As the demographics and media habits of sports fans change, leagues and individual teams are making it a priority to connect with their fan base and stay relevant throughout the year. While this news may generate mixed reactions from some fans, advertisers should be getting excited for the possibilities. For starters, stadiums and their sponsors are working hard to find ways to get their audiences connected to in-venue Wi-Fi. Young consumers are used to being connected everywhere they go, so keeping this audience engaged once they arrive is essential to avoid alienating them.
Originally, the thinking behind Wi-Fi accessibility sprouted from the desire to push out marketing messages and create a customer database. Now, leagues and teams have come to understand that the fan base is sharing content on social media platforms, which results in a lot of free marketing. From posting on social about their game-day experience with friends, checking fantasy scores or scanning an electronic ticket, improving smartphone connectivity has become a no brainer for sports organizations. Already, more than 200 venues exist globally that offer Wi-Fi services. Now it’s just a matter of refining the user experience by improving Wi-Fi signals. But this is easier said than done,
Read MoreAs the demographics and media habits of sports fans change, leagues and individual teams are making it a priority to connect with their fan base and stay relevant throughout the year. While this news may generate mixed reactions from some fans, advertisers should be getting excited for the possibilities. For starters, stadiums and their sponsors are working hard to find ways to get their audiences connected to in-venue Wi-Fi. Young consumers are used to being connected everywhere they go, so keeping this audience engaged once they arrive is essential to avoid alienating them.
Originally, the thinking behind Wi-Fi accessibility sprouted from the desire to push out marketing messages and create a customer database. Now, leagues and teams have come to understand that the fan base is sharing content on social media platforms, which results in a lot of free marketing. From posting on social about their game-day experience with friends, checking fantasy scores or scanning an electronic ticket, improving smartphone connectivity has become a no brainer for sports organizations. Already, more than 200 venues exist globally that offer Wi-Fi services. Now it’s just a matter of refining the user experience by improving Wi-Fi signals. But this is easier said than done, since the current challenges include arena structures blocking signals and mobs of people trying to connect to the network simultaneously. However, once that hurdle is overcome, the possibilities for serving location-based content to fans across practically every sport will become endless.
Beyond simply offering connectivity, teams are utilizing digital methods to customize and simplify as much of the game day experience as possible. Levi’s Stadium, home to the San Francisco 49ers, is a tech and sports fanatic’s dreamland. Before fans even pull into the parking lot, a new app allows them to purchase parking passes, see the view from their seat and purchase a ticket upgrade. Additionally, fans can use the app to check bathroom lines, shop for merchandise, watch game highlights or important replays and even order food and drinks delivered straight to their seats. This not only enhances the experience, but through the app’s functionality, stadiums and teams are able to boost their overall revenue line.
New technology in sponsored lounges and tailgate parties is also adding additional branding opportunities and fan excitement on game day. Many of these events now include touch-screen walls, virtual games, photo opportunities with team trophies and a variety of other engaging experiences. All the while, fans are encouraged to share these unique experiences on social media using a variety of branded hashtags.
The planned Los Angeles Rams stadium is currently projected to be the best representation of the NFL’s next generation blueprint, and will likely become the most expensive sports arena in the world upon its completion. The project is so big that an unnamed owner was recently quoted in the LA Times describing the development as “NFL Disney World.” The stadium aims to become a year-round entertainment district with the campus housing a 6,000 seat performance venue, 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space, a hotel, parkland and even residences. The stadium’s interior will feature field-level seats and technology comparable to Levi’s offerings, with TV monitors that connect to phones and tablets, allowing fans to watch replays and live action on their devices. All that space and technology will certainly allow for advertising opportunities, and the sheer growth of competition from other venues will only boost the incentives for more stadiums to launch similar upgrades.
Tried and true technologies like radio-frequency identification (RFID) are also helping leagues generate higher game day revenues. It started with the NFL expanding its use of RFID technology to all 31 stadiums in the 2015 season in order to capture expanded real-time statistics for all games. RFID tags were embedded into the shoulder pads of each player, generating stats for not only broadcast and coaching staffs, but also fans. This upgrade prompted some stadiums, like Qwest Field in Seattle to test cashless RFID payment systems; fans can use a personal key fob fitted with an RFID tag which allows them to purchase merchandise and concessions faster and without ever opening a wallet. Teams are also able to include targeted marketing promotions, allowing fans to enter sweepstakes and earn points for dollars spent that can be redeemed for merchandise and other rewards. Teams and marketers alike are able to track consumer purchase habits through the fob more effectively than through cash transactions, and so far have found that these consumers are spending more on items than other fans.
So what does the future of in-stadium branding offer? It has yet to be seen if virtual reality activations will be the next big thing, but several marketers are testing this technology among select fan bases. SAP, a sponsor of the San Francisco 49ers, treated tailgaters to a unique activation where they could experience being an NFL quarterback via virtual reality headsets. They also provided virtual headsets in their sponsored suite area.
Marketers should certainly keep an eye on these technology trends, since the popularity of mobile and convenience-based features will undoubtedly grow in the coming years. While the rollout for some arenas may be slower than others, the future of in-stadium consumer engagement certainly looks bright.