European Journal of Information Systems

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The show must go on - virtualisation of sport

events during the COVID-19 pandemic

Daniel Westmattelmann, Jan-Gerrit Grotenhermen, Marius Sprenger &

Gerhard Schewe

To cite this article: Daniel Westmattelmann, Jan-Gerrit Grotenhermen, Marius Sprenger

& Gerhard Schewe (2021) The show must go on - virtualisation of sport events during
the COVID-19 pandemic, European Journal of Information Systems, 30:2, 119-136, DOI:
10.1080/0960085X.2020.1850186

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EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
2021, VOL. 30, NO. 2, 119–136
https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085X.2020.1850186

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

The show must go on - virtualisation of sport events during the COVID-19

pandemic
Daniel Westmattelmann , Jan-Gerrit Grotenhermen , Marius Sprenger and Gerhard Schewe
Center for Management, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Due to the high risk of COVID-19 transmission, many sport events, including organised cycling Received 19 August 2020
competitions, have been cancelled. Nevertheless, staying active is important for individual Accepted 5 November 2020
well-being and professional athletes need to compete to earn their living. We propose that SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORS
mixed-reality applications like ZWIFT allow people to conduct virtually mediated sports com­ Pär Ågerfalk, Kieran Conboy
petitions, which resemble traditional sport realistically and could serve as a remedy for this and Michael Myers
contradiction. To test this proposition, we compare professional cyclists’ performance data
from virtual competitions with data obtained from traditional cycling races and find that the KEYWORDS
physical activities are comparable. Thus, we contribute to the discussion on the distinctiveness Mixed-reality; virtual sport;
competition; performance
of sports and eSport. Moreover, we interview 11 professional cyclists, who participated in
data; professional athletes;
virtual race series regarding their evaluation of the virtualisation of cycling events. Accordingly, COVID-19
we contribute to the literature on mixed-reality applications by focusing on user perceptions of
a novel and physical dimension of virtually mediated interaction. Thereby, we apply the sports
digitalisation framework proposed by Xiao et al. (2017). Professional athletes mainly perceive
the virtualisation of sport as positive, but also mention some specific risks. Consequently, we
derive implications for practice that include the supportive role of virtual sport to help master
pandemics such as COVID-19.

1. Introduction many cases, threaten their financial survival (Horky,

2020; Timpka, 2020).
In a short time span, the COVID-19 pandemic has
While for work and different parts of private life,
drastically changed the way we go about our daily lives.
digital solutions already exist and have been studied (e.
Social distancing, travel restrictions, temporarily
g., Carillo et al., 2020; Waizenegger et al., 2020), the
closed schools, many jobs lost and an increased need
COVID-19 pandemic shows that there is substantial
for medical supplies are only some of the implications
lack of digital sporting alternatives (e.g., Hacker et al.,
caused by the virus (Nicola et al., 2020). Within this
2020), even though sporting activity, in many cases as
construct of a “new normal”, the role of sports remains
part of a group, represents an integral part in the lives
a double-edged sword. While the importance of stay­
of billions of people (Mehrsafar et al., 2020; Yeo,
ing active to prevent mental and physical illness during
2020). However, a novel type of application enables
COVID-19 is frequently emphasised (Jiménez-Pavón
users to engage in physical activity and to interact
et al., 2020; Simpson & Katsanis, 2020), the potential
virtually mediated, while being embedded in a virtual
virus spread is also proven to be more severe during
world. The “online cycling game” ZWIFT (Delaney &
physical exercise, such as running and cycling
Bromley, 2020) offers its users the possibility to
(Blocken et al., 2020), fitness classes (Jang et al.,
connect their bike to the ZWIFT application using
2020), or contact sports (Lippi et al., 2020). Mass-
a so-called smart trainer. Through the use of multi­
attended sport events pose an even higher threat as
ple sensors, the user performance – as measured by
they are described to regularly be the source of infec­
the provided relative power output (w/kg; watts per
tious diseases spreading globally (McCloskey et al.,
kg body weight) – is transferred to an avatar within
2020). As a result, major sporting events like the
a virtual world, which allows to virtually exercise
Olympic Games in Tokyo, UEFA EURO 2020, or the
with friends or compete in regularly held races
Tour de France have been postponed, while events like
while at the same being physically active (Borrill,
the prestigious tennis tournament Wimbledon or
2020; Delaney & Bromley, 2020). Besides a steadily
cycling’s cobblestone classic Paris-Roubaix 2020 have
increasing user base, ZWIFT has also found its way
been cancelled due to COVID-19 (Independent, 2020;
into the highest level of sports, with the first “Virtual
The New York Times, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2020d,
Tour de France” held in July 2020 (The New York
2020e). Financial losses for sport organisations as
Times, 2020d). Therefore, in this study, we focus on
well as the individual athlete are immense and, in

CONTACT Daniel Westmattelmann d.west@wwu.de

© Operational Research Society 2020.
120 D. WESTMATTELMANN ET AL.
the exemplary application of ZWIFT, because it is
currently the most commonly used platform for
organising competitive virtual cycling events with
an extensive range of features that differentiate it
from applications like Peloton. Other providers
focus on virtual alpine sports, running, rowing, or
golfing, but their virtual solutions have not yet
reached the top-level in the respective sport (Golf
Digest, 2020; SkyTechSport, 2020; The Guardian,
2018; World Rowing, 2019).
Since COVID-19 might have long-term effects on
practicing exercise and related sport events, novel
applications like ZWIFT that allow to virtually med­
iate interactions represent a chance to digitally parti­
cipate in sports. Thus, ZWIFT and similar applications
might play an important role in decreasing the spread
of the current and future pandemics and additionally
could help users to better cope with the difficult cir­
cumstances by offering a digital exercising alternative.
However, even though actual physical activity is fre­
quently cited as one of the main features of ZWIFT
(Delaney & Bromley, 2020), it remains unclear
whether sport transferred into a virtual sphere and
mediated by a mixed-reality (MR) technology has the
potential to actually complement traditional sports in
times like these and beyond. The aim of this paper is
therefore to systematically compare virtual and tradi­
tional sports in the time of COVID-19 and beyond.
Our research questions read as follows:
RQ 1: Can virtual sports resemble traditional real-
world sports in terms of objectively measurable perfor­
mance parameters?
RQ 2: Which differences and similarities between
traditional real-world sports and virtual sports do pro­
fessional athletes perceive and how are these differences
evaluated by them?
To address these research questions and therefore
the wide-ranging digitalisation of sport through MR
technologies, we refer to the framework by Xiao et al.
(2017). A comparison of performance data in virtual
professional races with data of professional road races
reveals that the delivered physical performances are to
a large degree comparable. Besides that, building on
semi-structured interviews with eleven professional
cyclists, we show how sport in the virtual world differs
from real-world sport based on their perceptions and
evaluations. In particular, the athletes perceive the
flexibility and coverage of virtual sports as very posi­
tive, while potential manipulation due to incorrect
performance or weight data represents a major
challenge.
We contribute to the information system and (e)
sports literature by investigating this new form of
virtual sports competitions for the first time and
demonstrating that the performances provided on
MR sports platforms like ZWIFT resemble those
from the real-world, a perception that is also shared
by athletes. Our findings can be applied to overcome
barriers to the participation and acceptance of virtual
sports and thus help, particularly in times of pan­
demics, to enable professional athletes to pursue
their passion and profession without increasing the
risk of infection.
2. Background and literature review
2.1. Mixed-reality technologies
In order to systematically position virtual sport and
corresponding applications in research on virtualisa­
tion, we refer to the reality-virtuality continuum
(Milgram & Kishino, 1994), which describes MR tech­
nologies (further divided into “augmented reality”
(AR) and “augmented virtuality” (AV)) as located in
between the poles of the real and a purely virtual
environment. The closer a technology is to the “virtual
environment”-pole of the continuum, the higher is the
degree of computer-generated stimuli (Flavián et al.,
2019). Table 1 provides definitions for all four cate­
gories and includes studies focusing on different appli­
cation examples.
Related work – also focusing on the role of technol­
ogy to help better cope with the COVID-19 pandemic
(Carillo et al., 2020; Hacker et al., 2020; Keesara et al.,
2020; Waizenegger et al., 2020) – emphasises the
acceptance, usage, and implications of video conferen­
cing technology. Research on virtual worlds often
relates to virtual video gaming worlds, but also high­
lights use cases in professional athletes’ training, edu­
cation, and healthcare (Billieux et al., 2013; Flavián et
al., 2019; Vignais et al., 2015). Regarding AR, literature
reviews (Bacca et al., 2014; Dey et al., 2018) identify
interactional, perceptual, medical, and educational
application areas as commonly studied ones. In con­
trast, the field of AV is less frequently addressed
(Flavián et al., 2019; Regenbrecht et al., 2004), while
design-oriented research focuses on enabling simple
real-world tasks and perceptions while being
immersed in a virtual environment (Von Willich et
al., 2019).
Most research focuses on audio-visual stimuli and
audio-visual “interaction”, which is due to the fact that
the reality-virtuality continuum is limited to audio-
visual stimuli and their output on displays (Speicher et
al., 2019). However, we assume audio-visual interac­
tion to be only a small component within a much
bigger construct that allows for increasingly complex
interactions caused by recent technological
advancements.
Therefore, we refer to the framework of Speicher et
al. (2019). Building onto the reality-virtuality conti­
nuum and incorporating related research, the frame­
work establishes seven dimensions to describe MR
technologies, whereby (1) the level of virtualisation
 EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS 121

