AVIXA Reports on Stadium Fan Experience
To compete with other sports venues and fans' ever-advancing home entertainment systems, sports venue executives are investing in audiovisual solutions. The new 2018 Market Opportunity Analysis Report (MOAR) focused on sports venues, produced by the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association (AVIXA), investigates the opportunities and challenges for providers of pro-AV solutions and technologies in this space.
"This is a market to watch. Venues and events are expected to produce $27.7 billion in pro-AV revenue in 2018 worldwide and grow at a healthy rate in the next five years, according to our Industry Outlook and Trends Report (IOTA)," said Sean Wargo, Senior Director of Market Intelligence, AVIXA. "It's an exciting space for AV providers to work in. Stadium executives are determined to bring the wow factor to outdo other stadiums, so they are motivated to embrace advanced technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and interactive displays. However, their investments in standard AV technologies, such as lighting, audio, and security and surveillance, take priority."
MOAR: Sports Venues explores sports fans' preferences when attending competitions, including the role technology plays in creating exceptional experiences. The report also examines the viewpoint of the purchasers of AV solutions at sports venue management companies, as well as the pro-AV systems integrators that work in the market.
Competition from the at-home viewing experience drives AV innovation in venues. The rise of home systems with HD, UHD, and 4K video means the venue experience has a rival. A seat with a view of the playing field is insufficient to put fans in seats when 85% of households worldwide have flat-panel TVs. Fans want an electrifying atmosphere, with the entertainment beginning even before they've passed through the gates. They don't want to miss any action when they leave their seats for refreshments. These expectations are met with innovative AV, and venue executives are exploring the cutting edge of technology to further enhance their space.
Nearly 100 percent of venue executives surveyed plan to upgrade their audio equipment in the next 12 months. Audio investments are likely intended to ensure fans can hear announcers during the game, which fans listed as its most important AV role. Video displays and video projection are the next most popular AV purchases. Survey results indicate investments in digital signage will increase the most significantly over the next year.
The AV provider survey revealed the sheer scope of the project budget attracts competitive pressure, but it's also a challenge to ensure the venue gets what is needed to create a compelling fan experience. Nonetheless, between market expansion, unmet needs, and the proportion of end users utilizing competitive RFPs to find new suppliers, there is plenty of room for smart, well-informed companies to thrive in this space.
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Daktronics Manufactures Nation’s Largest High School Video Display
Daktronics designed and manufactured the largest LED video display in high school sports at Bobby Lackey Stadium, Texas
At 36 feet high by 66 feet wide, the display features a 15HD pixel layout, stands as tall as a telephone pole and as long as a bowling lane. It delivers the resolution, brightness and viewing angles ideal for the 12,000+ fans attending football games.
“This display is as impressive in capability as it is in size. The functionality and uses are endless,” said Kyle Sydow, Daktronics high school sports and recreation market manager. “Daktronics is proud to be part of this phenomenal installation. Texas has great passion for football, and that’s reflected in the technology they chose.”
The display sees frequent use as Weslaco and Weslaco East High Schools share the stadium for football, track and field, soccer, commencement, and graduation ceremonies. Regional Special Olympics and youth football leagues also make use of the stadium.
“Weslaco is a repeat customer with an impressive handle on digital technologies for their many events,” said Pete Vela, Daktronics south Texas sales representative. “The skill they show during game days and Friday nights leads the area.”
Built to entertain for years to come, Daktronics LED video and messaging display technology features industry-leading environmental protection to ensure a long lifetime for the display with consistent performance and low power consumption.
"The Old Oaken Bucket" Rivals Agree on One Thing: Danley Loudspeakers
Recently, both Indiana University’s Memorial Stadium (52,000 seats) and Purdue University’s Ross-Ade Stadium (57,000 seats) underwent sound reinforcement system overhauls, and, despite their rivalry, both schools used Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers, subwoofers, and amplifiers/DSP. Indiana University and Purdue join the ranks of other universities – including Alabama, LSU, Penn State, Michigan State, Northwestern, and the University of Iowa – that rely on Danley systems in their football stadiums. In football, the rivalry is institutionalized in the tradition of the “Old Oaken Bucket,” a trophy that goes to whichever team emerges victorious from their annual game.
