What will sports spectators look like in ten years? Here are 4 professional insights from 4 big names

The most important event of the sports analysis session each year is the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (abbreviated as MIT SSAC), which was founded in 2006, and this year coincided with the lifting of the epidemic in the United States, attracting more than 150 guests to share, including U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and los Angeles CEO of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games Kathy Carter and other big names.

The core topics of the summit included sports business, blockchain technology and personal social media branding, and also discussed the promotion of equal rights between men and women in sports and the positive role of sports in promoting society and business. One of the interesting topics is the construction of the sports fan experience for the next decade, with panelists Jessica Gelman, CEO of Kraft Analytics Group, Tom Garfinker, vice president of the Miami Dolphins, Paul Caine, president of hospitality company On Location, and Kim Pegula, owner of the NFL's Buffalo Sabre team.

Is VR watching really good?

Today, technology has already helped us realize online viewing, game highlight moment playback, derivative purchase and other functions, what will be the scene in ten years? Tom let the audience make a scenario: Suppose you are at home, from the VR glasses, see your favorite players press the whistle to score goals, reverse the game, in the VR glasses equipped with the meta-universe, you and your friends share joy, but the moment you take off the glasses, from the virtual back to reality, the room is empty, no one together to habernabe, hug and celebrate. Is such a VR experience really good? At least Tom was skeptical.

▲ Stills from the movie "Ready Player One".

Scientific and technological progress has put forward higher requirements for the application ability of operation and management personnel. As if the chef has more advanced ingredients, how to cook will be more important.

Paul, president of On Location, offered a VR app idea. In 2032, sports fans arrived at the rugby stadium, in addition to seeing their favorite players running on the large lawn, they can also see the highlight moments of the favorite players in past games through the VR glasses equipped with the seats; not only that, during the intermission, the VR glasses can also see dragons circling in the sky, these dragons interact with fans with KISS CAM. Paul believes that such human-based technological interactions will inevitably be achieved ten years later.

According to Tom, people's sociality and sociality are instinctive. Even in the case of the epidemic affecting travel, fans cannot travel long distances to the scene to watch the game, and fans from all over the world will still spontaneously gather to watch the game. "Fans can't fly to Miami, so they spontaneously organize group viewing events in New York." Tom said that he believes that the sports fan experience reflects a kind of self-growth innovation during the epidemic, and the biggest feature is that sports fans have higher requirements for "community experience". The design of the sports fan experience should also maximize the respect for the needs of fans to "be together".

▲ Miami Dolphins fans.

The future high-tech viewing experience of sports fans will also benefit from the U.S. push for the legalization of sports betting, even reciprocity. In the stadiums of 2032, the network speed is bound to be faster and smoother, and fans can also use VR equipment to bet on the team they want while gathering with family and friends on the field.

Take care of the different needs of the fan base

Team owner Pam owns both the NFL Buffalo Bills and the NHL Buffalo Sabres. The Last League Title was more than half a century ago, and the Buffalo Sabre is one of the top ice hockey teams in the NHL League. Pam pointed out that the disparity in the strength and weakness of the team has led to the differentiation of their respective fan groups, and the differentiated fans need to have different fan incentive plans.

"We have fans who open a hundred thousand dollars in a game in the stadium box, and there are fans who work hard to save up five hundred dollars and finally bring their families to watch the game," Pam said. "The box provides an elegant space for negotiation, but the guests in the box may not know anything about sports, while fans sitting on the rooftop may have a lot of treasures about the history of the team and the members of the team.

▲ Private room seats at Heymark Stadium, the venue of the Buffalo Bills.

"So design different loyalty incentive programs for differentiated fans." Pam said bluntly. The core of the incentive plan for season pass users with higher unit prices is to encourage them to bring more family and friends to the stadium to watch the game, so as to upgrade their season ticket seats. Those "non-ticket fans" can be encouraged to earn more "loyalty points" for themselves under the blessing of blockchain technology, and finally accumulate points to redeem game tickets.

In addition, the shutdown has deepened the depth of the team's social media content to serve different fan groups. Now the team's social media pays more attention to interacting with fans. Fans in the past longed to see and hear the latest information about the team, and now fans expect to be seen and their voices heard. Many hardcore fans comment on the team's on-field staffing, tactical arrangements, and offseason deals in fan communities and state media. "It's like they're team owners. But in a way, die-hard fans are part of the team. Tom said.

