Fan Engagement Friday: News from around the grounds 29/4/2022

A weekly recap of some of the interesting stories and developments from the educational to the random in the world of fan engagement/experience, stadium/venue news, fan behaviour and psychology and customer service plus much more. Enjoy

Scran? No scran? The new food culture at football grounds

What’s new in Major League ballparks in 2022

Bengals’ $455m stadium is in such great shape it only needs $493m in upgrades, says architect

Dad things: Reds fan makes amazing catch while feeding baby

T-Mobile Park set to be first ballpark in MLB to open a store powered by both Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One

New York Islanders Integrate BlueJeans by Verizon to Elevate HOMEICE Fan Experience

How sports fans use data analytics to increase their enjoyment and understanding of sport

AFL Mint to release limited edition moments across AFL and AFLW

Melbourne Victory launch Victory Burger for fans!

NHL tech showcase focuses on fan experience

Player announcement drawings by @1fcn

Bolton Wanderers Jon Daddi Bavardsson playing penalties with young fan outside stadium.

Chelsea FC tackles food waste with new venue program for unused food

Populous and Kansas City Pioneers unveil “The Arena” NFT collection

Gamers get chance to play on Kauffman Stadium’s jumbotron ahead of tournament

The Miami Marlins have an amazing deal on the world’s saddest tacos

3 Top Tips You Can Implement Today To Maintain Great Customer Service!

Seattle Mariners to use Amazon’s ‘Just Walk Out’ and palm-scanning tech in new stadium market

Turkish sports stadium takes Guinness World Records title for solar output

Boston’s Fenway Park opens contactless food and drink stores

Ejected: What happens when a fan is banned from a stadium?

The Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena takes world-leading step towards sustainability

Statement on the Fan Led Review of Football Governance

NBA offers more free ‘The Association’ NFTs to fans after minting mishap

Six Major Steps To Improving Your Team’s Customer Service Skills

Hockey lover wins a luxury vacation. Atlanta pro team backs out of deal.

Fan Experiences Startup Vaunt Raises $5M, Investors Include Justin Tuck, Michele Roberts, Dodgers’ Elysian Park Ventures

Technology is saving the live sports experience

Celtic latest to launch digital cards via Sorare

Liverpool Could Become The First Premier League Club To Have Cryptocurrency As Main Shirt Sponsor

58% Of Customers Will Pay More For Better Customer Service

Ipswich Town Named EFL Family Club of the Year

ASM Global to deploy facial recognition technology across venues

NHL, technology partners showcase next generation of fan experience

Grimsby Town Paint the Town Proud initiative

THE 2019 FAN ENGAGEMENT/ FAN EXPERIENCE 100-1 RECAP

Hello and welcome to my annual 100-1 fan engagement/experience year in review where I take a look back on the creative, innovative, exciting and tailored strategies from teams, venues, sports marketing agencies and sponsors which in my opinion greatly captivated fans across the globe in 2019.

There is a customary heavy focus on Australia and New Zealand as I am based here and please do keep in mind that this is a very subjective list based on my own personal experiences at games, what I saw from colleagues around the globe and what fans have suggested. There will, of course, be ideas and activations that I have missed so please feel free to tag them and add to the discussion here or on social.

Some of the key areas of focus included:

Technology innovations from augmented reality to smart jerseys.
F&B incentives were again a trending area with more venues offering early bird offers, family-friendly deals, kids combo meal deals as well as catering for dietary needs and craft beer.
Innovative social seating experiences such as pools, couches, and beaches in venues to offer fans unique fan experiences that can’t be had at home.
Inclusive approaches that offer better access and representation to fans with diverse needs to enjoy the same fan experiences as every other fan both in the community and on game day.
Harnessing the power of fan-generated content. Find out what skills your fans have by listening to them and then utilize these skills. Fellow fans love this while the fan feels a genuine sense of appreciation that they’re being rewarded for their contribution. I’m a big fan of this area.
Sustainable environmental approaches as fans care about their local communities and the environment around the team and society.
More political and social justice concerns from fans and teams that put inclusion and communities first.
Seamless, tech-driven, fan-friendly venues.

When it comes to fan engagement strategies and improving the fan experience there are few thoughts that I’ll leave you with before starting the 100-1 recap:

Thinking like kids: We must never forget to think like fans, families and in particular junior fans. The ability to continually put ourselves in the shoes of kids and get on their level as well as remember the importance and feeling of those first moments of fandom that we had as kids when we were enthralled and excited by our favourite team or player.

Listening and responding with authenticity: Constantly listening to fans is vital but it is not enough. Responding with empathy and authenticity goes such a long way in driving lifetime fan loyalty.

Keeping it simple: The greatest fan engagement is often the simplest stuff. While I’m constantly road testing the latest tech on my game day travels because I’m a huge fan of the way technology is enhancing our game days I do believe that stripping it all back to the purest and most honest form of fan engagement ends up having the most significant impact on fans. There are a number of outstanding examples of this below.

Inclusion: More than ever thinking about fans as people and not customers and looking at what we can do to better listen and engage them for the benefit of all.

Personalisation: Never underestimate what it means to a fan to know that you have put them first by directly targeting them.

I trust that this educational summary provides you with some basis for thinking about how you can both improve your fan experience and better engage your fans on both a grassroots or global level while at the same time marvelling at the creativity on show here.

Finally, a huge round of applause to all of the hard-working, creative and talented front office team and venue crews, sports agencies, sponsors and other stakeholders out there who continually create these outstanding experiences for fans across the globe each year.

If you would like to peruse the previous 100-1 annual summaries then you can find them here:

100. Craft beer and sports team and venue partnerships continued to pour in this year with the establishment of new partnerships with local breweries and venues in an effort to bring fans, local businesses, and the community closer together by offering local and better quality beer options on game days.

I’ve written a fair bit about this area with my articles well worth a read to understand what teams, venues, and craft breweries are getting out of these partnerships. More info here.

Some of the craft beer and some of the other interesting beer developments from Australia and overseas included:

Melbourne Storm and Brick Lane Brewing
South Sydney Rabbitohs and Young Henry’s
Brisbane Bullets and Newstead Brewing Co
Melbourne Demons and Brewanity
Port Adelaide and Pirate Life Brewing Co
Newcastle Jets and Murray’s Brewing Co

99. Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) post-game kick to kick.

98. NBL Brisbane Bullets post-game on-court autograph session.

97. @MijnVitesse launched a pay per month ticketing model.

96. Wimbledon offering vegan strawberries and cream for the first time. A theme emerging of inclusive F&B offerings around the global grounds.

95. The hilarious New Zealand Warriors (NRL) ‘Bush Shirt’ that took social by storm and will be debuted in the 2020 season. A clever idea to tap into the random side of fans and a nation’s culture.

94. Weetbix and BBL/WBBL personalized backyard cricket bats.

93. Coventry City music themed ‘Specials’ kit for Kick It Out campaign round. Also special mention to West Ham United and their collab with Iron Maiden. Will there be more of these music/team kit collabs?

92. The Boundary Social at The Gabba, Brisbane.

91. F&B prices at Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII.

90. Chicago Blackhawks NHL chopping board giveaway to fans.

89. NY Mets Seinfeld Night and bobblehead giveaway.

88. Australian Women’s Cricket team trading cards. It’s been so good to see the rise of more women’s sport athletes being featured on cricket trading cards for fans of all ages to collect. Also Super Netball, WBBL and AFLW as well.

87. Brisbane Lions (AFL) umpired youth games in the community. You should also check out the review I wrote of the Brisbane Lions and Gabba’s Verandah fan experience.

86. Win an Adelaide Giants (ABL) contract for a day.

85. Chief Beer Officer at the LA Rams.

84. Queens Park Rangers crest collection for new members.

83. AFLX at Marvel Stadium. Light up goal posts, free trading cards and loads of kids activities. Another impressive event for 2019 at the venue. A lot of AFLX got blasted by the media and fans who weren’t the target market.

82. Kensington Oval beach cricket party atmosphere complete with jet ski chairs.

81. Melbourne Storm (NRL) Street Crew.

80. Commemorative yesteryear tickets from Collingwood AFLW.

79. Adelaide Crows (AFL) and Borussia Dortmund replying to fans with personalised kit wallpapers.

78. AGF Children’s Day drawings.

77. AIK Fotboll selling pre-signed jerseys for fans.

76. Manchester United and Marriot launched the ‘Seat of Dreams’ at Old Trafford.

75. New Zealand Warriors (NRL) and Auckland Blues (Super Rugby) ‘Codes of Auckland’ partnership and the Sydney Kings (NBL) and Sydney FC (A-League) partnership.

74. At Pollock FC in Scotland a big football fan – a dog called ‘Yardley’ – is allowed to watch games from the stands at Newlandsfield Park. Now that’s inclusion. Also, #74 just a bit of a laugh in the list. Also, lets put the Dallas Cowboys cat here too. That was very responsive from the AT&T Stadium and team to add the cat to the lineup.

From DAK to CAT! Meow that was a great transition, @dallascowboys! 👏🏼#MINvsDAL #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/tvsIR7XG6T

— Allie Dicken (@Allie721) November 11, 2019

73. Reuseable cups from Rylands FC and free hot drinks to those who bring their own reusable cup along on match days.

72. @OU_Football launched a website with content and profiles of each signee. They made each of them their own logo and announced the athletes on the site.

71. This lovely story from the UT Vols.

70. Cousin Eddie hat giveaway from M State. One of the best random giveaways of the year.

69. This barbershop and barbershop singing girls at the V8 Supercars at Sandown Raceway in Victoria.

68. New Jersey Devils (NHL) had kids draw pictures of their favourite players and then put them up on the screen.

67. Seattle Sounders (MLS) calling out racism and fascism and in the process showing how inclusive they are to their community.

66. Coventry City FC’s family zone but in particular their ‘lucky dip’ idea which I thought was simple and effective.

65. The Lawn at the MCG and in particular the caricature part of this. A simple and effective idea for hospitality guests and for kids in a fan zone. Here’s also a review I review of The Lawn fan experience that I wrote for Digital Sports Labs.

64. Brisbane Roar (A-League) CEO shouting fans drinks at away games.

63. Montrose FC got fans together to road test the pies for the venue. Possibly the best fan engagement all year for food lovers.

62. Reading Fightin Phils had a gender reveal fireworks night.

61. The Holden mini-trucks race circuit at the State of Origin match at Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia.

60. Family-Friendly Sunday’s at the SCG. Discounted F&B prices for fans. What other venues are doing similar things?

59. Gender-Neutral toilets at Whitten Oval for the Western Bulldogs AFLW match. A very inclusive way for all fans to be made to feel welcome on game days.

58. Freebies for kids at Marvel Stadium over summer 2019/20 BBL/WBBL matches.

57. This classy note from Manchester City to fans.

56. Various LA Dodgers themed nights.

55. DB Cooper CSI themed night at the Portland Pickles.

54. Pink Beer for the Pink Test at the SCG.

53. The Pool and Boundary Beach Club at Optus Stadium, Perth, Western Australia.

52. New Zealand All Blacks ‘Black Laundry’. “Running until the start of November, and open ahead of every All Blacks match, Steinlager wants to inspire Kiwis to show their true colours by sacrificing an item of clothing and dying it black – with one Auckland woman already having dyed her wedding dress.”

51. Fans First free shipping. Savannah Bananas removed merch shipping fees.

50. San Francisco 49er’s ‘All You Can Eat’ tickets.

49. State of Origin Light Show at Optus Stadium, Perth.

48. The Queensland Maroons visited the Brisbane Police Watch House.

47. Parramatta Eels (NRL) moving statue at Bankwest Stadium. Check out Bankwest Stadium too. I wrote a fan experience review for Aus Leisure Mag which can be found here.

46. This stubby cooler sweater from Cricket Australia as a hospitality piece of merch. Had to include something merchandise related and this was one of the best pieces I picked up this year. More on Brisbane’s The Gabba and Cricket Australia fan experience can be found here.