Table 1. The reality-virtuality continuum: Definitions and exemplary application areas.

Definition (Milgram & “[.] environments consisting “[.] any case in which a [.] real “[.] augmented is not some “[.] environments consisting
Kishino, 1994)
Exemplary application areas Remote collaboration (Carillo Games, such as Pokémon Go Remote collaboration
(and studies on these)
Mixed-Reality (MR)
Real Environment Augmented Reality (AR) Augmented Virtuality (AV) Virtual Environment
solely of real objects [.] environment is direct representation of a solely of virtual objects
and includes for example, ‘augmented’ by means of real scene, but rather a [.], an example of which
what is observed via a virtual (computer graphic) virtual world, one that is would be a conventional
conventional video display objects [.]” (p. 4) generated primarily by computer graphic
of a real-world scene. “ computer.” (p. 4) simulation.“ (p. 3)
(p. 3)
Games, such as Second Life
et al., 2020; Park et al., (Althoff et al., 2016; (Regenbrecht et al., 2004), and
2014; Waizenegger et al., Rauschnabel et al., 2017), Enabling peripheral real- World of Warcraft
2020), Smart glasses world interactions (Billieux et al., 2013;
Telemedicine (Keesara (Rauschnabel, 2018; (Budhiraja et al., 2015; Von Penfold, 2009),
et al., 2020), Rauschnabel et al., 2018), Willich et al., 2019) Healthcare (Huygelier
Distance learning (Lakhal Education (Bacca et al., et al., 2019),
et al., 2013), 2014; Yuen et al., 2011), Education (Huang et al.,
Leisure (Hacker Commercial (Rauschnabel 2016),
et al., 2020) et al., 2019; Van Esch et al., Athletes’ training (Craig
2019) et al., 2009; Vignais et al.,
2015)

(resembling the reality-virtuality continuum)
describes one of those. Further dimensions consider
(2) the number of necessary (real and virtual) envir­
onments, (3) the minimum number of required users,
(4) the level of perceived user immersion, (5) the
degree of (implicit or explicit) interaction with virtual
objects as well as (6) user input and (7) output.
Thereby, input resembles anything that can be tracked
by sensors, including motion and consequently physi­
cal activity, while output considers anything that users
can perceive and may go beyond audio-visual stimuli
by, e.g., including haptic feedback (Speicher et al.,
2019).
2.2. The impact of digitalisation on sport
Platforms like ZWIFT and those of other providers
have the potential to sustainably change the sport
industry. In order to systematically evaluate these pos­
sible changes, we refer to Xiao et al. (2017), who
illuminate the possible impact of digitalisation along
four components, initially proposed by Loy (1968) in
the context of traditional sports.
Regarding the first aspect, the organisational com­
ponent, digitalisation considers changing roles and
responsibilities of involved stakeholders (athletes, coa­
ches, sponsors, staff, or governing bodies; Loy, 1968;
Xiao et al., 2017). These changes might lead to ten­
sions due to potentially conflicting interests, as, for
example, the administrative overhead of sportive com­
petition could substantially be reduced (Junghagen,
2018; Xiao et al., 2017). Moreover, the digitalisation
might attract new stakeholders like data service pro­
viders or broadcasters, who exhibit novel customer
touchpoints (Hoye, 2015). In this context, it becomes
clear that the digitalisation also transforms existing
interactions and processes and additionally creates
new ones.
The second aspect, the technological component
relates to (physical) equipment, physical skills, and
knowledge that stakeholders possess, whereby digita­
lisation here is mainly concerned with continuous
improvement of the equipment through novel tech­
nological possibilities, such as MR applications (Loy,
1968; Xiao et al., 2017). Beyond that, digitalisation
increases the amount of available (performance) data
and their visibility, which enables a more extensive
analysis and more data-driven scouting (Davenport,
2014; Xiao et al., 2017). We acknowledge that innova­
tive approaches regarding the technological compo­
nent of sport may also enable changes of specific other
components, like symbolic or educational aspects.
The symbolic component, the third aspect, is con­
cerned with the “secrecy, display and rituals” (Loy,
1968) of sports. Secrecy – resembling the concealment
of individual tactics and skills (Xiao et al., 2017) –
might be reduced due to data availability and visibility.
Novel digital communication channels could trans­
form public display, defined as the degree of public
attention created, as they might allow for innovative
forms of involving the crucial stakeholder group of
sport consumers, e.g., through enabling immersive
forms of feedback (Goffman, 1981; Xiao et al., 2017).
Moreover, rituals – well-established gestures and rou­
tines, which contribute to the character of a sport,
such as shaking hands or fan chants – can be trans­
ferred into the virtual sphere, further blurring the line
towards the real world (Serazio, 2013; Xiao et al.,
2017).
Lastly, the educational component of sports digita­
lisation concerns how it enables and requires the
acquisition of specific skills, i.e., training and learning,
not only for athletes but also related stakeholders, such
122 D. WESTMATTELMANN ET AL.
as coaches (Loy, 1968). Digital technologies allow for
innovative training methods, which might improve
training possibilities and effectiveness. At the same
time, they require the acquisition of specific skills to
lever the athletes’ potentials. For example, data analy­
sis can provide valuable insights on the athletes’ per­
formance, but also requires an understanding of the
applied methods and applications (Davenport, 2014;
Xiao et al., 2017). Beyond that, the availability of data
leads to increased transparency and contributes to the
“democratisation” of sports by reducing information
asymmetries (Xiao et al., 2017).
By relating the status quo of digitalisation in pro­
fessionalised sports to the reality-virtuality continuum
(Milgram & Kishino, 1994), we find that digital tech­
nologies are predominantly applied to measure, ana­
lyse, broadcast, or improve athletes’ performances in
context of real-world sports (Davenport, 2014; Xiao et
al., 2017). MR applications support these purposes. As
an example, virtual overlays augment videos or broad­
casts of real-world football games and other sports and
add information to the display that allow a more in-
depth analysis of the events on the pitch (Fischer et al.,
2019). Beyond that, MR applications can create
immersive virtual worlds and help contribute to
more individual and effective types of training, like
training of specific, uncommon, or hard-to-replicate
scenarios (Vignais et al., 2015; Xiao et al., 2017).
Studies with professional athletes have applied graphi­
cal simulations (i.e., a purely virtual world) in context
of training handball goalkeepers and soccer profes­
sionals’ reactions to virtual opponents and balls
(Craig et al., 2009; Vignais et al., 2015).
In the sphere of purely virtual environments
(Milgram & Kishino, 1994), professional competition
in video games (e.g., sports simulations, such as FIFA)
has emerged at the intersection of gaming and sports,
called eSport (Funk et al., 2018; Seo & Jung, 2016; Xiao
et al., 2017). Following the common definition of sport,
an activity must include voluntary play, be governed by
rules, be competitive, require certain skills, include
physical skills, have a wide following beyond local
attraction and be institutionalised by social entities,
which set up regulating rules as a framework
(Guttmann, 1978; Jenny et al., 2017; Suits, 2007).
While eSports fulfils most of these criteria, the focal
issues in the ongoing discussion on whether eSport is
to be understood as sport in the traditional sense con­
siders the degree of physical activity eSports requires
and whether it matches the existing definitions of sport
that specifically emphasise this aspect (Cunningham et
al., 2018; Jenny et al., 2017; Loy, 1968).
We conclude that MR technologies have up until
now mostly been considered as support and augmen­
tation for real-world sports, but not as a means for
conducting serious, traditional sports competitions.
On the other pole of the continuum (Milgram &
Kishino, 1994), competitive video gaming is (at least)
closely related to sport but takes place in purely virtual
environments with very limited physical input and
haptic feedback and additionally requires skills that
differ from those of real-world sports. We propose
that, specifically through innovative interaction,
input and output design (Speicher et al., 2019) the
novel technology allows to transfer a traditional,
real-world sport into a virtual environment in the
most realistic way possible, and thereby enables ser­
ious competitions that fill the gap between “tradi­
tional” sport and eSport.
2.3. Virtual sports platforms: what they are and
how they work
We analyse the impact of sport digitalisation regard­
ing the four components derived by Xiao et al.
(2017) along the specific example of ZWIFT. The
sport platform ZWIFT allows users to ride their bike
in a virtual world (Delaney & Bromley, 2020). Using
a so-called smart trainer, on which the user’s road
or mountain bike is mounted, ZWIFT allows to
physically simulate different topographical character­
istics in the virtual world as well as other environ­
mental conditions such as the interaction with other
users through a virtually mediated slipstream effect.
This technology enables athletes to participate in
realistic races, join group rides, or perform different
types of workouts and training sessions (Delaney &
Bromley, 2020). The physical component integrated
in ZWIFT combined with the additional features
provided by the interactive smart trainer create an
experience that goes beyond the one of traditional
home trainers or video games. In times of COVID-
19, where diverse renowned competitions have been
cancelled, it is not surprising that many of those
have been conducted via ZWIFT instead, e.g., the
Tour de France or the German Cycling Bundesliga
(German Cyclists Federation, 2020; The New York
Times, 2020b, 2020d, 2020e). Besides the possibility
of conducting races, ZWIFT also offers social ele­
ments like chatting and leisure rides with other
users. In addition to the aforementioned athlete-
centred functionalities, ZWIFT and comparable plat­
forms are attractive for other stakeholders like
teams, trainers, sponsors, broadcasters, or scouts.
By mediating their interaction in the virtual sphere,
they fulfil the definition of a multi-sided platform
(Evans, 2003). Further, customising features and so-
called powerups (e.g., speed-boost or invisibility for
some seconds) allow for individualisation of the
avatar and add gamification aspects to the platform
(Borrill, 2020; Hamari & Koivisto, 2015; Schöbel et
al., 2020).
Referring to the reality-virtuality continuum
(Milgram & Kishino, 1994), and therefore

