Stadiums and arenas have become so much more than theaters for thrilling sporting events. They are second homes to some fans, changing the concept of the sport venue dramatically within the past five years. Nick Sizer, head of mixed-use sales and strategy, Klutch Sports Group, moderated the “More Than a Game: Sports Venues as Culture Hubs” panel with Orlando Baeza, VP, brand and creative, Chime; Lindsey Dudzinski, VP business development and strategy, Milwaukee Bucks; Sarah Meron, chief communications and brand officer, IBM; and Brian Rappaport, CEO, Quan Media Group, that dove into trends that are changing the sports venue landscape.
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As Meron said right from the start, clients are human beings, and human beings have passion points. Many times, those passion points involve sports. One way to engage those fans, said Rappaport, is to meet people where they are heading before they get there. He pointed to Madison Square Garden, whose digital-out-of-home strategy has always been years ahead of everyone else. Newer stadiums, like SoFi Stadium and other Los Angeles venues, have taken the lead with digital billboards showing up ahead of the stadium on people’s journeys, taking advantage of cultural key moments.
“The venue isn’t enough anymore,” Dudzinski agreed. She told of the LED stair signage the Bucks brought to Fiserv Forum. The Bucks are the first to install StairMedia technology, transforming stairways into animated vertical billboards and bringing a 40% revenue lift to its partners.
Meron mentioned how IBM uses data visualization to bring experiences from inside the arena to your couch. IBM plans to enable users to pilot their way through the fan experience. This is where AI comes into play, allowing IBM to do things that were never before possible and do it at scale.
Contextual advertising, said Baeza, is a way to unlock the value outside the venue, where he feels more of the value lies. Fan engagement is one way to harness that. He pointed to a Cooper Flagg and Dallas Mavericks campaign that Chime developed. Flagg, a multimillionaire rising star, has money, but being so young, has no credit. Flagg shows the everyday fan that he is in it with them, which leads to activations of Chime’s financial services. Chime also has a lounge inside American Airlines Arena, and the only way in is with a Chime account, leading to increased engagement, but, more importantly, activations.
As Rappaport said, the key to keeping fans engaged and revenue flowing “is less about extracting value but creating it.” Fans still want to be connected; they want to be in the stadium, but it has become an expensive venture. Technology unleashes the ability to connect from outside the venue and even from the comfort of home, while creating future fandom and opportunities.
