Athletes, Sports Fans Cultivate Creative Uses of iPods

The average soccer fan doesn't have the time to watch every minute of every game. A little thing called life -- which includes work, family, and, occasionally, sleeping, rudely intrudes. Now, with the aid of an iPod, or another digital device, fans can locate and play game highlights wherever, and whenever they wish.

"We're giving soccer fans a better way to watch games," said Alice H. Chang, a marketing director for Taipei, Taiwan-based CyberLink, developer of the CyberLink MagicSports software for sports fans.

You've heard of iPods being used in many creative ways, but sports enthusiasts -- and even sports professionals -- are really on the cutting edge of usage.

The MagicSports software allows users to go online and find clips and download them, as if they were an iTunes song. Others have the same idea.

Fox, the television network, is developing a network to cover the Big Ten Conference which will broadcast sporting events on cable as well as on the Internet for iPod users. In a call with reporters, Jim Delaney, the Big Ten sports commissioner, said the deal with Fox Cable "provides us with a branding opportunity for our universities and our conferences."

Recruiters Use Tool Too

It is not just branding and distribution that are made possible with the iPod. The device is also a cutting-edge scouting and recruiting tool. Coaches are sending clips of their college teams in action to high school prospects, who can play them on their iPods. High school kids are sending files of their game highlights to college recruiters.

Professional teams are doing the same thing. The video staff at the Colorado Rockies baseball team this season has been taping and editing the performance of pitchers against various batters. They then upload them to the players' iPods. Other teams, including the Florida Marlins, are doing the same thing.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) just released the 60 gigabyte video iPod last November, so this is the first season that the teams have been able to use the device to prep for games.

Players, like Colorado pitcher Jason Jennings, are using the iPods to watch images of their previous outings. Before a recent game against Florida, in fact, Jennings viewed his pitching performance against every Marlins batter from a previous contest. This helped Jennings to refine his strategy for each player. Thirteen other players on the Rockies are doing the same thing with iPods -- a combination of hitters and pitchers are using the technology to improve their on-the-field performance.

General Manager Dan O'Dowd, and a number of the club's scouts, are also using iPods for scouting, using the 2.5 inch screen to select prospects for the baseball draft.

A company called CSTV Networks has created a software tool, called CSTV Edge, that is being marketed heavily to college football coaches. The software gives the coaches immediate access to searchable game films for their Video iPods or other digital devices.

The software "offers players and coaches a play-by-play look at the game they just completed on their Video iPods, with searchable game film, following each game, while the action is still fresh in their minds," said Brian Bedol, president and chief executive officer of CSTV. "This tool was devised as a complete solution to help improve athletic and team performance, making the game available for review immediately after the final whistle."

Next Generation

Bedol noted that today's generation of college students is completely comfortable using hand held devices, so moving game reviews to iPods was an easy, if not natural, choice for the software developers.

"College football players will now be able to instantaneously evaluate individual assignments, mechanics, and team performance, vastly improving the way they analyze and prepare," said Tim Pernetti, a former tight end at Rutgers University.

Kids for more than 20 years have been using video games to learn about sports and, perhaps, even increase their skills. Brad Coleman, of Gladeville, Tenn., raced cars throughout high school on his Xbox and his PlayStation. Just a few weeks after graduation, he was driving as a professional in NASCAR's Busch Racing Series.

Now that he's a professional, no doubt he will be having documentary crews record his performance, and watch the results on his iPod.