The Graphic Datafication of Broadcast Sport

I have an ambivalent attitude to watching televised sport. Some sports I like, some I don't. Some work well on TV, others not so well. Some I watch, some not. Mostly it's not.

A fairly recent addition to the world of broadcast sport is the graphical representation and interpretation of data. Contemporary sports broadcasting now dictates that graphically interesting, 'tell the story at a glance' info-graphics are superimposed over the live action to heighten the drama of the sporting activity. These info-graphics increase one's interest, explain fundamental aspects of the sport and help make sometimes very subtle, arcane rules understandable.

Plus, these info-graphics just plain fun to watch.

I even found myself staying up late watching the current Ashes cricket series*  from England in the hope of seeing more 'graphical data' overlayed on the live action. I'm not normally a fan of cricket but the explanation of particular shots, fielding strategies and the like made the game really interesting and dynamic (it also helped that the matches were exceedingly close). And for me, dynamic is not normally an adjective I'd use to describe cricket. I now actually understand some of the more cryptic aspects and techniques employed in this 'gentlemen's game'.

A few typical broadcast sport 'graphical data' examples:

An AFL (Australian Rules) footballer lines up for a goal and a 'super' is transposed on top of the action explaining the probability of the kick scoring correctly. The prospect of successfully making the distance and to which side the kick may swing to if the kick is a poor one (and from which direction the wind is blowing), are graphically conveyed before the kick for 'a major' occurs. If it's a tight match, the suspense is accentuated by the inclusion of 'success rate at 48 metres is 32 percent' – hmm... and the wind is blowing from the left. Uh oh...

A fast bowler lets 'one rip' during the current Ashes series in England. He appeals for an lbw, but is turned down by the umpire. The ball must have veered up high or out too wide you think. The commentators discuss the accuracy or otherwise of the call, but then a computer animation springs on screen conveying the velocity and trajectory of the ball in flight and simulates the path of the ball down the pitch, passing through the transparent batsman where it soundly strikes the off-stump**. The batsman was out after all! (according to the animated sequence). The batsman from England's team stays in. Uh oh...

The broadcast of the recent Tour de France on German TV station ARD displays cycle and rider-related data overlayed on the live action. Current speed, heart rate, cadence and power output are flashed on-screen. What is reputedly the toughest sporting event in the world takes on a whole other dimension when one is confronted by the live physiological data. He's going that fast? up mountains? Incredible. Or in the case of one particular rider: his pulse rate won't come back down? Uh oh...

It is generally thought that 'guys like sport'. The love of a competitive physical clash or event where strength, speed, skills or endurance are celebrated is hot-wired deep within maledom (maybe even femaledom). Is this true for designers and culturally-aware, artistic types who like to draw and write and eat vegetables? Maybe. I have watched enough science documentaries to know that we designers are created from very similar DNA to everyone else.

I happen to be a designer and a culturally-aware, vegetable-eating guy, and I'm definitely now a broadcast sports convert.

Bring on the graphically interesting interpretations of data, get those dynamic graphs on screen. Bring it on! GO DATA! YEAH!

Notes

Above: two computer graphic visualisations of statistics from an AFL (Australian Rules Football) game. The above graphics have been created by Virtual Spectator, used by the Nine television network.

From ARD TV's broadcast of the Tour de France. A rider's physiological data on-screen. His heart rate is 170 beats-per-minute and he's cycling at 44.8 kilometres per hour.

* For those of you reading from outside of the British Commonwealth or cricket-playing nations, The Ashes Test Series is a long-running series of matches between Australia and England. Each match can last five days. England has not taken the series from Australia in 16 years – and they're getting uncomfortably close this year.

** Again, for non-Commonwealth readers, go here to read what the rules of cricket are. I've played it (very poorly as a schoolboy), watched it and still don't quite understand some aspects of the game. But those aspects are now being made clear to me.

Comments

[f.]

Strong video games influence