Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on sport, video game, and tourism industry: Sentiment analysis of press, internet articles, and Twitter data

Purpose: The chapter examines the extent and level of the pandemic impact on sport, video game, and tourism industry by analyzing the emotional narration of articles related to Covid-19 effects on these industries so as to assess and predict the situation of industries during the pandemic and in the following years, but also to explain sources of positive sentiment for a given industry. Design/methodology/approach: The study provides a sentiment analysis of the global disclosure of the Covid-19 pandemic in the press, online articles, and social media (Twitter) with the use of three independent R packages. The final sample consisted of 142 articles; the oldest was published on January 23, 2020, whereas the newest one on October 14, 2020. Findings: Sentiment analysis revealed that the emotional tinge of the articles is much more positive for video games and soccer than in the case of tourism. In the case of video games and soccer, positive emotions such as “trust” or “anticipation” prevailed over much more common emotions of “fear” and “sadness” used about tourism. The impact of the pandemic was similar for video games and soccer, which was a mixture of negative and positive events. Research limitations/implications: Further research should use other resources such as the mass media or other data sources in addition to social media information and include a long-term analysis divided into stages of the pandemic as reactions and moods have been changing over time. Moreover, the factors influencing the perception of situations in different sectors of the economy should be identified in future research. Practical implications: The use of sentiment analysis shows that such quantification may be performed for new social phenomena before any hard (e.g., financial) data are available. Social implications: An approximation was obtained for quantifying the societal “general feeling” with regards to specific sectors affected by the pandemic. Originality and value: The chapter compares the response to the pandemic crisis of different sectors that reveal the sentiment contributing to the growth or difficulties of a given industry. The use of sentiment analysis enabled us to assess and predict the situation of industries during the pandemic before the hard and comprehensive data will occur.

Effectively optimizing esports performance through movement science principles

Esports has been the fastest-growing industry around the globe, as the number of games and prize earnings are dramatically increasing. Esports is defined as competitive sport video gaming; more individuals are beginning to pursue this as a profession. Just like the University of California, Irvine, which offers a program to enhance esports skills and performance, the number of such institutions are expected to increase in this century; yet, research on how individuals effectively optimize esports performance is lacking. Specifically, how teachers or instructors lead players to enhance their esports performance has not been extensively discussed. The review article aimed to introduce two motivational factors that, from the existing movement science and psychological literature, have consistently been demonstrated to enhance motor skills (physical tasks): enhanced expectancies for success and autonomy support. Practical implications for enhancing esports performance and future direction were also discussed.

A New Tracking Algorithm Based on Improved Fuzzy C-Means Dynamic Kalman Filter in Sport Video

The paper studied the problems of soccer detection and tracking in soccer tracking, in soccer detection; as the size of the soccer is too small to extract distinguishable feature, it is difficult to detect the soccer automatically. To solve this problem, a soccer detection algorithm was based on class weighted spatial Fuzzy C-means (ws-FCM) was proposed. Firstly, the target function of the spatial Fuzzy C-means was improved. Subsequently, a bi-threshold strategy was proposed to detect the soccer automatically. In the aspect of soccer tracking, existing methods fail to detect the soccer when it was occluded by several players successively. To solve this problem, the motion state of soccer of broadcast soccer video was analyzed, which is inspired by the contextual cueing effect of human visual search. According to the motion state of the soccer, parameters updating function of dynamic Kalman filter (DKF) were improved. Thus, a soccer tracking algorithm based on multiple search regions dynamic Kalman filter (MDKF) was proposed, which enhances the robustness of soccer tracking by extending the search area. The experiments show that the proposed algorithm can automatically detect soccer in images with high detection accuracy and can track the soccer more robustly, with better occlusion handle ability.

“What's next? Calling beer-drinking a sport?!”: virtual resistance to considering eSport as sport

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study virtual resistance towards the introduction of Norway's first professional eSport league in the category of sport video games (SVGs), Eserien – the professional FIFA league and its inclusion in the Norwegian Football Federation.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative content analysis of texts published from the first season of Eserien was launched (December 2018) and during the first season of Eserien (April 2019 to December 2019) in Norwegian online spaces. Based on this approach, a total of 23 texts were subjected to a qualitative content analysis. The theoretical framework for the analysis of the material is Guttmann's (1978/2004) characteristics of modern sport and processes of sportification, as well as conceptualizations of the sport-health ideology in national and international sport policies today.FindingsThe arguments made against the inclusion of the professional FIFA league Eserien as part of the Norwegian Football Federation revolves around three main themes: (1) eSport as something unhealthy and inactive, (2) issues of cheating and match fixing in professional eSports and (3) threats professionalized eSport poses for traditional football clubs and players in terms of securing sponsorship and gaining media attention.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation is the small sample size consisting of data from the first season of the first professional FIFA league organized by a Norwegian governing sport body. More research is needed to support the results found here, and readers should be careful to transfer the findings from this study to other sporting contexts.Originality/valueThis study is an empirical exploration of resistance towards eSport expressed by traditional sport fans. These insights expand on existing sport management research on spectators, commercialization and professionalization of eSport.

Fostering Innovation of Thinking for Student-Facing Mathematics Difficulty Through Commercial Sport Video Games

Every student likes a game that can keep him entertained by the many lessons at school. When they find it difficult to understand mathematical concepts in class, they tend not to show innovation in thinking when completing practice questions. Students mostly access video games via smartphones to forget learning difficulties. Furthermore, designed digital audio media related to sports and that obtained by students, namely commercial sports video games. From the results of the study, it turns out students who play commercial sports video games show innovative thinking skills, more comfortable to learn concepts, and enjoy mathematics. They can interpret according to what is in the scheme and written using a mathematical model.