The Future of All Sports is Digital

For decades, all of sports has been on a path towards increased digitization. Developments over the past ten years, from the rise of fantasy sports to the emergence of esports has created a complicated array of different forms of digitized sports, that can confuse the most savvy of sports executives.

With the stoppage of sports because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Digital Sports have become even more significant, and they may even provide insight into how sports can return more quickly.

That’s why at the Sports Innovation Lab, we took it upon ourselves to look at the entire landscape of digital sports, and organize it all on a continuum relative to two primary factors: whether or not the digital sport refers to a physical sport, and whether or not a human actor can influence the outcome. What emerges are four categories of digital sport, ranging from the popular gambling platforms of Virtual Sports, with no human actors and no reference to real physical sports, to Hybrid Sports, like the Formula 1 Virtual Grand Prix, that feature F1 drivers, using wheels and pedals to drive simulated digital races.

To learn more about Digital Sports, reach out to us at the Sports Innovation Lab by emailing us at info@sportsilab.com