The Future of Sports: Panasonic’s Randy Dickerson On The New Emerging Technologies That Are Disrupting The World Of Sports

New technologies have changed the way we engage in and watch sports. Sensors, Wearable Tech, Video Assistant Referees (VAR), and Instant Replay, are examples of new technologies that have changed the way we play and watch sports. In this interview series called, “The Future of Sports; New Emerging Technologies That Are Disrupting The World Of Sports,” we are talking to sports leaders, athletes, sports tech experts, and sports equipment companies who can talk about the new technologies that are reshaping the sports world. As a part of this interview, we had the pleasure of interviewing Randy Dickerson.

Randy Dickerson, Sr. Strategic Account Executive-Sports & Broadcast, Panasonic North America, is a nearly 40-year sales veteran in the media and entertainment industry. Prior to Panasonic, Randy worked extensively in systems integration sales plus other vendors including Chyron, VizRT, and Avid. He offers a wealth of experience in live sports production workflows.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

Thank you for having me. My start in the broadcast field dates to my college days at Purdue University as a telecommunications major with emphasis in video production. I was a summer sports intern at CBS affiliate WISH-TV in Indianapolis where my original goal was to be a sports anchor-reporter.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since your began your career?

During my sports internship at WISH-TV in Indianapolis, I was 21 years old and provided opportunities to interview athletes and coaches for the daily sportscast segments. People like Wayman Tisdale (Pacers), Rod Dowhower (Colts), and Hubie Brown (Knicks coach). At the end of the Hubie Brown interview, I thought my assignment was done, but my sports photographer said, “hey, there’s Larry Bird. Go grab him for some sound bites, too.” Keep in mind, this was right in Larry’s prime and coming off an MVP season, so approaching him was a little daunting. In fact, I had to literally run after him through the hotel kitchen as he was ducking out the back. Between those two encounters that day, it provided me the confidence to have a conversation with anyone.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

The great Vince Lombardi was attributed to saying, “Everyone has a will to win but very few have the will to prepare to win.” Sales is very relevant to this in that “you are only as good as your next sale (or sales presentation).”

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My first sales manager name was Dick Sanford. He took a chance and hired me right after college to be in system integration sales at 22. His mentorship and encouragement to “stick with it” was instrumental in staying in sales. I landed a sizable order with the University of Notre Dame Football program in 1988 which happened to be the year they went on to win the national championship. At that time, I was 24 and not sure if that was what I needed to be doing. But that sale gave me the confidence and assurance that I was in the right profession.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Yes, lots of sports films like Rocky, Field of Dreams, and Hoosiers had an impact on me. As far as books are concerned, I was always a Harvey Mackay fan. Harvey had a “street smart” method to selling in his books like “How to Swim with the Sharks without being Eaten Alive,” and “Beware of the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt.”

You are a successful business leader. Which three-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Harvey Mackay attributes to being “hungry fighter, hungry fighter, hungry fighter.” I am as motivated now after nearly 40 years in sales as when I started. Persistence is the best trait anyone in sales can possess. One of my largest sales ($1.8M) came with a sports broadcast account that took the better part of a decade to win.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I would start with my own family. I’ve been blessed with a loving wife (full time realtor) and two great children who are grown and married now and productive members of society (One an attorney and the other a high school academic guidance counselor & cheer coach). As a family man, being there for them through their development years in all their activities was very rewarding. Seeing them thrive in their respective professions is equally pleasing.

Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about the sports technologies that most excite you at the moment? Can you explain why you are passionate about it?

From my standpoint with Panasonic, it’s neat to see how our various camera technologies are being used for “production value.” Applications like “smart presets” (simultaneous smooth PTZ programmed moves) with our PTZ cameras and “auto focus” with both our broadcast cameras and PTZ cameras are cool. Also, our AI inspired “auto framing” with our PTZ cameras is a more advanced version that stays on the subject through facial recognition.

How do you think this might change the world of sports?

It already has. As controversial as this sounds, the use of remote-controlled cameras vs. human camera operators is happening. But with respect to human operators, the feature of automatic focus really helps when the call for the shot is sudden and needs to be taken to air.

Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

In live sports production (fast action movements of people, cars, etc.) there will always be a need for human camera operators. Especially when a director is requesting specific shots that realistically a “manual” non-programmed move with a PTZ camera (or Box camera on a PTZ head) cannot be achieved as quickly. That type of AI inspired execution is coming through but will take time for development accuracy.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the sports industry today? Can you explain? What can be done to address or correct those concerns?

1. Doing more production with less people. The human element is still very important.
2. At the educational level, athletic departments covering multiple sports at their venues (simultaneously) puts a lot of stress on staffs with limited resources, sincemost of these are internships with little to no pay.The schools providing the content for the sports networks are going to need to be compensated monetarily (more) for increased staff or there will be less events being broadcast or streamed.
3. Costs to the fan. Whether it’s multiple streaming platform subscriptions or just to attend games in person. I’m an Indianapolis Colts season ticket holder, and it’s not cheap to attend (by NFL standards I’m sure Indy is reasonable). The average fan cannot afford to attend most of any games in pro sports anymore.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1 . Stay educated on tech trends. You don’t need an MBA to be in this business as school is in session daily.

2 . Stay connected with people in your network and their stories of how they got started. You never know when you might be working together.

3 . Don’t be intimidated or afraid to strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know at industry events.

4 . Have fun with what you are doing — if you are not, you’re probably with the wrong company or profession.

5 . Stay balanced with work-life. Putting your time in your day job, of course, is essential but keep hobbies and activities outside work present in your life.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

To the decision makers out there purchasing today’s technology, please keep an open mind to new and/or competitive offerings. What you think you “used” to know about a certain company might not be true today. Give that young salesperson a chance to earn your business. I was there once and certain people whom provided me with that chance made a difference in my career development and advancement.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

Honestly, not really. I’m a sports junkie (I played a lot of baseball and basketball in my younger days but golf now) and have always admired certain athletes. For me, I guess it would be Jack Nicklaus. Every time I hear/see his interviews or read his quotes in Golf Digest, his message seems to hit home for me.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I post on LinkedIn all the time. Here is my profile link: linkedin.com/in/randy-dickerson-9915679

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!