Gamifying Sports
Gamification does not only have a lot in common with sports, it is also extremely important for both the future and the further development of it. Hence, it is important for many sports organisations to pay attention to this important trend. We discuss 9 important reasons why gamification matters a lot.
What is gamification?
Gamification can be defined as the process of adding games or gamelike elements to something (such as a task) in order to encourage participation. This says it all, doesn’t it? We like games! Probably you can recall the times when you were a kid. No doubt you loved to play games with your friends, parents etc. Maybe you organised your own games, maybe you played board games or possibly you played electronic games. Games are of all ages, as they are embedded in us. We like to play and have fun and we like to win. That’s why we love them!
Because we love to play games, these games increase the probability that we repeat them. Hence games tend to motivate people to repeat and improve behaviour. As there is always a reward involved, people take an effort to gain this reward. This element is important as it can create loyalty and ongoing commitment. This is why gamification within our society has gained traction over the last decade or so. It is used to increase customer commitment and attract new participants. Hence gamification often results in higher returns on investment, whatever these investments are, whether it is in sports iteself, in stadiums, in broadcasting etc.
Gamification has become incredibly popular because of the ever growing importance of technology. Technology can bring communities together, but makes it also easier to spread important game-like elements like scoring systems, ranking lists, virtual goods and incentives. Moreover, it is here to stay as GenZ and GenAlpha cannot do without it. In fact they have been educated with it. Even in school kids learn by using game like elements on their computers.
Why gamification?
Clearly gamification already plays an important element in the world of sports and this trend will only gain further momentum in the future. This is not surprising as sports and games have a lot in common. They both are all about competing and winning. What? Yes, they are much alike and no wonder that they are complementing each other. Adding gamelike elements to sports, adds value to both the (inactive) fan and the (active) participant.
Hence gamification can be implemented in sports in a non-active way (you are sitting in your chair and playing a game on your computer) and an active way (the game is integrated in your sports). Both ways create brand loyalty and increase higher commitment levels. That’s why it is so important! Traditional sports appear to be not sufficiently aware of this trend and should adjust their strategy to protect their sports from becoming less popular. The question is if they are able to do thos , especially as they tend to be conservative and protective about their sports. Lets give them a few reasons why gamification matters a lot!
1. Gamification is globalising sports
Technology has no boundaries and no time limits. Basically you can play a game everywhere at any time. This has several huge advantages. First of all you can compete now with somebody in Japan or the US or anywhere else. You are no longer bound to a physical location. As long as you are online on the platform, you are in! Just pick a competitor and start your game.
A very good example of this is the Zwift cycling platform, which allows cyclists to cycle at home and simultaneously compete online with other cyclists. It can’t get any better than that! Watch the video below and you will see that it is a barrel of fun! The big advantage is that the weather is always nice although you don’t experience any fresh air! Anyway, climb on your bike and cycle away together with your friend in Singapore.
And there are plenty of sports, which are following this trend. What to think of all SIM games, racing leagues etc: you just need a Playstation and a simulator and off you go! Or what about playing online golf at home. You just need some software and a room where you can hit your balls. And there is money on the table here! This way sports can gain popularity in case they offer these online opportunities.
2. Gamification helps attracting GenZ and GenAlpha to participate in sports
GenZ and Gen Alpha are the tech generations. They have been brought up with technology and eat, breathe and sleep with it. Gaming is in their veins. Without tech, no deal! Simultaneously, we see that several traditional sports are losing market share as these newer generations feel less attracted to long and boring matches or games. Sports have to be fast and furious.
Gamifying sports can help tremendously and those sports which are able to bring in gaming elements certainly will have an advantage. This can work in two ways. Firstly, existing computer games can lure kids into the real game. Secondly and even better is to bring in gaming elements into real sports. FIFA 2020 is one way to do it (an inactive way) and above mentioned Zwift is the more active version of gamification.
DashTag is an interesting example in this perspective. It uses gamification to engage youngsters. The Dash, which is a small soccer wearable, delivers personalized FIFA game-like stats (which these youngsters know from playing the online) game straight to a player’s phone. With the stats the sensor is gathering they can compare theirselves with teammates and their heroes. Games and challenges make it fun to engage in!
3. Gamification makes sports more fun!
Don’t you hate it to go to the gym and do your regular exercises! It’s boring as hell, at least for me. Gamification makes such exercises a lot more fun as far as I am concerned. With your hololens or glasses all kind of games can be played, which will encourage you to go more often! Watch the video below. It is a good example of exercising in a fun way. And yes, it should move you gamers! BoxVR is another good one, but there are many more!
