Modernize the Venue to Revitalize Live Events

Digital Use Case Report

Analyst Perspective

Industry-specific use cases to modernize the in-venue experience

As the demand for virtual events grows and the needs and wants of fans change, the sports entertainment world has been left with empty stands and fans who are less engaged than ever before. Stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic did not benefit TV ratings for sports, as viewership for the NBA finals declined by 51%, viewership for the NHL finals dropped by 65%, and the 2021 Super Bowl's ratings were the lowest in 15 years (Samsung, 2021). Additionally, MSG networks experienced a 9% drop in their subscriber base, leaving a mark in their 2022 revenues (Sportico, 2022).

OTT platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have a large role to play in the rise in on-demand desire, as live events are not the only way fans can have immersive experiences with their favorite teams, idols, or events. It's crucial that sports and entertainment organizations modernize the in-venue experience to create compelling and unique experiences that convert casual fans into fanatics and boost live event revenues through strategic use of technology and innovation.

However, it is challenging to determine where organizations should start in their modernization journey. This research will allow organizations to understand why venue modernization is critical to their success, the high-value use cases that an organization can adopt into their own venue, and next steps to develop an effective strategy.

Elizabeth Silva
Research Analyst, Sports Entertainment Industry
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

• Venue modernization is critical to staying competitive and productive and to attracting a younger generation in today's digital experience economy, in which business stakeholders have outlined the business goals IT is expected to meet.
• The venue cannot successfully modernize and meet business goals due to legacy infrastructure challenges.
• The organization struggles to illustrate, communicate, and justify the modernization efforts to business stakeholders.

Common Obstacles

• The inability to determine what to invest in to generate an ROI for the organization, where changing or updating legacy systems is difficult.
• Lack of understanding of what will achieve organizational objectives and what to modernize.
• Other priorities may compete with modernization projects, causing focus and value to the organization to decrease.

Info-Tech's Approach

• Determine the venue modernization vision. Understand the venue modernization use cases to construct and envision the various modernization projects against value drivers.
• Establish the value of modernizing the venue. Define a thorough view of the business and impacts of modernization.
• Analyze the chosen modernization projects. Assess the projects by understanding their efficiency and agility gains to the business, and clarify next steps needed to support the modernization process.

Info-Tech Insight

Optimizing the in-venue fan journey through modernization will develop unmatched 360-degree fan experiences and allow organizations to remain competitive through the power of hyper-personalization while minimizing costs and improving the revenue, efficiency, agility, and data of the business.

Four disruptors are demanding modernization

Familiarize the business with the following disruptors to comprehend the changes within the industry causing the need for modernization.

Consumer Adaptive
Adjust In-Home Experiences to In-Venue Services

The typical consumer lifestyle has become digital, and fans are starting to expect that what they can get at home, they can and should get in venues.

Frictionless Service
Fan Journeys First

Investing in frictionless initiatives has become more of a priority. The implementation of technologies under this trend will add to the concept of seamless fan journeys and experiences.

Digital Sustainability
Design With the Future in Mind

Increased stakeholder concern, shift in consumer preferences, and extreme variability in environmental patterns has led to the implementation of technologies in this trend.

360-Degree Fan Experiences
Create Holistic and Engaging Fan Experiences

Fan expectations have risen as they have become increasingly tech-savvy. Venues must consider the unexpected and emerging technology to continue offering experiences that resonate with fan needs.

"Several sports teams are ready for new or upgraded stadiums and could invest more than $10 billion for development by 2030." – CNBC, 2022.

Download the High-Value Fan Experiences Trend Report to learn more

Industry drivers heavily impact modernization projects

Familiarize the business with the following drivers, as a holistic understanding of how they impact venues on an industry level is crucial before implementing any trending modernization projects.

Business Growth:

• Drives sustainable growth
• Diversifies methods of generating revenue
• Increases the business market reach
• Improves the profitability/margins of the organization

Risk & Resilience:

• Mitigates and withstands rapid changes across the IT landscape
• Secures guest information while protecting brand assets
• Easily integrates with current technologies, projects, and strategies
• Readily adopted by both fans and employees/associates

Operational Excellence:

• Provides transparency in the flow of value to the fan
• Empowers associates and promotes teamwork
• Improves responsiveness in problem solving

Fan Value:

• Surprises and delights associates and fans
• Connects associates with fans on a personal level
• Focuses on enhancing efficiency and convenience
• Creates high engagement with fans, new and different experiences.

