Data has always been a fundamental part of performance analysis in sports, even before the advent of modern technologies and artificial intelligence. Coaches have always sought to analyze information such as the number of goals, running times, number of successful throws, and player errors to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their team or athletes.
For example, in sports like soccer and basketball, a simple analysis of the number of goals or points scored could show which player performed better or which team composition was more successful. In athletics, data on runners’ speed and distance covered helped coaches design the best training programs to improve athletes’ speed and endurance.
Also, medical data such as heart rate, blood pressure, and weight of athletes during training and competitions have always been of interest. This information helped coaches and medical teams to be aware of the athletes’ health status and prevent injuries.
Today, the advancement of technology has also affected the world of sports. Artificial intelligence helps athletes and coaches to analyze and review this data in better ways.
Artificial intelligence also plays a very important role in predicting match results and making better decisions for coaches and players.
Although the applications of artificial intelligence in sports are not discussed, this technology is currently widely used and it seems that a very bright future is waiting for it.
In this article, the changes that artificial intelligence has made in the sports industry, its applications, and the future that awaits this technology in the world of sports are discussed.
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Artificial intelligence and sports
Today and in 2024, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an essential part of the sports industry and it is predicted that its market value will reach 2.19 billion dollars by 2030.
The application of artificial intelligence in sports is very wide. For example, it can analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns and trends that help improve player performance, make strategic decisions, and better understand the game.
- Also, artificial intelligence creates virtual reality environments for players to practice and prepare. Some of the biggest sports organizations in the world are already using this technology. For example:
- The American National Football League (NFL) uses artificial intelligence to analyze game films and improve player performance.
- Major League Baseball (MLB) uses artificial intelligence to help teams make player decisions.
- The American National Basketball League (NBA) is also using artificial intelligence to improve its talent acquisition process.
Let’s learn more about the application of artificial intelligence in sports.
Application of artificial intelligence in sports
By collecting and analyzing data, artificial intelligence has made athletes, coaches, and technical staff advance their exercises and goals more intelligently and purposefully. In other words,
The presence of artificial intelligence in sports has caused athletes and their coaches to compete together outside the field in addition to the competition field!
1. Search and recruit players with the help of artificial intelligence
Sports teams use artificial intelligence technology to improve the process of searching and recruiting players to select the most suitable players.
With artificial intelligence, every detail of the players’ performance on the field is carefully monitored, including their movements and posture. Machine learning algorithms automatically analyze the collected data to assess players’ overall skills and potential in different games. As a result, this analysis helps teams to identify the best-performing players.
2. Analysis of sports games
One of the applications of artificial intelligence in sports analysis is to help referees. For example, ball tracking systems that track the movement and trajectory of the ball in real-time help referees make more accurate decisions.
Another aspect is the analysis of game events. That includes looking at things like goals, fouls, and substitutions to get information about teams’ performance and strategies. Artificial intelligence algorithms can analyze large amounts of data and predict future strategies.
3. Training and coaching in sports
Sports training and coaching is a vital task that directly affects the performance of the team and players. The coach of a sports team is responsible for the tactical planning of the team, which deals with designing strategies and targeted plans to increase the chances of the team’s success. For this, coaches must carefully examine the way their team plays, defends, and attacks, and even the rival teams. For example:
- Coaches should design a specific strategy for each game and match. Which includes deciding how to play, how to defend and attack, and how to make optimal use of the team’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Coaches and the team’s medical staff should pay attention to identifying possible risks and risks of sports injuries. For this, they have to check the training methods, the physical condition of the players, and the condition of the playing field.
- After identifying the risks, necessary measures should be taken to prevent injury to the players. which includes designing appropriate training programs, using protective equipment, and necessary training for players.
- Coaches should carefully examine each player’s strengths and weaknesses. This helps them to place players correctly in the right positions.
- Using the information obtained, coaches should form a balanced and coordinated team. This means putting players with complementary skills together and creating harmony between them.
4. Prediction of sports results with the help of artificial intelligence
Before the presence of artificial intelligence in sports, sports experts used data such as the performance of the teams in the first minutes of the game, the number of accurate shots, or the history of the teams’ games to predict the results. However, these predictions had a high percentage of error and were not very accurate. But today, with the introduction of artificial intelligence in sports, it is still not possible to accurately predict the results, but the error percentage is much lower compared to human predictions.
5. Improving the competition strategy
Using AI-based analytics, teams can analyze data about their opponents to identify their patterns and strategies. For example:
AI can collect and analyze a lot of data about opponents such as playing style, strengths and weaknesses, and behavior in different situations. For example, if it is found that opponents always change their style of play at certain minutes of the match, the team can design strategies to counter this behavior.
Artificial intelligence can suggest the best combination and arrangement of players for each game based on data analysis.
AI systems are capable of making tactical changes during the game. That is if changes in the opponent’s performance are observed in the middle of the game, artificial intelligence can instantly provide new recommendations to adjust the team’s strategy and tactics.
6. Prevention of player injuries
One of the important components in the prevention of player injuries is to check the physical condition of the players in real-time and record this information. By collecting and analyzing information on the physical condition of players, coaches, and medical staff are informed of possible problems faster. And they can take the necessary measures to prevent further damage.
7. Interact with fans
The use of artificial intelligence in sports has gone beyond the playing field and has affected the interaction of sports teams with their fans. AI-based analytics is changing the way sports teams communicate with their fans. Using this technology, it is possible to obtain detailed information about fans’ interests and habits.
