This post was created in partnership with Comcast Business
Technological innovation is rewriting the playbook for how sports franchises and stadiums operate and how fans experience the Big Game. What’s more, the proliferation of data is influencing everything from player safety to how teams engage and grow their fandoms.
During an ADWEEK House: The Big Game panel, co-hosted with Comcast Business, industry leaders discussed how technology is evolving the game on the field, in the stands, and on screens everywhere.
Scoring big with connectivity and data
To kick off the discussion, Melissa Lapp-Lobasso, executive director of brand strategy at Comcast Business, emphasized that technology in sports starts with reliable connectivity. “It’s really all about removing friction from the system and making sure that both fans and operators can do what they do and innovate in a seamless way,” she said.
Layered on top of that is more technology that can drive decisions involving everything from improving player safety to enabling different kinds of fan experiences, said Julie Souza, global head of sports at Amazon Web Services (AWS). For example, the NFL’s Next Gen Stats collected 500 million data points over the course of a football season from sensors placed in player jerseys, on the ball, and via optical cameras set up around venues that captured player movements.
“We have seen such strides in that space,” shared Souza. “Once this data was in the hands of teams, we saw rule changes.”
Revamping the rules on the field
One big rule change influenced by AWS-powered data was the introduction of the NFL’s dynamic kickoff rule.
“The reason the kickoff rule changed is that, in its previous incarnation, it caused a 4X concussion rate over a normal pass-and-run play—and also kickoffs weren’t being returned,” Souza said. “So, it was a throwaway play that was boring, and it was super injurious.”
Insights from her team’s 10,000 data simulations helped the league optimize for those two factors: lower injury rates and greater returns.
Building new fandoms
Next, the conversation shifted to the stands, with Jess Smith, president of the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries, describing how technology is woven into the arena experience as well as how the team uses data to understand and delight its fans.
“Having the fan data has been really imperative to our success and also making sure that we’re building accordingly for multiple different fan dimensions coming to market,” Smith said. This involves understanding that its 10,000 season ticket holders are a unique audience separate from the NBA’s Golden State Warriors; in fact, there’s only a 7% crossover between the two fanbases.
“We had to build our own legacy,” Smith explained.
