Hi, tech
Gadgets are being introduced that will bring the games even closer
Imagine a face-to-face chat with Tom Brady, David Ortiz, Kevin Garnett, or Zdeno Chara hours before game time. Standing in front of high-definition displays in a local arena concourse, you make eye contact with your sports hero via
Welcome to the fan experience of the future, coming soon to a sports venue near you.
To push game presentation to greater volume and visual impact, professional sports are investing in the next big thing in fan experience. Technology offers teams a bigger, broader reach.
High-tech entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban predicts a super-sized future for NBA arenas where "it won't be unique to see a [video] screen that stretches the 94-foot length of the court." He also envisions "digital delivery of sound that can be customized by area.
"We will be able to create new entertainment that involves fans and not only gets them to look up, but also stand up," said Cuban.
When it comes to shaping tomorrow's game-entertainment options, Cuban will have a lot of company.
With increasingly interactive fan experiences, leagues and teams learn more about what fans want from website hits, blogs, and video clips. Meanwhile, Twitter, Facebook and
But more than anything, fans want a say in the experience. Chanting, clapping, and singing on cue aren't enough.
TelePresence at recent NBA and NHL All-Star festivities gave fans direct access to athletes. It was a World's Fair-style look at the future innovations provided by high-tech leader Cisco. Ticket upgrades via airport-style kiosks soon could be commonplace. The same could be true for replays by request on cellphones. Concession stand menus will appear on cellphones, too, allowing fans to order food from their seats and get it delivered.
"The generation coming up is going to judge its fan experience by how much control it has over the experience," said Ron Ricci, co-chairman of Cisco's sports and entertainment board. "The next five to 10 years, fan experience is going to be defined by the fans vs. management feeling it needs to entertain fans with dancers . . . You can create your own individualized view of the game using technology."
Franchises cannot risk sitting on the sidelines and being left behind by fans and sponsors.
Garden executives would like Cisco's StadiumVision installed when the 2009-10 NHL season starts. The video display application would network the arena's 600 high-definition monitors, clearing the way for easily customized signage. Walking through concourses after the fourth quarter, Celtics fans might see arrows pointing to the nearest exits and real-time traffic updates for Storrow Drive. That is Phase One.
"We've made a long-term commitment," said Garden vice president of technology Lorraine Spadaro. "We're layering it in. It's us developing a strategy based on where we think the consumer is ready to be."
Eventually, for all professional sports, technology will change fan experience from the cheap seats to luxury suites in a strategically-paced evolution. Whether catering to a Silicon Valley crowd or Midwest market, league and team executives worry too much technology at once could overwhelm and turn away fans, especially those who are older and less tech-savvy. To attract and keep a wide range of fans, the executives are exhibiting restraint and factoring in learning curves.
"We have to be careful that working on your handheld device, sending text messages to the video screen, connecting to other areas around doesn't detract, and distract fans, from what's happening on the court," said NBA commissioner David Stern. "Now, there's looking at the video board and looking at the court. When you start looking at your cellphone, we may have a sensory overload issue with our fans."
Discussing plans to withhold some high-tech options when the new Yankee Stadium opens next month, Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost added: "We want the fans to first learn the building before they start playing. We have to break this in slowly."
A couple of years ago, Cisco recognized how its next-generation network technologies could enhance the sports fan experience. The company developed StadiumVision and other applications to integrate video, voice, data, and wireless services into a single network, then convinced teams it would be the next big thing in fan experience. Cisco clients such as the Yankees, Cowboys, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Dolphins, and Arizona Cardinals signed on.
When Ricci walks into the mock luxury suite at Cisco headquarters, he can touch a specially-designed phone to buy a team jersey, order hot dogs, and change the camera angles displayed on a set of nearby TV screens. One screen shows inside the dugout, another shows the view behind home plate. He can change his perspective with his fingertip.
Ricci foresees fans exchanging cellphone video of key plays from different seats and chatting in real-time with friends at the game and at home. Cisco technology already can offer all that, essentially allowing every fan to create an individualized, multi-media view of the game.
But what does this mean for the communal game experience? Will the days of Red Sox fans singing "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway Park soon end? Will Gino dance alone because Celtics fans are too busy checking statistics on cellphones?
Not necessarily. As a faithful member of Red Sox Nation raised in the Boston-area and living in California, Ricci cites his favorite baseball team as proof technology will enhance the communal fan experience. Using the Internet, he watches Red Sox games when he wants and catches up on team news. At a game last summer, his 15-year-old daughter snapped pictures of Jacoby Ellsbury, then posted them on her MySpace page.