Running, cycling and walking are activities which you can do all by yourself! It might seem boring, but fresh air will do you good and you will maintain your fitness level. But wouldn’t it be nice to add a level of fun! Ofourse you can use the Stravas and Runkeepers of this world but there should be more! There is! Storytelling adds a layer of fun to these activities. What to think of Zombies, Run. It combines storytelling with exercise. You have to go on a mission! The storyline is highly engaging and you will look even forward to your next run.
interactiveSQUASH smart court system embraces gamified training modules powered by smart sensor technology to engage the next generation of players.
Like all consumer products, squash is no longer a discrete activity, it’s an experience — consisting of fun and engaging moments on the court. Particularly among younger and more tech-savvy audiences, technology is a driving force that transforms squash practices into fully interactive events.
4. Gamification makes it easier to improve performance levels
Gamification in sports basically started with the introduction of wearables, which were measuring your distance, speed, heartrate etc. This way you could improve your performance. Wellknown evergreens such as Strava, Nike Run club and Runkeeper started to integrate some great and motivating gamification elements but also added platforms where you could compare yourself with your buddies. This way, they have become social communities.
5. Gamification makes it easier to learn a new sports and improving technical skills
Games are ideal to learn a new sports. They maximize enjoyment and engagement through capturing the interest of learners and inspiring them to do better. Well hey! You want to reach the next level, don’t you? Then you first have to learn the skills of level one! There is nothing more to it. That is why you an increasing number of kids learning new skills like reading and calculus in a playful gamy way. Sports is nothing different.
You want to learn how to play pool? No problem! Wallclimbing? No problem! See the video under the section on health! It makes learning a lot easier. Or what to think of Dribble up, which is a smart soccer ball, That enables you to improve your technique at home by adding game elements.
6. Gamification may be an incentive to improve health and fitness levels of kids.
Believe it or not, games can help you and your kids in getting better health and fitness levels. If game technology can lure kids into the real deal (participating in a real sport rather than a game), it is game on as far as I am concerned! Many children nowadays get insufficient exercise because they are sitting at home playing with their Playstations. What if you can integrate this with active participation in a game?
Watch this video with kids playing a game just by exercising. It’s great! And there is much more to come. Sportification will gain traction in the future. Equipped with VR goggles, you can become the active participant in for example Fortnite. Many will not be able to resist this challenge and new sports and e -athletes will come to the fore!
7. Gamification leads to new (techno)sports
Gamification can also lead to new exciting sports. The combination of sports integrated with technology will be luring new young participants and such technosports will gain market share! A good example is Hado, which is becoming incredibly popular in countries such as Japan and Singapore. This is an easy one, Hado has everything to become popular amongst the younger generation as it integrates to worlds as the video below shows. I can’t wait to try it myself !
8. Gamification creates new social sporting communities
For the younger generation a sense of togetherness is extremely important. They want to gather with their buddies and chill! Social communities where you are able to connect with otheres are therefore a must for many of them. Gamification may offer this, as technology is able to combine a social network/platform where you can play a game and share whatever you want.
Obviously there are the examples such as Runkeeper, Nike and Strava, but a good example can also be found in kitesurfing. Kitesurfers are free spirits which like to meet their counterparts. The Woo is a gamification tool which can realise this. It records your session while you are kitesurfing. It capture your highest boost in Big Air mode or it scores your tricks. These achievements you can post on a social platform (which includes leaderboards etc),so your friends can see what you have been up to and if you have indeed gained bragging rights.
9. Gamification is excellent fan engagement tool
Fans are extremely important for the development of a sport. Without fans, a sport has really no purpose for existence as fans may either become participants (if they not already are) or take care of the necessary funding of their clubs, sports and federations. Gamification will help in creating brand loyalty and commitment of fans now and in the future. If clubs and sports federations give the fan that unique and immersive experience, they will come back!
There are loads of opportunities to do this both on the field and off the field. Lets start with the inside stadium experience. Consider the future stadium as an enormous game console where you as a fan can decide what you want to experience.
Do you want to have a picture taken with one of your heroes? Consider it done! Do you want to have your face painted in your team’s colours? It all can be done with AR and much more! Such as for example zooming in with your phone on a match day program and getting all kind of interactive experiences and games, or playing a game with your friends by predicting scores. A whole new layer of experiences will be put over a game which you are watching. I bet you will get hooked.
Lets go outside the stadium now! Plenty of opportunities here! First of all, there are the fantasy games, where participants assemble imaginary teams of real players of a professional sport These teams compete based on the statistical performance of those players’ in the real game.
