Sacramento Kings fans were unable to experience the playoffs in their first season of attending games at Golden 1 Center, but for those who showed up to the team’s home finale, they were able to have the arena celebrate their arrival.
The Photo in the Plaza experience enabled fans who took or uploaded photos using the Kings + Golden 1 Center app to have them displayed on the arena’s 25-foot vertical video screens at the grand entrance as part of the Sixth Man Celebration. Advanced Bluetooth low energy beacons were triggered by the app, enabling submitted and approved photos to be placed in a live queue to be displayed on the video screens.
The Kings launched this experience with Xperiel, the company they collaborate with for fan engagement activations in which physical and digital worlds converge. Kings president Chris Granger told NeuLion EVP Chris Wagner at NAB last week that the April 11 experience was a test. It’s something that could be integrated in future Kings games and concerts and family shows at the arena.
“The crowdsourcing of content is something that is always particularly interesting and inspiring,” Granger said. “It’s certainly engaging for our fans. It’s fun, and people love to see themselves on the big screen.
“Because of the beacon system we have outside the arena, when you then approach the building, we recognize you’re approaching the building, and we put your picture up on the big LED screens. So the arena is literally checking into you rather than vice versa. So it really interacts. It’s a lot of fun.”
When Wagner noted it was as if the fictional personalized advertising from the film Minority Report had been totally implemented, Granger laughed and replied, “A little less creepy, but yes, exactly.”
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
The ability for a fan to walk up to a venue and seeing his or her own face appear was something the Kings were excited about showcasing.
“Technology allows us to create unique opportunities for our fans and make memorable experiences,” Kings Chief Technology Officer Ryan Montoya said in a statement. “By connecting fans to the arena’s advanced features through our app and providing a hyper-personalized way to welcome them to the arena, we’re changing the way teams look at technology, while leaving our fans with an enhanced experience – even before tip-off.”
Said Xperiel CEO Alex Hertel in a statement: “There is a density of technology that you can only find in sports arenas and stadiums, like Golden 1 Center. We are moving away from the idea that an app should run only on a mobile device and instead embracing the fact that it can run throughout an entire arena. This thinking puts the Kings fan experience not only in their hands, but also up on the big screen, part of ticket sales, ticket scans, etc. With Xperiel, the whole arena becomes a device that provides experiences.”