considering only the audio-visual dimension of vir­
tuality (Speicher et al., 2019), we consider ZWIFT
and similar platforms to be categorised as virtual
reality/environment technologies, as they visually
present a virtual world. For accurately classifying
this type of application, we refer to the additional
dimensions introduced by Speicher et al. (2019).
Regarding the number of environments, ZWIFT pro­
vides a joint virtual environment, while users are
present (at different locations) in the real environ­
ment. Competitive use of ZWIFT requires at least
two athletes, which means that many users are
involved in using the technology at once. We assume
the perceived user immersion to be rather high due
to the high degrees of attention and activity required
to compete professionally. Regarding the degree of
interaction, users can virtually interact with other
users (e.g., slipstream effects, chatting) as well as
with the environment (e.g., powerups, changing
slope on mountains). Riding the bike, which is
mounted to the adjusting smart trainer, generates
motion (i.e., physical input), which is an explicit
way of interaction. Further, the interaction in the
virtual world is intentionally controlled.
Combining the aforementioned considerations, in
case of ZWIFT (and related applications), MR is applied
as a type of collaboration (Speicher et al., 2019). These
applications augment a visually presented virtual world
with the athletes’ real-world physical performance (i.e.,
input), which is accurately measured and authentically
transferred into the virtual sphere and provide audio-
visual as well as physical feedback (i.e., output) resem­
bling interactions taking place in the virtual world
through the same hardware. Consequently, beyond the
visual aspects, which are purely virtual, ZWIFT can be
categorised as an MR application.
Applications like ZWIFT add a novel aspect to the
discussion on whether eSports can be considered as
sports, as competitive success is based on the same
metric (relative power output for a specific time) as in
the original sport (Seo & Jung, 2016) and requires
comparable physical skills and actions. Thus, a com­
parison between performance of virtual and “tradi­
tional” cycling is reasonable, which would imply that
virtual sport can be considered as sport. In the follow­
ing, we will illuminate whether platforms like ZWIFT
enable the virtual performance of cycling, which
requires a comparable physical performance to the
traditional sport of cycling.
3. Study I: comparison of performance data
3.1. Methodology
Addressing RQ1, we assess whether the performance
provided in virtual world competitions are compar­
able to those in road races. To do so, we compare
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS 123
available data of professional virtual races with perfor­
mance data of professional road races from publica­
tions in sports science covering races on World-Tour
level like the Tour de France. Performance data from
virtual races were scraped from ZWIFT Power, a com­
munity-driven website that allows to track specific
race results as well as extensive performance data
from the respective race participants (Ostanek, 2020).
In order to measure athletic performance on ZWIFT
and compare it to “real-life” performance data, we
chose three racing series (both women and men
racing) that were exclusively held on ZWIFT due to
the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we included the
German Cycling Bundesliga that was held from April
18 2020 until May 16 2020. Second, we scraped data
from the international five-stage race Pro Tour for All
held between May 4 and May 8 2020. Finally, we
included the Virtual Tour de France series, the virtual
version of the most prestigious bike race in the world
held each Saturday and Sunday between July 4 and
July 19 2020. In all virtual events, only holders of a
professional licence from the International Cycling
Union (UCI) were eligible to compete, meaning that
most of the participants in the virtual events have been
competing in equivalent events in the real world in
recent years. The scraped data includes general facts
about the riders like sex, rank and time, performance
data like average watts per kilogram as well as health
data, such as average heart rate in beats per min­
ute (bpm).
3.2. Results
In Table 2, we compare virtual races with road races
for women and men in terms of duration (in hours),
relative power output (w/kg), power output (w), aver­
age heart rate (bpm), maximum heart rate (bpm), and
height (cm).
In Figure 1, the relative power output is set in
relation to the duration. This shows that for men’s
races, the three virtual races (points 1–3) are close to
and even encircled by the real-world performances of
Tour de France climbs (point 5; Vogt et al., 2008),
mountain top finish (point 6; Padilla et al., 2008) and
time trials (point 7; Padilla et al., 2000) in terms of
duration and relative performance. The weight
reported by the riders in the virtual races is up to 7%
below the weight reported in the real-world pendant,
although the difference in height is at most 3%. The
heart rate is at similar levels, with the average values in
the real-world being slightly lower, but the maximum
values slightly higher than in the virtual world.
In women cycling, virtual races (points 8–10) are
also similar in terms of relative power outputs and
duration (see Figure 1). Compared to men, there are
very few studies in sports science that examine
women’s professional races. Nevertheless, it can be
124 D. WESTMATTELMANN ET AL.

