San Francisco Giants show just how important embracing technology is

One of the challenges that the modern world presents for sports teams is the evolution of technology.

Technological advances have led to greater choice in everyday life as well as leading to consumers wanting more and more, better and better. And sports teams need to keep up. Advances in technology don’t just benefit sports fans, but they can also benefit sports teams. So falling behind the tide of technological advancement is a terrible thing in both a sporting and business context.

The San Francisco Giants can’t be accused of falling behind the times, however. They are a team that have to compete in the same geographical area as the Golden State Warriors, and in a saturated sport market, it’s really quite a coup for the baseball team, the Giants, to manage to sell out their stadium on a regular basis, even when they are playing at the same time as Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors.

Part of the reason they can do that is by staying up to date with technology to provide fans with the kind of experience they want.

“In the old days, every time we had a conflict with the Warriors it would have been devastating for our business,” Bill Schlough, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer of the San Francisco Giants, told SportTechie.

“This year, The Warriors being in the playoffs was a boon for our business because our ballpark is a giant sports bar and you can come and watch baseball and sit in your seat thanks to our wifi network and follow the Warriors game.”

In the spirit of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’, the Giants are selling their games as a chance to watch two live sporting events at once thanks to their wifi network and the fact that, although two teams in the same area compete for fans, most of their fanbase probably overlaps. If you like sports and support the Giants, it’s also quite likely that you’re interested in basketball, and probably follow the Warriors too.

The Giants have also recently announced a partnership with team collaboration app Teamworks, which allows teams to streamline their collaborative efforts by using one app to communicate with each other.

Allowing everyone to use just one platform makes things easier for the team to grow on and off the field, promoting efficiency, but also promoting a collaborative spirit that makes everyone feel like they’re pushing together towards the same thing.

“With a tool like this where everybody’s kind of using the same app and it’s super simple to communicate and other things, it really streamlines that process and it also allows us to hit players with a certain communication. You can hit him through multiple channels and one thanks to Teamworks. You can hit him through the app, you can also send him a text and so it’s a nice streamlined communication tool.”

Embracing technology, it seems, helps all aspects of the business – the fans keep coming through the doors, the staff are working with greater efficiency and everyone feels like part of a team that’s moving in the right direction. When it comes to technology, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve.

About author

Chris McMullan
Chris McMullan 831 posts

Chris is a sports journalist and editor of Digital Sport - follow him on Twitter @CJMcMullan_

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