The pandemic has prevented many die-hard fans from coming to the game, but they can organize spectators, start debates, and team up to celebrate in their own communities. Die-hard fans are autonomous to some extent, "creating their own unique fan experience," and this self-consistency also "requires team empowerment, including providing exclusive team news, fan meeting opportunities, event collaborations, etc." ”

Build experiences with people at the center

Tom believes that from the beginning of buying tickets on the mobile phone, the "fan experience" of sports has begun to be built. Posting ticketing information on social media, is the message clear and clear? Driving to the stadium, is the traffic smooth, and is there a team billboard near the venue? After entering the stadium, do the courteous staff, clean and tidy seats, and the rich variety of commissaries make fans feel that it is "worth the fare"?

A good fan experience maximizes the expectations of live sports fans for the outcome of the game. Even if the home team loses, the good experience can make the frustrated fans recall the day in the future, just as beautiful and sweet.

This sports fan experience design also applies to the design of sports merchandise stores. Interaction with the brand begins when consumers receive new product promotion messages on social media. After entering the store, are there any product experts who understand sports and understand the sports lifestyle? Can the facilities and equipment of the store reflect the sports attributes of the brand? Do the goods carried in the store have the performance to support consumers to improve the sports experience?

"Consumers need the simplest process, the most considerate care." Paul believes that the quarantine brought about by the epidemic has made people pay more attention to their own feelings and personalities. Sports fans even if they are alone at home, but also to customize their sense of belonging to the team, the current CRM customer management system has been able to achieve the commonality between consumers through big data analysis, but each consumer's personality is more worthy of care.

Through the purchase of tickets, the data analysis background can deduce the general residence, work, educational background and other information of sports fans from dimensions such as the length of ticket purchase and the preference of browsing pages. Jessica, CEO of Kraft Analytics Group, pointed out that data analysis can objectively present fan portraits, but how to use the analysis results is more important.

"We can fully arrange for people in the same neighborhood to sit in the adjacent area, so that they can naturally watch the game and chat about their parents, but this arrangement is not a good 'sports fan experience' for everyone." Fans may seem just as fanatical on the surface, but they are also divided into introverted fans and extroverted fans (Introverted vs. Extraverted）。 We should treat Type E and Type I fans differently. ”

▲ Different fans.

Segmenting fans and taking care of their own needs is the direction of designing the sports fan experience in the future. The most essential difference between three-star hotels and five-star hotels is not in hardware upgrades, but in the labor costs of taking care of each customer's needs. Most five-star hotels have a room butler who asks guests about their meal time, whether they use buckwheat pillows or feather pillows, and whether they need to clean them in the evening. Five-star hotels are making greater efforts to understand and care for the needs of customers.

Pam has long-term rental seats in both of his own stadiums: "Every time I watch the game, I find that the security guards standing next to me are the same person, and they get acquainted with each other as soon as they come and go." Upgraded hardware and décor are important to people, but having familiar and welcoming security around them is also an important part of making people feel at home. ”

Urban migration spawned venue tourism

The four guests all believed that the future upgrading of venue technology will inevitably bring about the upgrading of fan experience, and the new venues scattered in the United States and multi-point blossoming will give birth to theme tours around sports venues.

San Francisco Chase Center has a huge venue and rich night activities, opposite the Bay Bridge, and is surrounded by large shopping malls and pedestrian streets to meet the one-stop travel needs of fans. Allegiant Stadium is strategically located, summer casino, fragrant car beauty, Las Vegas different scenery. Visiting the venue is not only a unique enjoyment for sports fans, but also a travel choice for sports fans' relatives and friends.

▲ San Francisco Chase Center.

In addition, the new normal brought about by the epidemic, such as lockdowns and working from home, has also changed the way young people in the United States live and play. A large number of Internet workers around Silicon Valley in California moved their places of residence to Dallas, Seattle and other places next door during their work from home. Immigrants bring new perspectives on local venues, and this stimulation has spawned a passion for young people to travel and prefer to experience sports and entertainment at other, more interesting venues.

At this point, sports teams compete not only for fan time with other teams, but also with all entertainment. Esports live, concerts, concerts, talk shows, all take turns dividing up sports fans' time and money. Tapping into the true needs of fans and giving the same respect to fans of different consumption levels is the core of future sports fan design. "Enjoying the sun, the beer, the moments the team scores goals is an important part of their good memories of life." Paul concludes with this.

Disclaimer: This article is original by Lazy Bear Sports and may not be reproduced without authorization.