The many ways that technology is evolving sports all across the world are often fun and just flat out cool. Players are being tracked, franchises are running smarter and fans are being engaged like never before in history.
But on the other end of the sports tech spectrum there is a far more serious problem going on around the world due to an increase in understanding of just how serious hits to the head are for athletes. Issues with athletes sustaining concussions are forcing the sports with impacts (which is most of them) to scramble to find solutions to protect their athletes. This has lead to many companies and leagues to turn to technology to help find a solution.
This intersection of sports technology and medical needs for athletes and the teams that employ them has been one of our most covered topics. We’ve seen a lot of promising solutions and technologies that hope to help athletes continue to compete as normal. But in reality it feels more and more evident that the most violent sports (American Football and Rugby to name the most obvious) will be forced to dramatically change their style of play to keep athletes participating at all levels of play; from youth up to professional.
Watch the following video from The Players’ Tribune about former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Adrian Coxson and hear his scary story about a concussion he sustained. Then ask yourself, do you think there is any technology out there that could ever prevent something like this? What do you think leagues will have to do to prevent other athletes from suffering a similar fate?