RESUMO
Purpose: The objective of this study is to explore the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) development on the sports industry labor market, the ways in which AI has influenced the demand for labor, created new job opportunities, and impacted existing job roles. Methodology: It refers to the inductive approach in the spirit technological determinism theory. It is based on the literature review and written qualitative, semi-structured interviews (N = 14) with sports human resources, management, and technology professionals (purposive sampling). Analysis involved inductive coding and line-by-line analytics of the data. Findings: The labor market implications of AI in the sports industry are multifaceted. New job roles are likely to emerge, demanding a blend of AI expertise, data-analysis skills, and sports domain knowledge. Professionals in roles such as sports data analysts and marketing experts may find increasing opportunities. However, certain jobs undergo transformation as AI automates routine tasks. It requires individuals to upskill or transition to roles that require a deeper understanding of AI. This necessitates the creation of responsibilities focused on ethical AI governance and oversight. Originality: It is important to research the impact of AI dissemination on the sports industry labor market in a holistic manner because the effects of AI are complex and far-reaching. While there are potential benefits to the implementation of AI, there are also potential risks and challenges that need to be addressed, the implementation of AI in the sports industry could have broader social and ethical implications that need to be considered.
RESUMO
The purpose of this article is to adopt a customer-centric perspective the and introduce digital twin technology as a solution for mega-sport event management. This conceptual model article focuses on the potentially drastic role of digital twin technology in modern sports events, explaining in detail different aspects of its impact. The main research question is "How (and why) do sports venue digital twin emerging technologies prospectively impact the sports spectators" customer experiences?" It contributes to understanding how and why sports venue digital twins make events more customer-centred by enhancing fan experiences and engagement. Subsequently, it aims to position digital twin technology as an innovative solution for mega-sport event management across various customer experience touchpoints. By examining the intersection of digital twins and sports events from a customer-centric lens, this article will elucidate the intricacies involved in leveraging this emerging technology to transform stakeholder and fan experiences at major sporting events. Finally, we outline and explain the obstacles, challenges, opportunities, and perspectives of digital twin technology at an intersection with sports events from a customer-centric perspective. The use of digital twins potentially enables the creation of hyper-realistic virtual replicas of sports venues, providing immersive and personalized experiences for spectators. This technology allows event organizers to optimize resource allocation, streamline logistics, and improve operational efficiency.
RESUMO
The rapid uptake of digital technologies is constantly transforming the modern culture of sports spectating; however, relatively little is known about the impact of digitalization on the changing face of global sports-consuming audiences, particularly from a qualitative perspective. In this article, the relationship between modern mass digital technologies (i.e., mobile applications and big data) and audiences of sports spectators is described and explained by taking a customer-centric approach to grounded theory using a literature review and in-depth qualitative semi-structured interviews (N = 12) with sports marketing, management, and technology professionals. The qualitative approach permits the gathering of in-depth insights into a problem, generates new concepts through data synthesis and analysis, and captures changing attitudes within the sports industry. Moreover, the qualitative approach to research is not bound by the limitations of quantitative methods and focuses on the primary questions of "how" and "why" digital technology's mass deployment and diffusion have transformed content consumption in the sports industry. The analysis first systematizes and codes the collected data. Second, all the materials are iteratively read and the key points are outlined. Using the iterative analysis, the theoretical and empirical insights and findings are synthesized in order to achieve the results. Finally, dimensions of the transformation of sports spectators' consumption are identified and explained. The research implications highlight "how" and "why" modern digital technologies have changed the sports-consuming audience by making it more inclusive in terms of age, gender, demographics, social and health status. These findings are useful for sport managers to better understand their audiences and processes in an ever-changing global society.