Note. All virtual and real-world (road) races considered were attended by professional athletes. The data of the virtual races were crawled via the platform ZWIFT Power. For the road races, only the meta data is available, which was retrieved
Crawled (ZWIFT Power)

Crawled (ZWIFT Power)

Sanders et al. (2019)

Sanders et al. (2019)

Padilla et al. (2008)
Padilla et al. (2000)

Abbiss et al. (2010)

Vogt et al. (2008)
Source
182.29 (9.02)
179.83 (6.52)
182.43 (8.24)

168.31 (5.60)
168.66 (6.48)
167.38 (5.59)
Height (cm)

184.80
178.00
179.40
180.00

169.60
167.30
Max Heart (bpm)

189.49 (10.21)
185.72 (8.74)
186.23 (8.36)
192.68 (8.40)

187.49 (8.12)
187.07 (8.19)
180.00

204.00
194.00

185.00 Figure 1. Relative power output and duration of virtual and

N/A

N/A
real-world professional races. Note. The diamond-shaped data
points stand for virtual, round data points for real-world races.
Green data points indicate men, yellow data points indicate
women’s races. The numbers next to the data points refer to
Avg Heart (bpm)
166.21 (12.44)

172.95 (11.57)

171.05 (14.49)

the races listed in Table 2.

165.45 (8.64)

167.42 (9.07)
174.60 (7.38)
133.00

157.00
162.00

152.00
N/A

N/A

observed that women’s virtual races are also com­

parable to time trials (Abbiss et al., 2010) since the
68.65 (6.62)
68.19 (5.86)
69.81 (6.64)

57.03 (5.77)
56.91 (5.17)
58.18 (5.56)
weight (kg)

duration is slightly shorter, but the relative power

73.20
69.00
72.40
68.80

60.50
57.80

output slightly higher. Similar to the men’s races, we

can also see that the weight reported in the virtual
races is up to 6% lower (comparison of point 8 and
Power Output (w)
331.57 (42.32)
324.91 (29.89)
346.08 (29.10)

232.38 (30.39)
237.17 (17.54)
245.43 (20.00)

11) than real-world races, although the differences in

216.00
311.00
322.00
347.00

167.00
248.00

height are less than 2%.

For both genders, larger differences can be observed
when comparing virtual races with mean values of full
road races (Sanders et al., 2019). While the real-world
3.00
4.50
4.45
5.04

2.80
4.29
Relative Power Output (w/kg)
4.85 (0.63)
4.78 (0.30)
4.98 (0.20)

4.10 (0.54)
4.18 (0.28)
4.24 (0.25)

road races are on average 466% longer for men and

239% longer for women than the virtual equivalent,
the relative power output is 38% and 32% lower (com­
paring data points 1 and 4, respectively, 8 and 11 in
Figure 1).
Table 2. Overview on performance data from virtual and real-world races.

3.3. Discussion
Time (hh:mm:ss)

Comparing the performance data of virtual and real-

00:50:21
01:14:28
00:55:49
04:45:00
00:55:26
00:54:00
01:06:25
00:57:16
01:22:47
01:02:12
03:14:00
00:34:50

world races reveals that the performance in virtual

from sports scientific studies. Standard deviation in brackets.

races for both men and women does not match the
performance profile of entire road races. This is particu­
larly due to enormous differences in the race durations.
(5) Tour de France Climbs

However, when comparing the virtual races with real-

(6) Mountain Top Finish

world races of comparable duration (time trials) or deci­

(1) Tour de France

(8) Tour de France

sive sections of real-world races (climbs or mountain top

(10) Bundesliga

(12) Time Trail

(3) Bundesliga

(7) Time Trial

(11) All kind

finish), it becomes evident that the performances pro­

(2) ProTour

(9) ProTour
(4) All kind

vided in the two modes of competition match.

Answering RQ1, we can state that virtual activities, as
they are performed on platforms such as ZWIFT, can be
Virutal

Virutal

considered as sports, since all criteria are fulfilled to be

Road

Road

defined as sports (Guttmann, 1978; Jenny et al., 2017;

Suits, 2007) and that the major counter-argument in the
Women

eSport debate considering physicality does not apply here

Event
Men

(Cunningham et al., 2018). Regarding the objective


performance data, platforms like ZWIFT enable athletes
to pursue their passion and profession in the form of
sporting competitions in times of COVID-19 under
social-distancing conditions. Nevertheless, the virtual
transformation of sport apparently bears new potential
for manipulation in the form of incorrect body weight
data, which would increase the relative power output on
whose basis the speed of the avatar is calculated. The
comparison of the weight data in virtual and real-world
races reveals remarkable differences, while the body
height barely differs.
4. Study II: professional athletes’ perception
of virtual sport events
4.1. Methodology
We follow a qualitative approach to investigate how
participants of virtual sport competitions perceive and
evaluate differences between the virtual and real world
(RQ 2). In order to help guide the interview process
while simultaneously preserving flexibility, we designed
a semi-structured guideline (see Appendix A) based on
the recommendations of Schultze and Avital (2011) as
well as Myers and Newman (2007), which we pre-tested
and carefully adjusted afterwards. As demanded by
Schultze and Avital (2011), the interview guideline is
structured by an explicit framework (Xiao et al., 2017)
to enable more thematically relevant responses by the
interview participants. Beyond that, we tried to foster an
in-depth elaboration on potential advantages of virtual
cycling competitions from a general perspective and in
relation to COVID-19 and therefore encouraged an
open discussion by following up on specific thoughts
mentioned by the interview participants.
To ensure sufficient qualification of the interview
partners regarding their evaluation of differences
between cycling races in the virtual and real world,
male and female athletes were contacted who 1) hold a
valid professional licence from the UCI, 2) have parti­
cipated in the Virtual Cycling Bundesliga 2020 and 3)
have participated in the real-world Bundesliga in the
previous years. Fourteen athletes who met these three
criteria were contacted. Eleven athletes responded to
our request and were interviewed in June and July
2020. Three participants were female, eight were
male. All female participants competed in the Virtual
Cycling Bundesliga, the Virtual Tour de France and
the Pro Tour for All also covered by study I. Among
the men, two interview partners participated in all
three races. The interview partners include Olympic
participants and winners of internationally recognised
one- and multi-day races. Regarding the virtual races,
a stage winner of the Virtual Tour de France is among
the participants. The issue of social dissonance
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS 125
between interviewer and respondent (Myers &
Newman, 2007) can largely be ruled out, as the inter­
viewer is a former professional cyclist.
The interviews lasted between 22 and 74 minutes,
were recorded after gaining permission from the inter­
view partners (Myers & Newman, 2007), transcribed
and then coded afterwards. The coding was performed
by two authors (Coder A and B) in the form of a
qualitative content analysis (Krippendorff, 2009;
Mayring, 2014) utilising the software MAXQDA.
Coder A coded first and thereby developed a coding
system that is structured into three levels. Level 1
distinguishes between the four components “organisa­
tional”, “technological”, “symbolic” and “educational”,
which we derived from the framework proposed by
Xiao et al. (2017). On level 2, the coding system of level
1 was specified according to the context of (virtual)
cycling events based on the interviews, as the frame­
work of Xiao et al. (2017) is generically applicable to
diverse types of sport. Therefore, Coder A derived a
codebook for each level-2-category and applied the
coding system to all relevant text segments in the
eleven interviews (Mayring, 2014). During this coding
process, Coder A developed definitions (Appendix B)
that summarise the coded text segments of each cate­
gory and discussed them with Coder B to create a
consistent understanding of how the codes should be
interpreted (Velsberg et al., 2020). The final category
system on level 2 consists of 27 categories structured
into the four aspects (level 1 categories) proposed by
Xiao et al. (2017). On level 3, a sentiment analysis was
added to the coding system (Chen & Xie, 2008;
Gordon et al., 2020; Liu, 2010). Thereby, two subordi­
nate codes per level-2-category were established to
identify positive (e.g., optimism) or negative (e.g.,
anxiety) sentiment of the respondents towards possi­
ble differences between real-world and virtual cycling
(Gordon et al., 2020; Liu, 2010). This leads to 54
categories (2 sentiments x 27 level-2-categories) on
level 3.
To assure coding objectivity, Coder B replicated the
coding procedure. In the first step, Coder B coded the
eleven interviews based on the co-created level-2 code­
book provided by Coder A (Appendix B), without
knowing which text segments were identified by
Coder A. Based on this coding, Coder B also carried
out a manual sentiment analysis in a subsequent step,
labelling positive and negative connotations on text
segment level. We measured coding reliability on text
segment level by applying Cohen’s Kappa, which
accounts for corresponding coding by chance as well
as for different value distributions in different cate­
gories with a desired threshold value of 0.7 or higher
(Brennan & Prediger, 1981; Cohen, 1960; Lombard et
al., 2002). Results support reliability with a Kappa of
126 D. WESTMATTELMANN ET AL.

