As SportsDataSV 2015 drew to a close, the buzz over data gathering and utilization in stadium sports was evident throughout the SAP Center in San Jose, CA. Discussions and presentations from the day had shown that organizations were eager to embrace the possibilities opened up by these tech-based approaches to physical performance.

John Furrier, Jeff Frick and Stu Miniman, cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, were on hand to analyze the turnout and talking points of the event. Most of the day’s developments were as expected, but there were a few surprises along the way.

Access policies

One of the most energized discussions was over the accessibility of sports organizations’ data. Comparing the NFL’s more insular policies, to the availability engineered by the MLB, theCUBE cohosts contrasted the pros and cons of each. However, Furrier felt that the closed-data standing of the NFL would eventually be broken open simply to keep up with its equivalents in other sports.

Also touched on was the way that the NHL has been using a social media platform developed by the MLB, and the likeliness of each organization establishing its own version was put up against the possibility of one shared baseline platform.

Keeping up with the times

Furrier moved the conversation around to the needs of these sports organizations to establish their tech policies sooner than later, with each day that they delayed only putting them farther behind their peers who were making progress.

Frick pointed out that for all the excitement and management changes that might arise from the tech adoption, the points on the scoreboard and whether the teams were winning or losing were still the bottom line. As he noted, there was a “never-ending arms race to get the most competitive edge.”

As much fun as it might be to see what Miniman termed “the tech athletes interspersing with the sports athletes,” on-field performance will have the final word.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of SportsDataSV 2015.

Photo by SiliconANGLE