45. Sydney Roosters (NRL) members names on the LED ribbon at the SCG. Nice way to made to be feel welcome.

44. Brisbane Broncos (NRL) hackathon. What other teams did these well in 2019?

43. Peterborough PUFC young fans guard of honor.

Great to see so many first time fans at the game today – the looks on their faces when they see the players is priceless! Big ‘fans for the future’ initiative as alluded to by @JasonDavidNeale earlier is coming soon to get these back and ultimately season ticket holders.#pufc pic.twitter.com/KyuVypQRew

— Jake Baxter (@Jake__Baxter) February 2, 2019

42. These incredible kit reveal videos from Arsenal (Adidas) and Chelsea (Nike).

41. Free iconic Tayla Harris kick AFLW badges handed out at AFLW games.

40. Eredivisie Toy Toss.

39. Manchester City became the first sports club to launch with YouTube Kids.

38. Royal Antwerp FC launched a special section for their vision impaired fans.

All fans deserve a great experience. @official_rafc has a special block for blind fans. Well done! #fanengagement #fanexperience pic.twitter.com/Mbq2unhUnZ

— FANexperience👏 (@FanexperienceNL) December 20, 2019

37. The @ThunderbirdsAHL‘s celebrated the 30th anniversary of the animated comedy series “The Simpsons.” with these Ice-O-Topes jerseys.

36. Kombucha coming into F&B offerings more and more like at Seattle Seahawks for foodies as healthier stadium concession products gain deeper traction with fans.

35. Iranian women were allowed to attend a national team game for the first time in 40 years.

Iranian women were allowed to attend a national team game for the first time in 40 years.

What a moment 👏 pic.twitter.com/362PHNqdAV

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 10, 2019

34. Baltimore Ravens Pop Up Shop idea.

33. LinkedIn sponsors Grimsby Town FC to help community score jobs. They launched the ‘LinkedIn Lounge’ – a permanent matchday fixture throughout the season, where match goers will be able to see current vacancies in the area, along with details of how to apply.

32. Huggity’s scrum machine challenge.

31. For the Raptors 25th-anniversary, @PizzaPizzaLtd created an interactive GameBox to offer a tabletop gaming experience.

30. Tottenham Hotspur’s fast pour beers at the new venue in London. Tech has been around for a while but it seemed to take off this year with the launch of the new stadium.

29. Baltimore Ravens debut mixed reality Raven in venue.

The @Ravens unveiled this new mixed-reality feature tonight. 😲pic.twitter.com/p8rkCTrImz

— Front Office Sports (@frntofficesport) December 13, 2019

28. NBA smart jerseys.

27. PSV helps a young fan enjoy a matchday experience like no other.

26. Chelsea FC unveiled a new ‘shirt holders’ Nike kit designed by fans.

25. Penn State Football’s creative poster that transforms into a helmet.

24. Hertha BSC ticket bot.

23. Premier League smart shirt.

22. FC Midtjylland hired a bagpipes player to greet Rangers fans.

We also hired a bagpipe-player to greet you when you get into the ground 🎵🎶 @RangersFC #FCMRangers pic.twitter.com/bpEmkqJu8x

— FC Midtjylland (@fcmidtjylland) August 8, 2019

21. FC Union Berlin made these posters up for their recently deceased fans.

20. Feyenoord and Opel offer each away game a clubcar for four fans to travel to away games.

19. Everton FC. Treats on seats for first time under 11 Season Ticket members to welcome them to Goodison Park for 2019/20.

18. Paris Saint-Germain partnered with Deliveroo for in-seat ordering at Parc des Princes.

17. Swindon Town FC Junior Takeover Day. Also another good example of this below from Brentford FC.

Junior Takeover Day | 2⃣0⃣1⃣9⃣

Introducing Mini:

♦️ Gaffer
♦️ Media Man
♦️ CEO
♦️ Kitmen

We had a great day 👊

🎥: SY Media#STFC 🔴 pic.twitter.com/8sqU9TMPmc

— Swindon Town FC (@Official_STFC) November 3, 2019

16. Brilliant work from Watford FC for those fans wanting to know costs, first time attendance and every detail for the match. This makes it so easy for fans to better understand the game day.

15. Andres Iniesta’s Farewell Jersey idea from beIN Sports.

14. VR work from Bayern Munich.

For all fans. Step in the virtual @FCBayern world. #VirtualReality #sportsbiz pic.twitter.com/i1W1y3fwgC

— FANexperience👏 (@FanexperienceNL) December 18, 2019

13. These ushers at Fiserv Forum for the Bucks game.

I can’t say enough about the incredible ushers at the @FiservForum. From one who fist-bumped us on the way to our seats at the #Bucks game to these guys to another who pulled aside my son to tell him he’s a great fan …

Pro sports arenas and stadiums take note. #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/p78mM4CAy2

— Amy Bailey (@Amy__Bailey) February 24, 2019

12. GWS (AFL) ahead of the 2019 AFL Grand Final.

11. Dallas Cowboys/AT&T Stadium AR ‘Pose With The Pro’s’ activation. Also another fine example from Wolverhampton Wanderers too below.

One of the coolest, most innovative in-stadium activations I’ve ever seen. 😳 #SportsBiz pic.twitter.com/FSE2m7tYmh

— Brad Friedman (@BradFriedman713) September 10, 2019

Nothing beats meeting the real life players. Not even a cool #AR app. 👏
Nice combination of both by @Wolves. #fanengagement pic.twitter.com/ecpYG7Yk0O

— FANexperience👏 (@FanexperienceNL) October 21, 2019

10. Bat flips at the BBL/WBBL.

9. Swindon Town FC taking fans to their seats on their first game days.

8. DC United getting the local music community involved in game days.

7. FC Utrecht galvanising fans to donate their warm clothes to their supporters who live below the poverty line.

🧥 Voor supporters, door supporters!

Heb jij warme kleding over? Neem die zondag mee als je naar #utrfey komt en lever het in bij de DHL-busjes bij het Fanplein of de Bunnikside. De kleding komt ten goede aan supporters en inwoners van de regio die onder de armoedegrens leven. pic.twitter.com/55TliT2uKV

— FC Utrecht (@fcutrecht) December 19, 2019

6. Charlotte Checkers having personalised notes on fans seats.

Handwritten thank you notes to all of our season ticket holders waiting for them upon arrival tonight. pic.twitter.com/MVLZenY66f

— Shawn Lynch (@checkerslynch) October 25, 2019

5. The Washington Capitals announcing their official team dog of the team.

🐶INTRODUCING THE GOODEST BOY!🐶

Meet Captain, the official team dog of the Washington Capitals!

In partnership with @AmericasVetDogs, Captain will be with us for over a year as he gets ready to assist a Veteran or First Responder.

Follow along on Instagram / Twitter: @CapsPup pic.twitter.com/w0ODidDgu8

— Washington ☃️ Capitals (@Capitals) October 5, 2019

4. The warm welcoming work from Brentford FC’s team to create personalised welcome emails to fans coming to Griffin Park for the first time. A delightful way to ensure fans feel welcome and have all the information they need to be able to get the most out of their first experience.

3. The work of teams like Melbourne Rebels (Super Rugby), Penrith Panthers (NRL) and Newcastle Knights (NRL) listening to their fans to lower the prices on their jerseys to $99 from the original costs of upwards of $170.

2. The amazing work the Gold Coast Titans (NRL) and other organisations did to create a rugby league physical disability competition so that these young players could play the game they love. Watch Leagueability on ABC here. “A heart-warming, inspirational story about a bunch of young blokes who live for the game but have never been allowed to play and start a physical disability rugby league competition in regional Australia.”

1. AS Roma’s new recruits and missing persons campaign. There are just no words for how brilliant this was.

So there you have it for 2019.

A pretty impressive list of fan engagement strategies and fan experience insights from across the globe highlighting the outstanding work being done to entertain and delight fans in various parts of the world.

100 (actually there’s well over that as I’ve combined a few here and there) truly exceptional strategies but what have I missed? What was happening for you as a fan in your neck of the woods?

Thanks also to my colleagues and the people I look up to in the industry and this space such as but not limited to:

Be sure to also scroll back through the 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015 countdowns too to see what’s been happening over the past few years (found at the top of this post).

Let me know at @MrBlairHughes on Twitter or on LinkedIn.

Thanks and have a great holiday break.

Denver Broncos Sports Authority Field Fan Experience Recap 24/10/2016

Flying to Denver

Monday morning and I’m up at 4.30am to fly from Miami to Denver, Colorado for tonight’s Denver Broncos game at Sports Authority Field. After an airport blueberry bagel breakfast I’m on my way for a four hour flight over the USA and into rocky mountain country. I quickly dump my bags at my airport hotel and catch the shuttle back to the airport to get the train to the game. I’ve chosen airport hotels on this trip as a smart decision given my tight schedules and free airport shuttle buses that they usually offer meaning I can save time over the nine days.

Train to the game

I take the for $9USD Denver W train from the airport which gives me an all day pass on the city’s transportation network and alight at Union Station and to my surprise see Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies MLB team is a short walk away. It was pretty cool to see the stadium in the flesh having recently written an article on stadium technology and the fan experience for Australasian Leisure Management Magazine which touches on the stadium’s use of biometric fingerprint scanning.

Coors Field

Mile High station

Train to the game

I find a local bar called Falling Rock Tap House which turns out to be THE craft beer bar in Denver and sample a few delicious Colorado beers before hitting the pavement back to Union Station where I catch a short 10 minute light rail ride out to Sports Authority Field-Mile High Stadium station. As I’m walking from the station to the stadium I strike up a conversation with a few Denver fans who supply me with a cold can of BudLight in the Denver Broncos colours. I think these cans look so good and would be a great idea from a major brewer in Australia to do for fans. I continue walking and soak up the walk to the ground while pedicab riders ferry fans to and from the stadium. I pass the ‘Burrito Daddy’, ‘Carl the funky drummer’ and two homeless guys selling beers who are all unofficial vendors or entertainers who it seems rock up in their car or bicycle and unload eskies of drinks and food to cook and sell from their vehicle. Outside selling and profiting from the event is obviously out of the control of the stadium in this back street but I think I’ll pass anyway on a backseat burrito from The Burrito Daddy.

Broncos fans

I don’t have to walk far before the first activation pops out as fans gather round to line up and have their picture taken at the Broncos Fever sign. What I found interesting about this is that the sponsor didn’t just slap up the sign but actually stationed a person here who was in charge of taking the pictures for fans. In other situations like where this is used there’s not been a person to help so fans have to wait and ask another fan to take their photo which can be hit and miss sometimes unless a 10 year old is taking the picture!

Broncos Fever

Continuing the walk around the stadium is taking it’s time as there’s just so much on from left to right here. The senses are running wild with excitement but I can’t imagine a fan actually being able to do every single activation in only 3-4 hours because while I arrived at 3pm and ended up racing through 20 odd activations, even I wasn’t able to complete everything. It’s truly such an impressive sight and by this stage I’ve only walked around 10% of the stadium. I notice that the stadium has a bicycle valet service before checking out the Buick test where I and other fans eagerly sign up our personal data in an iPad survey and receive a free Broncos shirt which is the first of about 20 free items I end up picking up tonight in what turns out to be my Broncos showbag of sorts. Leaving this stand I walk 10 metres and receive a clear bag with a Broncos logo on it from a local hospital who are handing out thousands of these tonight and which is a clever giveaway given the amount of stuff people are accumulating and the fact you can’t take any bags into the stadium apart from these clear bags.

Bike Valet

Broncos beer

Free tee’s

Walking around the ground

Free bags

At this stage I’m at the back of the stadium and start to see the orange buzz of the fan zone appearing in the distance. The fan zone is pumping when I make my way into the dedicated section that features around 15 or so Broncos coloured tents where each sponsor has activities and giveaways going down while being surrounded by bars and gourmet food options.