Brand Impact:

• Readily available technology
• Enables first-to-market or unique market positioning
• Positive reputation and awareness of organization.

Value Drivers

• Business Growth
• Risk & Resilience
• Fan Value
• Brand Impact
• Operational Excellence

Revolutionize the in-venue experience

• The way fans consume different forms of entertainment is very different in today's world. On-demand streaming services, social media, and other digital platforms are popular forms of immersive experience fans can have with their favorite sports teams, artists, or idols, causing in-venue experiences to lack attendance. As some may blame the COVID-19 pandemic for the lack of in-venue attendance, it is important to understand that is only one part of the problem.
• Most venues are dated, causing the fan experience and journey to lack excitement and hyper-personalization, while having too many friction points, where fans would rather stay in the comfort of their home. Additionally, empty venues cause an absence of energy, impacting the appeal of live events and TV viewership.
• Developing unmatched experiences to remain competitive in the world of entertainment is crucial. Modernizing the venue to meet fan expectations will be a key component to competing in this era of events. In order to meet fan expectations through venue modernization, venue operators must understand their fan base and what their interests and behaviors are.
• To do this effectively, data will be a critical component to segment fans into their respective groups, such as fanatics. When venue operators have a better understanding of what type of fans they have, they will be able to invest in hyper-personalized experiences that resonate with them, resulting in higher spending, better experiences, and higher rates of attendance and/or viewership.
• One of the most difficult parts is capturing actionable data the venue can use to create hyper-personalization. There are various ways to achieve this, such as using:
  • Unique fan IDs
  • Smart sensors
  • Mobile application opt-ins
  • Facial recognition data (if permitted)
  • Crowd intelligence
  • POS and ticketing systems

"NFL and NBA final viewership levels have decreased by 50%-65% being the lowest in 15 years." – Samsung, 2021.

Info-Tech Insight

Increased data acquisition enables hyper-personalized experiences that can improve the fan journey and experience, encouraging higher attendance rates and spending.

"MSG networks experienced a 9% drop in their subscriber base leaving a mark in their 2022 revenues." – Sportico, 2022.

Modernization is an element of the holistic fan experience strategy

Optimize fan journeys

Venue operators should digitally transform the entire fan journey to provide seamless, exciting, and unforgettable moments when looking to modernize the venue. Keep the 360-degree fan journey in mind when prioritizing modernization projects.

Maximize efficiency with a holistic operational system

Think how the business can maximize the space and usage for various event types to improve efficiency levels, for multi-purpose buildings. For example, allowing for configurable infrastructure, such as flexible seating, will increase the types of events the venue can hold resulting in higher revenues.

Innovative sustainability should be a priority

Many venues are working toward reducing their carbon footprint out of concern for climate change. Additionally, many modern venues being built today are mindful of the impact they have on the environment, and accordingly, climate action projects are being built into the architecture during construction. However, older venues do not have the same architecture as modern venues, but investing in green technology that would improve the carbon footprint should be a priority for the business, as the quality of life outside of sports and entertainment should not be compromised in return for excitement.

360-Degree Fan Journey

1. Before the event
   • Let the fans plan ahead
2. Inside the venue
   • Make fans feel like VIPs
3. During the event
   • Anticipate a shift in standard expectations
4. After the event
   • Provide at-home excitement
5. Beyond the venue
   • Extend your reach

Info-Tech Insight

The technology needed to address climate change already exists. Using this technology to improve quality of life is critical, as the future should not be compromised, but rather made more enjoyable and healthier. As an industry, we should work toward this goal together.

Consider the business risks and issues that impact modernization

Modernize when and where it is appropriate

Organizations are often worried that modernization will risk business continuity and not generate the value or ROI wanted, which can outweigh the potential benefits, causing organizations not to go forward with modernization. This may be the best option for some areas of consideration, such as certain legacy applications.

Know the constraints

Certain areas of consideration for modernization may not be flexible enough to move or adjust certain business processes. It's important to determine what areas of the business have the tolerance to change.

Develop realistic expectations

Validate the modernization projects against other departments, current business processes, and digital goals to accredit the modernization projects and goals as achievable and to avoid stakeholder disappointment.

