NFC in the sports world - 5 examples
The NFC acronym for the IT industry refers to Near Field Communication, a short-range wireless communication technology that uses magnetic field induction for communication between devices. How can NFC technology be useful for sports? Can contactless technology generally improve the world of sports? Of course! Here are just five real-world examples of how NFC is already used in sports - and not just at short distances.
Running is one of the most common ways to keep fit. For example, in the United Kingdom alone today there are more than 10.5 million people involved in jogging, and in the United States their number is about 6 times more - and all of them regularly use running shoes. Adidas recently found a way to improve these shoes with NFC - they have recently installed NFC chips in many models of their shoes, which allows consumers to see information about a particular model in the Adidas mobile application.
The company does not intend to stop there and has much more ambitious plans for this technology. In particular, Adidas plans to provide users with the opportunity to send their feedback directly to the company, including detailed information on how well the shoes sit and how they behave in various situations. Thanks to the chips, Adidas will receive more data that will allow the company to create better shoes. And the more sneakers with integrated chips the company sells, the more information it can get, and the more opportunities will open before it to improve functional running shoes.
Adidas already uses this data to create sneakers that take into account the characteristics of runners from a city. As it turned out, people running in London are different from people running in New York. As a result, Adidas recently introduced a new model called AM4LDN - “Adidas made for London” (Adidas - made for London), and soon intends to introduce a model of running shoes for people involved in jogging in Paris.
The National Basketball Association of the United States (NBA) is actively working to enable fans to be visually moved to the front rows as early as 2017 thanks to the release of the new official Nike sportswear. The technological innovations used in the new T-shirts are likely to forever change the sports equipment industry. In particular, they have an NFC chip installed, which, when connected to the phone of the viewer, allows you to see exclusive information about the game, including real-time game statistics, cuts with the best gaming moments, special offers and even playlists with your players’s favorite music .
These smart T-shirts will help fans bring interactive elements to the game and get closer to their favorite players. T-shirts are already available for sale .
Many people know the minutes, sometimes seeming to be an eternity, when you have to stand in line for each other waiting for you to be allowed into the stadium before you can enjoy the game of your favorite team. All you want at this moment is to finally take your place and get ready for the sight. If only there was a way to speed up the passage to the stadium ... If you came to play a major baseball league with Oakland Athletics, then you can be lucky!
This team is putting into trial operation a solution for selling tickets using NFC technology, thanks to which fans will be able to go to the stadium by attaching their iPhone (or Apple Watch) to the ticket scanner - just like when paying for purchases. This method uses NFC technology, which is used in contactless club cards through the Apple Pay service.
However, so far this is the first time that this technology is not used for discount or prepaid gift cards. So this is actually a big step forward, and the use of NFC technology will save a lot of time for baseball fans.
Unfortunately, trade in sports souvenirs and collectibles is often associated with fraud. It is almost impossible to avoid fakes - and a rare memorabilia bought for a lot of money can actually turn out to be just a fake.
But here NFC tags come to the rescue too! The legendary NFL player, Emmitt Smith, founded a startup that produces postage stamp-sized NFC chips to track when and who wore an item and whether it was used in the game. In addition to the fact that PROVA smart tags track items, they also allow you to detect stolen items, which ultimately complicates the sale of stolen items for criminals.
This is a win-win option for both fans and the NFL, and at the same time a serious obstacle for any attackers trying to steal or sell stolen merchandise. Thus, new technologies will help to avoid the recurrence of such embarrassments, such as, for example, with the stolen shirt of Tom Brady, in which he spoke at the Super Bowl, and recently discovered by a foreign journalist.
Buying snacks and drinks at a major sports venue can be quite time consuming. Long lines, various hiccups, mainly when paying, numerous fans who consider the missing change or trying to remember the pin code from the card. Once again, NFC technology comes to the rescue. Last year, as part of a collaboration with the NFL and the San Francisco 49ers team, the Visa international payment system installed about 700 NFC-enabled sales terminals at Levi's Stadium, so cardholders were able to pay for the purchase of food, drinks or souvenirs during the game simply by attaching or touching the payment terminal card or using your smartphone. And in the UK, Gemalto used NFC bracelets for the same purpose in the home stadium of the Saracens Football Club.
So, we gave five examples of how NFC technology helps to improve the world of sports. What is your opinion on this? Perhaps you can give other examples of the use of NFC in sports? Write in the comments.
