I was flipping through the channels last night looking for a game to watch and stopped on ESPN's broadcast of Monday Night Baseball. In less than a minute, I had changed channels.
Was it because of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on another network? No. It was intermission. Was it the teams playing? No - despite my rooting interest in the Red Sox. The major deterrent for me was trying to watch the game with the strike zone tracker always superimposed in the field of play.
I am a huge proponent of technology in sports and sports broadcasting - I started out in college radio and moved into web and social media communication, so clearly it has played a role in my professional life. But as I watched the ESPN broadcast, I found myself fixated on the strike zone tracker rather than the game action. It seems to me that the addition of that strike zone tracker, even though it is a useful tool and a sponsorable aspect for teams and networks to sell, distracted from the viewing experience of the game.
There are other instances in other sports and on other networks where technology has interfered with the viewing experience - the FoxTrax glow puck from the mid-90s on Fox's NHL broadcasts comes to mind - but I think it's a warning sign for technological development in sports. The most important thing when it comes to technology in sports, particularly broadcasting, is that the application of technology has to enhance the viewing experience, rather than detract or distract from it. There are plenty of examples of successful technology integration into a broadcast - even strike zone trackers that are off to the side of the field of vision - but the failures of technology integration can easily ruin a viewing experience.
I'd love to hear thoughts on this - what do you think? Leave a comment or send me a tweet (@cknoblock17)!
Photo courtesy insidesocial.com