Qualcomm Senior VP/Global Marketing Dan Novak spoke about the future of wireless technology in sports, raising intriguing possibilities about the next stage of fan engagement. During a presentation at the ’16 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology Conference, Novak picked up on a concept floated on Wednesday by Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer about watching games from the perspective of a player through wearable cameras and sensors. "The idea that you are able to provide a first-person experience to the fan at home, on an over-the-top platform, or on the telecast, or even to a fan in the arena, creates many new opportunities from a fan experience standpoint,” Novak said. He suggested that augmented reality already is common on sports broadcasts, such as the first-down line, could become part of the in-stadium experience. Phones could impose stats over a view of the field, a strike zone image on a real baseball diamond or concession information in the concourse. “It's not a stretch to think about how that could have an impact on the in-stadium and in-arena experience,” Novak said. All of this will not happen until venues can guarantee high quality, uninterrupted mobile connectivity. Asked when a capacity crowd at an NFL game could be certain of that, he said, "I don’t know the answer for when that will be a reality, and again, existing stadiums have their own challenges. If you think about 5G, that will go a long way toward solving some of these high-teledensity issues.”