The fan zone

More free tees

Photo ops

I participate in the Macca’s pong game at their stand and score a pair of McDonalds football gloves, some stickers, free burger vouchers to use in Denver stores and a pair of sunglasses. While I’m waiting to do another data collection activity I’m approached to do a survey and score a free Broncos hat before returning to the line and grabbing another pair of Broncos sunnies, Broncos lip balm and some very smartly designed Broncos koozies in the shape of a cowboy boot.

Freebies

More freebies

The fan zone

Giveaways

More free stuff

The Broncos Fever stand, sponsored by a health care company, was a very clever idea where they were curing fans who may have symptoms of ‘Bronco Fever’. The staff acting as Broncos doctors and nurses would take a picture of the fans and supply them with free goodies.

Bronco Fever

The fan zone

Photo opportunities are abundant with the Super Bowl 50 cut out, Bronco Fever, giant Bud Light Broncos can, player cut out’s and more all scattered around the venue for fans to capture that memorable moment and upload it to social. There’s a huge Broncos Buick truck and another free t-shirt sign up tent in one corner while numerous fun and easy skills drills are scattered around the fan zone that feature throwing and kicking activities with every fan walking away with prizes.

The fan zone

Broncos beer

Broncos Beer

The fan zone

Photo Ops

The fan zone

Around 90 minutes from kick off I catch up with Glenn Hines from the Broncos who is the club’s fan manager and we discuss fan engagement at the Broncos and the importance of putting fans first, always trying to innovate the fan experience and discussing his role on game day. The game day role he tells me is very much about talking to fans and helping them get the most out of their time at the stadium so they leave feeling as though they are a big part of this family and are valued as fans. We discuss the importance of staff providing exceptional customer service in every possible way and why this focus and culture of superb customer service has contributed to the team being able to have consecutive sell out’s since 1970. This big focus on going the extra mile with customer service stood out on a few occasions for me as while just walking around the venue I had different fan relations staff members come up to me on level 1 and 5 who asked me on a personal level how I was going, what I needed, could they help me with anything, to have a great day and ‘Go Broncos’. This is not hard to do from any business let alone sports but it just makes you feel appreciated and valued as a loyal customer or fan and fans that feel that way are always going to invest in the club for years to come.

Myself with Glenn from the Broncos

Having told Glenn what I’d accomplished so far on my fan experience at the stadium he points out that I’ve actually missed the miniature 1/8^th size replica concrete stadium in the car park on the other side of the stadium. Sorry what? A replica stadium? Seriously American stadiums and teams can you just ease up on the crazy awesome stuff just for a season to let everyone else catch up to you!

I thank Glenn for the hospitality and head round to check out this replica stadium which is a homage to their former Mile High stadium. The space takes up 200 car parks and can seat close to 200 fans in tiered seating who are treated to marching band performances, live screen highlights and analysis and tailgate food options. This was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in all my stadium visits over the years and I think my girlfriend is going to have a hard time convincing me that I can’t replicate this idea for our backyard one day.

Replica Stadium

Barrel Man

Replica stadium

Replica Mile High

Before making my way inside the venue I sample a local BBQ sauce retailer’s southern style sauce on some delicious chicken wings and pick up a sample to take home. These US stadiums at time’s truly feel like you’re at an expo or trade show such is the showcase of interesting local products and services and this stuff is all open free to the public as fans without tickets can participate in all of this action for free.

Free sauces

Free wings!

It’s 6pm and I line up at gate 8 where the pat down, scan and metal detector walk through takes place. The ticketing crew scan my phone for my ticket and I’m in. I’m handed a free 100+ page program and a couple of stickers and proceed up the escalators to level 5. I shell out $8USD for a ‘regular’ (really 2L or thereabouts) souvenir Broncos cup of Coke Zero that I can barely wrap one hand around before taking my seat up high in the last row of section 538 before turning around.

Entering the stadium

Stadium inside

Free programs on entry

$7 soda

Look at this view! No words. What a stadium.

The view

Up high at Broncos

The digital in game stadium activations included a few of the usual things like fan cams (Bronco Fever), military appreciation moments and ‘Know Your Broncos’ where the players share stories about their teammates. Further fan engagement included the ‘Kick Off Kid’ who took the tee back to the sideline, the ‘Coin Toss Kid’ and the continuous screen prompts for the crowd to ‘Make Some Noise’, ‘Get Loud’, ‘LOUDER!’ and the decibel readers which saw this fan cheer get up to around 112dB which comes close to the 114dB I heard at the 49ers last year. There was also a cool giant helmet VR experience taking place as well in the concourse from sponsor Verizon.

VR at Broncos

Broncos Fever- Get Loud

Concession stands

The concession stands offered a multitude of options and incentives or giveaways and included mega Broncos hot dogs, big pizza pie, supreme massive nachos and other delightful and out there food items that were easy to get food from.

Game day food promos

Signature merch items

Sports Authority Field Concessions

Concessions

Overall the Broncos fan experience really showcased the best in customer service, fan zones and sponsor activations. A highly enjoyable experience made even better by the Broncos getting the win and this mountain of giveaways which I walked away with for friends back home.

Broncos giveaways

Sadly on the night a fan died at this game and I’d just like to acknowledge that as being such a horrific thing to happen to a family and a fan that no one should ever have to go through.

Miami Dolphins Hard Rock Stadium Fan Experience Recap 23/10/2016

Landing in a sunny and humid Miami at 7am after having caught an overnight flight from Los Angeles I hit the ground running by dropping my gear off at my airport hotel and arranging an Uber out to Hard Rock Stadium for my meeting with the Dolphins and the game against rivals Buffalo.

Driving into the stadium

As luck would have it I was able to book an Uber at 9am out to the stadium using a game day code that only cost me $2.99USD and dropped me off hassle free in the designated Uber Tailgate section, which was a short walk across the road from the stadium. My driver Ralph was a knowledgeable chap from Jersey who had not dropped a passenger off at this new section before however even he remarked at how easy this was for both Uber driver and rider. The Uber Tailgate was a good first impression from a transportation perspective and featured a waiting area tent that had mobile charging stations, food and beverages as well as couches and customer service staff on hand to help with drop offs and pick ups.

Uber Tailgate

I say my goodbyes to Ralph and cross the road into the stadium concourse where the tailgate is in full swing with the smell and sound of barbequed meats and beer cans cracking respectively. Standing directly underneath the eastern side of Hard Rock Stadium (formerly Sun Life Stadium up until this year) I look up to take in the new architectural feature of a venue wide shade canopy that now provides coverage to over 85% of the stadium and in turns adds to the fan experience by keeping fans comfortable in this humid and hot climate. While the 30-year-old stadium is dated in various parts inside the stadium, standing at a distance on a cloud free and crisp blue-sky day such as today enables every aspect of the new design to be perfectly illustrated in greater detail.

Tailgate start

Walking into the offices of the Miami Dolphins for my meeting and it’s not hard to get a sense of the prestige about this place and team and how internationally renowned they are in the context of major sporting organisations. I laughed when even my non sports loving girlfriend knew who they were due due to the 1993 cinematic masterpiece Ace Ventura featuring Jim Carrey and the case of the stolen Miami Dolphin mascot.

Dolphins HQ

At around 10am I meet with customer service manager Anthony Mozzicato who has recently taken on the role here at the Dolphins having previously left his mark working on world-renowned fan experiences at KC Royals and Sporting Kansas. Such is the hospitality and life long learning nature of so many American’s I’ve met on my stadium journey’s, Anthony has kindly let me shadow him and his team for the day and over the course of the next 7 hours I’m able to learn the in’s and out’s of the Dolphins fan experience which as you’ll read below is nothing short of outstanding.

With Anthony from the Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

Pre-Game Brief

Starting with a walk around the stadium to the pre-game briefing with stadium usher’s and his staff it was impressive to see so many smiling happy motivated staff who are clearly so pumped to work at the stadium and do their best for fans on game day. Witnessing both the professional and fun side of the Dolphins culture, it was really impressive to see one of Anthony’s team revving up the team with a talk about their core values and motto ‘I promise to care, I promise know and I promise to connect’ while also seeing the staff get behind and buy into this message of making sure the fans come first and are looked after here. It was nice to see staff being rewarded with certificates and gifts for their hard work during the briefing that as we all know goes such a long way in creating loyalty amongst staff. This was also highlighted by the fact that I met with so many casual staff members who had been at the stadium for 20-30 years or more and told me that they felt like they were a part of the family.

Field Level

It’s 11am and as we snake our way around the venue we stop at every concession stand, police officer, security person and usher so that Anthony can greet them with a personable ‘hello, how are you, I’m Anthony, tell me about yourself’ which showcased Anthony’s skills in customer service but also his emphasis on educating his staff about how they too should talk and greet fans on game day. Furthermore when it comes to the importance of first impressions, I couldn’t agree more with Anthony’s take on this as he politely calls out a couple of the crew for slouching in chairs, being on their mobiles or chewing gum while we walk throughout the diverse suites and stands of the stadium.

I’m introduced to the staff at the Guest Experiences Headquarters booth on the top level and talk to them about their signs ‘How May I Help You’ and their first game badges and certificates as well as the work they do to help fans with any concerns or queries during the game. The first game badges and certificates are such a creative and cheap fan engagement idea that any stadium can do and I’d love to see more Australian teams give this a go.

Fan Focused

Designated Driver

First game badges and certificates

Fan Help Area

Showcasing his creativity from his time at Sporting KC and SKC, Anthony highlights some of the latest football themed colourful paint jobs that have gone up around the venue’s walls that have been painted by local artists. This was a clever idea to both combine the talents of the local community as well as make a dull space vibrant and I look forward to seeing how this and the other ideas his team and him have to further upgrade the stadium before the Super Bowl in 2020.

Local artists work is featured around the stadium

With kick off an hour away I leave Anthony and hit the fan zone to soak up the fan engagement activations around the outside of the stadium concourse which was interesting in that any fan would have been able to participate in this as opposed to many other NFL stadium’s which I’ve visited whereby the fan zone is located after security. The fan zone was a hive of activity and colour and featured a host of the usual suspects activations as well as some other cool things.

Dolphins Beer

Starting at a photo booth I have a picture taken with various Dolphins props and then turn around to see a young girl handing out free beef sandwich samples from a sauce sponsor. I venture into the Bud Light Tiny House Party where colourful icy cold teal cans of Dolphins branded Bud Light’s are available for $2. This sure beats the usual prices in US stadiums so I smash two back and ask if I have to stay in the tiny house or if I can keep walking around the fan zone to which the girl replies ‘Yes of course, just don’t go into the stadium with it’. Oh America, you and your liquor licensing RSA laws are indeed interesting compared to Australia where merely having a beer outside a stadium will result in a fine or refusal of entry at the very least. The Bud Light trailer house also had a cool big can, which represented a good photo opportunity. I would secretly love one of these in the backyard.

Dolphins Photo Ops

Tiny House Party

Dolphins Beer $2

I check out the ‘Locker Room’ where you can lift up super lightweight weights and have pics taken and then I have a go at the ‘Push The Truck’ Ford activation whereby you get to push a huge Ford Ute which comically for the people that did it after me nearly drove straight into the other Ford car which was being used for a virtual reality bit of fun that involved fans pretending to kick a football into a TV in the boot of the car.

Locker Room

VR kicking comp

Push the truck

Locker Room

The ‘Dolphins Makeover’ allowed fans to have their faces painted in game day colours while the ‘Size Me Up’ wall enabled fans to see how they rack up against the players. The photo opportunities were endless and included area’s where fans could get their pictures taken with a pair of giant gloves, a cheerleader wall and a cut out of a life size player as well as a big ‘F_NS’ letter wall where fans could stand in place of the ‘I’ to complete the word. Making my way further into the fan zone I think about having a go at the fitness themed fan engagement ‘Tunnel Run’ and ‘Dolphins Combine’ but decide to avoid giving these a crack after having only just sampled a heart attack inducing Arepa and two beers. It was great to see kids and parents enjoying these activations that let them tackle the bags and catch a pass to make a TD on a cushioned landing try line.