0.86, which is deemed as substantial, while a value of
0.0 would depict agreement by chance (Cohen, 1960;
Shrout, 1998). To make sure that RQ 2 is answered
with reliable results on respondent level, we addition­
ally calculated the percentage agreement (Lombard et
al., 2002) on interview level. The overall percentage
agreement, across all level 3 codes on respondent level,
accounts for 95.9%. According to this, Coder A and B
identified expressed sentiments regarding each cate­
gory (coding level 3) at least once per interview tran­
script with a 95.9% agreement.
4.2. Results
In order to present the results depicted in Table 3
comprehensively, we report the number of respondents’
mentions for each level 2 category regardless of the level
3 sentiment coding. Regarding the latter, we aggregated
the count of positive, respectively, negative sentiments
per category for each of the 11 respondents on interview
level, so that up to one positive and one negative senti­
ment towards each category is potentially counted per
respondent. By this means, we rule out distortions due
to single respondents focusing specifically on one issue
with multiple text segments being coded. At the same
time, respondents could express negative and positive
opinions towards a certain level 2 category, leading to a
maximum count of 22 mentions (11 positively opinio­
nated respondents + 11 negatively opinionated respon­
dents) per category.
The impact of virtualisation on the organisational
aspects of cycling events is visible through multiple
aspects. First, various administrative processes are
omitted. This includes coordination with authorities
as well as organisation of road closures, barriers, sup­
port staff, travel, police and ambulance. From the
athletes’ perspective, travelling, hotel stays and inter­
actions with team and staff are reduced. Many of these
aspects might induce a reduction of costs associated
with organising races. The respondents perceive the
reduction of financial and time-related efforts as a
positive aspect of virtual competition, e.g., stating
“Nobody needs to drive 6 hours through the country
every weekend to meet for the Bundesliga race. [.] I
think, compared to an organisation of a real race,
made much easier and faster. So especially with regard
to travelling costs” (Respondent 1). On the contrary,
half of the athletes complain about the initial costs for
setting up the necessary hardware, especially the smart
trainer. Moreover, the athletes have to take on more
responsibilities on their own, e.g., to prepare the races,
as there is less or even no staff involved (in the teams
as well as in the organisation), which bothered three of
the respondents. With regard to the spread of COVID-
19, athletes also see positive aspects in the massive
reduction of physical proximity, which is inevitable
in real world competition: “I think this has a very big
impact on containing the pandemic. If I now imagine
that every weekend there are 300 to 400 people with
staff who would have met [. . .], there would have been a

Table 3. Results of the qualitative content analysis including sentiment coding.

Level 3 sentiment
Level 1 category Level 2 category positive negative
Organisational aspects Financial and time effort for athletes (11) 11 6
Broadcasting opportunities (11) 9 1
Cooperation with sponsors (11) 9 0
Cooperation within the team and staff (11) 4 2
Governance and controlling for manipulation (10) 4 6
Responsibilities for athletes (7) 2 3
Institutionalised rules (7) 2 2
Technological aspects Data transparency (11) 7 0
Required physical skills (11) 0 1
Impact of traditional sports hardware (11) 0 0
Manipulability of data (10) 2 10
Technical aspects for increased realism (9) 4 2
Impact of application-specific hardware (9) 1 3
Required technological knowledge (8) 1 3
Impact of in-game equipment (5) 2 1
Symbolic aspects Sportive relevance (11) 9 8
Rituals (10) 1 1
Customer interaction (9) 5 0
Public display (7) 7 0
Secrecy (2) 0 0
Educational aspects Data analysis and usage (11) 5 0
Tactical knowledge (11) 1 3
Preparation before competition (11) 0 0
Substitutes real-world competition (10) 6 1
Substitutes real-world training (10) 3 0
Coaching (10) 1 1
Overview of the race (9) 2 2
Note. Main categories as derived from Xiao et al. (2017), subcategories represent contextualised concretisations of aspects mentioned by Xiao et al. (2017).
Numbers in brackets represent the total number of interviewees, who mentioned a level 2 category at least one time during the interview. The numbers
of positive and negative sentiments represent how many respondents indicated at least one positive respectively negative aspect per subcategory, which
both may occur in one interview.

