ABSTRACT
Football is changing. Then again, it always has been; nothing ever stays the same. But at another, deeper level, much also stays the same. The introduction and the subsequent chapters in this book have primarily focused on the changing nature of football and set out a case for understanding digital technologies and changes in audience patterns as key drivers of this. Here, in this final chapter, we wish to take a more cautionary and reflective tone, which, while recognizing the fast pace of cultural change we are witness to in this new millennium, contextualizes this in a consideration of the continuing evolution of football as well as its continuities. The chapter then moves on to consider two key developments in the (possible) near futures of football under the headings of “virtual environments” and “augmenting technologies”. The first considers the possibility of fans being able to attend a “live” football game via virtual reality headsets but concludes that possibly the best “virtual” experience we will get anytime in the near future are football-themed videogames. Second, and finally, we consider how new technologies might be used to enhance or “augment” the fan experience; however, again, we wonder if there is a mismatch here between what is and might be soon possible, and what fans really want? Might it just be that what (most) fans want most of all is simply an uninhibited sightline to the game they love?
