Sport teams have a magical way of maintaining brand loyalty. One of the reasons is the ability to build excitement that only comes with community. This is pretty easy to keep the momentum going during the season because fans are excited about the big game even when it’s a week away.
Of course, the challenge is to maintain that excitement and deliver an experience that parallels game time during the offseason. Fortunately, with the right design and deployment techniques, audiovisual (AV) technology can play an instrumental role in extending the experience and building excitement for even the most casual fan.
Let’s take a look at a few examples:
Immersive fan experience. One great way to use AV technology to extend the team sport experience is to create an environment within the stadium or arena complex (like a store or hall of fame room) where visitors can come throughout the year to enjoy a truly unique fan experience. The use of projectors, dynamic lighting and properly positioned speakers can combine with an array of multimedia content to immerse the fan into any number of experiences.
For instance, content could focus on the current team with overviews of their favorite player, it could truly leverage the sound system to provide a full stadium effect or it even graphically provide historical context around the franchise. If guests are regular visitors, the use of RFID chips could immediately queue different content to ensure that the fan always sees something new. Touch panels could also allow fans to flip between available experiences.
“Living” the players perspective. When someone has been a fan their entire life, its not uncommon to wonder or dream about what it’s like to actually be a player. Offering stadium or arena tour days during the offseason is a great way to help deliver the dream, especially when AV technology is involved. For instance, when the tour walks through different areas, today’s video and projection technology make it possible to infuse high resolution images and videos of players that seemingly surround the fan. If the franchise has maintained an extended social media-based relationship with a fan, RFID technology can automatically populate projected content with the visitor’s favorite players. Additionally, the use of well concealed ceiling speakers and subwoofers can prove instrumental in emulating what it’s like for a player as they enter the court or field.
Going interactive. Using interactive technology like photo booths that automatically add a fan’s favorite players to a picture opportunity not only excite the guest, they serve as a key opportunity to gather information and continue an engagement even after the fan goes home from their offseason visit.
These are only a few examples of the many ways team operators can effectively leverage today’s technology to deliver immersive experience throughout the entire year. The only true limit at this point is the owner’s willingness to find and capitalize on creative opportunities.