Dolphins Makeover

Dolphins Photo Ops

Size Me Up

Tunnel Run

Photo Ops

Locker Room

Miami Dolphins Combine

Miami Dolphins

While plenty of these sponsor led activation stations had iPad sign up’s that let fans walk away with heaps of freebies like sunglasses, flags (on all 60,000+ seats), pins, badges, stickers, t-shirts, drinks and wipes it always amazes me that these are not better under cover as filling in the forms is difficult with the glare on the screens and I nearly gave up and saw others do the same. I’m glad I persevered and signed up though to a few sponsor things so I could participate in the activities like this one where you put a round disc into a board and it hovers down to the bottom zig zagging along the way and landing on the name of a prize which you walk away with. Anyone know what this game is called?

Games

Miami Dolphins Giveaways

One down side I’ve found on my US stadium travels with these activations is that in order to walk away with freebies you often need to be a US citizen as you need to have a US address to submit the online forms or survey’s. In a way it’s absolutely fair because naturally a sponsor like South Florida Ford is not at all wanting to tap into getting all the data from a Melbourne Toyota Landcruiser owner like myself. However you can get around this by just using your hotel or using the address of a famous US landmark that can be easily remembered.

Later on Anthony shows me The Tap Room which if you can believe this features over 50 Florida and Miami based beers from local independent breweries. I settle on an Islamorada ‘Sandbar Sunday’ and we keep walking. The concession stands offered diverse gourmet stadium food options such as wings, garlic waffle fries and sushi to locally inspired fare like arepa’s and all looked fresh although I truly think more US stadiums are going to start going the way of the MCG and Mercedes Benz Stadium in reducing stadium food prices as like any major US sports stadium the prices for food here are really quite outrageous. If you’re one of those people back home who complains about the price of beer ($7-8AUD for a schooner) then spare a thought for our American sports friends who are paying anywhere from $9-15USD for beer and the same goes for the food. One thing though to consider is that over here the quality and diversity of craft beer and food is very high and Hard Rock Stadium was no exception with some yummy stuff on sale.

Tap Room

Local food is a focus

Taking up my seat for the game and I can feel the heat from the very cool flame lit tunnel that is going off every time a player is introduced to the crowd. The in-game digital fan engagement was very good from the Dolphins and far out was these fans loud, possibly even louder then when I was at the 49ers and Levi’s Stadium last year. From the ‘Oblivious Cam’ to dance cam, lip sync cam, honouring service men and women, ARMY chopper fly over, seat upgrades there was plenty going on during the breaks in play for fans to get involved with.

Pre game at HR Stadium

This view!

Oblivious Cam

The only negative on the day was when I made my way back to the Uber Tailgate to grab a ride back to the airport. I think this was an issue that is well and truly out of the team and stadium’s control but this was a debacle due to the nature of the road set up and traffic post event. The idea is that when you get back to the Uber Tailgate you load in your ride on the app and then you wait by a car space number i.e. 1, 2, 3 all the way through to about 20 or so and then call or text the driver to tell them what space you’re in and what you’re wearing so they can identify you easily.

However the problem was that all of the Uber’s were stuck in traffic in one congested line going back a fair way from the stadium pick up zone meaning they could not get in and out easily enough to pick up their rider. This was leading to frustration from the riders, drivers and staff as many of the riders could not even get out into a car space (i.e. car space 15) because fans were shoulder to shoulder trying to get through a small entrance to the car space numbers.

I gave up and called my driver to say I was going to walk and find him and after about a 20 min walk I found my driver Neil and his AC cranking Kia. What I found interesting was when I went up to one of the three Uber staffers to ask what direction to go in to find my driver I was told ‘oh no don’t do that as we have senior Uber reps here today, they won’t like that’ to which I replied you’ve got to be kidding if you think this is a good customer experience. However in no way did this put a dampener on the day for me as this was still an 11/10 fan experience. I can imagine though that this kind of hassle would be the last thing a fan would want to have to deal with after a game or worse a game day loss! I also wonder how the Uber Tailgate set up is going at the other US stadiums who have installed this in 2016.

One more thing I will add with this is that when I agreed to the UberX set price of $21.94USD for my trip I was annoyed to find that I had then been charged over $30USD but to Uber’s credit they refunded this and apologized saying it was an error. Thing is that same thing has happened to me before and I wonder if it has to other’s as well who use Uber around the world.

There’s way more to say and showcase about how exceptional the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium fan experience was and how much better it’s going to get under Anthony’s reign in the lead up to Super Bowl LIV however I’ll let the pictures below do the talking and leave it with you to make sure you check it out if you find yourself in Miami.

The Miami Dolphins focus on providing unrivalled customer service to fans by vowing to care, know and connect along with their creative fan engagement activations, gourmet food and craft beer options and the Uber Tailgate (drop off only in my experience!) all highlight what a truly marvellous fan experience this is that is up there with the best in the world. With the Dolphins taking the W over the Bills both the fans and myself left stoked at what was an epic day in Miami. Eternally grateful and privileged to Anthony, his team and the Dolphins organisation for allowing me to drop by and learn about their world-class fan experience.

: VR kicking comp

: Games

: With Anthony from the Dolphins

: This view!

: Miami Dolphins Giveaways

: Driving into the stadium

: Dolphins Photo Ops

: Miami Dolphins Combine

: Uber Tailgate

: Field Level

: Fan Focused

: Dolphins Photo Ops

: Miami Dolphins

: On the field

: Tailgate start

: Miami Dolphins Combine

: Pre-Game Brief

: Photo Ops

: Free food

: Dolphins HQ

: Tap Room

: Locker Room

: Miami Dolphins

: Miami Dolphins Giveaways

: Dolphins Beer $2

: Designated Driver

: Tap Room

: First game badges and certificates

: Size Me Up

: Fan Help Area

: Tunnel Run

: Concessions

: Locker Room

: Dolphins Beer

: Dolphins Makeover

: Oblivious Cam

: Tiny House Party

: Local food is a focus

: Miami Dolphins

: Photo Ops

: Dolphins Photo Ops

: Tiny House Party

: Driving into the stadium

: Pre game at HR Stadium

: Locker Room

: Tiny House Party

: Tiny House Party

: Photo Ops

: This view!

: Local artists work is featured around the stadium

: Driving into the stadium

: Tap Room

: Miami Dolphins Combine

: Uber Tailgate

: Dolphins Photo Ops

: Race the truck

: 4th quarter

: Photo Ops

: Push the truck

: Miami Dolphins

: Miami Dolphins

: Dolphins Fan Combine

: Concessions

: Dolphins Makeover

How Sports Teams Are Using Podcasts To Engage Their Fans in 2016

Podcasting and the consumption of audio on demand continues to rise in 2016 with time spent listening and user growth continuing to be on the up as brands and every day people start podcasts to showcase their passion and insights to their followers.

Podcasts made their biggest splash yet last year with the percentage of listeners being larger than ever before and with greater public awareness you didn’t have to explain what a podcast was before recommending your favourite shows.

Gone are the days when you needed expensive microphones, fully kitted out sound studios or code tangling software as podcasts in 2016 are being created professionally on smaller budgets meaning that it’s more accessible for both major sports teams, every day small businesses and people just like you and I to create. Less time and money spent on expensive equipment and arduous editing means more and more people are coming into this space at a rapid pace. Put simply, podcasting has become available for anyone to get started on a show that interests them.

But why has podcasting become such a buzz medium over the past two years, especially as it’s been around for such a long time? For instance, I remember my Behavioural Studies lecturers at the University of Queensland uploading lecture podcasts to our online portal in 2004. Naturally podcast consumption has risen because of our access to smart phones (and possibly larger data plans!) where we can now access our favourite podcasts on the go when we want, which is also due to podcast apps just like ours at audioBoom. Podcasts also enable a level of intimacy for a listener to drift off and dive into niche subject matter or conversely multi-task with other activities. Finally, podcasting now has a clear avenue for monetisation meaning big and smaller players in this market have a new revenue stream and as we’re seeing first hand, this is growing fast with advertisers realising the potential of audio on demand.

At audioBoom we work with hundreds of global sports teams from big players in the English Premier League and NFL to grassroots clubs in local competitions from all around the world. The benefits of using podcasts and other audio content to engage your fans are endless with the content that is being created often focusing on compelling storytelling and exclusive and intimate access that fans are not often privy to and which in the end drive deeper connections between the team and their fans.

Major international sporting clubs are using audioBoom because not only do we host and distribute their audio we also provide insightful deeper analytics and monetise this content through our diverse advertising solutions involving live reads, video, audio and companion advertising. Moreover audioBoom posts play natively on social media while our crisp custom embeds integrate very well on web pages. We deliver over 30,000 hours of content to over 30m people every month and generate over 35m monthly listens and we do all of this while being free to use.

Below are a few content examples of how teams use audio on audioBoom to engage their fans while this handy ideas sheet I put together details 100 ideas that sporting teams can use to engage their fans with audio.

100 audioBoom Fan Engagement Ideas

Podcasts

Leicester City Football Club (English Premier League)

Essendon Bombers Football Club (AFL) ‘Bomber Radio’

Geelong Cats (AFL) ‘PodCats’

Carlton Blues (AFL) ‘Two Tones’

Road To The Draft (AFL)

Brisbane Lions (AFL) ‘From The Players Lounge’

West Coast Eagles (AFL) ‘Back Chat’

Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus Blue Jackets

Previews

Rugby.com.au (Australia ARU)

West Bromwich Albion (Premier League)

Harlequins (Rugby Union)

Brisbane Lions (AFL)

Match Reports

Aston Villa (English Premier League)

Stoke City (Premier League)

Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)

Cricket New Zealand BlackCaps

Exclusive Interviews

NZ All Blacks (Rugby Union)

Birmingham City FC

Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL)

Match Day Audio Updates

Australian Open (Tennis)

FIFA Women’s World Cup

Game Highlights
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)

Warrington Wolves (Super League)

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

War Cry’s

Essendon Bombers (AFL)

ICC Cricket World Cup

Radio Interviews

Collingwood Magpies (AFL)

Adelaide Crows (AFL)

On the go recording

Western Sydney Wanderers (A-League)

Victorian Racing Club- Melbourne Cup Horse Racing

Fan Chats

Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL)

A-League

FIFA Women’s World Cup

Socceroos

Press Conferences

St Kilda (AFL)

Brisbane Roar (A-League)

West Ham United (English Premier League)

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (Super League)

Fan Engagement

Socceroos

Carlton Blues (AFL)

Carlton also engage their fans with exclusive on demand audio through their audioBoom channel as part of their Blues Wall of Fame at Ikon Park the club have installed a beautifully tiled wall of famous players and moment which each have a QR Code that links back to an audioBoom post therefore meaning that a fan can come out to the club and use their phone to interact with the feature while also hearing interesting insights and sounds from that era as they walk along.

Carlton Fan Engagement audioBoom Wall of Fame

Hockey Australia- 12 Days of Hockey

Hockey Australia had fans record in their own piece of audio commentary calling a game as part of their 12 days of hockey in the lead up to Christmas

Hockey Australia

audioBoom Recording Widget For Fan Interaction

Carlton Blues (AFL) ‘Thank 5’

Gold Coast Suns (AFL) ‘Voice of The Suns’

Team Speeches

Western Bulldogs (AFL)

Melbourne Demons (AFL)

Club Songs

Sydney Swans (AFL)

Community Engagement

St Kilda (AFL)

If you’re at a team and want to know how we can help you engage your fans through audio get in touch with me at Blair@audioBoom.com and be sure to check out our business site here for more information http://choose.audioboom.com/

Fan Engagement 2015 Year In Review: 101 Global Fan Engagement Activations

What a year 2015 has been for fan engagement in the sports business.

