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Chapter One
Shaun Alexander on Sports
Shaun Alexander is the current outstanding running back for the Seattle Seahawks. He is the only player in NFL history to record fifteen or more touchdowns in five consecutive seasons and is one of only two players to record ten or more rushing touchdowns in five consecutive seasons. In 2006, he received two ESPY awards—NFL Player of the Year and Record-Breaking Performance. In 2005, he was named Most Valuable Player of NFL and led the Seahawks to the Super Bowl. Married with three young daughters, he received a marketing degree from the University of Alabama and has significant involvement in charity and foundation work. Because of his perspective, talent, and leadership, we thought Alexander would be a great person to tell us about the future of sports.
An International Unifier
The power of sports lies in its ability to bring together large groups of people from societies all over the world. Overall, we'll be looking more and more at international stars as heroes and hold athletes from different countries in the same light as homegrown U.S. athletes. Currently, athletes like Ichiro Suzuki and Yao Ming are helping to further bridge this gap and blur the international lines of competition. As we have more global influences, and more commonalities, sports will become a greater unifier. Sports bridge language barriers, age barriers, and cultural barriers, and will continue to do this even more so in the coming years as people look for ways to connect with countries around the world.
We've already seen this with the growth of soccer. And I think that with the hype and popularity surrounding David Beckham and the Galaxy, the trend in soccer will continue to increase greatly in the States, and American teams will continue to improve. I also think the LA sports market will continue to expand and add more professional teams. And it wouldn't surprise me if American football became an Olympic sport as well.
On a more local level, I think that leagues will change in that they will have much stricter guidelines in terms of regulations and punishments on players and officials gambling. We'll want our sports to be more wholesome and clean—just about the game.
Branding Tomorrow's Athlete
I also think we'll see a rise in the popularity of professional women's sports, both to watch and to participate in. This is going to see a lot of growth. It's great to see young women really participating in sports at younger ages and to see great role models on a professional level. I think ten years from now, there will be an even stronger clear professional path for women in sports.
As for professional athletes, talent alone will not be enough to make athletes successful on the highest level in sport. Fans will want more. They'll want athletes to dominate their sport but also be well-rounded, well-spokenpeople. The wild bad-boy athlete model is phasing out, as fans want to relate to their athletes. Athletes will need to be smarter, more educated, and think more like business owners. They'll need to think of themselves as brands. Athletes will better understand the economics and business of the game. The athletes of the future will have to be better behaved, more like role models, and more in charge of their future. Today's fans expect it, and future athletes will know that to be successful, their performance off the playing field will be almost as important as on.
A Changing Sports Experience
It's really important to recognize that the Internet will have a big impact on sports. Athlete and league websites will play an increasing role in the sports fan life. Whether it's game highlights or an athlete talking with fans, people will be able to access sports when they want with the convenience of the Web and mobile devices. We'll have to find ways to keep fans watching in real time. This, I believe, is one of the most important factors in sports now and in the next ten years. It's changing how fans relate to the game and the athletes, and how they experience sports. While it's great that more people have more information and more contact, it would be a shame if fewer people wanted to come out to experience the real thing—especially because technology in stadiums is also increasing and games are becoming greater entertainment spectacles. Going to a game is a family entertainment experience now.
But one of the things I really hope we see in the future is getting our kids more interested in sports. I think it's critical to find cool and innovative ways to keep kids interested and participating in sports. Things like active video games that keep kids moving while they play will continue to grow. If we can find a way to make watching sports an interactive experience, this would lead to an increase in participation. With rising obesity rates and so many other problems out there, we need to make sure that sports are a really important part of our kids' healthy futures.
What's Next
Excerpted from What's Next: Predictions from 50 of America's Most Compelling People by Jane Buckingham
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
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