clearly increased risk of infection due to the physical
contact one has. [. . .] It was appropriate that this did
not happen at the moment” (R1). Beyond that, the
athletes identified streaming platforms like YouTube
as an important stakeholder in the broadcasting con­
text. Regarding the novel broadcasting opportunities
and cooperation with sponsors, most athletes posi­
tively perceive the virtual races as a chance to gain
visibility for themselves and their organisation during
the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. For example,
the recorded streams or self-produced highlight videos
are available online after the event and “[.] you can still
present your sponsors very well” (R2). In result “[.] the
team management and the sponsors, who are men­
tioned again somewhere, are happy” (R3). Six athletes
were concerned about procedures to ensure the relia­
bility of results and to prevent manipulation and
cheating.
Regarding the transformation of technological
aspects of cycling competitions, the role of traditional
hardware, i.e., the bike, is assumed to diminish in
virtual competition, as the bike does not actually
move on the smart trainer. All respondents mentioned
this change, highlighting that traditional hardware (e.
g., bike’s aerodynamic and rolling resistance) is irrele­
vant, but no one expressed a clear positive or negative
position, meaning that no sentiment was attributed
here. In contrast, application-specific hardware, such
as a smart trainer, cameras, and fans, was identified as
an emerging topic, which is necessary for participating
in the virtual competition. Especially the smart trainer
is regarded negatively by participants, who criticise the
impact of different smart trainer types on the mea­
sured performance: “I know that these different smart
trainers and power meters have an impact. In our case,
some results were rather questionable” (R4). In this
light, the issue of doping is assumed to become less
relevant, because it is partly replaced by the emerging
issue of cheating instead, which, for instance, can be
achieved by entering false body weight values or
through technical manipulation of the smart trainer.
In line with that, all but one respondent highlight their
scepticism regarding the technical reliability and are
concerned about the possibility of data manipulation,
e.g., “So for me, the effect of technical manipulation
clearly outweighs any other. I think it is much more
convenient to manipulate technically than to dope
yourself” (R4). Moreover, ZWIFT-specific technical
knowledge is regarded as necessary to properly com­
pete, e.g., regarding the use of power-ups and the
impacts of slipstream as well as more administrative
technical knowledge in setting up the equipment.
These changes in skills and knowledge are noted by
the participants and criticised by one athlete: “The
power-ups distort the whole thing since they have a
massive impact on the results” (R1). A pivotal point
here is that no athlete mentioned that the physical
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS 127
skills necessary to compete differ between the real
world and the virtual competition. In this regard,
one athlete mentioned that: “All in all, I would say
that it [virtual race] is comparable to the last hour of
tough Bundesliga races” (R3). In line with that, nine
respondents highlighted technical aspects of ZWIFT
to increase realism, which are mostly evaluated posi­
tively, as for example: “The courses I know [. . .] it’s
exciting that they are built so similar. And the fact that
you can feel whether you’re going uphill or downhill
with the smart trainer is very authentic” (R1). Notably,
no respondent reported that the perceived realism is
affected by audio-visual stimuli. Finally, the increased
data transparency during and after the race enabled by
the constant performance measurement is perceived
mainly positively by seven athletes.
Regarding symbolic aspects of the sport, the virtua­
lisation reduces the relevance and even eliminates
many rituals, such as joint preparation for the race,
team presentation, award ceremony, and cheering fans
near the course: “I would say that almost all of these
classical rituals are simply not present on ZWIFT” (R5).
The athletes perceive the transfer of rituals into the
virtual world as well as rituals dropping out as both
positive and negative. Contrary, the interaction with
consumers as well as the public display are estimated
to be increasingly relevant. For example, social media
feedback and ZWIFT-internal chat interactions dur­
ing and after the virtual competition are extensive.
Accordingly, athletes report an increased public recog­
nition. Regarding consumer interaction, almost half of
the respondents indicate that they positively perceive
the novel forms of virtually mediated interactions, as
they create a more intense relationship and allow fans
to get closer to the athletes. Seven athletes perceive the
virtual races positively in regard to the increased pub­
lic display, as it might even increase the number of
consumers of the sport: “There might even be more
than at the roadside at a [real-world] bike race” (R2).
Specifically, during COVID-19 shutdowns of other
sports events, the possibility to compete virtually
allows cycling to generate a broad display as “[it is]
the only sport that’s being broadcast live at the moment
and I think that’s just maybe an advantage to get to the
viewers” (R6). In contrast to this public relevance,
athletes have mixed opinions about the sporting rele­
vance of the virtual races, which is emphasised by both
positive and negative statements about the topic.
While the rather high-performance level is positively
mentioned, the negative statements go as far as stating
that they “[.] wouldn’t really attach any relevance to it
right now [. . .] for me it’s like playing PlayStation on a
bike” (R6).
Participants identified educational aspects since
novel skills are necessary for athletes and coaches.
Regarding team tactics, teamwork or positioning in a
virtual group of riders, the traditional knowledge is of
128 D. WESTMATTELMANN ET AL.
subordinate relevance, while virtual-world-specific
tactics are necessary to compete, e.g., regarding the
use of power-ups and activities such as mastering the
start as well as knowing specifics of the courses. One
participant stated that “we had a meeting call where he
[performance coach] told us exactly what we had to do
with the power-ups” (R8). This quote also highlights
that coaching requires new specific knowledge regard­
ing data analysis and in-competition decision-making
as well. Thereby, the possibility to utilise data analytics
to optimise training and competitive success repre­
sents an important component in coaching and is
perceived positively by almost half of respondents.
Finally, respondents frequently indicated positive sen­
timent towards the fact that the virtual competition
serves as a substitute for real-world races to maintain
their fitness level, specifically during the COVID-19
pandemic: “There are no other (real-world) races and I
think a lot of athletes feel the need to compete now and
that’s just a good format” (R5). In addition, and inde­
pendent of COVID-19 restrictions, virtual competi­
tion might also complement real-world training,
which was mentioned by three participants.
4.3. Discussion
The results of study II allow insights on which drivers
of sport digitalisation are specifically relevant in the
context of virtual cycling events and how the resulting
changes are perceived by affected athletes. We validate
the theoretical considerations of Xiao et al. (2017) in
the context of virtualised cycling competitions and
thereby find concrete manifestations of the mentioned
aspects.
Beyond that, we illuminate the effects an increas­
ing degree of digitalisation, specifically the virtualisa­
tion of physical interaction (Flavián et al., 2019;
Speicher et al., 2019) could have on different aspects
of sports. The participation in virtually mediated
competitions allows athletes to maintain their fitness
and contributes to a novel level of training realism,
which differentiates virtual sport platforms from
recent MR applications for professional athletes’
training (Vignais et al., 2015; Xiao et al., 2017). In
addition, we find that the changes in stakeholder
responsibilities in our context mainly concern reduc­
tion of tasks for the staff, while the athletes have to
take more responsibilities in preparing for the races.
Virtual sport also requires novel skills, such as spe­
cific tactics or strategic power-up use and thus,
requires learning effort.
We also find that the degree of visually perceived
realism is a subordinate design factor for this type of
application, as realism mainly arises from physical
feedback and virtually mediated interactions. These
results support the proposition that applications offer­
ing stimuli beyond audio-visual ones are deemed
suitable to enhance perceived realism and immersion
of virtual worlds (Bastos et al., 2018; Lin & Peng, 2015;
Ribbens et al., 2016).
Moreover, we find changes that are evaluated as
rather positive by the participants, such as the novel
broadcasting possibilities, which increase the oppor­
tunity to present sponsors and allow for a more public
display. In contrast, athletes are sceptical about
manipulation possibilities regarding the input data
and distortion of fair competition through power-
ups as a facet of gamification (Hamari & Koivisto,
2015; Schöbel et al., 2020), which makes them ques­
tion the sportive relevance of the virtual competitions.
Furthermore, the athletes relate specific aspects of
virtualising sports to the COVID-19 pandemic. They
highlight the advantages of competing virtually and at
social distance instead of conducting large-scale events
with physical proximity in the real world, which is in line
with current findings on COVID-19 transmission
(Blocken et al., 2020; McCloskey et al., 2020). Finally,
the respondents perceive the virtual events and the result­
ing audience as a chance to cope with financial losses due
to cancelled real-life events (Horky, 2020; Timpka, 2020).
5. General discussion
5.1. Overarching discussion and theoretical
implications
Combining the insights from study I and II, we find
that virtual sports events are suitable to conduct rea­
listic and serious competitions during the COVID-19
pandemic and beyond. The fact that the performances
in virtual races resemble specific parts of real-world
sport – in the form of time trials, or finals of races –
also corresponds to the subjective athlete perception.
Nevertheless, differences in their perceptions of both
types of sport exist. Summarising, this study is the first
to analyse competitive, professional, and physical
sport, which is transferred and performed in a virtual
sphere and therefore allows for several contributions.
First, we find evidence that virtual sport can be
classified as a sport according to common definitions,
specifically because the necessary physical skills have
been shown to be comparable (Guttmann, 1978; Jenny
et al., 2017; Suits, 2007). In this way, we contribute to
the discussion on whether eSport and sport are sepa­
rate concepts (e.g., Cunningham et al., 2018), as we
show that virtual sport lies in between both extremes,
which allows for a more granular discussion.
Second, we contribute to the broader literature on
sports digitalisation, as we identify transformational
aspects of virtualising cycling. We thereby concretise
and empirically apply the sports digitalisation frame­
work proposed by Xiao et al. (2017). In particular, we
focus on the impact of MR technologies and highlight
that their application potential in sports goes beyond

