RoboCalls

“HOW WAS THAT POSSIBLY A FOUL?!?!?”, a voice called out so close to my ear that I surely must have been the one saying it.

Turns out it wasn’t me. It just turned out to be a particularly bad time to be nestled near to my wife during a closely-called Denver Nuggets game. As my ear kept ringing, we watched several close replays of the offending play, admittedly a very close call. After video review from the NBA league offices, the foul stuck. Denver’s opponent went to the foul line for an and-one, and my wife grumbled something about referees and extracurricular income sources. I’m not sure. I was having a bit of a hard time hearing, for some reason.

This is not an uncommon refrain at my house, no matter which sport we’re watching, nor is it limited to the girl sitting next to me. The Broncos/Nuggets/Avalanche/Rockies/Rapids/Mammoth/Rams are invariably getting the short end of the stick from the guys who are making the calls, and someone simply has to do something about it.

Turns out, that feeling is prevalent to a large portion of sports fandom. Go to the live commentary of nearly any team-specific blog, and you’ll find a passionate set of fans who are absolutely, positively sure that they’re at least getting the worse end of the officiating deal, if not fully suggesting a conspiracy against their favorite squad. The opinions are as diverse as the fans, but the common refrain is that the calls and outcomes aren’t fair, and something must be done to level the field. Somewhere along the way, the discussion will often suggest eliminating the human element of observing the game, and turning over the responsibilities of referees, umpires, and judges to something a little less… organic.

Well… maybe not just yet.

Yet strangely enough, most of the professional leagues agree that this march of progress must move along. While robot referees have not suddenly charged onto the field, every professional sports league introduces more and more technology into the game. While much of this is for the enjoyment of fans, it’s also a key element of introducing more data and accuracy into the outcomes.

Major League Baseball started using the radar gun to measure pitch speeds when it first came out in the 1950’s, it wasn’t until 1975 that teams started adopting it as a part of their data regimen. Since then, baseball has added replay and other technologies to assist in calls, and utilizes technology much like augmented reality to overlay strike zones and other graphics onto the screen.

The NFL has also utlilized similar tech to enhance the fan’s experience. Field overlays for first-down markers and camera tech that literally comes from the matrix films has vastly improved the masses ability to not only watch, but digest what’s happening on the field. When was the first time you saw one of these shots while watching a game?

Football also heavily relies on replay to prove and improve on their human element, and continues to move towards tech that will allow them to further ensure the quality of calls.

The NBA has gone wide and deep on bringing new digital experiences to their fans, setting up pay-to-watch center-court virtual reality views of every game a few seasons ago, and adding a lot of interactivity to everything from preseason to All-Star weekend to the Finals.

Basketball also signed on with SportVU during the Finals in 2009. By 2011, they had converted their abilities to show their data in real time, as 10 teams started using their system. By the 2013-14 season, the league had signed on wholesale, adding the tracking system to every arena and game. What does that bring to the table in terms of analytics and enjoyment? Even out of the gates, it was pretty impressive.

That’s a crazy amount of data, right? And that video is over six years old. SportVU has a added even more layers to the output and technology. Is it such a stretch with think that that level of traceability, we’re not terribly far from just mapping out scoring, fouls, and errors with an eye that’s watching from… everywhere?

The NHL uses tech to confirm calls, goals, and even tried to use it to help TV viewers track the puck years back. Soccer started using goal-line tech as early as 2006, about the same time tennis also started using similar measures to decide what was in and out of the court better than any judge ever could. Robotics and augmentation are already a part of your experience in any sport, whether you realize it or not.

It’s coming, sports fans. Every year, professional sports leagues nudge themselves towards a little more technological integration. A little more data and insight. Towards something that is, in theory, dispassionate towards superstars, fans, and biases. Will that keep fan bases from seeing the plays as skewed against them? Probably not. Definitely not. Will it keep players from gaming those systems and rules? Never. Will it take away any of the charm or character of the contests? There’s only one way to find out. Maybe someday, quantum physicists and robotics futurists will even eliminate the Designated Hitter. A forward-looker can dream.

Enjoy the weekend, DNVR Nation. While you’re watching that game on TV, give some thought to the day it is watching you back, and enjoy whatever new toys the league rolls out this next go-round.