From digital delights to giveaways galore 2015 has seen some outstanding fan engagement activations from across the globe. With innovative and fan first ideas ranging from the areas of ticketing, virtual reality, merchandise and food to iBeacon’s, fitness and 3D printing, clubs and stadiums have been working hard to listen and increase the emotional loyalty amongst fans and drive deeper connections through storytelling between all parties.

As a passionate fan engagement and sports fan, I wanted to highlight the impressive work that has been produced in 2015 by putting together a brief (ok it’s pretty extensive actually) summary of some of the best global fan engagement ideas from this year and shine a light on the hard working marketing, digital and fan engagement teams who do so much for their members and fans across the world.

This is in no particular order and is by no means the definitive list of the ‘best in fan engagement’ from this year however it should be viewed as a launch pad for a discussion about what else was brilliant in fan engagement from 2015.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on anything I’ve missed and I’ll add them to my 2800+ fan engagement Pinterest board here: Blair’s Fan Engagement Ideas Pinterest Board.

Finally, a big thank you to all of my sports business and fan engagement followers and colleagues who constantly share ideas.

Without further delay, let’s get started.

1. The LA Dodgers always have some of the best fan giveaways with this year’s including a Hispanic heritage night, social media night ‘Back to the Future’ Movie night and Running night, Pups at the Park as well as giveaways that included fans getting their hands on one of 10,000 free yoga mats at Dodger Stadium.

LA Dodgers

2. As part of NRL Grand Final week the NRL hosted an epic fan zone called NRL Nation at Darling Harbour in Sydney. The site featured digital activations, signing sessions, photo opportunities and much more. NRL Nation

NRL Nation

3. The 49er’s created an interesting ’Ninerfier’ contraption in conjunction with Levi’s that saw fans get ’Ninerfied’ before heading into Levi’s Stadium. The team also gave out free shirts on the opening game day, launched their Twitter vending machine and kept evolving the fan experience with their app that features loyalty rewards as part of the Faithful 49 and also shows you the fastest moving toilet lines! Faithful 49

49ers/ Levis Stadium

49ers

49ers/ Levis Stadium

4. Super Rugby team Western Force held a ‘Superhero Saturday’ themed event which let fans in for free if they wore a superhero costume. Super Hero Saturday

Western Force

5. Sporting Kansas City allowed fans to pass around their US Open Cup trophy through the whole crowd at Sporting Park for their MLS game in October.

Sporting Kansas City

6. Melbourne Storm gave fans the chance to have their name on the team banner and win seat upgrades on the centre line in a private bar. Furthermore Melbourne also let young fans engage in a junior reporter type activation. The Storm also led the way in increasing loyalty among their members with their Lightning Rewards program. More on this here Lightning Rewards

Melbourne Storm

7. Ronda Rousey had a cool activation called #WalkoutWithRonda for the UFC fight against Holly Holm in Melbourne, Australia.

Ronda Rousey UFC

8. The Brisbane Broncos held a live video signing of a new player. Brisbane Broncos contract signing

Brisbane Broncos

9. The Seattle Sounders march to CenturyLink Field is a fan engagement masterpiece that needs to be experienced and continues to grow every MLS season.

Seattle Sounders

10. Carlton Blues used audioBoom’s recording widget to have fans record in their message of thanks to retiring player Chris Judd. The Blues also used audioBoom to record over 100 short audio biographies of club legends and then put these into QR codes around the club house on colourful plaques to encourage fans to visit the club and use their phones to access this special historical team content.

Carlton also held a 90’s themed game to commemorate the 1995 Grand Final win and they even dropped everything in the club shop by 19.95%. Furthermore their ‘bongo cam’ which sees fans play the bongos on the imaginary drums was a good laugh while the Virgin Australia activation which saw a virtual plane fly around the outside fence was also impressive as it saw a whole row of fans pick up a free return flight to the US.

Carlton Blues

11. Boston Celtics featured a game called ’Shot in the Dark’ that had a fan blindfolded while shooting at the hoops for a prize at the TD Garden.

Boston Celtics

12. Western Australian AFL teams Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles held good fan engagement initiatives such as the #FlyTheFlag and #TheWestIsFinals that had fans participating on social media.

West Coast Eagles

Fremantle Dockers

13. The 2015 Rugby World Cup saw over half a million fans come into the 15 fan zones around England. RWC Fan Zones

Rugby World Cup 2015

14. Cricket Australia and beer company VB teamed up to call on fans to earn a place in the Australian cricket team by having their name on the jersey. Fans are able to nominate the person who has inspired them to work hard and take action. The most inspiring stories will win their nominee’s name on the shirt of an Australian cricket player for the VB ODI series this summer. VB promotion

Cricket Australia/ VB

15. New fan zones from Sunderland, Chelsea and West Bromich Albion all gave their respective fans extra value on Premier League game days.

Chelsea FC Stamford Bridge

Sunderland AFC

16. The Melbourne Cricket Ground listened to fans and lowered the prices of food and drinks and saw massive rises in consumption. The consumption of hot pies increased by over 130,000 units, chips were up 37% (150,000 additional sales) and salads also went up by over 130%. MCG food prices a big hit with fans

MCG

17. Pittsburgh Steelers held a women’s training camp. Steelers Women’s Training Camp

Pittsburgh Steelers

18. A-League club Melbourne City streamed real time data and statistics from GPS tracking devices to fans during matches this season by transmitting the information directly to the scoreboard video screen at home matches and made the data available on social media apps and its website. Game data to stream live for Melbourne City football fans

19. The NY Mets let fans had a ‘Beer Passport’ for fans who could sample various New York craft beers at Citi Field.

NY Mets/ Citi Field

20. EA Sports asked fans of the Australian women’s football team, the Matilda’s to choose the player for the cover of FIFA15. EA Sports Matilda’s

EA Sports/ Matildas

21. Orlando City SC put fans faces in their squad numbers on the back of their jerseys.

Orlando City SC

22. Melbourne Demons asked young fans to submit a book review which was an educational bit of fan engagement. Melbourne Demons Book Review

Melbourne Demons

23. The NFL’s Baltimore Raven’s created emoji’s for fans. Raven’s Emoji’s

Baltimore Ravens

24. The QLD Firebirds ANZ Championship netball team provided free healthy recipes for fans such as nutritious bean burritos and chicken bites.

QLD Firebirds

25. Copa America changed some of Chile’s bus shelters to resemble goals in the lead up to the event.

Copa America

26. Sydney’s Allianz Stadium offered free pies to fans who used their mobile food ordering app. Allianz Stadium pie deal

Allianz Stadium

27. While Match.com and MLB.com teamed up in 2014 to give singles another reason to cheer during the season by giving members the opportunity for single baseball fans to connect online, the Atlanta Hawks encouraged fans to use the mobile app Tinder to transform Philips Arena into a premier social networking hub in the NBA as part of their “Swipe Right Night”. Atlanta Hawks Tinder Night

Hawks Tinder Night

MLB Singles

28. The FFA Cup let fans choose the football design for the ball used in the 2016 club competition. Design the Westfield FFA Cup 2016 ball!

FFA Cup

29. The St Louis Ram’s NFL team created a wellness zone for fans at their stadium complete with football skills drills and healthy nutrition tips. St Louis Rams Wellness Zone

St Louis Rams

30. The Central Coast Mariners paid homage to their coastal traditions and history by honouring the Central Coast Life Saving Association with this special jersey for fans. 500km up the road, fellow A-League club the Newcastle Jets did something similar with their Australian Air Force inspired kit for fans. CC Mariners SLS Jersey

CC Mariners

Newcastle Jets Air Force Jersey

31. The NJ Devils held a cross fit workout session for fans at The Prudential Centre ahead of their NHL match.

NJ Devils

32. The Australian Diamonds wrote fans a sick note pass for fans to give to their employers for the Netball World Cup after their win.

Australian Diamonds

33. The El Paso Chihuahuas held their Wiener Dog Race. I’ll just leave it at that.

34. The Cricket World Cup and Tui teamed up to give fans the chance to win 1M by buying a $30 ‘bullseye’ shirt and money if they caught a six. The $30 shirt, part of the Tui Catch a Million promotion, encouraged cricket fans to purchase the shirt and attempt to cleanly catch a ball for their chance to win up to $1 million.

Cricket World Cup 2015

35. The Gwinnett Braves let pregnant fans into CoolRay Field for the game and then added that if you went into labour during the game that your child would get a lifetime of free birthday parties from the team. Gwinnett Braves

Gwinnett Braves

36. The NSW Blues rugby league team had fans names on their jerseys in conjunction with beer company VB.

NSW BLUES

37. The San Francisco Giants printed ‘first game’ certificates for fans at AT&T Park.

SF Giants

38. Sydney Swans and ANZ Stadium gave free massages to fans at their AFL games.

Sydney Swans/ ANZ Stadium

39. The NY Islanders held their Beard-A-Thon which is acelebration of the great tradition of the playoff beard. Beard-a-thon® was launched in 2009 and since then, over $3 million has been raised for all participating NHL team charities.

NY Islanders

40. Richmond Tigers let fans design their own AFL trading card. Richmond Tigers Footy Cards

Richmond Tigers

41. The Rugby World Cup ticket design introduced a Rugby World Cup first as it used augmented reality technology as part of the ticket design to enable fans to engage with the tournament through interactive content. RWC 2015 Augmented Reality App

Rugby World Cup 2015

42. The Australian F1 Grand Prix again produced a fan engagement masterclass with in excess of 100 various activations that fans could participate in. However the one that I enjoyed seeing the most and which cost nothing to facilitate was when the gates to the circuit were opened to the fans who then proceeded to bolt to the finishing line while collecting leftover bits of race car tyre rubber along the way.

AUS GP F1

43. The 49ers and SAP had a few fun virtual reality activations at Levi’s Stadium that included the ‘Quarterback Challenge’.

49ers/ Levis Stadium

44. Geelong gave a free jersey away to fans who signed up to a three game Cats AFL membership

Geelong

45. Charlton Athletic in London put a couch on their sideline for fans to get up close and personal at the game.

Charlton

46. The NRL Bulldogs let fans be the game day photographer and also created a private Instagram account to unveil the 2016 jersey. BULLDOGS USE PRIVATE INSTAGRAM TO LAUNCH 2016 JERSEY

Bulldogs NRL

Bulldogs

47. Chelsea FC and the Netball World Cup’s Australian Diamonds created fan zones that featured digital print out’s of fans with star players as a memorable keepsake.

Chelsea FC Stamford Bridge

AUS Diamonds

48. The All Blacks and sponsor AIG created the AIG HAKA 360 that in their words ‘Combining a love of rugby with a passion and commitment to innovation for its customers, AIG is pleased to bring Virtual Reality (VR) innovation to All Blacks fans through our branded Haka 360° campaign. The virtual Haka 360° experience app directly connects fans with dynamic All Blacks content which can be brought to life with the use of VR headsets. Imagine standing on the pitch amongst the All Blacks pre-match, watching the team performing the traditional Maori Haka up close. This is the thrill the Haka 360° app and headset delivers.’ All Blacks 360 Haka

All Blacks

49. The Toronto Raptors held #DrakeNight and had perks such as a “Hotline Bling” booth where fans could film their own gif-worthy dance moves within the video’s colourful confines. Those moves were then shown on the Raptors’ official Vine account. Drake Night

Raptors Drake Night

50. The Gold Coast Titans held a rock and roll night and created a ‘fan of the match’ while bringing back classics like ‘catch the bomb’.

GC Titans

51. The LA Kings and StubHub combined at the Staples Centre to have fans create their own commemorative ticket by going into a ticket booth and adding different features on a touch pad.

LA Kings

LA Kings/ StubHub

52. AFL team Collingwood Magpies gave out free polaroid photos to fans at the MCG.

Collingwood

53. The Detroit Tigers and DooB teamed up to turn fans into 3D models. At a Tigers game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, fans could undergo the “DOOB-lication” process that begins with posing in a 3-D-scanning system with 54 high-definition cameras to capture every angle. After the scan, the photos are sent to DOOB’s processing facility in Brooklyn. The printing process takes up to 18 hours with the curing process adds another week. Tigers fans being turned into 3-D models

DooB Detroit Tigers

54. ANZ Stadium created the ‘Fanometer’ that let fans vote to see if Tottenham or Sydney FC would own the Sydney Harbour Bridge with their team colours.

