Gone are the days in which
professional sports teams have the luxury of allowing the game alone to
satisfy their devoted fans. In today’s
ever connected world, the sports fan is dialed in like never before, seeking
more content, more engagement and more recognition. Teams
are turning to new and inventive ways to meet their fans’ unquenchable thirst, recognizing that they must carve out space
in the fast moving digital landscape or be quickly viewed as outdated and out of touch. The three hottest
trends in bridging the gap between sports and tech
savvy fans are focused on social media, mobile and geolocation stadium technology, and
fan loyalty rewards. While trending
topics and the latest hashtag might fluctuate from day to day, these
cornerstones in fan engagement provide a strong foundation for a successful
sports business model. At the end of the
day it’s important to remember, that the teams that give more to their fans, get
more fans in return.
1.) Social Media Zones – The
2014 baseball season has just begun, but it has already brought a wave of new
advances to one of the oldest, most traditional sports. Major League Baseball has introduced instant
replay for the first time, and is highlighting its progressive Advanced Media
division with rolling
out a new tracking technology that yields insights about the entire field of play
from a base runner’s speed to the distance of a catcher’s throw. However, while the league as a whole
continues to dominate in the analytics realm, at the team level the focus is on
the all American pairing of hot dogs and social media.
Last year the San Francisco Giants
were the first to integrate social media within their ballpark. The team unveiled the @Café,
a social-media hub, located behind the center field bleachers at AT&T
Park. The café, which was launched in
partnership with Peet’s Coffee and Tea, provides an immersive social media
environment, complete with a 12 x 4 foot video wall that displays all the
latest and top-trending Giants-related Tweets, Instagram photos, and Facebook
posts and check-ins.
My conversations
this week with Lisa Braun, Digital Marketing Director for the Reds, and Michael
Harris, VP of Marketing for the Phillies, conveyed excitement that this
year will mark two more teams joining the mix, with the Cincinnati Reds and
the Philadelphia Phillies offering up parts of their ballparks for social media
mavens. The “Reds Connect
Zone,” located on the third-base concourse is open, offering social-media
users charging stations for mobile devices, free WiFi and 25 screens displaying
fans’ Tweets, Instagram photos and Vine videos, as well as Facebook polls and
trending topics. While the Phillies will
unveil their new “Social Media Deck” on the Budweiser Rooftop within Citizens
Bank Park later this summer, housing social media streams, mobile phone
charges, and specialty concessions to provide a trendy hangout for younger fans.
2.) Digitally Connected Stadiums – In
the world of sports and digital advances, no two pieces go better together than
football and technology. Whether it’s new indoor GPS tracking devices detailing athlete performance, sensors
crunching the numbers on head collisions to increase player safety, or the yellow
line that every fan has come to know and depend on for the most accurate
assessment of a team’s progression on the field, the NFL has continued to
dominate the sports world with the latest and greatest. Today’s NFL fan demands the same level of
technology available in-stadium as they are used to outside of
it. As HDTV brings increasing competition and enticement for fans to watch
the game from the comforts of home, NFL teams look to in-stadium
enhancements to improve the overall experience.
The New England
Patriots have often been the
test case for the successful implementation of new ideas across the league, becoming
the flagship team in online technologies.
In 2012, Gillette Stadium was completely rewired for WIFI technology and HD cameras, and
mobile live-stream views of the game plus replays became available to all
ticket holders. Last season the Patriots offered their first mobile app upgrades, providing in-seat food ordering, and geo-location services offering fans
information on the nearest restroom and concession stands. By this fall, the Pats hope to get really
analytical, using data on individual tastes and buying patterns to prepare
inventories and target early ordering.
With each season, the team becomes more advanced, on-par with
the level of expectation of their fans, and the growing competition with cable
television.
While the Patriots
have used Gillette Stadium to build and then test out new technologies, the San
Francisco 49ers are using their move to Santa Clara and partnership with Intel
to design the first fully outfitted and technologically
advanced stadium from the ground up.
The 49ers want the new stadium to be a technological showcase harnessing
the WIFI connections, food ordering availability, and mobile friendly atmosphere of Gillette Stadium,
while adding what only Intel can provide: the finest in computers, sensors,
digital signage, and security, as well as interactive areas for fans to play
with the latest in tech products. The
new stadium is set to open this fall, with many looking to partake in the future of
football behind it’s doors.
3.) Rewarding Fan Loyalty - Among
NHL fans, there's a favorite adage: "There's nothing like playoff
hockey." The NHL playoffs are a
testament to endurance and grit, a grinding four best-of-seven rounds to get
the illusive Stanley Cup. The playoffs have fans turning out in numbers, flocking to
social media channels, and embarking on the streets dressed in their favorite player’s
jersey. However, it’s the rest of the
long 82-game season that has NHL teams looking for new opportunities to keep
fans interested in the sport, and recognized for their tried and true
dedication.
The Washington Capitals
decided to target just such a dilemma with the launch of the first
comprehensive social loyalty program to reward fans for engaging with the team
via social media and at the Verizon Center last year. The free #CapsPowerPlay program
was the first social rewards program in the NHL, offering
Caps fans the chance to win exclusive team prizes and experiences through
social actions including checking into games on Foursquare, using team hashtags
on Twitter and Instagram and sharing Caps content on Facebook, with each action
generating a different level of points.
An ultimate prize package for the fan that lives and breathes all things
Capitals, included four tickets in a catered suite to a Caps game, access to
watch pregame warm-ups from the penalty box, and an autographed jersey.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Penguins advanced
the fan reward system to the mobile phone last year with the introduction of PensPoints. The program focuses less on social
involvement (although points can be earned for posting to Facebook or
Twitter), instead rewarding fans for actions they take in person. The program uses QRC codes to gift fans
with everything from free t-shirts to a monthly giveaway for a road trip with
the team. Rewards points are generated
from attending games, buying concession food and merchandise, listening to the
game on the radio, or engaging with activities in and around the arena.
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