Netting the Future: How can technology be implemented into sports?

Introduction

Year after year we see the country’s favorite NBA players come together to “compete” against each other in the All Star Weekend.?When I say favorite NBA players what are some that come to mind? Many great players come to mind but not names such as Matt McClung. So why is this G-League player the 2024 All Star Weekend king?

NBA fans seem to get more displeased with the All Star Game each year, but why? The answer to this question may lie within the rise of the internet, social media, and overall buzz relating to the all star game.

The shift of the internet raises questions about the long-term implications of a brand’s ability to capture and keep an audience’s attention in an increasingly fast-paced digital environment.

G-Leaguer McClung Takes the Throne

This year, The Slam Dunk Contest was underwhelming to say the least.

Whether Jaylen Brown is hopping over Kai Cenet or dunking with a sparkly glove, NBA fans are losing interest in the competition.?

However, G-League player Mac McClung has proven to be a saving grace in this dying contest.? McClung caught the attention of fans across the country, as well as the judges of the contest, by leaping over the 7 '1'' Shaquille O’Neal while doing a reverse dunk. McClung’s perfect score won him the contest for the second year in a row. Remember that this is a player that doesn't even get NBA minutes.

?It’s safe to say the current structure of ASW needs reworking, and there are a variety of methods for the NBA to attempt to solve this prominent problem.

Evolving Viewers?

In the early days of the NBA, people did not have many options of what to watch on the television. Therefore, when the All Star Weekend was taking place, fans would come together to enjoy the entertainment of the NBA’s best players due to the lack of other options.

In today’s world, people can spend five minutes on social media and watch all the top highlights from the night prior.??

Rather than watching an entire game in hopes to see LeBron James posterize someone, one could spend thirty seconds on Twitter/X and watch James’ top dunks of the entire season

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As a result of these short media clips, the attention span of viewers decreases everyday which is leading to cable TV’s downfall.

Challenge?

This challenge is not unique to the NBA, but many television networks face this exact problem everyday.?

Entertainment companies are losing their grip on the viewer’s attention span as we progress further into the future, and they must develop new strategies to keep people entertained in this fast-paced world.

What Needs to Change?

No one wants to watch anything that’s old and repetitive, so how can a network consistently capture the attention of an evolving viewer?

One idea is to analyze the world’s current trends and see if any of these are ones you can implement into your business. One trend is the rapid evolution of technology, the NBA could brainstorm a way to implement a new sort of technology into the game of basketball. Let’s think creatively here, what if the NBA had a live app where fans can vote on where the players will be awarded more/less points on the court in real time. For example, fans could see Curry with the ball and vote to stretch the 3 point line to near half court. Another option could be if fans see Ja Morant with an incredible dunk they vote that he gets 4 points, instead of 2. The ideas are limitless when it comes to technology, we get to decide and create the future of entertainment.

One major factor that affects everyone is the players motivation in the all star game. We see time and time again every player shooting wide open shots due to no defense and it dulls the competitive nature.?

Adam Silver does not seem to be properly listening and responding to players complaints as said by bleacher report in NBA’s Adam Silver: I’ll take responsibility for the all-star game lacking intensity. This needs to be addressed within the next year or players are going to become more and more radical.

NBA’s response

The Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu's three-point competition was a great idea for expanding their audience. They were able to combine two different target markets into one exciting event for viewers

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Adam Silver has tried different formats and such of the weekend, by letting captains pick teams, traditional east vs west, etc.?

These in my opinion are inside the box solutions, they have little thought or brainstorming going into them.?We as marketers need to promote wild ideas, and just maybe we will further understand how to capture our generation's evolving attention span.