour.
The second panel looked at player tracking as a great example of how technology can change the way we understand sports. This panel explored the impact of sensor tracking on athletes and how it impacts the broader sports ecosystem. The impact of advanced metrics and data analytics range from broadcast to coaching, player training to video games. Panelists included Professor Beverly Macy of UCLA; Jed York, CEO, 49ers; Dan Reed, Global Sports Partnerships, Facebook; Brian Angiolet, SVP Consumer Products Verizon; and Perkins Miller, Chief Digital Officer.
The final panel of the Sports Innovation Summit looked at the changing face of media, and how sport is the last bastion of appointment television. Panelists tackled everything from consumption over mobile to the rise of e-sports with Adam Cahan, SVP Emerging Products, Yahoo!; Jim Lanzone, President & CEO, CBS Interactive; Peter Moore, COO, EA Sports; NFL Network Analyst Eric Davis and Alex Kantrowitz, Senior Tech Reporter for Buzzfeed.
This is a guest post by the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee.