Day 2 of my new daily series where I put together and share a list of articles I’ve been reading. Providing a filter for you so you can save time and get an overview of what’s happening in the world of ‘digital sport’. Love to hear your feedback, get in touch with me at @danielmclaren. Here are some of yesterday’s highlights for me;

Machine Learning, AR, VR, and the Future of Sports (sportsvideo.org)

This article is a longer read, but worth the time to invest in. It’s a write up of the second day from the Sports Business Journal’s 2017 Neulion Sports Media & Technology Conference (catchy title!) and concentrates on three main areas; machine learning/AI, Unleashing the Power of AR, and Can VR Get Its Mojo Back?. Three areas we’ll certainly be devoting plenty of column time to next year.

Catapult wants to track your local soccer team (iothub.com.au)

This one comes from the home of one of the foremost companies in sports data/performance analysis, Australia. The company usually goes after the elite end of the market but has broadened their horizons to “prosumers” (please don’t let this catch on!). They describe these people as “serious athletes at junior clubs, as well as sub-elite and semi-professional athletes”. An interesting shift for the company as analytics becomes more accessible to non-professionals and costs for the technology decrease.

Fernando Alonso launches esports team (SportsPro.com)

Esports isn’t going away anytime soon, and many pro sports people are starting to look at it as a new opportunity to develop their brands and connect with different audiences. One of the first movers in the space outside of the US is Fernando Alonso. He has partnered with Swiss consumer technology brand Logitech and Spanish organisation G2 Esports and has the rather catchy name of FA Racing G2 Logitech G.

Win for @FAracingG2 !!!!!????????????????????????
Amazing drive by @G2Bolukbasi ! #F1Esports #LogitechG https://t.co/kw9Bc53ykv

— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 25, 2017

The pivot to reality for digital media (Digiday.com)

An article that both has nothing to do with sport, and everything to do with sport (bear with me). Publishing, for obvious reasons, is of a keen interest to me and articles such as this help to see what’s going on in the industry as a whole. With so many sports publishers around at the moment, from Bleacher Report to Goal.com, from Yahoo Sports to SPORT Bible. There are publishers of all shapes and sizes looking at every niche sport, and niche within sports. So what does the future hold? No-one’s quite sure yet. Worth a read.

Tomorrow I’ll share with you more articles/news that have caught my attention and think worthy of the small moments of time you have during the day. If you spot any that you think I should be reading, but might have missed, let me know on @danielmclaren. See you in the morning!