College Football Playoff Edition: Big Rewards for Re-Imagining What the CFP Can Be for Fans

Despite disagreements about who should be in and who should be out of the top spots, the college football championship season is kicking off with playoff-bound teams preparing for their bowl matchups. As fans gear up to watch the nation’s best athletic programs battle for a title, the CFP continues to introduce new opportunities for engagement, innovation, and value creation across the sport.

With unprecedented visibility, massive media attention, and record-setting commercial interest, the CFP has become one of the most influential engines of collegiate sports revenue. As athletic departments, conferences, the CFP organization, and brand partners look for innovative ways to grow and diversify revenue streams, athlete health and performance data is emerging as a powerful, yet complex, strategic asset.

This moment provides an opportunity to re-imagine what the CFP experience could look like in the future, both on the field and across the broader ecosystem of college sports entertainment. Athlete data is starting to fuel fan engagement through more immersive content, mobile apps and experiences, innovative features in broadcasts such as augmented reality overlays that provide a video-game like interface to increase engagement with Gen Z and Gen Alpha, fantasy sports contests, and sports betting and predictive markets.

These opportunities could unlock new value for universities, broadcast partners, brands, sponsors, and fans. However, realizing this potential requires navigating corresponding legal, regulatory, business, and reputational challenges.

Athletic programs can prepare for and grow athlete data market opportunities that may redefine the next era of the College Football Playoff if they also address the obstacles inherent in using athlete health and performance data.

Revenue Pathways that Leverage Athlete Performance Data

Universities are in a prime position to partner with athletic conferences and the CFP to enhance fan experiences and partnerships by including athlete performance data that enriches storytelling and increases engagement.

For example, current broadcasts may be enhanced using augmented reality based on athlete performance data and that data may also be used for premium fan experience packages to consumers and fans on their mobile devices and in-stadium. Additionally, dollars can be generated by partnering with sports tech companies, data analytics firms, health systems, and AI companies on sales and marketing campaigns. Shared athlete and university NIL-based deals to provide athlete data for monetized content opens doors to more revenue. Licensing athlete data for video games, fantasy sports, predictive analytics and betting are attractive ways to expand reach and capture royalties in the near- and long-term. These are just a few ideas and many more opportunities exist. Creativity and innovation will only fuel more revenue streams in the future.

The Complex Challenges of Using Athlete Health and Performance Data in Modern Sports

As exciting and lucrative as these opportunities are, they remain untapped largely because of the challenges that must first be addressed. At the heart of these challenges lie critical issues of athlete data control, ownership, trust, and infrastructure as well as legal requirements for data collection and use, public perception considerations, and diverging stakeholder perspectives. As teams attempt to integrate athlete performance data into products and services, these factors shape what is possible.

Control: Who Gets to Decide How Data Is Used?

Control over data is one of the most important considerations. Teams often control the technology and platforms that collect and disseminate data, giving them operational authority. Athletes, however, are the subjects and providers of the data, and many believe they should control or have a  voice in the data that is collected, the frequency of collection, access to this data, and how insights influence decisions. In many cases third party data collection providers also manage and control athlete data.

This tension becomes particularly problematic when data is used for determining how much time an athlete gets to play in a game, contract negotiations, athlete value, return-to-play timelines, and for commercial purposes if athletes, their teams and other data stakeholders are not aligned.

Ownership: Who Actually Owns Athlete Data?

Data ownership is complex since multiple stakeholders have a role in data collection and a stake in its use. Plus, in many cases data ownership varies according to contract terms between athletic programs and their data partners.

The key issues are that athletes are the source and primary holder of the data they produce but teams often commission the collection of data and invest in technology, partnerships, and systems to collect, store, analyze, manage, and use it. Also, tech vendors may assert partial ownership via platform terms or other governing agreements. Multiple parties may have reasonable claims to various forms of athlete data, even if that data is ultimately in the possession of and controlled by teams and athletic programs.

As a result, some risks arise including difficulty in managing data and related property rights, difficulty in restricting and allowing data sharing, confusion during player transfers, conflicts between athletes, teams, and vendors – even potential commercialization without athlete approval. As data becomes more valuable for analytics, media, and gambling ecosystems for example, ownership disputes will only intensify.

Trust: The Foundation for Ethical Data Use

Trust is essential for effective data-driven performance programs. Athlete trust may erode over the lack of transparency when athletic programs collect and use athlete data, when data collection is invasive or requires continuous monitoring, or due to fear of bias and misuse, or unauthorized use of an athlete’s performance data. Athletes may be concerned that teams are prioritizing athlete performance metrics over an athlete’s well-being. Without clear frameworks, athletes may feel surveilled and controlled rather than supported and this may undermine the intended performance benefits.

Building trust requires a clear athlete-centered authorization process, open dialogue among athletes and sports organization staff about the collection and uses for the data and demonstrable preventative measures and protection to ensure data is used in a manner that is beneficial to an athlete and not in a punitive manner. Teams that fail to cultivate trust often see athletes resist monitoring, underreport wellness indicators, or disengage from collaborative performance planning.

Organizational, Operational and Technical Infrastructure

Even if data rights were clear, the infrastructure required to manage and utilize data can be a significant barrier. Organizations typically do not have robust programs and plans to manage athlete data as would be done by a healthcare system, for example. And operationally they do not have sufficient and comprehensive structure such as policies, procedures, and best practices in place to govern athlete data collection and use. Top programs are sophisticated and deploy impressive technology and tech partnerships, but in many cases athletic programs do not have sufficient resources to manage athlete data in this digital age and keep up with innovation and related requirements and risks.

