I have been having heated debates over the May 1st long weekend on that topic. Here is the context:
By 2025, there will be NO MORE line judges in ATP #Tennis tournaments. The “Human” judges will be replaced by an Electronic Line Calling systems.
Will the Electronic Line Calling system change the sport POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY ?
😤Definitely we won’t see Benoit Paire, Nick Kyrgios or Rafael Nadal arguing with the judge about the line.
⚽ Many debaters have argued that #football have not shown the right pathway of using Tech in sport with the #Goallinetechnology and semi-automated offside by just creating more #controversy.
Some questions remain:❓
❓Will it kill the fun and related arguments with referees ?
❓Do we think it is fair for a player losing his mind over a wrong call and then losing the match ?
❓Do we think unfairness is part of the sport or that technology can solve that ?
❓Would Grand Slam tournaments adopt it ? US Open Australian Open Wimbledon Roland-Garros ( We can’t forget there that Grand Slams tournaments aren’t part of ATP so they have complete independence in what they do)
❓How quickly will WTA adopt it ? #Womensports
❓What are the Grand Slam going to do ?
When I created Asia Sports Tech, one of the missions was to bring more technology in sport. Since then I have heard coaches saying “ I don’t need #motioncapture nor #sensors I can see well”… you know my reaction when I hear this when I know that your eye can’t collect any datasets in a consistent manner and with 0.1 degrees of accuracy when the tech can do so I am of the opinion that it will bring lots of POSITIVE benefits:
🌟More fairness to the game and less cheating
🌟Bring more #integrity : reduce referee bribery and game manipulation —> issues that are increasing due to amount of betting $ on matches – Thoughts Jonny Gray Ankura, former CEO of The International Tennis Integrity Agency
🌟More data on the ball and players to increase #fanengagement and #gamification
🌟Reduce logistical issues of getting linesman for tournaments as for many of them, this is just a part-time job.
But I believe that the adaption by the public and the amateurs players will be successful in tennis if they can relate. In #football, only the pros can use #goalline technology and semi-automated offside so it has created a gap between the “game for the pros” and the “game for the amateurs”.
And here the ATP Tour is much better positioned than FIFA as there are already #sportstech for for amateur tennis players like eyes3 Sports Technology Kung Sing Cheng that built a solution for the amateurs that can’t afford Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd.
Looking forward to hear POSITIVE and NEGATIVE impacts you have seen in other sports with an increasing use of #technology. Reach out to us to learn more!
