April 23, 2020 8:00 pm

Friday, Neil deGrasse Tyson Explores the Stadiums of the Future

What will the stadiums of the future look like? Will we even need stadiums as enhancements when virtual reality bring us closer and closer to the field? On the flipside, what are the most modern stadiums doing to keep people in the seats?

On this week’s episode of StarTalk Sports Edition, Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly are exploring modern stadium design and technology. They’re joined by Benjamin Brillat, Chief Infrastructure Architect for IBM Sports. Benjamin has been heavily involved in the design/building process of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. He’ll take us inside the design process of two of the most fan-friendly, high-tech stadiums on Earth. This episode also features Neil’s visit to the Los Angeles Rams SoFi Stadium during the construction process, which sheds light on the cutting-edge technology being implemented.

To start, Benjamin tells us how long IBM has been involved in enhancing fan experience in the sporting world. Find out how technology is incorporated into the physical infrastructure of the stadium. Benjamin tells us how new stadiums try to future plan for the ever-evolving world of tech.

We explore SoFi Stadium. Discover more about the iconic transparent roof that will cover SoFi Stadium. We explore the record-breaking jumbotron that will circle the entire stadium inside and out. You’ll also hear about how the stadium was built to be earthquake-proof.

Then, we move into the bigger questions. When building a stadium, who is Benjamin trying to please? The team? The fans? The owner? Benjamin tells us why user experience comes first and foremost. We ponder the future of augmented display in stadiums. Benjamin explains more about the technology going on behind-the-scenes that the public doesn’t see.

Lastly, we look at how stadiums will adapt to the rising popularity of gambling in the United States. All that, plus, we explore the trend of making new stadiums “campuses” for multiple facets of entertainment.

You can find Stadiums of the Future right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re a StarTalk+ Patron or an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
-Ian Mullen