The sports industry historically has not been considered a highly regulated industry; however, it is becoming one. Federal legislators introduce and debate bills to govern the administration of college sports, advocates argue that athletes meet legal requirements to be full-time employees of universities and are therefore qualified to receive employment benefits, and private equity that is governed by federal securities laws has officially entered college sports with the University of Utah’s new partnership with private equity firm Otro Capital.

In many cases athletic programs are unprepared to manage athlete data according to best practices and pursuant to law, especially when that is constantly changing. Even where frameworks such as athlete management systems are in place, there are usually insufficient policies, procedures, resources, and experience to handle extremely sensitive and personal health information that is subject to privacy, property, and other laws and requirements that are observed by highly regulated industries. Additionally, the business practices required by the new and evolving college sports business model frequently change requiring vigilance to ensure compliance with multiple state and federal requirements.

From a technical standpoint, teams rely on multiple systems that may be fragmented and practices prone to human error. These systems utilize health, training and medical records including apps that track load, recovery, readiness, and GPS location on the field or court. Analytics are derived from raw data. In many cases the information collected does not have compatible data formats and requires manual data cleaning. Further, because the data comes from multiple sources, it requires more human interaction in its handling. Consequently, multiple individuals have access to and control of the data and it may not be completely secure or accurate. And as data is compiled and analyzed to make it actionable, some fidelity may be lost. In today’s world, where athlete data is indicative of an athlete’s performance, and by extension the athlete’s value, this is significant. Athlete data must be accurate and verifiable to retain its true value to athletes, sports organizations and their partners and customers.

Legalities: Complex, Evolving, and High-Stakes

The legal environment governing athlete data is multifaceted. Some of the key regulations, rules and governance criteria to consider include health privacy regulations (e.g., HIPAA in the U.S.), state privacy and biometric data privacy laws, employment laws, intellectual property laws including NIL, data security standards, contracts among universities-partners-athletic conferences-vendors-athletes, and even artificial intelligence guidelines and best practices.

The definition of athlete data and definitions of “ownership” and “control” are also important considerations that impact governance of athlete data. Other related legal challenges include defining different types of data and their treatment, managing cross-border data transfer, handling third-party vendors who process sensitive data, and ensuring all authorizations are valid and avoid power imbalances or contracts of adhesion.

All of these requirements must be addressed through robust compliance practices to reduce risk and exposure to athletic programs and organizations that want to utilize athlete data to improve fan engagement.

Public Perception: The External Pressure Shaping Policy

Athlete data practices are increasingly scrutinized by not only athletic programs but also athlete advocates, the media, and even fans. Public concerns include the mental health of athletes as a result of their perceived performance – especially as fans and bettors weigh in, fear of crossing into athlete surveillance, sports betting in college sports and the use of performance data in sports betting, athlete authorization to collect and use data, the potential for data-enabled exploitation, and transparency around injury reporting and competitive integrity.

Reputationally, a single scandal involving leaked athlete health, biometric, or other performance data can dramatically impact a team’s, athletic program’s, and organization’s reputation. Public perception often influences winners and losers more quickly than business or regulatory pressure alone.

Stakeholder Perspectives: Conflicting Priorities and Incentives

Athlete data sits at the intersection where the rights and rewards of multiple stakeholders converge, but the stakeholders may have some divergent interests:

Athletes

• Want privacy, control, ownership, and fair use

• Seek assurance data will not harm career prospects

Teams and coaches

• Want actionable insights to maximize performance and availability

• Often prefer and even require broader data access

Medical and performance staff

• Prioritize health, ethics, and long-term outcomes

• Are wary of overinterpretation or misuse

Athletic Programs

• Seek access, ease of use, athlete and team optimization, data practice standardization, competitive integrity, and commercial opportunity

Vendors and technology companies

• Want to service the need for athlete data in college sports

• Answer to university athletic departments who are their customers and that pay for their services

• Typically want access to data for product development and monetization

Athlete Advocacy Groups

• Focus on protecting player rights and preventing exploitative uses

Balancing these interests requires thoughtful planning, collaboration, goodwill, governance frameworks, and best practices that recognize the power dynamics and ethical responsibilities inherent in collecting and using sensitive physiological data from human beings.

Conclusion: Responsible Data Use Is a Competitive Advantage With Big Rewards

Athlete health and performance data is transforming sports, but its promise can only be fulfilled if teams address the core challenges of:

• Control

• Ownership

• Trust

• Infrastructure

• Legal compliance

• Public confidence

• Stakeholder alignment

Teams that lead in transparency, responsible governance, and athlete-centered data practices for win-win scenarios for stakeholders will gain not only competitive advantage and loyal fans but also will ultimately drive the next generation of fan engagement using athlete data in creative and profitable ways.

So, imagine a next gen CFP where athlete data fosters a deeper connection to athletes through:

• Branded content and storytelling fueled by performance data and analytics that increases athlete awareness for fans and NIL opportunities for more players

• Comprehensive and immersive real-time visuals indicating how an athlete will perform during the championship game

• More granular stats and features during broadcasts based on performance data

• In-stadium and augmented reality mobile apps that allow fans to personally interact with their favorite football players in real time

• Exclusive information and personalized experiences for fantasy sports players and bettors supporting stronger decision making driven by performance data, analytics, and AI

• Merchandising and promotions by more brands for more products driven by digital-native fans who have a deeper connection to teams and football players

It is all within reach and the next decade will provide more opportunities to re-imagine how athlete data can be leveraged as a powerful and strategic asset during the college football playoff series and throughout sports.