The first season of La Liga’s Primera División kicked off 90 years ago, on Feb. 10, 1929. Nine decades later, the sport of soccer is identifiably the same, yet incredibly different, infused with technology.
At this week’s Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona, La Liga has been showcasing some of the biggest new technologies that it has been leveraging to increase fan engagement, boost on-field performances, and improve officiating.
“More than ever before, a football match is a unique experience thanks to recent technological advances which have improved the standing of Spanish clubs, the professionalism of its technical bodies, as well as the fan experience,” said Joris Evers, La Liga’s chief communications officer, in a press release.
The most impactful new technology implementation across soccer in general is the use of video assistant referees. La Liga uses the Xeebra tool provided by EVS to allow referees to review plays from multiple angles. Xeebra can also overlay things such as the off-side line to help referees make correct calls. Through the first 190 games of this current season, VAR reviewed 2,280 incidents, and led to referees changing their decision 59 times.
“VAR has become the protagonist of each football match, enabling more even-handed referee decisions, adding prestige to our league, and more drama and new experiences for our fans,” Evers said.
Among other technology implementations on show in Barcelona this week were the use of artificial intelligence to adjust match schedules to boost attendance, and experiments with creating virtual reality content. Six La Liga stadiums have installed Intel’s 360-degree replay technology, with two more installations scheduled for the 2019-20 season. Through La Liga’s official producer, Mediapro, the league also provides match analysis services to help coaching staff boost performances.