Our 2013 NFL Tech Series provides a quick hit of tech insight on all 32 NFL teams up until kickoff of Week 1 of the regular season. Each feature includes the latest tech advances implemented by the organization in the effort to advance the team’s success… in a wide variety of venues.
Stadium experience, fan engagement, mobile technologies, player performance and health, statistical data gathering and analysis… any and all aspects of the organization’s procedures in the effort to find success in the NFL is on the table. We’re uncovering those efforts, investigating those innovations and pondering the benefit they might provide, for the team, players and fans alike… today and looking forward.
Today’s focus is on the St. Louis Rams as they look to renovate Edward Jones Dome while they have indulged in some interesting uses of stadium and team technology.
Just a few months ago, the Rams and the city of St.Louis heard an arbitration ruling with a great impact on both the present and future of the organization and Edward Jones Dome.
A judge ruled in favor of the Rams’ request for $700 million in public money, but the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission has other plans. This leaves the team in an a precarious position. They certainly want the $700 million to upgrade the stadium, but through the CVC’s non-action, the Rams organization is contractually allowed to break their lease and move to another city. This loophole came because of a clause which stated the CVC had to provide upgrades to the stadium by 2013 that would place it among the top 25 percent of stadiums in the NFL.
This testy situation comes at a time when the Rams hope to shed the rebuilding tag and take a seat at the contenders table. For the moment, we wait and see.
In the meantime, there’s a football team ready to play this Sunday.
Google Glass
Despite their futuristic feel, Google Glass has found another way to assert itself as a product of the present.
The Rams were the first team to experiment with this newest visual technology. Sam Bradford and rookie Tavon Austin both sported the specs to demonstrate how both players view the play from their unique perspectives. While the technology is far from game use, it has the ability to provide coaches and players with new practice film perspectives. It’s rare that a technology provides value for the fan and player, leading us to believe that it’s only a matter of time before usage spreads.
Rams GM Les Snead when talking to ESPN’s Katie Linendoll said, “I can eventually see that being on a helmet and people at home and in the stadium seeing what players see. That view of Sam and what he’s looking at, is going to help quarterback all people involved and say hey this is what I saw.”
Unequal Technologies
For the second straight season, the Rams have partnered with Unequal technologies, a company that creates Kevlar enforced, “shirts with rib and spine protectors; girdles with customizable hip, thigh and tailbone protection; replacement thigh pads approved by the NFL for use within any girdle; and Footbeds® that reduce impact shock up to 80 percent.”
That’s right – they’re now using military grade armor in the NFL.
This is the all in the wave of personal safety technology, a key concern for teams and the NFL as a whole. Through partnerships with companies such us Unequal Technologies, the Rams look to gain one of the most invaluable assets to a team: good health.
ScentAir
You would be well within your right to think what I’m about to talk about is a joke. But I’m going to do it anyway and promise you that it is actually happening.
The Rams have decided to pump the scent of cotton candy through the HVAC systems at the two main entrances of the stadium. They have done so by partnering with ScentAir, a company specializing in providing scents for clients such as theme parks, hotels, retail stores, and now one NFL team.
So why would an NFL team pump smells into a stadium?
For one, according to Brian Killingsworth, VP of marketing, concessions went up throughout the arena, specifically cotton candy. Also, Brian feels that it helps to create a more family friendly (and mouth watering) atmosphere. “One of the first things we wanted to do here was to look at all the ways we can improve the game-day experience for families,” says Brian Killingsworth, vice president of marketing and brand strategy for the Rams. “We wanted to create a positive first impression for fans when they first walk into the stadium and we trigger their senses.”
I can’t tell if this is genius or insanity, but I want one for my apartment.