1. Best running shoes
Running is one of the most common ways to keep fit. For example, in the United Kingdom alone today there are more than 10.5 million people involved in jogging, and in the United States their number is about 6 times more - and all of them regularly use running shoes. Adidas recently found a way to improve these shoes with NFC - they have recently installed NFC chips in many models of their shoes, which allows consumers to see information about a particular model in the Adidas mobile application.
The company does not intend to stop there and has much more ambitious plans for this technology. In particular, Adidas plans to provide users with the opportunity to send their feedback directly to the company, including detailed information on how well the shoes sit and how they behave in various situations. Thanks to the chips, Adidas will receive more data that will allow the company to create better shoes. And the more sneakers with integrated chips the company sells, the more information it can get, and the more opportunities will open before it to improve functional running shoes.
Adidas already uses this data to create sneakers that take into account the characteristics of runners from a city. As it turned out, people running in London are different from people running in New York. As a result, Adidas recently introduced a new model called AM4LDN - “Adidas made for London” (Adidas - made for London), and soon intends to introduce a model of running shoes for people involved in jogging in Paris.
2. Empowerment of fans
The National Basketball Association of the United States (NBA) is actively working to enable fans to be visually moved to the front rows as early as 2017 thanks to the release of the new official Nike sportswear. The technological innovations used in the new T-shirts are likely to forever change the sports equipment industry. In particular, they have an NFC chip installed, which, when connected to the phone of the viewer, allows you to see exclusive information about the game, including real-time game statistics, cuts with the best gaming moments, special offers and even playlists with your players’s favorite music .
These smart T-shirts will help fans bring interactive elements to the game and get closer to their favorite players. T-shirts are already available for sale .
3. Simplification of the passage to the stadiums
Many people know the minutes, sometimes seeming to be an eternity, when you have to stand in line for each other waiting for you to be allowed into the stadium before you can enjoy the game of your favorite team. All you want at this moment is to finally take your place and get ready for the sight. If only there was a way to speed up the passage to the stadium ... If you came to play a major baseball league with Oakland Athletics, then you can be lucky!
This team is putting into trial operation a solution for selling tickets using NFC technology, thanks to which fans will be able to go to the stadium by attaching their iPhone (or Apple Watch) to the ticket scanner - just like when paying for purchases. This method uses NFC technology, which is used in contactless club cards through the Apple Pay service.
However, so far this is the first time that this technology is not used for discount or prepaid gift cards. So this is actually a big step forward, and the use of NFC technology will save a lot of time for baseball fans.
4. Countering the illicit trade in sports souvenirs
Unfortunately, trade in sports souvenirs and collectibles is often associated with fraud. It is almost impossible to avoid fakes - and a rare memorabilia bought for a lot of money can actually turn out to be just a fake.
But here NFC tags come to the rescue too! The legendary NFL player, Emmitt Smith, founded a startup that produces postage stamp-sized NFC chips to track when and who wore an item and whether it was used in the game. In addition to the fact that PROVA smart tags track items, they also allow you to detect stolen items, which ultimately complicates the sale of stolen items for criminals.
This is a win-win option for both fans and the NFL, and at the same time a serious obstacle for any attackers trying to steal or sell stolen merchandise. Thus, new technologies will help to avoid the recurrence of such embarrassments, such as, for example, with the stolen shirt of Tom Brady, in which he spoke at the Super Bowl, and recently discovered by a foreign journalist.
5. Facilitating shopping at stadiums
Buying snacks and drinks at a major sports venue can be quite time consuming. Long lines, various hiccups, mainly when paying, numerous fans who consider the missing change or trying to remember the pin code from the card. Once again, NFC technology comes to the rescue. Last year, as part of a collaboration with the NFL and the San Francisco 49ers team, the Visa international payment system installed about 700 NFC-enabled sales terminals at Levi's Stadium, so cardholders were able to pay for the purchase of food, drinks or souvenirs during the game simply by attaching or touching the payment terminal card or using your smartphone. And in the UK, Gemalto used NFC bracelets for the same purpose in the home stadium of the Saracens Football Club.
So, we gave five examples of how NFC technology helps to improve the world of sports. What is your opinion on this? Perhaps you can give other examples of the use of NFC in sports? Write in the comments.