The following interview is part of our ongoing Expert Series that asks C-level professionals, team presidents, league executives, athletic directors and other sports influencers about their latest thoughts and insights on new technologies impacting the sports industry.
Name: Marc de Grandpre
Company: New York Red Bulls/Red Bull Arena
Position: General Manager
Marc de Grandpre currently servers as the General Manager of the New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Arena. A winner of the Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year in MLS earlier this year, he oversees all aspects of the business operations for both the team and stadium. de Grandpre rejoined the Red Bulls in April 2014 following marketing stints at KIND Snacks, IMAX and Qualcomm. A graduate of Southern New Hampshire University, he previously served as the Red Bull’s Managing Director from 2006-2008.
1) What utilization of technology in professional or college sports has recently blown you away and why?
The evolution of live streaming has really impressed me with reach and engagement opportunities. This summer, we had an opportunity to live stream a friendly we hosted at Red Bull Arena vs. Club America. At the eleventh hour, the local broadcast deal was open for us to takeover, and we decided to broadcast via Facebook Live. Within 24 hours, we were able to work with the folks at Facebook to set up the broadcast and even get it in certain markets. The results were great as we reached well over 2 million people and had over 10,000 engagements during the broadcast despite the fact that we didn’t even get to announce the broadcast until hours before the match. The effectiveness of Facebook’s news feed, notifications and shares did more organically than we could have done with any traditional communications.
The Twitter deal with the NFL proved that Twitter, Facebook, Amazon and others will clearly become major players in league rights deals. I am excited to see how it progresses and how we can continue to leverage these platforms to expand our reach, viewership and engagement.
2) If you had to invest in one technology that would enhance sports fans’ experiences at games, what would it be and why?
The technology I would invest in is not necessarily used to enhance sports fans’ experience at games, it is more to help fans get to games and keep them coming.
Establishing a fully open marketplace for our fans to purchase tickets with properties receiving the data to understand fully who the end buyer is will be paramount for professional and college sports moving forward. You are seeing many ticketing companies utilizing technology for solutions.
The lines between primary and secondary ticketing are seemingly blurred, but yet our industry continues to differentiate between the two and it affects our fans’ buying experience. Our club recognizes the importance of providing fans easy access to tickets as well as a streamlined buying experience in an open marketplace, and we want to be at the forefront of providing that for them.
A good example of someone providing both of these today would be SeatGeek. They deliver an open market platform and have done a nice job with their simple two-tap checkout purchasing for fans to purchase tickets to events they want to experience live at the venue.
3) If money were no object, what technology would you build or buy to help you do your job better?
This season, the New York Red Bulls earned the highest ranking in the inaugural J.D. Power 2016 Fan Experience Study. I think if we were able get real time and accurate data on our fans’ experience; not only in-venue at our matches, but at our marketing events, during our broadcasts, etc. The ability to get behavioral and emotional data, real time, with every live and virtual/digital engagement, would be a true game changer.
4) As a sports fan, what sports-related service, app, product, etc., could you not live without and why?
Being able to watch our team play from wherever I am is an absolute necessity! Watching the Red Bulls play through MSG-GO or MLS-LIVE when I’m not at the game is so important. I’ve definitely been that guy at a wedding or a dinner party watching the game on my phone (apologies to all my hosts).
5) If you had to project 20 years into the future, how will most fans watch their favorite sports teams?
There is still nothing like attending a big event live. Just look at the prices for tickets to this year’s World Series at Wrigley Field. The live sporting event is still alive and well. Twenty thousand-plus screaming fans and our amazing Supporter Section is why Red Bull Arena has become The Fortress that we documented in our Red Bulls Insider show on MSG recently. Whether it is our supporter culture, the Seattle Seahawks legendary ‘12th Man’ or the Kansas City Chiefs tailgating experience, these things can’t be replicated at home or at a sports bar.
The at-home or the mobile live viewing experience continues to improve, but I can never see that completely replacing the in-venue experience. I just see it continuing to complement and enhance the live experience instead.
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6) Give us your bold prediction about a form of technology that will be integral to sports in general over the next 12 months and why?
Augmented reality; it will give a fan the ability to fully interact within the environment. This would take the experience of the action on the field or in-stadium to the next level. For example, a team would be able to leverage AR to provide value to its advertisers and marketing partners through enhanced fan experiences in stadium, placing a fan on the sidelines during a match, in locker room and even provide an enhanced VIP experience.