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July 08, 2005
SportsTech: Fans Want Less, Players Want More
Posted by Nick
F1 is an interesting case study of a sport trying to find the appropriate balance of technology used by its participants. The sport's governing body recently issued a survey to fans to find out what they want and don't want in the sport. A good number said they want less technology.
If the survey results are any indication, F1 cars may soon get downgraded to lower tech levels. Traction control and antilock brakes are already banned; sequential gearboxes and hand clutches may be next. There was no talk about telemetry or data acquisition, but I wouldn't be surprised to see those limited as well.
I think there will always be a tension in sports between the players/managers on one hand, and the fans/spectators on the other as to the appropriate amount of technology in a game. Fans almost always want less, and the players themselves want more. There are a number of practical and psychological reasons for this I plan to explore in the future.
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Nick Schulz is the Editor of Tech Central Station and has worked in media circles and the ideas industry as a writer, editor, television producer and policy analyst. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Slate, The National Post of Canada, The Baltimore Sun, Investor's Business Daily, The Washington Times, National Review, Reason, Policy Review, and several other publications. He is also, it should be said, a rabid sports fan whose fandom is inversely proportional to his overall athletic ability.
1. Primis on July 8, 2005 03:36 PM writes...
It's fairly simple. The reason fans generally want less technology involved is two-fold:
1) They fans simply want skill to be the deciding factor, not tech or anything else. "May the best man/woman win".
2) Fans associate more-expensive tech with higher ticket prices, concessions, etc. And fans want to keep prices down as best they can.
The reason athletes and participants want technology? Because they don't want good competition like the fans want, they simply want to dominate and be the best at the expense of everyone else.
F1's undoing in the past decade has been Schumacher's dominance. Nothing has hurt interest in the sport more than a guy who has the title wrapped up with 1/3 of the season to go yet. And does it year after year after year...
Oh... and as for technology? Technology pretty much destroyed the US Grand Prix at Indy this summer (okay so FIA's own stupidity and mishandling is responsible for a huge chunk as well, but still none of this becomes an issue if the tire manufacturers aren't continually trying to push the envelope with new, edgy tire tech)...
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