Service culture and delivery

Fans that come to the venue for any event will expect a highly satisfying experience overall. Therefore, the decisions the organization makes in relation to fan experience and service delivery will determine the success in engaging fans to continue visiting the venue. Consider the following experiential elements that may affect the overall experience, engagement, and behaviors of the fans:

• Network quality
• Amenities
• VIP services
• Suite quality
• Comfortable seating
• In-venue food and beverage options
• Cleanliness and curb appeal of venue
• Overall service and experience
• Mobile application (digital tickets, etc.)

Know the business

Take into consideration the classification the organizations falls under. Every organization is different in:

• Size of venue
• Age of venue
• Initiatives
• Priorities
• Fan demographics
• Funding challenges
• Venue location

Info-Tech Insight

When the organization takes all aspects of the business into account, it enables a holistic strategy where failure is unlikely to happen, allowing projects such as venue modernization to be viewed as a successful value and revenue driver, rather than as a cost center.

Consider the IT risks and issues that impact modernization

The viability for any digital modernization project is highly dependent on the maturity of the IT department. It is important to measure and assess IT maturity as "simple" projects may be more complex than expected. The organization must be conscious of the possible risks that may occur and put strong processes in place to remain resilient. To assess the organization's IT digital maturity, consider using Info-Tech's Digital Maturity Improvement Service.

Build resilience in IT security and infrastructure to improve…

• IT Security – Satisfaction that organizational devices and data are properly secured.
• Network and Infrastructure – Satisfaction with reliability of communication systems and networks.
• Privacy and Compliance – Consider what modernizing certain areas of the venue means for identity and access management, as well as for customer records and privacy, especially when it comes to data protection and privacy compliance laws (e.g. GDPR, PIPEDA, CPPA, DPA, PCI, SOX, ADA).

Info-Tech Insight

Digital modernization projects will require superior IT security and network services and will therefore increase the importance of the organization's IT security and network function. Depending on IT's maturity, this could positively or negatively affect business stakeholder and fan satisfaction.

Enhance data and analytics governance to improve…

• Analytical Capability – Satisfaction with effective standard reports, custom reports capability, and the ability to generate business insights.
• Data Quality – Put policies, processes, and capabilities in place to ensure that appropriate targets for data quality are set and achieved to match the needs of the business.
• Data Governance – Consider data governance and how your organization will classify data and leverage BI tools.
• Data Resiliency and Hygiene – Put into place processes protecting and optimizing data to recover quickly from risks with high performance.

Info-Tech Insight

Business stakeholders must understand the value of data and analytics in making the right decisions. Satisfaction must be improved, as hyper-personalization and fan identification will require modernization through automation and real-time data and analytics to maximize the fan experience.

Determine if the business has limitations regarding enabling modernization technologies

Acknowledge the following foundational elements needed to enable a modernized venue. If the business has limitations around one or more of these elements, understand why and determine how the business will overcome or implement them.

Connectivity

Two important connectivity methods are 5G and Wi-Fi 6, as many modernization projects in the venue will require a strong technology infrastructure. This will require venues to provide free Wi-Fi to fans to further the fan experience and engagement, since Wi-Fi continues to be a top priority for fans. Additionally, Wi-Fi will become increasingly necessary to venue operators due to the implementation of advanced technologies such as IoT, data, analytics, and AI/ML.

IoT

IoT is a constellation of connected devices with embedded sensors providing real-time information to an application layer. IoT describes the enhanced connectivity we now experience with everyday devices and appliances that would not typically boast such capabilities. From hyper-personalized fan experiences to a reduced ecological footprint, there are many reason why venues should consider using IoT technology.

Big Data and Analytics

Big data is rapidly increasing amounts of data generated by multiple sources in many formats. To gain actionable insights, the data must be analyzed. Venues can capitalize on the information about fans to drive business decisions, make the fan experience engaging, and improve the working conditions for associates. Both IoT and AI/ML depend on big data to function at optimal levels.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

AI and ML perform tasks mimicking human intelligence, where the structure of this technology is inspired by the human brain. Dependent on data and algorithms, and learning from its own experience, AI and ML can take information to identify patterns and problem solve. The sports and entertainment industry can use this technology for a variety of items, such as wayfinding.