…within social media communication in soccer sports
Talk at the 18th Annual International Conference on Sports: Economic, Management, Marketing & Social Aspects at Athens, Greece on May 15th 2018
Abstract:
360 degree photo and video represents a substantial innovation in visual communication in sports (Hebbel-Seeger, 2017). Within the digital transformation the technological development in the field of audiovisual media first of all to improve the image quality and usability as well as the expansion of possible application areas, conditioned by compact and waterproof devices (like „action cams“) (Petrović et al., 2015). In addition, decreasing acquisition costs lead to a wider use. The depiction of a complex happening in all directions as a 360 degree photo or video, however, offers completely new communicative possibilities with a high immersive potential (Ting, 2015).
We investigated whether and how 360 degree photo and video is currently used in social media communication in soccer. For this purpose, we analyzed the social media activities of three top clubs each in the English “Premiere League”, the German “Erste Bundesliga” and the Spanish “Primera División” over the period of the last 3 weeks of the season 2016/2017 by means of a content analysis. As a reference, we have also looked on the US “Major League Soccer”. In a next step, we have conducted interviews with communication experts in the field of sports regarding the potential and future prospects of 360 photo and video in sports communication. It shows that the communicative potential is seen and high expectations are placed on the technology. At the same time, however, it is above all a lack of human resources and a lack of experience in the conception and use of 360-degree photo and video content that currently stand in the way of a common use.
Within this contribution the technology will be outlined, actual current uses in the context of social media communication in soccer highlighted and expectations and future mission ideas outlined.
References:
Hebbel-Seeger, A. (2017). 360 Degrees Video and VR for Training and Marketing within Sports. Athens Journal of Sports 4, 4, 243-261
Ting, L. (2015). Application of Virtual Reality Technology to Sports. In E.E. Elatar & S.-B. Tsai (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2015 AASRI International Conference on Circuits and Systems (p. 311-313). Paris, Amsterdam & Hong Kong: Atlantis.
Petrović, L.T., Milovanović, D. & Desbordes, M. (2015). Emerging technologies and sports events: Innovative information and communication solutions. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 5, 2, 175-190.