Sports Recommender Systems: Overview and Research Issues

In the world of sports, recommendations are made to help athletes improve their performance and achieve their goals. However, these recommendations can be complex and difficult to understand, especially for those who are not familiar with the terminology used in the sport. Explanations play a crucial role in making these recommendations more interpretable and trustworthy. This article explores the different goals of explanations in sports-related recommendation scenarios, such as increasing trust, improving domain knowledge, and promoting fairness and consensus within a group.
The authors identify five main goal dimensions of explaining sports recommendations: trust, transparency, efficiency, persuasiveness, and fairness. Each of these goals is critical in a specific context, and explanations can help achieve them by providing the necessary information to make informed decisions. For instance, explanations can help athletes understand why a particular training program is recommended, how it will benefit their performance, and what they need to do to achieve their goals.
The article also highlights the importance of fairness and consensus in sports-related recommendation scenarios. Explanations can help create a feeling of fairness within a group by providing clear reasons for recommendations and promoting agreement among members. This is particularly important in team sports, where players need to work together towards a common goal.
In conclusion, explanations are essential in sports-related recommendation scenarios to achieve various goals such as trust, transparency, efficiency, persuasiveness, and fairness. By providing clear and concise explanations, athletes can make informed decisions and improve their performance, leading to better results for themselves and their teams.