Sports and Tech Meetup (Bay Area) presented a panel discussing: “Reinventing the Arena Experience.” While the events took place a few months ago, we felt that there were many strong takeaways that could be taken from the discussions that took place. The panel of executives, entrepreneurs, and architects discussed how technology can enhance the game experience. The moderator broke the overall topic into the following subtopics.
Panelists included:
Chip Bowers – Chief Marketing Officer for the Golden State Warriors
David Kaval – President of the San Jose Earthquakes
Evan Owens – Co-founder and CEO of PogoSeat
Bill Crockett – Director of Sports Architecture, AECOM
Building structures to support technology:
One of the main factors in building structures includes making sure organizations build something that is not just relevant in year 1 or 5, but 15, 20, 30 years down the line because of the ever-changing nature of technology. For instance, the panel suggests having capable access to WiFi. Often, phones lose 3G or 4G capabilities when they’re in large stadiums. This impacts a fan’s ability to communicate via social media – essentially rendering devices useless. As a result, flexibility with bandwidth remains a central concept. However, the challenge remains in making sure the product/game is the main event and social media is not a distraction.
Selecting a start up to invest in:
Teams must be smart in investing start ups. This includes strategic thinking when deciding on the best platform for an organization. PoGoSeat, a company dedicated to allowing fans to pay for seat upgrades during games via an app, has a clear value-added proposition. There is no cost for teams because the only money involved is through revenue sharing once a person pays to upgrade to a better seat. Under this model, PoGoSeat was able to pitch themselves to teams without a team paying an upfront cost.
How can we use technology to enhance getting fans to go to games?
The Golden State Warriors are allowing for a digital platform to download team programs via an app. This allows fans to have the content in an arena or at home. In addition, they are encouraging fans to take pictures during the games and tweet it out with a specific hashtag to encourage involvement.
Working with dead time:
Depending on the sporting event, teams must deal with “dead time.” This means the arena experience must account for additional fan entertainment. One way organization can deal with this, is by building mini-cities within the arena. This provides an experience for the fans in attendance.
Working with constituents to create the right atmosphere:
Teams are using facilities to attract good coaches and trainers. They are also creating an atmosphere conducive to player habits – i.e. watching a game from the player’s lounge after a workout.
The San Jose Earthquakes are in the process of building a new stadium. During their initial process, they asked players what they wanted in the new stadium. They found the #1 response was a safe place for their family to enjoy the game. In this case, building an appropriate venue for all involved.
What does the future hold?:
Ideas for the future include dynamic pricing to maximize opportunities (similar to an airline model). This means prices could change depending on the team’s performance. Another idea includes creating a ticket membership instead of just a ticket – an idea especially important in soccer.
Current and future uses of technology:
In this area, the panelists mention understanding everything within the arena. That means, creating the right lighting and sound, allowing for seat upgrades with the extension of social media (who’s sitting in the seats around you? Do you know them on social media? Can you see what the view is like from that seat), engaging fans outside of the stadium, and monetizing the experience.
You can view the entire discussion below.