Fanometer

55. The O2 and the Rugby World Cup worked together to feature fans names on the roof of the O2 for the ‘Wear The Rose’ campaign. The roof was transformed into a giant, blooming rose and a canvas for fans tweets. England fans can have their own messages of support projected onto The O2 roof

Rugby World Cup 2015

56. The NBL hosted an educational night for coaches to attend and learn from the NBL coaches.

NBL

57. Doncaster Rover’s #MyLocalScream Halloween themed match invited fans to mingle with mascot Donny Dog and the first team players in a day of scary fun, including ghost walks, spooky stories and a special Halloween party with the players in the Belle Vue Bar after the match. MY LOCAL SCREAM

Doncaster Rovers

58. The Netball World Cup in Sydney featured a brilliant FanFEST that included in excess of 25 interactive, digital and netball themed activations ranging from a nail and hair salon and chill out lounge to skills zones, daily netball fitness sessions and digital lip sync battles that were so popular that every national team squad ended up joining in and doing their own rendition to Taylor Swift’s hit tune ‘Shake It Off’. The creation of the fan experience started long before the tournament with the NWC website offering fans the chance to choose the official on court music playlist, bib bunting for the fan caves of those who could not attend and the establishment of a netball fan dictionary to educate newcomers to the sport. FanFEST also included digital activations from The Creative Shop such as the Fan’s MVP where fans could select their player of the tournament on a digital touch screen, ‘Cover the Court’ where fans could test their footwork, the virtual reality ‘Perfect Pass‘ game which tested fans passing skills and the ‘Cheer Cam’ which enabled fans to record their celebrations to Australia’s previous Netball World Cup wins.

2015 Netball World Cup

59. The Tennessee Titans NFL team held a Football 101 day for female fans. Football 101

Tennessee Titans

60. The A-League had a great fan engagement concept for the A-League Grand Final where they let fans choose a food item for sale in the stadium, who would sing the national anthem, have a say in the man of the match voting, vote on what song the band Peking Duk would play as well as decide what the ‘walk out’ song would be when the teams made their way to the field. It was all part of Hyundai’s Letting the Fans Choose campaign. A-League Grand Final Fan Engagement

61. Leicester City and Walker’s combined to create a special ‘Vardy Salted’ packet of chips for fans of Premier League record breaking goal scorer Jamie Vardy and then had these available for fans along with a note of thanks in every seat.

LCFC

62. The Wallabies and Qantas gave fans the chance to choose the design of the Qantas plane that would send the Wallabies over to London for the Rugby World Cup.

Wallabies

63. Scotland’s Hearts of Midlothian football club unveiled a new kit that featured all 8,000 names of supporters who rescued club from extinction and who donated at least £120 to the rescue fund. Hearts Fan Jersey

Hearts

64. The WS Wanderers teamed up a licensing deal with rockers KISS to run a limited edition of merch. WSW and KISS

WSW

65. The Jacksonville Jaguars were the first NFL team to release their own video game. It’s called “Duval Dash,” named after the county that Jacksonville finds itself in. The game at com is an 8-bit game. Jags Duval Dash

Duval Dash Jags

66. The Australian Ice Hockey League gave fans free rides to the games through Uber.

AIHL

67. The Seattle Sounders let fans design the 2016 scarf design. Sounders Scarf Design

Seattle Sounders

68. Hawthorn Hawks hid a jersey in a park for fans to find and the results were TV gold (and brown)! How this only has 400 odd views is beyond me.

69. The Football League created the ‘Own The Arch’ Twitter campaign to see which team could get the most support. Here you can see Tottenham’s attempt as #SpursAtWembley. Fans given chance to ‘own the arch’ through Twitter vote

Wembley Stadium

70. The Australian Open Tennis featured a plethora of fan engagement activations however one of the best was the Twitter vending machine that let fans tweet away and receive a code back that they could then use for the vending machine which would in turn drop a prize for fans.

Australian Open Tennis

71. The Cleveland Browns gave a fan the chance to host and interview players (along with free food) as part of their official podcast.

Browns

72. Auckland’s Eden Park and AirBNB combined to offer fans the chance to stay over at the stadium while the Sydney Swans and the SCG did the same thing in Sydney.

Sydney Swans & AirBNB

All Blacks/ Eden Park

73. LAFC asked fans to choose the colours of the team’s design scheme from five colours.

LAFC

74. Taranaki Rugby Club had players sleep over night at fans houses.

Taranaki Rugby Club

75. The Rugby World Cup and Gilbert teamed up to run the #PassItOn campaign that had fans send in a video of themselves receiving and giving a pass of a Gilbert Rugby ball.

Rugby World Cup 2015

76. The All Blacks and Air New Zealand music video for #CrazyAboutRugby was one of the best music/safety videos created.

77. The Seattle Seahawks had a ’Nail Your Gameday’ activation where fans could pick up nail polish in the colours of the team.

Seattle Seahawks

78. The BlackCaps cricket team released a ‘leave pass’ for fans to give to their bosses for the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

BlackCaps

79. The NJ Devils and a host of other teams all had a designated driver program which gives fans a free soft drink if they sign up to drive their friends home.

80. The moving sideline contraption ‘SlideLiner‘ was a feature at the Real Madrid Vs Manchester City match at the MCG.

MCG SlideLiner

81. The Pittsburgh Penguins and CONSOL Energy Center used ibeacon technology to create a beacon-triggered experience for fans that sent them content that is location specific by way of the Penguins app. Once fans are in the arena, the beacon-triggered content is released, greeting the device users with special content. Once they reach the Mario Lemieux statue, an interactive experience is launched and they are provided with various types of discounts and offers for concessions.

82. The NRL Dragons had a social media booth at their Allianz Stadium game where fans could grab a picture in a special camera booth.

St George Illawarra Dragons

83. The Washington Redskins app gave season ticket holders the team news before the media received the news. Redskins App

Redskins

84. Twitter teamed up with the Aussie cricket team for the Cricket World Cup to send back twitter replies to fans who tweeted the team a message of support. The pic that came back featured your name on the back of the team jersey. Similar activations of thanks via twitter replies were also used by the Aussie Diamonds netballers, the Matilda’s and the Wallabies for their big tournaments.

Twitter/ Australian Sports

85. The NY Jets had a ‘Make Your Own Bobblehead’ activation at MetLife Stadium that saw fans create a digital bobble head version of themselves. NJ Jets Game Day

NY Jets/ Metlife Stadium

86. The MCG hosted ‘Sunday Fundays’ which let kids into the ground for free for Sunday AFL games and also featured a ‘kick to kick’ on the ground after the match and a special kids meal deal with free trading cards. AFL Sunday Funday

MCG

87. The 49er’s Uplause decibel reader at Levis Stadium and at other stadiums and arenas in the US greatly added to fans creating more noise and support in the stadium with this snap of the crowd reaching 111.1 at the 49ers being deafening.

49ers/ Levis Stadium

88. Fan Zones at the Auckland Nines, NRL Grand Final, Aus Open, Cricket World Cup and AFL Grand Final were large and successful fan engagement activations.

CWC15

Auckland 9’s

AFL

89. The FA Cup asked fans to take a snap during the FA Cup games with the winning picture to feature on the Cup final ticket. Get your Instagram photo on Emirates FA Cup Final tickets

FA Cup

90. Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand listened to fans and brought in NZ craft beers for Wellington Phoenix game days. LOCAL WELLINGTON CRAFT BEER AT PHOENIX HOME GAMES

Westpac Stadium

91. The NFL’s Vikings and 49ers engaged in a ‘Vine Off’ and executed what is the first collaborative Vine exchange in professional sports. On Monday Night Football Stage, Vikings And 49ers Strategically Execute First ‘Vine-Off’

92. The MLB introduced ’SnapBat’ which was a red and white baseball bat that took selfies of fans and players.

Snap Bat MLB

93. For the first time ever, fans decided the AT&T MLS All-Star captain using Snapchat. Fans had to take a screenshot of the player they wanted to be captain with one screenshot equalling one vote. For the first time ever, fans will decide the AT&T MLS All-Star captain using Snapchat

MLS

94. US Open fans were able to try to return Maria Sharapova’s 100mph serve via virtual reality. US Open Fan Engagement

95. The LA Kings had a neat virtual reality set up at Staples Centre whereby you could have your pic taken standing in front of a screen and then afterwards the mascot or player were in the picture with you. More on this here: Toshiba is pleased to feature PictureMe app in LA Interactive located next to the Figueroa Bar on the main concourse of STAPLES Center. This new mobile app is allows fans to take photos with ‘digital doubles’ of star Kings players. Operated from a media console embedded within Toshiba’s 65-inch Touch and Get kiosk, the augmented reality app projects a digital image of the selected player adjacent to the fan allowing for a memory-making photo opp. Kings introduce new off-ice elements as season begins

LA Kings

LA Kings/ Staples Centre

96. Taranaki Rugby Club had an offer whereby if a player scored four or more tries then every fan received free hot chips.

Taranaki Rugby Club

97. The Tampa Bay Bucs launched RED which was a new campaign aimed to “celebrate the female fan base’ that featured game-day style tips to experiencing the Bucs all-new virtual reality quarterback training technology. RED Women’s Movement – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Bucs

98. The MLB had a Twitter lock down to celebrate National Coffee Day meaning that only MLB followers could access the deals and giveaways.

MLB

99. Major League Soccer team NYCFC let fans choose the captain’s armband design.

NYCFC

100. Hibernian asked for fan input into what colour they wanted for their 2016/17 home strip. Hibs fans asked to pick favourite shade of green for new home shirt

Hibernian

101. Proving just how simple and easy fan engagement can be, the Seattle Sounders MLS team had a ‘Smile Cam’ at their fan appreciation day in October.

Seattle Sounders/ CenturyLink Field

Thanks for reading.

Please feel free to share your ideas from the year that was in fan engagement.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

San Francisco 49ers and Levis Stadium Fan Experience

49ers

It’s 2am and I’m up to catch a 5am flight from Kansas City to San Francisco for today’s 49ers game in Santa Clara. Today is going to be a long day of travel and probably one of the longest ‘away days’ I’ve done. I had a 530am flight to Phoenix, Arizona with a two hour lay over and then a direct flight to San Fran. By the time I make it to San Francisco it’s 10am. I make the quick trek to my hotel, dump the bags and then hit the ground running for what would prove to be another two and a bit hours of travel to the 49ers Levis Stadium.

49ers

Transportation

I make my way to San Francisco’s Union Station in downtown San Fran and pay US$20.50 for a day return which takes me to Levis Stadium. The huge CalTrain disembarks at 1pm packed with fans heading out early to the 5.35pm Thursday Night Football game and passes through 20 odd stations before we all disembark and cross the tracks for a small light rail type train to then take in another 20 odd stops to Mountain View station where Levis Stadium is located. It surely is a decent effort (100km or so) to get from downtown San Francisco to the stadium however with fellow NFL fans to talk to and a clean, safe and smooth ride in this modern transport it’s really quite a breeze.

49ers

Parking and Tailgate Set Up

I step off the train at Mountain View station, walk across the platform and the car park ($60 US per car to tailgate) and stadium are in full view and it is a sight to behold. This is a stadium which greatly defines what an outstanding fan experience is all about and as I had heard a lot about it, it was thrilling to finally be able to experience it. As I walk in I start to feel thirsty so kindly ask the first tailgater I see in if I could buy a beer off him. Without hesitation he reaches into his huge esky packed with beers, soft drinks, waters (any good tailgater knows you have to be smart with the fluids!) and the biggest Grey Goose I’ve ever seen and hands me a beer and a handshake. It’s this type of hospitality that the tailgate is famous for as within the next few minutes we’re both being offered BBQ meats, seafood and other football food staples I stay for an hour or so talking about the success of Jarryd Hayne, fan engagement, life in the US and the tailgating experience before heading into the stadium but not after the guys had given me a few more beers to get set for the night.

