“Are Fans in the Stands an Afterthought?”: Sports Events, Decision-Aid Technologies, and the Television Match Official in Rugby Union

Abstract

The intense commodification, commercialisation, mediatisation, globalisation, and digitalisation of sport in the past three decades have resulted in sporting organisations and governing bodies becoming inextricably tied to the global media industry and corporate economy. A result of this mediatisation, coupled with technological advancement, has been the introduction of decision-aid technologies in sport. Existing literature on decision-aid technologies has generally focused on the technologies themselves. Here, we focus on decision-aid technology use and its impact on event experience. This article examines fan attitudes towards the use of the Television Match Official (TMO) in rugby union in relation to the event experience. We present data from a global online questionnaire ( n = 194) and 11 semi-structured interviews with fans, representatives from rugby’s governing bodies, two TMOs, and a television producer. Data show an inconsistency in how TMO decisions are relayed to match crowds, which had an impact on events experience. The data also reveal how heavily reliant the TMO system is on broadcasters. Fans were generally in favour of TMO use, but they did want to be better informed when it came to TMO referrals and decisions. Indeed, fans said improvements to TMO decision delivery in stadia, specifically having audio of referee/TMO discussions/decisions relayed over the stadium PA system and/or captions providing explanations and decisions on TMO referrals, would mostly improve their event experience.

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“…Third, the few studies investigating the impact of technological officiating aids on fans and spectators showed that even if a TOA worked quite well, it might not be appreciated by everybody. Looking at a similar intervention in rugby, Stoney and Fletcher [ 13 ] described that for the vast majority of fans the use of the Television Match Official does interfere with their fan experience, inter alia because they do not get proper information about the decisions made. Winand and Fergusson [ 12 ] showed for another TOA in football, the goal line technology, that only two thirds of the fans were in favor of this TOA, even though over 90% believed it is accurate.…”

“…First the football associations should try to ensure as much transparency as possible throughout VAR uses. Stoney and Fletcher [ 13 ] highlighted how important it is for fans to get proper information about the decision-making process of replay reviews. To provide this transparency, the associations could stream the communication between the referee and the video assistant (as it is done in field hockey) or equip referees with proper technology to announce information about the review process in the stadium (as it is done in the NFL).…”

“…Winand and Fergusson could show in their study about the goal line technology in football that even if a TOA works smoothly, fans and spectators still express some aversion [ 12 ]. In another study about rugby, Stoney and Fletcher [ 13 ] showed that fans are generally in favor of the so-called Television Match Official, but perceived a lack of transparency. Both studies used a small triple-digit number of online questionnaires (n = 270 and n = 194 respectively), in which they asked for the general perception of the technological officiating aid, but did not examine the impact of specific events.…”

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“…That includes stadiums, both architecturally and in terms of the available consumption opportunities. Arguably, modern stadiums are no longer 'only' stadiums, but have integrated connectivity for smartphone users (Fletcher and Stoney 2020), shopping malls, apartments, hotels, cinemas and offices (Kennedy and Kennedy 2017). Cleland et al (2018, 68) argue that '[s]pace and place are intrinsically important in the consumption of sport' and relational practices.…”

Event technology for potential sustainable practices: a bibliometric review and research agenda

“…Web 1.0 environment) leads to a lack of interaction and co-creation among the audience, and between the audience and event planners (Tavakoli and Wijesinghe, 2019). The review of the past decades shows that the globalisation and advanced digitalisation consequently connected sporting events with the global media (Stoney and Fletcher, 2020). Previous literature underpins the potential of ICTs and innovation in enhancing communication streams and increasing revenue (Petrovi c et al, 2015).…”