Today’s guest columnist is Rick Burton of Syracuse University.
I annually teach an esports class at Syracuse University and recently gave a variation of the following exam to my students. After reading their test responses, I wondered how I would have done … and how members of our industry would’ve performed?
Let’s agree on this much: The sports tech sector is bustling with activity, and given the FIFA 2026 Men’s World Cup and the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics are just heartbeats away, these well-intentioned questions may reveal whether Sportico readers are ready for the next five years.
Here’s your own personal final. There are no right answers … only informed ones. Still, as I tell my students, the quality of your response on an exam reveals a lot. It’s a bit like one of those old ink-blot tests. You see what you see.
The Test
This test should not take more than 60 minutes. Do not ramble in your answers, because writing a lot does not get you more points. Each question is worth 10 points.
- In the book Elusive Fan, authors Rein, Kotler and Shields wrote that “the strength of video games is that they empower fans with a degree of ownership over their experience.” Additionally, Esports restores “some of the control over the experience that has been removed from the fan with the industrialization of sports.” Explain why these two sentences are so important in predicting the future of the sports world.
- Nicholas Negroponte wrote a lot about interfaces in his 1995 book being digital, and we watched the trailer for the 2013 Joaquin Phoenix movie Her. What are your predictions for physical (typing), audio (speech recognition) and ocular interfaces in the future, and how will they affect the sports industry? Will advances in interface technology give esports an extra advantage?
- VR, AI, 6G, 4D, the Metaverse. Where will the sports industry land with these technologies circa 2028? Show me you are predictively nimble. This question is harder than it looks especially because of AI and companies like Amazon or Apple (not to mention Meta betting heavily on Quest headsets). Be realistic (based on current facts and emerging trends), and don’t write about holograms. We’ll get to that in question No. 5. Keep your answer relatively short by talking about the “big picture.”
- Given the establishment of the NBA’s 2K League, what should the NFL’s Roger Goodell be doing about the Madden video game franchise (to make his owners wealthier)?
- Holograms. Snoop Dogg and Tupac at Coachella in 2012. Discuss how holographic technology might shape a. the world of video games and esports and b. the overall sports landscape of the future.
- In March, the International Olympic Committee announced it would create an Olympic Esport Series 2023, which would be a global virtual and simulated sports competition in collaboration with specific international federations including baseball and auto racing. The program began immediately after the announcement and will conclude with live finals in Singapore in June. What do you think the IOC is up to, and do you think it is interesting auto racing just got into the Olympic discussion?
- Two non-linked questions: What should Amazon do with Twitch going forward? How should Riot Games make League of Legends Worlds relevant to the mainstream North American sports journalists?
- How will artificial intelligence impact sport wagering and, speaking of such things, how does AI change video gaming?
- Was Microsoft’s $68 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard a sound business decision? Justify your answer.
- If Moore’s Law still holds (and R.I.P. Gordon Moore), and if video game graphics and narrative possibilities jump 4x in the next four years, how much better will esports look in 2028?
Bonus question (and possible extra credit): How does the 2024 arrival of Apple Glass and its lightweight augmented reality capabilities disrupt the traditional sports broadcasting universe?
My guess is many Sportico readers will breeze through this exam in less than an hour. In fact, most will answer each question in less than 30 seconds. But here’s the harder question for our industry: Are the traditionalists keeping up with the rate of change? And are the innovators, the change agents, modifying the sports industry planes while flying them?
Rick Burton is the David B. Falk Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University and former commissioner of Australia’s National Basketball League. He is the COO North America for Playbk Sports and his WWII novel, Into the Gorge, will be released by Amplify Publishing in June.
