VenueNext, the tech firm founded by the San Francisco 49ers, has landed the Orlando Magic as its first outside big league investor after signing a deal with the team to develop an all-inclusive mobile application at Amway Center.
Developed by VenueNext, the new platform folds ticketing, food service, retail, parking, seat upgrades, gaming and video content — all services typically isolated in separate systems — into one application. The single-source technology consolidates the data analytics piece, enabling the Magic to get a better handle on customizing the fan experience, team officials said.
 |
Amway Center’s mobile app will tie in gaming, concessions, tickets and more.
Photo by: NBAE / GETTY IMAGES
|
The new application will make its debut for the 2015-16 NBA season.
For VenueNext, the Magic deal marks its first agreement outside of Levi’s Stadium, where it was born in 2013 as part of the 49ers’ vision to develop sports’ most tech-savvy facility. From there, VenueNext was formed as a spinoff to seek new business outside of the Niners organization. Its financial backers, in addition to a subsidiary owned by Magic owners the DeVos family, are
Aurum Partners, a company owned by the York family, the 49ers’ owners; Causeway Media Partners, which includes Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck; Live Nation Entertainment; Twitter Ventures; and Aruba Networks.
In Orlando, where the Magic is among the NBA’s most aggressive teams for incorporating cutting-edge technology at its facility, team officials have been working informally for the past year with VenueNext’s technicians to form a seamless mobile platform at Amway Center. The team will spend in the low seven figures to pay the majority of costs for upgrading arena technology tied to the new app as part of the partnership.
The new application eliminates the need to download multiple apps for arena services, said Magic CEO Alex Martins. At Amway Center, Ticketmaster, concessionaire Levy Restaurants, point-of-sale vendor Micros, seat upgrade company Experience, and fantasy league gamer FanDuel, which holds naming rights to a premium club at the arena, are all integrated into the Magic’s new application. To supply the app’s video content,the Magic replaced YinzCam with Adept, a mobile tech firm that has deals with a handful of big league teams.
“We challenged our team 18 months ago to create the right mobile platform for every way we do business,” Martins said. “At the heart of our decision was VenueNext’s ability to plug in any third-party provider. It’s the ‘remote control’ to your Amway Center and Orlando Magic experience.”
As part of its investment, the Magic has increased the arena’s Wi-Fi bandwidth tenfold for greater mobile coverage. In addition, the installation of 900 beacons connected to location-based technology will help direct fans to their seats and, as an example, to their favorite Cuban sandwich stand, through mobile messages, Martins said.
The digital ticketing piece is the first step as the Magic slowly rolls out the new technology with a series of soft launches, supported by 65 employees dressed in striped referee shirts roaming the arena with iPod touches to help answer fans’ questions.
The team will install about 70 self-service ticket scanners at the arena doors, premium spaces and parking garages, all integrated into VenueNext’s mobile system. The scanners, which include 21 mobile units, are called STARS, or Self Ticket Access Readers. They are the Magic’s version of Kezar, the ticket scanning system in place at Levi’s Stadium. At Amway Center, all Magic ticket holders will scan the bar code on their device or on printed tickets to gain admission.
Previously, season-ticket holders used a smart card loaded with digital tickets. As part of the digital transformation, last season the Magic tested digital ticketing through its Fast Break promotion that delivered tickets last-minute to the buyer’s mobile device.
At the start of this season, the ability to order in-seat delivery of food and drink through the mobile application will be restricted to 1,500 premium-seat holders in the lower bowl. Later on, additional seating sections will be layered into the application with express pickup available. To place an order, fans must first input their credit card number within the application, a one-time exercise, Martins said. Levy Restaurants, in conjunction with the Magic, will charge a delivery fee for mobile orders. The fee has not been determined, he said.
The same steps will be taken for merchandise. The Magic’s long-term goal is for a fan to place an order through the app and pick it up on their way out of the building. For those with valet parking, it could be delivered to their vehicle. It’s all about the convenience, Martins said.
 |
“At the heart of our decision was VenueNext’s ability to plug in any third-party provider.”
— Alex Martins, Orlando Magic CEO
Photo by: NBAE / GETTY IMAGES |
As part of the rollout, the Magic has introduced a new fan loyalty program called Magic Money. Fans create an account through the mobile app and earn points through buying seat upgrades, purchasing additional tickets, exchanging tickets they can’t use and playing free games through the FanDuel feature tied to the action on the court, something the Magic tested during summer league.
Those points can be redeemed for rewards such as access to a premium club, inclusion into the “high-five” line during pregame introductions, autographed merchandise and to pay for concessions.
“We’ve all struggled with loyalty programs and how to tie it all together to execute and deliver benefit to season-ticket holders,” Martins said. “Magic Money is a product of being able to integrate everything through this single platform as opposed to hopping around the website. It’s totally new.”
The inclusion of FanDuel is something new for VenueNext beyond its Levi’s Stadium mobile application. To this point, VenueNext is still working on that piece of the integration, and the FanDuel feature and its scoring criteria remain in development. But officials feel it will help make the experience even more entertaining for fans and keep them at the game longer regardless of the outcome as they recognize the potential for earning loyalty points, said John Paul, VenueNext’s founder and CEO. Down the line, fans will be able to use the Magic’s app to link to FanDuel’s site to pay for playing fantasy games.
“It’s going to help bring new customers to FanDuel,” he said. “People who don’t know what it’s like can sign up and use the app for other sports events, and play around that.”