Ricci expects team websites will encourage fans to post and share images. With teams potentially collecting and organizing different images sent by fans, the communal game experience could become available on-demand across the country and around the world.
"Teams know that the more that community builds on itself, the better it is for the team," said Ricci. "Nobody knows that better than Red Sox Nation. I can guarantee you there's about 25 teams that wish they had something like Red Sox Nation. They think they're going to be able to create it by doing this kind of stuff with Internet technologies."
"I like giving my fans a sense of what I like to do, my characteristics," said Bosh. "It's just day-to-day things. Being a fan of others, I like to know what they're doing. It's neat to relate to them on a personal level."
Looking for his next high-tech investment, Bosh thought about placing a TelePresence setup in his home and added, "The possibilities are limitless with that technology. You can interact with fans, with the front office, with other players. I'm curious to see how it works out."
After equipping their new $1.3 billion stadium with $15 million to $16 million worth of video and Internet technology, the Yankees are curious, too. When the Yankees partnered with Cisco, they envisioned a stadium that would be, as Trost said, "future proof," wired to accommodate the technology of today and the future.
At their home opener April 16, the Yankees officially will unveil what Cisco calls the most technologically advanced stadium in North America. At the new Yankee Stadium, there are 1,100 high-definition video monitors programmable with everything from replays to subway routes. Fans will find the monitors in luxury suites, concession stands, restaurants, and restrooms. Standing 59 feet high and 101 feet wide, the high-definition main scoreboard will be the top video attraction.
The stadium also will offer TelePresence and the same touch-screen, on-demand phones Ricci demonstrated in San Jose. Plus, the Yankees installed enough infrastructure to eventually support personalized fan experiences at every seat through various mobile devices.
Asked if the new stadium was an example of the Yankees spending their way to the front of the line for bragging rights, Trost said, "Absolutely not."
"We didn't look at being No. 1," said Trost. "We didn't look at being the first. We didn't look at being the best. We didn't start to build the biggest and the showiest. We looked at building a stadium we felt fans wanted and deserved. How can you build a brand-new stadium and not have the most up-to-date everything, whether it be technology, fan amenities, the playing field? Our fans expect that and we had to deliver."
While the Yankees still made a splash with announcements about the futuristic features at the new stadium, they actually will be the second major league team to introduce fans to Cisco StadiumVision during the upcoming regular season. The Royals, who invested $250 million into renovating Kaufmann Stadium and added many of the same high-tech innovations, will be the first by six days.
As a small-market team, Kansas City illustrates the value of growing fan experience through technology. "It was the right investment for us to make looking forward," said senior vice president of business operations Kevin Uhlich. "I don't think the technology will ever be the reason somebody comes to the park. That's still driven by the product on the field, but it allows us to do better things from the maintenance side, the corporate sales side, the sponsorship side, and the entertainment side."
With sports struggling to line up and keep sponsors, StadiumVision allows increased flexibility. Companies may advertise only on high-definition monitors in premium seating or throughout just one concourse.
Multi-purpose arenas may benefit most. "Dolphins Stadium can morph to suit whatever tenant, whatever event," said Dolphins Enterprises vice president of marketing partnerships Chris Overholt. By reprogramming high-definition displays to reflect different home teams, Dolphins Stadium in Miami easily switches from hosting NFL games to MLB games to NCAA football games.
"There's a return on investment with the first phase of StadiumVision," said Wentzell, noting the Garden installed the wiring two years ago for $500,000. "Sponsors and advertisers are going to tell you how they want to put their message out there. This technology is being responsive. We think we can grow business with it."
To track fan preferences, teams are experimenting with loaded tickets or loyalty cards that come with cash added for concession and merchandise purchases. At Bruins and Celtics games, the Garden Gold Card available to premium season ticket-holders is one example.
Keeping in mind what fans want, Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino said the team is always exploring high-tech alternatives. While Lucchino noted the franchise "won't ever have the blank slate that they have at a brand new facility," 97-year-old Fenway Park still can accommodate technology upgrades. New video options are under consideration.
At Gillette Stadium, winter weather and NFL rules regarding content distribution factor heavily into discussions of high-tech additions. Technology helps entertain Patriots fans, but they also are served by a practical application, increasingly popular in other sports venues.
"We've installed a special number to text message security problems, cameras will be turned onto that location and people will come," said Patriots president Jonathan Kraft. "That's not entertainment, but it's ensuring you have as good an experience as you can."
Ultimately, an enhanced fan experience is the goal. Will all the high-tech bells and whistles make games more enjoyable? The answer is coming. By text message, cellphone snapshot, and fan video.
Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com. 