augmenting broadcasting and analysis or experimen­
tal training use cases, but enables serious competition
(Fischer et al., 2019; Vignais et al., 2015).
Third, we also illuminate, which of the occurring
changes the participants perceive as positive and
which are barriers of use. It appears that the combina­
tion of objective performance data and the athletes’
perception fits well to answer this endeavour. For
example, the athletes indicated their concerns regard­
ing possible data manipulation and question the cor­
rectness of the declared weight in the virtual context.
This concern seems reasonable, since the comparison
in study I reveals that the weight indicated in virtual
races is in some cases considerably lower than in real-
world races. These combined findings are in line with
the proposition of Hacker et al. (2020) that novel
vulnerabilities emerge, as people more strongly engage
in the virtual sphere and show that it applies for virtual
sports as well.
Fourth, we highlight potential motivators and bar­
riers to engage with a technology that visually pre­
sents a purely virtual world but augments it with
physical input and haptic output of many users syn­
chronised via interactions within the virtual sphere.
Therefore, we contribute to the literature on MR
technologies, which has so far focused mainly on
audio-visual interaction and validate the recent fra­
mework of Speicher et al. (2019), which extends the
reality-virtuality continuum (Milgram & Kishino,
1994) along the specific example of ZWIFT.
Accordingly, we categorised ZWIFT and related
applications of MR as a form of collaboration
(Speicher et al., 2019), which might seem contradic­
tory at first, as the athletes actually compete against
each other. However, at a second glance, it becomes
clear that the technology enables them to collaborate
in performing a joint sportive competition without
being at the same real-world location. Therefore, we
identify the sports industry as a field in which this
type of application can beneficially be applied
(Flavián et al., 2019; Xiao et al., 2017).
Finally, we emphasise how information systems can
support mastering the COVID-19 pandemic in the
field of sports, which is a vital part of people’s lives.
Thereby, we complement the literature on technolo­
gical measures and remote interaction during the pan­
demic (e.g., Hacker et al., 2020; Waizenegger et al.,
2020). Adding to the discourse on which digital prac­
tices might endure after the pandemic (Hacker et al.,
2020), we propose that professional sport events tak­
ing place in the virtual sphere might complement the
traditional sport beyond COVID-19.
5.2. Implications for practice
From a practical perspective, this study provides guide­
lines on how virtual sports and virtually mediated
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS 129
physical interaction applications could successfully be
deployed at large scale, while at the same time helping
to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual sports plat­
forms enable athletes to take part in competitions in a
virtual world from home, avoiding the need to travel to
events, where they frequently are in contact with a large
number of people. Still, they offer enough realism to
allow for credible competition. From a financial per­
spective, athletes and sponsors can use the virtual plat­
form to reduce the financial losses arising from
cancelled competitions. Teams can produce content
independently from home, distribute it via social
media and thus, supplement official broadcasts.
Virtual sports also play a decisive role regarding psy­
chological and social components, as the virtual races
can serve as complements for real-world interactions
and help athletes to better cope with COVID-19. Put
into a broader context, we propose that virtually
mediated forms of interaction, e.g., with fans, should
be applied to diverse – pre-COVID-19 – mass-attended
sport events as a part of the “new normal”.
In order to further develop and establish virtual
sport in times of COVID-19 and beyond, further
aspects have to be considered. We showed that the
performances provided in the real and the virtual
world are comparable, but that special knowledge (e.
g., power-ups) is required in the virtual world.
Accordingly, stakeholders have to find a common
understanding on whether virtual sport should resem­
ble traditional sport as closely as possible or whether it
should be a separate discipline with its own (gamifica­
tion) characteristics. In the light of the rapidly increas­
ing attention paid to virtual sport, it must be clarified
whether virtual sport should be integrated into exist­
ing sports federations or independent institutions
should be established that are responsible for regula­
tions. Thereby, it is of paramount importance to limit
manipulation potential. To prevent technical manip­
ulation, the reliability of the relevant measurements
across different hardware setups must be ensured and
there must be mechanisms (e.g., transparency and
data recording via multiple sources) to identify suspi­
cious data. Data transparency is not only important to
prevent manipulation but can also be valuable for
athletes and coaches to identify potential to improve
performance. In addition, the performance data can
also provide interesting additional information for
spectators that is not available in real-world sport
and should be integrated into the broadcasts of virtual
competitions.
5.3. Limitations and further research
This study is subject to certain limitations. For our
quantitative study I, we could not access individual-
level performance data from previous studies, so that
it was not possible to conduct significance testing for
130 D. WESTMATTELMANN ET AL.
comparing the performances between real-world and
virtual competitions. Nevertheless, the available data
shows a clear tendency towards the comparability of
virtual and real-world competitive performances.
Regarding qualitative study II, we only surveyed
participants of virtual cycling competitions organised
by the German Cycling Federation. Therefore, the
gathered insights might be biased due to cultural and
regional influences although all participants regularly
participate in international competitions. Further stu­
dies could validate our findings in other cultural con­
texts. Moreover, stakeholder groups beyond athletes,
specifically spectators, should be subject of further
studies to contribute to the broader understanding of
virtual sports. Beyond that, the sample size is sufficient
to explore the topic and to gather relevant insights, but
the quantitative counts of positive and negative senti­
ment do not necessarily allow conclusions about the
relevance regarding individual factors and should be
interpreted with caution. Larger scale studies or sur­
vey-based approaches could extend our chosen
approach. Moreover, sentiment analysis is a popular
use case of artificial intelligence (Liu, 2010). Thus, we
propose that a hybrid approach to content and senti­
ment analysis could verify and complement our man­
ual coding approach, especially when larger datasets
are to be considered (Su et al., 2017).
Finally, as our study focuses on virtualised cycling
competitions, findings might not be valid for sports, in
which virtualisation is more difficult to operationalise,
as they require more body contact or involve interac­
tions with movable objects (i.e., a ball). Nevertheless,
endurance disciplines make up a substantial share of
sports and the presented type of virtual sports compe­
titions might just be a hallmark for further applica­
tions making use of MR technologies.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Daniel Westmattelmann http://orcid.org/0000-0002-
0278-5396
Jan-Gerrit Grotenhermen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-
6770-8519
Marius Sprenger http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4663-4802
Gerhard Schewe http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3199-2837
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Appendices
Appendix A: Interview Guideline
Thank you very much for partaking in the following
interview on the topic “A comparison of the virtual cycling
Bundesliga with the real cycling Bundesliga”. The discussion
I would like to have with you should be as free as possible.
My pre-formulated questions are only intended to serve as a
guidance so that we consider all relevant topics. Before we
begin, I would like to point out that the information and
data will be treated confidentially and processed anon­
ymously. In the following interview, I ask you to freely and
openly express your personal experiences and thoughts
related to the virtual Bundesliga on ZWIFT. Please feel
free to be comprehensive and detailed. If you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to ask them during the
interview. If you do not have any questions right now, we
may proceed with the interview:

