Bringing Fans Back, One Byte at a Time
Sparked by a conversation I (Louise) was having with my brother about the Roman Gods for his History homework last week, I began thinking back to my own History classes in secondary school. We learnt a lot about the Roman way of life, in particular about their pastimes and how they kept themselves entertained. They regularly attended gladiator fights and chariot racing in their thousands and I couldn’t help but think that, even to this day, nothing has changed. Stay with me now, but I feel like the same could be said about how we entertain ourselves these days too? I believe that attending sporting events still accounts for a huge proportion of the entertainment industry and decided to ask Aoife what she thought. We began reminiscing on the days, pre-COVID, when we could attend such events. We were shocked however, that we couldn’t easily remember the last time we had been to one and quickly put on our investigating hats.
Home cinemas, bigger and better HD TVs and binge worthy television coverage has without a doubt led to deteriorating attendance at sporting events. In a 1998 poll conducted by ESPN, a staggering 54% of fans said they’d prefer to be at a game than to watch it from home but by 2012 this number had fallen to a mere 29% (Rovell, 2012). We have reason to believe that this downward trend has not subsided and that numbers continue to dwindle. It seems that easy access to food, beverages and clean bathroom facilities is more enticing than experiencing the atmosphere of a stadium; and to be honest, after many a game shivering in the nosebleeds or crossing our legs waiting to use the bathroom (or worse, having to wait until we got home!), we would be inclined to agree with this statement. Some matches just aren’t worth it! And of course many die-hard supporters wouldn’t be a stranger to having one game on the tv and two more streaming on the laptop and tablet — not a moment to be missed, even with a trip to the toilet! So now professional teams are the ones betting. They’re betting on big data to help get bums back in seats by enhancing the spectator’s stadium experience and fulfilling needs they didn’t even know they had. Sports venues everywhere are approaching big data firms to track, analyse and decipher fans’ data in an attempt to keep them coming back to games. And that’s where StellarAlgo spotted their opportunity.
Have you ever attended a live event or show only to realize at the intermission that they didn’t have your favourite drink behind the bar? Well, the new Canadian based startup — StellarAlgo feels your pain. This company has developed a secret weapon for the events sector. Describing themselves as an ‘intuitive platform, to make data actionable and accessible for sports and entertainment organisations’, they have developed a software that they hope will allow clients to leverage their fans’ data. In turn this will aid them in creating and sustaining a more enjoyable experience for their fans.
At the moment sporting organisations are posed with the challenge of deciphering muddled data from multiple sources in order to build profiles on their fans. The companies have to compile and organise data from multiple sources such as ticketing systems, e-commerce, email marketing and surveys but StellarAlgo aims to replace these entirely (Brand Partners | StellarAlgo, 2021).
By helping companies to better understand who their fans are and what their interests are, a customisable experience can be created to better nurture their fan relationships and of course, keep them coming back for more! With 45% of repeat attendees happy to pay more for a better in-person experience, it makes even more sense to invest time and money into these information systems (Northwestern University, 2015).
StellarAlgo appears to offer much more than the simple reporting tools that are in mainstream use today. Their machine learning algorithm gives their clients the advantage of being able to predict future behaviours of their fans. We were genuinely amazed by this idea, who wouldn’t love to have their experience personalised to their exact liking? Everyday we are all leveraging technology to simplify everything we do but how do stadiums translate that same concept into their own practice? We explored the idea of personalized experiences more and found that StellarAlgo weren’t the only company in the market. In fact, many venues are incorporating solutions regarding the Internet of Things (IoT). Apps such as iBeacon connect to users’ phones through Bluetooth and can revolutionise a fan’s experience. This app in particular uses bluetooth connections to connect with phones as well as concession stands and areas around the venue meaning fans can locate whatever their heart desires at the touch of a button, like the closest pizza discount or the shortest bathroom line (Sticca, n.d.).
The San-Francisco 49ers are also lead runners in combating the fact that 32% of fans feel that “limited opportunities to watch replays” impacts negatively on their in-stadium engagement (Northwestern University, 2015). Their specially developed app allows fans to watch replays at their leisure as well as order food to their seat. For those who wish to stretch their legs and grab their own bite to eat, the team’s modern stadium boasts 1700 bluetooth beacons, among other features, which help provide fans with the required directions based on their location within the stadium. It is also common for the free public wifi available in the arena to request personal information before allowing a user to connect. This allows the purveyor’s to collect specific data while also establishing what services fans use whilst in the arena.
Some might say all these added features may take away from the fact that you’re at a live game; I mean how can you enjoy a game and soak up the atmosphere if your head is stuck in your phone. But on the contrary, whether it be ordering food and having it delivered or checking to find the most convenient bathroom with the shortest queue, a fan’s time spent in their seat and enjoying the game is increased. It eliminates the need for wandering around, checking signs, waiting in lines etc.
But then… as with everything involving technology these days, we began to critique its implementation at live events more. We began to wonder at what point would we, as fans, stop being able to make choices at these events. We felt that employing an algorithm like this would mean that the organisations would almost have our minds made up for us before we even entered the stadium, ruling out our ability to choose. Despite being creatures of habit (Aoife never forgets her morning coffee) and being extremely indecisive (Louise can never decide what she wants to drink), we still felt strongly about this need for choice and opportunity for change. We were also concerned about the security of our data, however after reading up on StellerAlgo’s security and compliance manifesto alongside increasing anti-spam laws coming into effect around the world (e.g. GDPR), we felt reassured that our data would be in safe hands.
Safe to say we can both agree that we would relish the opportunity to attend any live sporting event, with or without the use of these information systems, ASAP!
~ Aoife and Louise
Bibliography
Rovell, D., 2012. OTL: Best seat in the house. [online] ESPN.com. Available at: <https://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8636927/nfl-taking-note-many-fans-watching-games-tv-beats-going-stadiums>[Accessed 31 March 2021].
Sticca, J., 2021. Improving the Fan Experience through Big Data and Analytics | TRUE INTERACTION. [online] TRUE INTERACTION. Available at: <https://www.trueinteraction.com/improving-fan-experience-big-data-analytics/> [Accessed 31 March 2021].
StellarAlgo. 2021. Brand Partners | StellarAlgo. [online] Available at: <https://stellaralgo.com/brand-partners/> [Accessed 31 March 2021].
Northwestern University. 2015. Will Big Data and Analytics Get Fans Off the Couch and Into the Stadium? : School of Professional Studies | Northwestern University. [online] Available at: <https://sps.northwestern.edu/stories/news-stories/How-Big-Data-Analytics-is-Used-in-Sports-Stadiums.php>[Accessed 31 March 2021].
