''Technology deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its natural environment.

''The word Technology comes from the Greek technología (τεχνολογία) — téchnē (τέχνη), 'craft' and -logía (-λογία), the study of something, or the branch of knowledge of a discipline.'' – excerpt from Wikipedia’s technology page.

The common definition of technology highlights the main problem one needs to grasp when talking about “technology in sports”, namely the question: What isn’t technology in sports?

Starting from the clothes the participants wear, to the equipment they use, to the arena they play in, everything has a technological aspect. In fact, unless the sport involves unprepared participants running totally naked on a field completely untouched by man (is there still such a space on Earth?), chances are technology has a direct effect to the outcome.

In examining the topic, I decided to focus on three different parts of the vast array of technology in sports:

1. The experience: How technology has helped us enjoy every detail of a sport;
2. Performance: How technology can help or hinder a participant;
3. Control:- How each sport uses technology for its benefit outside of boosting performance.

This piece is dedicated to the part of technologies in sport that we take for granted. The experience is all about how we as fans can get an even closer view, an even more detailed picture, a more thorough look. In other words, how we can further enhance the fan experience.

Starting from the very beginning of sports, fans were obsessed with having an all-around experience. If we consider the gladiator fights of ancient Rome a sport, then even the Coliseum in Rome is a form of fan-friendly technology.

It allowed for more people to see the action and it was the epitome of fan experience for its time.

Just look, for example, at today’s most expensive stadium, the home of the Cowboys in Dallas. It features a Jumbotron so big you will not believe your eyes. Everything in that stadium is in there to satisfy every need and quirk of the fans.

One of the greatest technologies to ever come together with sport, of course, is television. Sport on TV was a match made in heaven. The constant evolution of the technology not only allowed more and more people to experience the events, it also allowed the sports to grow.

With more exposure and a bigger fan base, the talent pool within sports grew fast, and once the VHS revolution was on you could not only catch the games, but also tape them and examine them.

However, along with this technology came side effects that were hard to foresee.

Questionable moments could be examined over and over, certain sports got brushed off as they were simply not attractive enough on mainstream television, the instantness of television carried over to the sports and its expectations.

The next big sport-altering technology came with another worldwide high-tech boom. The Internet suddenly allowed math geeks and stat freaks to act like jocks. You suddenly had number crunchers, you had a wealth of stats so rich, you could get lost in the details for days.

All of this again brought a new level of fan involvement. Nowadays we are playing fantasy sports contests, while following through Twitter every thought of our favourite player.

Plus we can even pretend to be just like our heroes for a few minutes by playing the type of ultra-realistic sport simulations.

All of this goes to show you that through technologies that were designed to make these events more accessible, more enjoyable, more watchable, more upfront, sport has become one of the richest global businesses in the world.

All of these technologies are to blame for the fact, for example, that Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea. Without the surrounding technology football would still be a sport played globally, but would it be a global sport? I don’t think so.