Larry Lucas, director of audio-visual services at Anthony James Partners, designed both systems, citing Danley’s fidelity, output, and pattern control for the success of his other big stadium projects. Florida-based All Pro Integrated Systems took Lucas’s designs and ensured all the fine details and logistics were in order – including coordination with structural engineers and Indiana University and Purdue staff – so that the All Pro technicians could install the systems efficiently and successfully. All Pro Design Engineer Michael Walden was involved in both projects and experienced the Indiana-Purdue rivalry firsthand. “We were at Purdue, and after the first kickoff, I heard the crowd chant something,” he recalled. “I thought, ‘that couldn’t have been what it sounded like’, but then I heard it again the next time Purdue kicked off. It sounded like ‘IU sucks,’ but Purdue was playing Northwestern, not Indiana! When I heard it the third time I was in the control booth, and everyone confirmed what I thought I was hearing. The rivalry is so deep that Purdue takes a jab at Indiana even when they’re playing some other team!”
The system at Indiana went in on a temporary basis last year in conjunction with a scoreboard overhaul. The temporary system included two Danley J6-42 Jericho Horns for long throw across the field to the opposite side of the Memorial Stadium and two Danley J3-94 Jericho Horns for the nearer sides of the stadium. The temporary system was on a new scoreboard on the south end of the stadium, and it also used four Danley OS80 loudspeakers for near fill. When the system recently moved to the new permanent scoreboard on the north end of the stadium, All Pro retained all of the Jericho Horns and supplemented them with four directional Danley BC218 subwoofers, an additional Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn for the field, and eight Danley GO2-8CX loudspeakers for coverage of the deck directly below the scoreboard.
15 four-channel Danley DNA 20k4 Pro amplifiers with onboard DSP power the system with a total of 300,000 watts. While they handle the loudspeaker conditioning using Danley’s adjustable presets, a QSC Q-Sys DSP handles the user interface, routing, and input conditioning. Whereas communication between a Yamaha CL-series console and its stage box happens via Dante, All Pro was able to set up communication between the console, the Q-Sys system, and the Danley amplifiers using AES67.
Purdue’s system is similar to Indiana’s, except it’s a little bit larger to match Ross-Ade’s slightly larger size. Three Danley J6-42 Jericho Horns fire across the stadium, with two Danley J3-94 Jericho Horns, again, covering the nearer stands. Four of the larger directional Danley BC415 subwoofers fill in the low end, a J3-94 again covers the field, and four Danley SH46 loudspeakers provide near fill. Danley DNA 20k4 Pro amplifiers power the system, again, with onboard DSP for loudspeaker conditioning, and a QSC Q-Sys system provides all of the front-end processing and interfacing.
“I was impressed by how much directivity the Danley systems could provide at Indiana University and Purdue,” Walden said. “Both systems have much higher intelligibility than previous systems, not only because Danley’s output is so transparent, but also because the pattern control lets us cover the stands without bleeding onto the field. As a result, the referee’s microphone has much higher gain-before-feedback, which means less equalization and processing and thus a cleaner, more natural sound.”
The 11 Companies that will Transform Real Sociedad’s Anoeta Stadium
Real Sociedad’s partnership with Microsoft to transform and improve the club’s Anoeta stadium with a technology-based startup acceleration program competition, has revealed the final 11 winners.
The first part of the final phase of the Sport Thinkers Smart Stadium competition that was organized by Microsoft’s Madrid-based Global Sports Innovation Center (GSCIC) in collaboration with Real Sociedad, took place on October 8, 9 and 10. The competition for technology-based companies aims to carry out actions that will support the digital transformation of the Anoeta stadium, which is currently under reconstruction.
Iris Córdoba, the General Manager of the GSIC said that: “We are very satisfied with the whole process of the competition. It gave us the opportunity to meet more than 80 innovative companies that are developing solutions and services to support entities such as the Real Sociedad in its digital transformation processes. Now, 11 of them have the possibility of bringing their disruptive technologies in the Anoeta. Six out of 11 winning companies are already members of the GSIC, and the rest will also join our ecosystem, to enjoy the benefits offered by the center. In addition, all winners will begin the acceleration program designed by the GSIC. They all will be advised by our Sport Thinkers mentors network composed of the best sports industry professionals”.
Juan Iraola, responsible for the Digital Area at the Real Sociedad, also shares positive feedback on the process: “From the beginning, the program created by the GSIC seemed attractive to us because it offers a new way of bringing the innovation to a club like Real Sociedad. An innovation based on technological solutions that will allow us to deepen the digital transformation project started in January 2016. Thanks to this program, we have achieved 11 technological proposals that will provide us with new solutions in different aspects related to the stadium: new ways of interacting with our followers, systems to control energy consumption, solutions for the maintenance of facilities, management of new VIP areas, content generation, etc.”
