Writing this particular column has been like herding cats — lots of movement in a variety of directions, simultaneously. It has been a true learning experience for me, as I realized early on there is no simple way to describe what teams refer to as their mobile platform. It takes a proverbial village of providers to assemble the product, which is never final but always fluid. Providers are not competitors but collaborators and enablers, with the team and its fans being the beneficiaries of the collective efforts.
Ticketmaster’s chief revenue officer, Cole Gahagan, has stated to me on numerous occasions that Ticketmaster is really a technology company with an expertise in ticketing. “Our responsibility doesn’t end with the ticketing platforms our teams and partners use,” he said.
Ticketmaster, and other ticketing technology companies, have an obligation to deliver fans the most convenient, trusted solution for buying and managing their tickets and that solution must be mobile.
Gahagan explained that Ticketmaster has worked diligently to create a software development kit that works inside a team app and drives more adoption and utilization of that app. Thus mobile or digital is really a cooperative effort of technology providers working to create a platform that serves the best interests of the fans inside of the team app, which is the hoped-for primary link between the fans and their respective teams. Nowhere is this more evident than in what I feel (based upon my experience as a user and a researcher) is the best mobile fan experience app, the Levi’s Stadium app. Produced by VenueNext and the San Francisco 49ers, the app will be the mobile platform for Super Bowl 50. VenueNext has incorporated loyalty and experience providers along with ticketing platforms, all functioning to create the Levi’s Stadium app.
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Seat upgrades or finding seats with friends in the stadium is among the hallmarks of the Levi’s Stadium app.
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Al Guido, COO of the 49ers, loves the app and the collaborative efforts involved in creating it because the fans stay on the Levi’s Stadium app for whatever activity they choose to engage in and are never directed to another site. Thus, there is no confusion. Ticketmaster and other providers check their egos at the door. The team has its own app with its own brand, even though that brand is the compilation of the efforts of a variety of brands.
Nic Barlage, senior vice president and chief sales officer of the Phoenix Suns, echoes these sentiments while also speaking to the desired ease of use of such an app. “We want our fans to be able to navigate the app with one finger while walking to their seats carrying concessions items or merchandise,” he said. It’s the same simplicity and ease Steve Jobs demanded of his products at Apple.
Another major contributor to the mobile experience, and the Levi’s Stadium app, is the technology company Experience. Experience provides fans the opportunity to personalize every live event through their mobile devices. It also provides a digital delivery service for teams and events to share their assets with their consumers prior to attending or in real time as they arrive at the venue. Ben Ackerman, president of Experience, says the company focuses “on making sure fans have fun at live events, and thus will not only want to attend more frequently, but may elect to enhance and vary those subsequent visits by adding different experiential elements to their ticket.” Enhancing the experience might be as simple as upgrading seats, but it also could be finding different seats where friends can sit together or adding some type of experience provided by the team that is fun and memorable. The app is intended to provide an experience that could not happen if the fan watches the game at home, Ackerman said. “It also allows fans to personalize their game-day experience based upon whom they are attending the game with and why they are attending — for work, family outing or just for fun,” he said.
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The Phoenix Suns’ app aims for ease of use by fans heading to their seats.
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To illustrate this premise, Ackerman shared an example from recent Atlanta Falcons game, where the same family, through the use of their mobile device, was able to:
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Have the cheerleaders come by and take a picture with their daughter.
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Have their son on the field for player introductions.
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Post a birthday message for Mom on the video board.
Obviously, each of these experiences could be monetized but, depending upon the philosophy of the organization, they also can be allocated to season-ticket holders to build goodwill and camaraderie or simply to show appreciation. Jim Smith, Falcons executive vice president and chief marketing and revenue officer, believes that the goal of such experiences should be to create a long-term relationship with the fan base. “People shouldn’t be asked to pay for a memory — memories should be created, not bought. The Experience platform is the ideal way to provide memories because of its ability to scale, manage and deliver the experiences quickly,” he said. “It is also the best way to allow fans to customize and control their own experience based upon their personal preferences. Every component of the fan experience in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be viewed through the lens of mobile.”
It is essential for teams to have a vision for what they want their mobile platform to be and what they want it to deliver. Understand that the best app, and the one that will be best utilized, will be the one that is the simplest yet most encompassing from a fan’s perspective, enabling them to be as engaged as they want while allowing the team to grow that engagement over time as familiarity and expectations evolve.
The best app will be the fruit of a collaborative effort of several providers each sharing their expertise, experiences and respective platforms, while checking their brand-ego at the door, to create the best possible app for the team and its fans.
Bill Sutton (wsutton1@usf.edu) is the founding director of the sport and entertainment business management MBA at the University of South Florida and principal of Bill Sutton & Associates. Follow him on Twitter
@Sutton_ImpactU.
