High-tech UA E39 shirts coming to the Premier League
New high-tech Under Armour shirts that could revolutionise the game are on their way to the Premier League! Tottenham Hotspur have become the first European football club to agree a lucrative deal with the American sports giants to wear its space-age E39 shirts.
Under Amour are pushing the boundaries of modern soccer with their new performance enhancing E39 shirt that contains a removable sensor pack. The removable ''bug'' sensor equipped with a triaxial accelerometer, processor and 2GB storage, can give an athlete or coach instant feedback on breathing rates, heart rates, temperatures, and movements.
Under Armour describe it as the world's most innovative athletic evaluation improvement tool, claiming that, ''It's not a smart shirt. It's genius.'' Even so, the ''smart shirt'' is based on Zephyr technologies that is similar to equipment used in the US special forces!
The software in the removable sensor can be record date and wirelessly transmit it to devices such as laptops, iPhones and iPads. Coaches and trainers can then collect the data to measure and potentially improve a players performance. Under Armour hopes that in the future, the E39 compression shirts will make their way to real-time matches where live match data will be collected and analysed by club trainers. This will then allow coaches and managers to make more informed decisions on a players performance on the field.
We'll have to wait until the 2012-13 season to see the new Under Armour E39 shirts in action. The deal with Spurs will last five years and could see the club paid up to £50m by Under Amour. The new E39 kit will be legal for competitive games, so Spurs will be the first club to take advantage of the shirts performance measuring abilities.
Let us know what you think of Under Armour's latest attempt to change the game! Is this a step to far or a natural step towards a more technically-enhanced game? Could we see similar technology used in football boots in the future?
Have your say and join the conversations with the SoccerBible community online.
