The Australian Football League's largest GPS provider "has allayed fears the latest player tracking technology will widen the gap between rich and poor clubs," according to Jay Clark of the HERALD SUN. Clubs pay upwards of A$40,000 ($33,000) a year to use Catapult’s GPS equipment, "helping provide fitness staff and coaches with cutting-edge data on players’ physical status during training and games." There "remains concerns the more wealthy clubs stand to derive a greater advantage over poorer clubs from the increased use of GPS in football." But Catapult Exec Chair Adir Shiffman said Port Adelaide "had shown it could become a leader in the use of sports science" under High Performance Chief Darren Burgess, regardless of its financial position. Shiffman said that "the willingness of senior club leaders to embrace wearable technology was more important than their balance sheets." Shiffman said, "People talk about clubs that are advantaged because of their financial position, but I don’t think it relates to our technology. ... I don’t think the finances are a material driver of the difference." The AFL "is considering a league-wide deal with a GPS provider such as Catapult that would help centralise the data and potentially make it available to broadcasters and media organisations" (HERALD SUN, 12/14).