Main Topic Question Suggestion for further remarks

1. Reasons and timing for joining ZWIFT and
especially for participating in the virtual
Bundesliga (virtual cycling Bundesliga).
2. Comparison of the virtual Bundesliga and the
real cycling Bundesliga with regard to
organisational components (Xiao et al., 2017;
from the riders’ point of view).
3. Comparison of the virtual Bundesliga and the Q8. Which influence does the equipment have If you consider the Smart Trainer as well as the
real cycling Bundesliga with regard to
technological components (Xiao et al., 2017;
from the riders’ point of view).
4. Comparison of the virtual Bundesliga and the Q12. How do you assess the sporting
real cycling Bundesliga with regard to symbolic
components (Xiao et al., 2017; from the riders’
point of view).
5. Comparison of the virtual Bundesliga and the Q16. Do you use the virtual cycling Bundesliga -
real cycling Bundesliga with regard to
educational components (Xiao et al., 2017; from
the riders’ point of view).
Q1. How did you get into ZWIFT?
Q2. Why did you participate in the virtual
cycling Bundesliga?
Q3. Which stakeholders play a role in the
virtual cycling Bundesliga?
Q4. Which role does the virtual cycling
Bundesliga play for your own team?
Q5. Which role does the virtual cycling
Bundesliga play for your sponsors?
Q6. Which role does the federation play in
implementing the virtual Bundesliga on
ZWIFT?
Q7. How do you assess the new broadcasting Previously, short reports from certain regional
opportunities for the races?
on the race compared to the traditional
Bundesliga?
Q9. In your opinion, are the same physical
abilities and skills crucial in the virtual
Bundesliga?
Q10. Is the same knowledge relevant for
virtual Bundesliga races or does it require
special knowledge for virtual races?
Q11. Does teamwork or team spirit play a role If you consider the team meetings preceding the
comparable to that in a real Bundesliga
race?
relevance of the virtual Bundesliga
compared to the traditional Bundesliga?
Q13. Are there differences with regard to
certain rituals and gestures? Where do they
resemble each other and where do they
differ?
Q14. How do you perceive the visibility of
actions and sporting events?
Q15. What about the interaction with the
spectators and observers?
more as a training or a competition
substitute?
Q17. How does your preparation differ from -
the traditional Bundesliga in terms of
training and direct race preparation?
Q18. Do you analyse your own data and the For example, via the ZWIFT Power Platform, where
data of other athletes?
Q19. Does participation in the virtual cycling Do you practice specific skills and techniques or do
Bundesliga influence the work with your
coach and his/her way of coaching?
Did you register because of the COVID-19
pandemic or have you been active on ZWIFT
before?
-
Independent of the riders, have new stakeholders
emerged compared to the traditional
Bundesliga?
Which stakeholders dropped out in particular
compared to the traditional Bundesliga?
Was the participation in the virtual Bundesliga
actively demanded or was it your own idea?
Are there any sponsors who have already
commented on your participation?
-
stations were broadcasted about individual
races, whereas today entire races are streamed
online.
bike: do you think the smart trainer or the
power metre you use has an influence on the
result or do you think it is mostly independent?
Is the performance specification comparable to
that of a real Bundesliga race? Especially with
regard to strength, endurance and technical
aspects?
If you consider tactics, use of power-ups, or even
knowledge of the course.
races or communication during a race.
-
If you think of rituals before the race or even
during the race. How does it differ in general
from the course of events, also regarding
gestures or behaviour during the race? Are
there any differences that you notice?
Where are differences and similarities in the virtual
Bundesliga? For example, the fact that you can
no longer see your competitor’s face. How do
you perceive this?
They are no longer on the side lines but can “only”
follow the races online.
basically all kinds of performance data such as
heart rate or wattages are available.
you prepare yourself differently for a virtual
race?
(Continued)
 EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
(Continued).
6. Conclusion with a summary of supposed Q20. What are the advantages of the virtual
advantages of the virtual Bundesliga (from the Bundesliga compared to the traditional
riders’ point of view). Bundesliga?
Q21. What technical aspects do you think
could make the virtual cycling Bundesliga
even more realistic?
Q22. Where do you see problems and
corresponding potential for improvement
in the future?
Q23. Now a somewhat provocative question:
can you imagine the virtual Bundesliga as a
possible substitute for the traditional
Bundesliga?
Q24. Would you again participate in the virtual
cycling Bundesliga regardless of the COVID-
19 pandemic?
Q25. What are the prerequisites for you to
participate again?
7. Special situation: COVID-19 pandemic and a Q26. Do you think the virtual Bundesliga helps
possible containment to contain the COVID-19 pandemic?
Q27. Why does the virtual cycling Bundesliga
help with containment?
8. Supplementary Q28. Were the questions of this interview
understandable for you?
Q29. Which questions could not be answered
intuitively?
135
You have already mentioned some of them before,
but here you might want to summarise them
again and highlight the most important ones.
If you consider head-mounted displays and the
like.
Maybe also something you would like to share
with the German cycling federation or ZWIFT
themselves.
Perhaps also as a kind of complement to the
traditional Bundesliga, or is it just a gimmick?
-
-
At least as a piece of the mosaic in the
containment of the pandemic.
-
-
-
136 D. WESTMATTELMANN ET AL.

Appendix B: Coding scheme

Level 2 category Definition

Level 1 category: Organisational aspects of sports digitalisation
Responsibilities for athletes Statements concerning changing responsibilities for performing the sport from the athlete’s perspective. While
responsibilities might increase, this category also considers higher perceived independence.
Financial and time effort for Statements concerning changes regarding financial or time-related efforts from the athlete’s perspective. In
athletes contrast to responsibilities, this category focuses on financial and time-related resources.
Cooperation with sponsors The virtual races have an impact on sponsors, their visibility and their collaboration with the teams. This category
addresses changes regarding the interactions with sponsors as well as monetary and idealistic support from
those.
Cooperation with team and staff Here it is reported whether and how the cooperation within the team has changed. This category also concerns to
what extent supporting activities and actors in virtual races get more important and which ones do not.
Broadcasting opportunities Virtual races offer new possibilities to broadcast competitions.
Races can be transmitted live via streaming services and content can be shared on social media channels.
Governance and controlling for This is concerned with the organisation of control mechanisms of the alleged manipulation itself, i.e. the
manipulation implementation and various possibilities of manipulation checks, which can be compared to doping controls.
Institutionalised rules For virtual competitions, specific rules within the game logic, but also beyond this are necessary to create a fair and
consistent framework for competition.
Level 1 category: Technological aspects of sports digitalisation
Impact of application-specific The perceived influence of specific equipment for the virtual sport or even more specific for the application ZWIFT
hardware (i.e. smart trainer) on the result of the race is described here.
Impact of traditional sports The perceived influence of hardware such as bike, helmet, and other equipment on the speed and therefore the
hardware race result in virtual and real-world racing.
Impact of in-game equipment Responses regarding the digital equipment of the avatar in virtual sport and its impact on competition results.
Required physical skills This concerns the necessary skills (i.e. power profile, endurance) for competing in the virtual and the real-world.
Required technological Responses regarding special knowledge that is required to (successfully) compete in virtual races. Special effects of
knowledge the slipstream effect and avatar behaviour, but also the skills for setting up the smart trainer and registering
online play a role.
Data transparency This category covers the articulated need for data transparency and the athlete’s personal perceptions of disclosing
individual data.
Technical aspects for increased To what extent technical features such as slipstream effects, graphics, course design and the mixed-reality
realism technology applied affect the perceived degree of reality. Thereby, aspects like VR glasses or steering platforms
are included.
Manipulability of data In virtual races, the relative power output and thus the race result can be manipulated via inaccurate body weight
data or smart trainers. In contrast to the category “Governance and controlling for manipulation”, this one
considers mentions regarding the technical possibilities for manipulation.
Level 1 category: Symbolic aspects of sports digitalisation
Public display The extent to which riders perceive the public visibility of the races and access to spectators.
Customer interaction Virtual races make the spectators along the road disappear, but new media, livestreams and social media enable a
new way of interacting with spectators.
Rituals Rituals and gestures like award ceremonies are part of a road races. This category includes rituals and gestures that
are omitted respectively introduced in virtual sports compared to the real-world.
Secrecy Specific behaviours of restraining information or keeping tactics a secret is common in sports. In virtual races, more
data might be obtainable to reduce secrecy, while at the same time, novel opportunities for hidden behaviour
might arise.
Sportive relevance This category includes statements made by athletes concerning the sporting relevance of virtual competitions.
Comparisons with real-world sports are also covered here. The sporting relevance is based on the relevance for
the athletes themselves, but also for the teams, spectators and other stakeholders and includes both financial
and intangible factors.
Level 1 category: Educational aspects of sports digitalisation
Tactical knowledge The value refers to race tactics in general and special tactical knowledge, which differs from real-world races.
Overview of the race Through the virtualisation of sport, athletes can no longer directly observe sporting events, resulting in a lack of
important information about the sporting action compared to the real-world. In turn, virtual competitions offer
other information, such as webcam views or the display of competitors’ performance data.
Coaching This category includes the interaction of athletes with their coaches to improve the athlete’s performance and the
extent to which the virtualisation of sport changes the way athletes collaborate with coaches.
Data analytics and use This category refers to the use of the data available through virtual races (own and external data).
Preparation before competition Aspects of race preparation can include the direct race preparation a few hours before the competition (e.g.,
nutrition or preparation of the equipment), but also the preparation in the days before a race (e.g., workouts or
sleep).
Substitute for real world This refers to whether a virtual race can create a competitive character and is a substitute for real world
competition competitions.
Substitute for real world training This refers to whether a virtual race can develop a training character and is a kind of supplement to traditional
training in the real world.
Note. Only categories derived from the framework by Xiao et al. (2017) included. Sentiment was coded based on connotation of related adjectives per text
section.