How to boost the stadium experience, 3 problems & solutions

Guest Post: Tim Groot is a business developer at Nodes with a prime focus on introducing new technologies into new and existing businesses. Nodes is one of Northern Europe’s most experienced mobile app development agencies. Contact Tim at tigr@nodesagency.com

Last week I had the great privilege to watch a football match from a corporate box in Wembley stadium. Because of my interest in how technology can improve our lives my visit to the stadium was no exception for me to think about possible improvements.

I encountered 3 major problems in football stadiums that can be solved with beacons, iBeacon technology and a mobile app.

1. Finding your Seat

Finding a building or city has been solved by navigation apps and systems but I do not simply want to go to the Stadium. I want to go to box 3094 row 2 seat 7, of course you can ask 3 different stewards or get someone to pick you up in front of the stadium. But I prefer to find places on my own without the help of other people.

iBeacon technology is the perfect solution to this problem, by putting beacons on critical places around and inside the stadium I could easily be guided to my seat. This solution does not rely on people having an Internet connection. The only thing you need is a smartphone and the app of the stadium you are visiting.

2. Knowing the crowded locations

Football matches have the problem that there is only one break and that means that thousands of people have to buy a drink and visit the toilet in 15 minutes. The big question is what do you do first and where? Some people always know to find the right toilet and kiosk ‘just around the corner’ that is completely deserted. On the other hand I always end up at the crowded kiosk and the dirty toilet.

This problem could also be solved with beacons, because if you would place a beacon next to the toilets and kiosks you could simply register how many people that have the app are close to it. Make this information available to fans in the app and everybody will search for the place that is a little less crowded. This will result in a higher efficiency of the stadiums resources and a better experience for the fans.

3. Loyalty

How do you know if someone is just a one-time visitor that doesn’t know the way or a passionate fan that has never missed a match? Both would like to be treated as such but that is impossible to realize without technology. It is a big problem for loyalty schemes and personalized information. Again iBeacon technology together with an app is the solution. Register how many times someone has been in range of a specific beacon and assign different notifications to the frequency and number of times the visitor has been there.

When I arrive at the stadium I want to know how to get to my seat. Whereas a frequent visitor should be rewarded for his loyalty with a beer at the pub he always buys a beer. Nothing screaming with a lot of capital letters and exclamation marks, simply:

Hi Andrew, cool you are here again!

As a small thank you a cold beer is waiting for you at the Hairy Dog.

This is just the beginning…

This really is just the beginning of iBeacon technology and I only mention a couple of problems that can be solved with this technology, but it is important that stadiums realize this is something they can’t ignore. Although it might be expensive to implement this technology at such an early stage, it is worth every penny because of the media attention alone as you can see in the case of the Major League Baseball.

However most importantly is that it will change the way we experience a visit to the stadium it will be personalized, easier, and more fun.

 

MLB

 

 

About author

Daniel McLaren
Daniel McLaren 820 posts

Dan is the Founder & CEO of Digital Sport. Can be found at sports industry events and heard every week on the Digital Sport Insider podcast. @DanielMcLaren

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