Chapter 9: The Digital Fitness Industry in the United States

Innovative ideas are the driving forces that constantly evolve various industries in the rapidly changing world. If an organisation fails to adapt to the shifting trends, it could find itself in an unfavourable position and jeopardise its market competitiveness over time (León-Quismondo, García-Unanue, & Burillo, 2020; Woolf, 2008). Undoubtedly, technological advancements have drastically impacted all sport activities and all sectors of the sport industry in recent years, either directly or indirectly. For example, automatic timing and imaging systems have been instrumental in swimming, track and field, and skiing competitions for nail-biting, close finishes (Finn, 2016). Sporting surfaces (e.g. artificial turf) have been developed with the intent of providing a safer medium of competition while maintaining performance integrity, cost effectiveness, and manageable operations (Fleming, 2011). Innovations have spurred a multitude of developments in Wi-Fi capable stadiums and arenas (Levallet et al., 2019), apparels (Caine, Blair, & Vasquez, 2012), footwear (Geil, 2002), goal-line, instant replay technology (Winand & Fergusson, 2018), fantasy sporting leagues (Larkin & Fink, 2016), statistical tracking and analytics (Secular, 2021), ticketing processes (Márquez, Cianfrone, & Kellison, 2020), virtual reality viewership (Kim & Ko, 2019), sports-related video games, and esports (Pirker, 2020). Digitisation has also been instrumental for sports broadcasting. Television networks have successfully leveraged digital transformations in programming, editing, and graphics to provide viewers with state-of-the-art experiences and enjoyment (McCracken, 2016). The widely praised Hawk-Eye technology has revolutionised replays and slow motion displays of many sports’ competitions, refereeing, training, spectator trust, and consumer pleasure (Winand & Fergusson, 2018). In these regards, many sport organisations in the United States are at the forefront of changes due in part to the development, adoption, and implementation of new ideas, technologies, and management process (Anderson, Kim, & Zhang, 2021).