But there are many more developments. In the US there is now a fan controlled football league, where fans decide on which play will be executed, which players will be bought and sold, which colors the teamjerseys should have etc. The fans in this league make the calls. In soccer there is a team in France, which is also controlled by the fans, whilst in Formula E, fans can decide on which driver will get a power boost. I am sure, we will see more of this in the future in order to enhance fan engagement.
TOOLS & TACTICS
To be clear: gamification doesn’t mean creating in-app games for users to play. When we talk about “gamifying” an experience, we’re referring to using techniques that lead users through standard experiences in ways that feel like a game. Gamifying an experience means making a task fun, giving it a sense of purpose, and making the experience seamless— where every element feels dynamic and purposeful.
There are four primary ways that sports organisations implement these strategies to drive fan engagement. Let’s dive in.
1. Official sports teams apps
When users download and first open a team’s app, they are often encouraged to register or sign up to access exclusive content and games. This is a highly effective mechanism to capture first-party data.
By placing gamified elements across the app, sports organisations can also capture data points that identify behavioural traits. For instance, using exclusive match imagery and video replay content with interactive layers— like a poll or a quiz— can help brands gain behavioural insight from users, such as their affinity with a specific player. Brands can then use this to personalise content the user sees from then on, and offer them products they’re likely to purchase.
Using moderated chat and community involvement is another tried-and-tested way to increase user retention and obtain voluntary first-party data from users. Chelsea FC does this very well. They had over 70,000 virtual attendees for a recent league match via the official ‘Chelsea 5th Stand' app.
Another (non-football) example is Goodwood with its SpeedWeek event. They used gamification mechanisms to reward users for making predictions, proving their knowledge and offering opinions.
2. Fantasy Leagues
Fantasy games bring fans together to invest time, money and passion in a fan-to-fan competitive tournament. They drive interest in the sport beyond a single team while attracting passionate, loyal usage, including app downloads and continuous engagement.
For instance, Fantasy Premier League, first launched in 2002, connects over 7 million players worldwide every season.
By assuming the role of "manager", fans can buy and sell players, collect points for goals, assists, saves, and other actions on the pitch. This can generate highly-talkable topics, sharable achievements and, of course, the all-important “League Invite” that drives viral adoption.
Fantasy leagues are a powerful gamified experience to drive high engagement amongst new and existing fans. Sports games, in general, are a vehicle for promoting the sport into growth markets. Over two hundred thousand people are playing in India, a highly competitive market for the sport.
The registration step, often seen as a barrier to entry, is welcomed by players who respect the need to store their scores and keep them updated. The game is also a direct funnel into merchandise, creating personalised, dynamic click-through to individual club shops.
3. eSports
One of the most prominent gamification examples in the sports industry is eSports (or electronic sports): a competitive gamified experience where fans play against each other, usually in front of a spectator audience like traditional sports. Competitors from various eSports leagues or teams face off in the same games popular with at-home gamers: Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Overwatch and Madden NFL, to name a few. eSports create a competition with points and prizes to be won, leaderboards and reward cycles, keeping users engaged and hungry for more.
This type of gamified experience is a powerful tool for reaching a global fan base. Many sports teams have their own branded and well-funded esports teams; some official leagues have their official eSports leagues. During the pandemic lockdown, this mechanism proved valuable in building fan engagement before, during and after an event.
The French LFP, for example, was the first major domestic football league organiser to create and run its in-house virtual league when, in 2016, it partnered with EA and its FIFA title to launch e-Ligue 1. They've since had over 100,000 players represent their teams virtually, including real-life professional footballers, together with over 129,000 games played and 32,000+ engaged social media followers. This has led to regular news and media coverage, increasing their relationship with sponsors, including EA. It has been a real success in extending reach and knowledge about their fan-base, according to LFP Media Director Mathieu Ficot.
4. Sports Betting
Many sporting organisations harness the sports betting industry to increase awareness of their brand and drive sponsorship. Betting businesses themselves use gamified bets to attract and interest new users. With prediction bets, or “what will happen at X time”-type bets, sports fans who feel they have an added skill advantage are enticed to engage with their betting product and, in turn, spend even more time following the team(s) in question to learn more about their brand.
TOP EXAMPLES
UTS Live
UTS Live is an interesting example of innovation around Tennis competitions. It aims at reinventing the competition formats, making the games shorter and simpler, more dynamic and enhanced with new rules. As a traditional sport, Tennis rules and duration are not adapted to younger audiences and its public is aging.
UTS Live is a private competition, with a points system, shorter rounds, and innovative rules with a card system that players can activate to create new strategies throughout the game. The competition codes are also inspired by eSports, with the possibility to listen to the discussion between coaches and players
This type of competition will offer engaging content to fans, and new ways to consume sports competitions with new rules and enhancements, which is quite interesting for younger fans.
