Sports Technology

The Sydney Cricket Ground and Sports Ground Trust is to offer Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) patrons an new app to facilitate in-seat food ordering, in-game vision and statistics, gambling and merchandise sales.

According to a report in the Financial Review, the Trust has signed a five-year, $10 million deal with US-based Sporting Innovations to deliver fans and members a digital app from which they will be able to order food, watch highlights, bet on matches and buy tickets.

The SCG will adopt the customer research management platform FAN360 and also release an app backed by Sporting Innovations’ Euphoria platform.

The app will eventually have at least eight or nine different uses, including in-seat food ordering, in-game vision and statistics, wagering and ­ticketing and merchandise sales.

Building off of the ultra fast Wi-Fi deployed for the fifth Ashes cricket Test in early January, the FAN360 platform will also provide fans a unique in-game experience via Uphoria, the mobile application component of the FAN360 solution. Featured elements include personalised offers and rewards, on-demand video replays, live streaming video, live stats, and mobile ticketing.

The first iteration of the Uphoria mobile experience is expected to be available to fans in late May or early June.

Trust General Manager Piers Thompson said the move was both about collecting data from stadium visitors and also enhancing the experience of fans at a time when some sports were suffering falling attendances at some matches.

Thompson explained “what we have to do is personalise the experience for people that are coming here to watch our events

“It’s that age-old saying: you are competing with the experience of watching in your living room. So we have to make it worthwhile for them to come here.”

The new system will capture information about fans’ spending habits and social media use, which will then be used to offer tailored deals and specials.

Thompson added “we’ll be able to see what they like and, for example, if we know someone buys a ticket for a certain match and then comes and buys food from a certain place and also some merchandise.

“And then later, we could offer them special food deals or two-for-one offers, or ticket price specials and so on.”

Sporting Innovations installed a ­version of the system at the home ground of US Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City in 2011. Since then, corporate partnership revenue has tripled, while merchandise sales have risen 156% and attendances are up 145%

In-seat ordering began at the Sydney Swans AFL home match at the SCG against Fremantle on Saturday with the Doyle’s seafood outlet in the SCG’ new northern grandstand.

On the new system, fans are able to order food by clicking through a page after logging on to the SCG high-speed Wi-Fi system.

They then collect the food via express lanes after being notified that it is ready avoiding missing parts of the game through waiting in queues at F&B outlets.

Thompson said other features of the app would be rolled out progressively this year and he hoped upgrades would follow at the adjacent Allianz Stadium.

Commenting on the partnership, Sporting Innovations Managing Partner Asim Pasha explained “SCG has an outstanding vision for how technology can provide a modern fan experience and positively impact revenues through a digitally-connected stadium.

“We’re excited to collaborate with SCG to position them as a global leader and destination for a digital sports experience.”

In addition to Sporting Innovations, the Trust is also working with PMY Group, Cisco, Telstra, and OAMM to ensure a profitable and innovative pathway into the future.

Click here to visit the Sporting Innovations website.

30th September 2013 - SCG AND ALLIANZ STADIUM TO BECOME AUSTRALIA’S FIRST CONNECTED VENUES 

13th September 2013 - STAGING CONNECTIONS RECOGNISED FOR HUMAN RESOURCES INNOVATION

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