As I leave the car park tailgating area and head into the stadium I notice that there’s a substantial bicycle area for fans who have chosen to ride to the stadium. I remember seeing something similar at Aston Villa’s Villa Park in Birmingham in the past so it’s great to see that the stadium is accommodating to those fans who chose a healthy way to get here today.

49ers

Levis Stadium and 49ers App’s

I had previously downloaded both the extensive 49ers and Levis Stadium app and was excited to test these two out today, especially as they are integrated with one another on game day.

49ers

Mobile Ticketing

After extensive security procedures that included walking through the metal detector followed by a metal detector wand search and finally a pat down I was able to continue entering the stadium. Opening the Levis Stadium app I was able to view my ticket and scan the QR code at the electronic check point to enter the stadium.

Using today’s hashtag and the app, my name was then displayed on the screens inside the stadium which was a very cool feature, especially as the app sent me a notification informing me that my ‘check in’ was coming up on the screens. As other’s have mentioned the beauty of this is that fans can be rewarded for their first, 50th or 100th visit for example by the NiNerds.

49ers

NiNERDS

Just as you pass through the mobile ticketing area you are greeted by the NiNerds reps who are on hand to help fans with any stadium related queries they may have. From finding your seat to where you can purchase a gluten free vegan hotdog these guys are helpful, tech savvy and are here to look after the needs of fans. I had a great chat at the gates with Michael and Noemi but also later noticed them running around during the game helping fans with queries.

49ers

Way-Finding

One of the best features in the app is the way-finding element which directs you right to your seat inside the stadium using GPS. While I normally get a kick out of doing a full inside and outside walk around a stadium, this was a great feature that gets fans to their seats quickly.

49ers

WiFi

Free WiFi which was super fast all day long even with 70,000 here today. It made ordering food and drinks, way-finding, mobile ticketing etc all very easy. The only thing this stadium or future stadiums need now is retractable USB charges under or in front of your seats.

Cup Holders

Every seat has a cup holder. Just brilliant to keep your beer cold.

49ers

Food

The food options inside Levi’s Stadium rival that of some of the best stadiums for food that I’ve visited in the past such as Yankee Stadium and the MCG.

Fans have the option of over 180 items such as garlic fries, pizzas, burgers, pretzels, hot dogs, curries, steamed buns, burritos, asian style rice bowls and BBQ fare as well as having the option to either have their food delivered to their seat or grabbing it through express pick up. It was also interesting to see a over 14 vegan food concessions and other healthy options throughout the stadium as well as plenty of craft beer varieties to choose from.

49ers

In-Seat Ordering

An aspect of the app which I was keen to test was the in-seat ordering for food and drinks. While I have tried these a few times in the US in the past, this was by far the best example of how to do this.

I started by going into the app’s in-seat ordering section. Food was fairly priced for stadium food with a fee of $5US attached to in-seat ordering which does seems a bit high (but not if you’re ordering a stack of stuff).

While there are only about 15 options to choose from (drinks, hot food, snacks) I was able to select a hotdog and gatorade, punch in my credit card details and see where the food would come from. I hit one hurdle in that I had to fake a US postcode (11111 worked) where it asks for the address details that match your credit card because my 4 digit Australian postcode was not allowing the process to continue. It obviously makes no difference though as my order was processed. This part of the app is incredibly user friendly and all in all took 90 seconds to order (after I realised I needed to make my postcode 5 digits. I guess though if you didn’t know US postcodes are 5 digits then you’d have an issue). I set the timer on my phone and watched as the app screen moved from ‘order processed’ to ‘being prepared’ to ‘en route’.

I’ve got to say that it was a pretty cool sight to watch as the Levi’s Stadium staffer walked down the aisles with a bag holding my food and drink. As Shane Harmon mentioned in his look at Levi’s Stadium a few months back, this whole process still involves a human and the one issue that that human has is that after they come down to your row they then need to identify you and get your items to you. I was in the middle of the row, about 15 seats in and although I had been watching her walk down the aisle I was able to gesture to her ‘Yep, Blair? Yep that’s my order’. The issue here and it’s obviously not a massive one, but the delivery person then needs to come all the way into your row/seat and check your phone’s order screen to see that they are delivering the items to the right person. In a way this means that they get in the way of other fans however this was a 5 second job and I doubt that it affected fans sight angles.

So how long did it take for me to order, the food to be prepared and then delivered right to my seat? 18 minutes and 31 seconds! Outstanding in my opinion and an element every stadium needs so that fans never miss any of the action or have to wait in lines. The hotdog was tasty, piping hot and came with mustard, ketchup and relish while the gatorade was ice cold. The $5 fee is probably a bit steep for just two items but if you’ve got a group of mates ordering a stack of food and drinks then it’s nothing.

49ers

Restroom Way-Finding

A cool function of the Levi’s Stadium app is the way-finding function in the ‘Around Me’ section of the app to show you which toilets are the closet and which have the shortest queues. I asked some of the NiNERD’s how they work out which lines are the shortest and input that into the app and was amazed to hear that there is a person standing outside each restroom area who feeds this information into the app. Again a process that needs a human to facilitate the task however a very cool feature that is thinking about fans first.

49ers

Fan Engagement Activations (Around Levi’s Stadium concourse)

Two hours until kick off and the concourse fan zone areas are pumping with people running around between sponsor activations and picking up freebies left, right and centre. The 49er’s sponsor stands are complimented by food trucks, bars and diverse fan zones.

I start by checking out the ’Ninerfier’ Levi’s activation which has fans put a piece of their 49er’s gear on a mobile conveyor belt type contraption (I mean seriously, how do I describe what this thing is!) and watching it pass through various odd but colourful elements before coming off the conveyor belt and being ’Ninerfied’. Fans receive a ’Ninerfied’ pin and then have their photo taken as a memento. An interesting bit of fan engagement that really goes back to the idea of fan culture and being granted approval (‘You’re now Ninerfied!’) of sorts by the team.

I pick up a free sign and calendar from CSN and then move on to the SunPower stand where I score a free set of 49ers sunnies just by playing a bit of trivia with their quiz activation. While I wasn’t a 49ers member, 49’ers members are able to earn points by checking in every 20 minutes at the Faithful 49er’s stand. I couldn’t see myself doing this every 20 minutes to earn rewards but I’m sure hardcore fans would be taking advantage of every chance to gain points in this program to then put towards prizes and upgrades.

Next was the SAP ‘Quarterback Challenge’ which was the first of a few virtual reality activations that I would see today. Fans had the chance to use Oculus goggles to play a game as a quarterback while over at the Toyota fan zone fans were participating in raffles and a wheel of fortune type game for prizes while TV commentators did a live outside broadcast surrounded by fans. This stand also had dedicated phone charging stations while I also counted heaps of ‘Juice Bar’s’ throughout the stadium that were often surrounded by fans charging their devices and what appeared to be making new friends.

Continuing throughout the various stands I noticed more opportunities for fans to win prizes, enter competitions and receive freebies like packets of chips. At the NRG stand fans could pick up another pair of 49ers sunnies and have a go at snapping their photo with a players face cut out. The photo theme is a constant in fan engagement and there were another two sponsor stands that had prizes for fans who had their pictures taken. The Yahoo Sports stand were giving fans free ‘ Go Niners’ 49er’s rally towels while Intel were encouraging fans to ‘Be The SuperFan’ and have their photo taken with super hero type colours put over the top before being showcased on big screens around the stadium.

A feature that I have seen at a few stadiums was the designated driver stand where fans can opt to be a designated driver and in return they receive a free soft drink and the chance to win prizes. The Levi’s Stadium one was called Good Sports and is sponsored by Bud Light.

49ers

Fan Engagement Activations (Inside Levi’s Stadium)

I made my way inside the stadium and started walking around the venue to see what was on offer for fans.

Making my way to my seat I found a note in the cup holder telling me that our section was going to be participating in a bit of TIFO fun. It was a great sight to watch the banner come down over our heads in the stadium.

I captured the noise meter at the stadium reaching 112.1 which was by far the loudest I had heard at any stadium where they employ this. It was actually that loud that it was almost unbearable in terms of noise, even if it was a good sight to see fans going crazy with their war cries and screams. Every effort is made in these US stadiums and arena’s to ‘Make Some Noise’ and these noise readers really help facilitate that with fans.

Listen to the 49ers fans here

The 49ers offer merch ‘item’s of the game’ throughout the day, show fan’s selfies on the big screen, have a 49er’s band, a fire twirling squad and have game day and post game (provided they win) offers on food and even haircuts too.

There were some more virtual reality activations inside the stadium such as this giant helmet contraption however from my observations, it seemed as though more people just wanted a photo with this than actually participate in the VR feature.

Sponsor’s Verizon had a section for upgrades, SAP had interactive quiz machines while Yahoo had a fantasy sports touch screen wall with trivia and photo opportunities however it was a bit odd to see kids playing this when it’s a gambling type activation.

Listen to the 49er’s drumming band here

49ers

While the actual team needs to start winning on the field, it’s clear that this is one of the best stadiums in the world right now for providing fans with an exceptional fan experience. There are things here that fans can’t get at home therefore Levi’s Stadium are providing interesting aspects that hopefully means more fans are making their way out to the stadium and switching off from their home sports cave experience. From the beacon technology to VR work to the in-seat ordering and toilet line feature and all the little things outside of their impressive app, it’s evident that 49er’s fans have something very special here on game day and I for one can’t wait to get back here to try it all out again.

New York Jets and MetLife Stadium Fan Experience Review

NY JETS

It’s 8am, I’m standing on the platform at Secaucus train station in New Jersey, it’s absolutely freezing but I know today will be an exceptional day of fan experience learning from some of the best in the business.

Today I’m excitedly back at the New York Jets home base of MetLife Stadium to shadow stadium President and CEO Brad Mayne and experience the world class fan experience and fan engagement here.

Hear my thoughts as I waited for the train to MetLife Stadium:

Last year when I did my 2014 US sports PD trek (Read here: I Flew From Australia To America and Went To 14 Games in 22 Days. Here’s What Happened.) I took in a Jets game here and was blown away with how well MetLife Stadium value and look after their patrons as well as being overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the fan engagement activations on offer both inside the stadium and around the concourse of the stadium from the Jets. Today I was again amazed at how outstanding the fan experience and customer service is here.

Back tracking briefly and after riding the 1 downtown to 34 Penn Station and then catching a NJ Transit bound train ($5.50US) from Penn Station to Secaucus, New Jersey I then jumped on the Meadowlands express train which drops you within 10m of the stadium.

NY JETS

By 9am and with four hours still til kick off, the train is packed with Jets fans, some of whom will go to the game and thousands of others carrying eskies, cartons of beers and BBQ meats who will tailgate which is a fan experience all in itself.

Hear the moment the train pulled into meadowlands station:

Stepping off the train and the walk off the train is easy, fully accessible and even with a large crowd it moves fast as you enter the stadium or the tailgate and surrounding areas of which house around 30,000 car spaces. It was interesting to hear that while the stadium is serviced by such high quality transport from both New Jersey and New York City that the vast majority of people travel here by car and that on average it only takes an hour to clear those 30,000 cars and 80,000 fans onto local highways or via public transport. I’ll touch on this later but having left 10 minutes after full time and with thousands of fans still streaming out, I only had to wait 30 minutes to get on the train to start the journey back to New York City.

NY JETS

I didn’t have to walk far to find a cool fan engagement activation from Jets sponsor Chase Bank. The stand involved fans (and all fans, not just Chase card holders) being given a different key to a locker and then opening a locker of their choice and winning whatever prize was in there. I won a rally towel but fans were also winning jerseys and other Jets gear as well.