Immersiv.io has worked with Deutsche Telekom and its partner the FC Bayern to create a brand-new engaging experience for fans using augmented reality content.
This social AR experience was showcased at the entrance of the Allianz Arena, presenting an innovative way to entertain fans before the match. Fans could use their mobile phone’s camera in front of the stadium to display giant animated avatars of FC Bayern players coming into life in front of them. Every fan could take pictures with this special guard of honor composed with Neuer, Pavard, Muller & Kimmich encouraging & clapping the users. Fans can also share pictures & videos on social media.
Formula E: offering special features to drivers and fans
Formula E is known for being one of the most innovative competitions. Some cool interactive features are bringing excitement throughout the race. For example, FANBOOST gives fans the opportunity to vote for their favorite driver and award them a five-second extra boost of power during the race, which can directly influence the outcome of the race.
Every driver can also pick up an extra hit of power with the ATTACK MODE. To fire up Attack Mode, drivers need to arm their car, drive off the racing line, and through the Activation Zone. Drivers that secure the extra speed, can use it for a few laps when they want to race harder, giving them the edge to keep ahead of the competition.
Fan Controlled Football (FCF)
FCF is pro football re-imagined for the modern digital world. This very innovative US football league is completely controlled by the fans. Before the competitions, the fans can choose the players of their team (through a draft with a voting system), their team colors, logo, even the coaches… They also compete to win some advantages and boosters for their squads.
During the game, the fans can call the plays and have a major influence on the course of the action. Every game is live, streaming directly on Twitch. This league is the greatest example of gamification, offering fans the opportunity to be at the center of the game, interacting together to help their squad.
ARISE
With ARISE, a white-label solution created by Immersiv.io for clubs and leagues, fans have access to a new set of content to enhance their viewing experience. They can display various statistics directly on the pitch, and follow the performance of their favorite player with specific data to better understand the game. ARISE is taking the fan experience to another level, as every fan just has to put its smartphone camera on the pitch to get the latest stats of the competitions (player’s heatmap or speed, passes possibilities, successful dribbles…).
As we can see, creating interactive and personalized experiences will be a must-see in the months and years to come for sports stakeholders. Immersive technologies such as AR/VR will completely change the way we consume digital content, and the sports industry will be no exception.
INTEL
Intel’s freeD technology, a 360° vision system featuring 38 high-resolution industrial cameras, has now been installed at the home stadiums of 11 NFL teams, including the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texas, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, and the Washington Redskins.
For games at these freeD technology-enabled stadiums, fan can access 360° highlights via NFL.com, the NFL Mobile app, the NFL YouTube channel, and across NFL team digital offerings. The replay system uses the 38 cameras installed around the stadium, along with proprietary algorithms, to enable views of gameplay action from every angle. Each of the cameras in the stadium are connected to Intel-based servers capable of processing up to 1 terabyte of data per 15- to 30-second clip. The volumetric video capture travels over miles of fiber-optic cables and is fed to a special control room where a team of producers select and package the replays, according to Intel.
"By expanding freeD to more teams across the NFL, we’re empowering fans to see every side of the play and relive the excitement of game-changing moments," said James Carwana, general manager of Intel Sports. "During Super Bowl LI, fans experienced a pivotal play from the quarterback’s point of view. Seeing key plays up close and from new perspectives is redefining what it means to watch the game."
Intel’s freeD (free dimensional video) captures true 3D scenes that can be tapped to produce any desired viewing angle. The system utilizes 36 Spark Series SP-20000 industrial cameras from JAI that are mounted around the around the upper level of the stadium to continuously capture the action from every angle. SP-20000 cameras feature the 20 MPixel CMV20000 CMOS image sensor from CMOSIS, which features a 6.4 µm pixel size. The cameras also feature built-in high dynamic range mode, which is designed to handle the high contrast sun and shade conditions common in outdoor stadiums, golf courses, and other sports venues.
Synchronized feeds of high-resolution video are processed using algorithms to create a 3D database of voxels. After the freeD database is created, an interactive real-time rendering engine allows for the viewing of the captured scene from any desired angle (as long as it is within the coverage range of the original sensors).
Vishal Shah, SVP, Digital Media at the NFL, also commented: "We’re thrilled to bring this innovative content to NFL fans both in stadium and at home with freeD technology," said Shah. "Partnering with Intel has enabled a new way for fans to experience the excitement of our game. The vision of this technology to place the viewer anywhere on the field has the potential to be impactful across multiple areas of the League."