Knowing this information, teams can create tailored content, special promotions, and personalized interactions. This strategy makes fans connect more with their favorite team.
8. Create an engaging experience for viewers
Artificial intelligence using camera angle and augmented reality (AR) technology provides a more engaging experience for viewers. With the help of virtual reality and gamification features, viewers have more interesting and interactive experiences and thus will have a deeper level of connection with the matches.
9. Player performance
To improve the performance and health of players, artificial intelligence collects information about their pressure and injuries with the help of wearable technology to prevent serious injuries in the future. In addition, coaches can check players’ strengths and weaknesses using images and data. This information also helps teams to design stronger tactics and strategies for their future competitions.
10. Personalized exercise and diet plans
Artificial intelligence provides training and nutrition programs that are fully tailored to each person’s needs by analyzing data and behavioral patterns. These programs not only help professional athletes but also people looking to improve their health and fitness. Using machine learning algorithms, artificial intelligence can analyze sports movements and identify weak and strong points. Also, according to various factors such as age, weight, activity level, and individual goals, it offers appropriate meal plans. Shortly, artificial intelligence is expected to play an even bigger role in sports, standing alongside athletes as a virtual personal trainer.
11. Using artificial intelligence in ticket sales
Spectators sometimes face difficulty getting into the stadium during major matches. Before the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies, it was difficult to solve this problem. But now, many sports businesses are using AI-based facial recognition technology. With this technology, spectators can enter the stadium without showing their tickets.
12. Automated sports journalism
Sports journalism is a huge industry where every important moment, such as scoring data and statistics, must be covered accurately. Thanks to artificial intelligence, sports journalism techniques have become simpler. For example, AI-based platforms can report on important match data using natural language processing (NLP). This technology allows journalists to automatically and accurately cover the news of the matches even without being physically present at the venue.
13. Advertising using artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence has given new life to sports advertising. Artificial intelligence can improve ads and increase their efficiency by using machine learning algorithms. In this way, companies can get better results by spending less money. How
Using the data collected from the audience, artificial intelligence designs advertisements that exactly match the interests and tastes of the audience of sports programs. For example, if you’re a football fan who likes sneakers, AI can show you ads for relevant products at the right time.
In addition, artificial intelligence can analyze the emotions of the spectators while watching the game. If at a certain moment, the excitement of the audience reaches its peak, artificial intelligence can recognize this opportunity to display an attractive and memorable ad.
Some real examples of the use of artificial intelligence in different sports
Artificial intelligence has had a great impact on various sports in recent years. Artificial intelligence helps athletes and teams to reach new levels of performance by carefully analyzing data and using advanced technologies. Following are several real examples of artificial intelligence applications in different sports:
Application of artificial intelligence in football
Game analysis and tactics: Professional clubs such as Liverpool and Barcelona use artificial intelligence to accurately analyze the games and tactics of their opponents. These algorithms can analyze data on player movements, passes, running speed, and goal positions to provide a better strategy for each game.
Refereeing and VAR: Refereeing in football has always been one of the most controversial topics in football. But sometimes, referees may make wrong decisions due to human limitations. VAR or Video Assistant Referee systems have partially helped to solve this problem in football. VAR uses state-of-the-art video cameras around the pitch to review critical moments of the game such as goals, penalties, fouls, and red cards. VAR video systems use artificial intelligence algorithms to help analyze video images to make accurate decisions in controversial situations.
Application of artificial intelligence in basketball
Player performance analysis: NBA basketball teams use data analysis systems to more accurately evaluate player performance. For example, the Dallas Mavericks team uses advanced data to make decisions about buying and selling players and improve their team tactics.
Recognizing patterns and predicting the outcome of the game: Some teams use artificial intelligence to predict the outcome of the games and identify effective patterns in the game.
Application of artificial intelligence in tennis
Player performance analysis: Artificial intelligence systems such as IBM Watson are used at major tennis tournaments such as Wimbledon to analyze player videos and data to make more accurate predictions about match results and player performance.
Automated Referee Systems: Systems such as Hawk-Eye use artificial intelligence to determine the exact location of the ball when it lands on the ground. This system helps judges to make more accurate decisions.
Application of artificial intelligence in athletics
Improving training techniques: Athletics athletes can optimize their running, jumping, and throwing techniques by using motion analysis systems based on artificial intelligence. These systems provide detailed information about the angles, speed, and power of the athletes’ movements based on the recorded videos of the exercises.
Injury Prevention: Analyzing athletes’ body and movement data can help prevent possible injuries. For example, analyzing pressure on joints or unusual patterns in movement can reveal early signs of danger.
Application of artificial intelligence in Formula 1 competitions
Car and driver data analysis: Formula 1 teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari use artificial intelligence to analyze data related to car performance, driver performance, and track conditions. These analyses help improve race strategies, fuel consumption, and tire management.
Advanced simulations: Artificial intelligence is used in complex simulations so that teams can test and analyze different strategies before the match.
Application of artificial intelligence in baseball
Player data analysis: In the MLB league, teams use artificial intelligence to analyze data about players’ throws, hits, and movements. Systems like Statcast record and analyze every move on the field to provide better strategies.
Talent Discovery: Some baseball teams use artificial intelligence to identify emerging talent. Artificial intelligence algorithms can analyze the performance of young and potential players and predict their potential in the future.