NY JETS

Next, I met up with hard working and enthusiastic Jess Klepper who works as Brads executive assistant. After a chat about Australian sport, fan engagement and this incredible stadium with Jess and some interns from various universities, I joined Brad on an informative pre-game walk around the venue. Brad took me deep under the MetLife Stadium and talked extensively about the staff training that goes into making the game day experience a memorable day out for fans. Mayne stressed the importance of ‘giving fans all they need’ and looking after them as guests in your house. Wise words from an exceptional leader who I witnessed positively reinforce every staff member he came into contact with as he remembered the names of every cleaner and security or digital staffer as we walked through the stadium.

It was quite interesting to see how this process works as each of his team takes on certain areas throughout the stadium to check that they are clean and ready to go on game day. An integral part about MetLife Stadium’s culture is A.R.T which is about having the right (A) attitude, taking (R) responsibility and working together as a (T) team. I found that Brad (and his team) exemplified these characteristics and demonstrated a positive attitude and excellent leadership as for instance he picked up small scraps of the tiniest pieces of rubbish so that the venue was spotless before gates opened.

NY JETS

Later on I would talk to MetLife Stadium’s Director of Guest Services, Anne Wheat who laid out some brilliant advice on providing a world class fan experience in that ‘if you can’t get the simple things right from the start, then it’s failed as a positive fan experience for the fan. We’re all for fan engagement and if things like parking, finding your seat, transport, food, ticketing all work easily for a fan then the rest is icing on the cake’. Wise words from this guest services leader who truly understands what it means to give fans everything they need to have a safe, fun and memorable day out here.

NY JETS

The fan experience at the Jets is one of the best in the NFL and as I start my walk around the venue I’m instantly overwhelmed with the carnival atmosphere, how presentable the stadium is and how pleasant and helpful the staff are. It was good to hear from Brad that not only do the 80,000 odd fans walk away with a freebie when the Jets or Giants do a free promotional giveaway but all the staff do as well as thousands of items are put aside for them. It really seems like the staff from the top down absolutely love working here and have a lot of passion in ensuring supporters both enter and leave the venue feeling like they received everything they needed and had a memorable experience.

The main fan zone area, MetLife Central was kicking off with heaps of free giveaways, a big screen showing the pre-game action on the field and around the stadium and a marching big band performance all on this miniature astro turfed picnic type NFL pitch where fans can relax, eat and mingle with other fans before kick off. If location services are enabled on the NY Jets app then fans can participate in scavenger hunts around this area as well as receive push notifications for exclusive offers on game day food and merch.

NY JETS

If you take a walk half way round the stadium from MetLife Central, there’s a stage with live bands playing rock anthem music, interactive digital screens showing player stats and insights and more food options. There’s a player and fan appreciation wall that is a good photo opportunity and the photo ops don’t stop there with many other sponsor activations having a photography element in some capacity. In fact it’s all about the photo opportunity and capturing the memorable moments of the day for fans (and the data for the team as well.) But its good to see here that every activity on offer was open to all fans and not just US residents which I have sometimes come across in the past and leaves those fans feeling a bit left out.

NY JETS

Customer Service

Continuing our walk around the venue and Brad shows me the NFL and Jets control rooms with digital teams surrounded with endless with wall to wall HD screens. We pass the MetLife Stadium New Jersey police processing office and the operations team who are busy prepping for the game.

Next is ground level and we’re standing on that perfect green turf in the end zone where Brad is awarding a select group of hardworking game day staff members with a Jets jersey and thanks for their excellent guest services. I have a brief chat to a few of the staff members and again they talk about how they have so much pride in working at the stadium and for Brad who they say greatly respects their efforts and remembers their names. We all know that this type of positive reinforcement, respect and reward system greatly increases the chances of people investing more in the vision. I’ve been a teacher and seen this work with students to improve grades and managed staff in a stadium who once they see the vision go the extra mile. It’s clear that Brad and his team illustrate the very best in leadership around customer service and it’s why fans love this stadium.

NY JETS

Food

As for food, you just cant go wrong here with countless yummy options for all tastes and dietary needs. From standards like pizza and fries to hotdogs and pretzels I was also intrigued by the special food truck like hidden gem area which the stadium uses to try out new food ideas like kebabs, Mediterranean food and other sweet and savoury delicacies.

Brad informs me that last year they trialled a stick of bacon as well as a cheese sandwich which proved so popular people were buying both and making their own creation. Today I also see pizza logs, dumplings and wings. There’s plenty of healthy vegan and vegetarian options as well which is good to see as it’s important to cater for all fans who want to stay healthy at the game.

Walking a little further on and I came across the Jumbo food stand that was serving jumbo bagels (with 4 eggs!), pretzels and hot dogs. The prices speak for themselves as these are designed for 4-6 people or one very hungry jets fan!

NY JETS

Pizza Logs

Jumbo Pretzel

Jumbo Dog

Jets Rewards

One of the first fully app integrated loyalty programs, ‘Jets Rewards’ is a tap and go rewards system for fans that allows them to accumulate points and put it towards exclusive experiences, tickets and merch.

NY JETS

Anonymous Text Line

The stadium has an anonymous text line for fans to let the operations team know of any anti social or poor behaviour around them and fans were even given these badges so that they can alert the appropriate staff to address the issue.

NY JETS

WiFi

This was the second time for me to check out the WiFi here and again I think its the best (even faster and better than Levis Stadium) in the US (Tied with AT&T Stadium in Dallas) because there are no sign up’s meaning no data collection. I don’t mind if I ever have to sign up at a stadium to use the free WiFi but whatever the case if there are barriers or user experience issues then it becomes frustrating. It’s a really positive idea if its free, runs smoothly, is easy to access and get connected and stay connected. I have found that both times at MetLife Stadium the net is faster than my mobile service in Australia, doesn’t drop out and loads pics and videos very easily. Its important to the fan that they have a positive experience with a stadium’s WiFi as its often the first thing they will do when arriving at the stadium so it can really set the tone of their day.

Female Fans

Many teams in the NFL have an equal gender split when it comes to fans following the team. I talked to a few of the female Jets and MetLife Stadium crew members and female Jets fans about why the high female numbers in membership and attendance and some of the comments back were that ‘everything is on offer here’, ‘it’s easily accessible’ and ‘it’s the whole experience’. Talking with Brad and Seth Rabinowitz (Senior VP Marketing/Fan Engagement at NY Jets) later on and this line comes up in conversation ‘If you make the stadium experience so good, then fans have to come!’ and I couldn’t agree more. There is so much on offer here for fans, both male and female of all ages to have a memorable day with the family or their mates. It’s overwhelming fan engagement at times as you want to participate in every activation, but in a good, fun, exciting way.

Fan Experience and Fan Engagement Activations

The fan experience and fan engagement in the stadium featured the following, some of which I snapped pics of on the big screens.

#JetsSelfie (getting fans to post pics of them and their mates)
Salute to service. Today’s defence force hero of the game.
Fantasy stats on player performances provided by FanDuel. Continues the trend of fantasy sports dominating fan’s lives
‘Song of the game’ fans get to vote for the tune of the day via the app. I missed what it was but odds on The Weeknd!!
Food item of the day. Special deal on an item if using the app which was a meatball sub for the bargain price of $7.
Jets Jamz. Getting the fans up and dancing. I swear if I have to listen to ‘I can’t feel my face’ or ‘Hotline Bling’ at a stadium I’m going to lose it. Nah just joking, great tunes!
Outdoor skills tests field where kids young and old can run through the tunnel onto a smaller but realistic NFL field to kick goals and learn other football skills
‘Player of the game’ voting via fans using the Jets app is a fun way for fans to participate
‘ChalkTalk’ is an outside discussion and Q&A with fans and commentators on today’s match
Free rally towels are being given away to fans
There’s a BudLight beer garden with cheap beers and live music
The in app chatting feature of the Jets app is a good way fans can communicate
The emphasis on the crowd cheering along and ‘getting loud’ is such a big part of the experience here so it was obvious for the Jets to have a sound meter measuring fans vocal chords. Its a pretty cool thing to witness as the sound reading rises and rises. 108db was around the highest I saw it get here
One of the cooler activations was where fans could make a digital bobblehead from Pepsi. So basically snapping a picture of their head using facial recognition software, bobblefying it and then fans receive a pic of this afterwards.
Today was ‘Generations Day’ and so fans with 30, 20, 10, 5 or less years as a member were encouraged and asked to stand up and receive a round of applause for their commitment to the team.
There was an award for today’s designated driver of the game. I really love this idea of a DD and think we need to bring this to Australia.
The rocket tee shirt gun was firing free shirts into the crowd and they were going high into the stands!
The free promotional item at today’s game was a Pepsi/Jets magnet and photo frame set however it appeared on walking to the train that many fans just thought it was a magnet as there were hundreds of the cut out left on the grounds.
Jumbo food. Everything’s bigger in the USA!

NY JETS

Transport

Leaving the stadium after 4pm was very easy. I grabbed a free promo item and only had to line up for the train for 30 minutes to first get back to Seacacus. At Seacacus it can be a bit tight as thousands of fans board to head back to NYC Penn St but overall it was surprisingly fast to get out of MetLife Stadium and back to Manhattan.

Conclusions

The fan experience at MetLife Stadium and the fan engagement fun from the NY Jets are both world class. From state of the art technology, extremely authentic customer service and an overwhelming array of fun things to do for fans of all ages, these two businesses deserve more praise as they are continuing to set the bar for what the ultimate fan experience should be.

Hear the NY Jets fans here

*Thanks to Brad, Jess, Seth, Anne and others who took me behind the scenes and under their wing today to experience everything MetLife Stadium and the Jets have to offer.

**I didn’t try the 4 egg bagel

***How good are the Jets going! 4/1

Fordham Rams Coffey Field Fan Experience Review

Fordham Rams Bronx

On Saturday morning I headed out to The Bronx to take a look at the NCAA Patriot League at Fordham University in the Fordham Ram’s home game against Holy Cross.

Fordham Rams Bronx

After a bit of subway strolling through the 1 and 6 line and then a decent two mile walk from Fordham Rd subway to the University grounds I was within sight of the field and could hear the marching band’s trumpets playing as I approached. Here them now:

Fordham Rams Bronx

I walked through the university grounds, found the gates to the stadium and purchased a ticket for the bargain sum of $10. Grabbing a 200 page match program for $1 which was highly educational as it was revealed that Denzel Washington and that guy from M.A.S.H were former students as well as all of the meanings behind the referee signals.

Fordham Rams Bronx

I had a look around at what was on offer for alumni and fans alike and found a photo opportunity for fans with a Ram’s player cut out, decent affordable food offerings and special game day promotions like ‘Deal of the Day’ on merchandise.

Fordham Rams Bronx

The astro turf pitch looked pristine as dark clouds came and went over the stadium as the fans piled in. I grabbed a hot pretzel for $3 and while I felt like a cold beer was soon made aware that beers are not sold at these college football games.

Fordham Rams Bronx

The national anthem had everyone up and with their hats off the crowd belted out the lyrics. Listen to the national anthem at Fordham Rams here:

Fordham Rams Bronx

The youthful cheer squad got the crowd pumped up before the game kicked off. Hear the cheer squad here.

What was interesting about this game was the fact that it appeared that the Ram’s DJ really liked Kanye West as no less than 6 West songs or snippets were played at the Jack Coffey field over the course of the day.

Fordham Rams Bronx

While walking up the aluminium stands to my spot reminded me of the Brisbane Bronco’s ANZ Stadium back in the early 90’s this was a really unique sporting experience. Family and friends were out in force cheering on their sons and brothers and the match program was also interesting to read as it came with another 100 odd page American football magazine.

Fordham Rams Bronx

While the Fordham Ram’s seventh game in their 116th season was a great game that probably had around 3-5000 people it’s nowhere near the level of the Buckeyes who I attended last year, however this was a really fun, memorable and interesting fan experience and I would encourage any sports fans or those in the business to come out here and experience it for yourself.