I don't know if this is really a problem for any major league team and it might just be the group of people I hang out with, but it seems to me that guys in their 20's or teens don't watch nearly the amount of sports our parents did.
For me personally I think that sports are boring to watch for more than a few minutes. Highlights on ESPN can be entertaining, but I would literally rather women's pool on ESPN than college football or hockey.
Thus I once again will take it upon myself to help major corporations hellbent on suckering us out of $47 tickets to sporting events where they sell $17 beers - just because I love them so (and I will be waiting for my royalty check.)
The idea began when my friend Joe told me about a dream he had about killing things and having damage numbers pop up above their head. Joe has a blog, but he doesn't use it anymore. I am going to link to it anyway because it has a funny name: http://WhatIsThisIs.com. You see these damage indications in video games very often, especially the MMORPGs that many of us have been addicted to at one point or another. Here is how my system might work with hockey. We'll use this picture of the pope holding a hockey stick to illustrate my system.
A professional hockey player can be recorded by 20 video cameras, still photographed by an army of still photographers and narrated by an announcer, but that is the end of the data generated by simple observations like we do today. When you want to watch a replay you have to choose from your variety of camera choices, skip over the ones where the action was blocked by some object or another, and then watch exactly what that camera saw at it's limited resolution.
But if the person comsuming the hockey game were to buy a hockey game on a console for $20 instead of actually going, then they would have full control over replays. The camera can move, time can be fast forwarded or rewound, replays can be saved and cherished. As an added bonus the hockey consumer can play in tattered underwear in the living room's most comfortable chair! If you feel this experience lacks authenticity then kindly ask your wife to throw a beer in your face and then threaten to kick your ass (if she hasn't already done so after seeing you play video games in your tattered BVD's. And dear god pick the pork rinds out of your chest hair you sick freak!)
So how do we combine the live action and real life experience of hockey with the control and flexibility of a video game using only existing technology? Sensors my friend, little freaking sensors. Currently on TV hockey the puck has a small transmitter inside that allows the camera to know where the puck is and highlights it for the viewers at home. I propose that the same technology be stitched in to player uniforms and embedded in the hockey sticks as well. Allow the pope to illustrate a sample of where the sensors might be.
By allowing the computer to collect data about the players from these sensors you gain a lot of replay power. Entire games can be recorded and replayed in future mediums with accurate records of all player movement. Instant replays could use computer generated players to get in to spaces where a normal camera would not have access to.
On top of recording and replaying data collected from the sensors you could get live statistics that you normally don't see as well. Currently when a big hit happens the crowd is awash with “Ooooh's”, “Hooray's” and “Kill Him!'s” so just think if the crowd could have a better idea of what that hit just meant. By calculating things like how quickly a player was stopped in their tracks and how fast the opponent was skating you could display a number on screen in real time to indicate just how tough that hit was.
Imagine teams of players hip checking one another and having small numbers popping up above their heads “26”, “13”, “32” and then the big open ice hit comes “93”. What about slap shot speeds, skating speed or indicators to show a fast break starting to happen? It could really add a level of excitement to the game.
While you are tracking normally unseen stats you could use those in combination with traditional stats to display information about each player on the ice. Place an overlay at their feet on the ice showing how aggressive the player is playing, or how well the player is avoiding the hits and getting to the goal. You will be able to know in an instant who is on their game tonight and who is off.
So now I suppose you are asking “Who will pay for these upgrade since pro sports teams seem to act as if they are bankrupt at all times?” Well I knew you were asking that - mostly because I just put the words in your mouth. Here is my answer; sell the rest of those cameras you are using on eBay! I bet they are expensive, so you are bound to get something for them. As I see it you only need 4 cameras now if you are recording the rest via player sensors. One for each goal to show live action scoring attempts, one “Idiot in the crowd” cam and one for close ups on fights.
Apply this to any sport you like and contact me for information on where to send the royalty checks.
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