“I find it difficult, now, to imagine an alternative to this format – It has allowed me to learn, acquire and implement innovation in a company that does not have the resources of knowledge and experience in such a changing and demanding environment as technology,” Juan continued.
The 11 companies that are bringing digital transformation to the Anoeta
After three intense days of online presentations, the 11 winners of the competition are:
Batura Mobile Solutions (Spain) – It is a technological solution that encompasses services and needs related to accessibility requirements for disabled supporters. The objective of this mobile solution is to allow an APP to exist for all people with no exclusion, where the experience of football and the stadium are lived in an integrated manner. It consists of the development of a specific module with different functionalities to be implemented in the Mobile APP Realzale or in any existing or future App.
Brintia (Spain) – They offer a cost-effective, scalable, real-time ChatBot solution to help solve and optimize common customer service issues for sports entities. Applying Microsoft technologies and AI, we can build a customized ChatBot that can be used as a real-time automated Customer Service Platform to answer all of your fan’s FAQs, make ticket & merchandising purchases, and give a personalized experience for subscribers and club members; 24/7, in multiple languages and at no extra cost for out-of-office hours.
Cinfo (Spain) – Their products offer a one-stop solution recording and broadcasting in real time over any platform, with a system of fixed and mobile cameras to cover different angles. Cinfo’s fixed cameras are suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Their cloud video technology, able of generating video in real time as if each event was a videogame, combined with our AI algorithms, offers a range of differential solutions in quality and price.
Deep Data (Spain) – Company specialized in energy management software and IoT applications for Smart Cities & Buildings. They have a complete software that can integrate in the same tool the comprehensive energy management of facilities (electricity, air conditioning, water, production processes, etc.), energy contracts, renewable energy, personnel and access control, smart parking, interior lighting, exterior and shows, waste, lawn water, wifi networks.
Iristrace (Spain) – They have a simple tool to create checklists and audits, with complex processes in order to validate data and get data into the systems directly from the frontline staff. We avoid many hours in reporting and checking the job done.
iXpole (Belgium) – iXpole is a cloud-based solution helping professional sports clubs professionalize their internal business processes. iXpole centralizes all data related to the club’s B2B customers (like contract management, hospitality, sponsorship, ticketing) in one tool, allowing each internal user to have access anywhere, anytime to the most up-to-date information about his customer. No more lists, phone calls or emails to get things done. A club can grant each B2B customer access to the same information through his very own personalized VIP Portal where he can plan the match experience (print/assign tickets, order menu’s, order extra’s) but also create order forms or consult e-invoices.
NFCSound (Netherlands) – They use the sound as a technology protocol to send data. Can be used for fans engagement, sponsorship, advertising, information, gamification, ticketing and check-in, security. Difference and uniqueness: we are the 1st (or 2nd) company in the world who can engage offline through radio and TV. There is no need for hardware deployment, since the stadium already have a sound system. They turn those speakers into a data broadcasting tool. The fans are going to decode the data through the microphone of their smartphones, a peer-to-peer communication without going through servers, means there is never delay, congestion or buffering.
Pressenger (Hungary) – Their solution allows sports mobile apps to send data-driven animated push notification bubbles directly to the users´ screen. The Pressenger notification bubble is the most engaging mobile communication tool, that is also a brand-new platform for sports clubs and sponsors to market in a direct and interactive way.
Solos (Australia) – Solos is the world’s first ‘Smart Kit’ integrated to smart gates. When fans wear the kit not only do they no longer require a ticket, but the technology opens up additional value through expedited entry to the stadium, exclusive offers (discounts on food, beverage and merchandise, and more importantly game day ‘money can’t buy’ experiences such as upgrades to suites, invitations to the field or access to players exclusive content
Yarr TV (Spain) – It is a social media marketing platform that helps events, businesses and brands to take full advantage of the content generated by the user. Its objective is to boost the experience and commitment of the fans, using solutions of social competitions and surveys on the stadium screens.
Yerba Buena VR (United States) – YBVR is a technological platform that drives video experiences in virtual reality. The company offers the transmission of premium VR video to solve the problem of low quality perceived by the user with other solutions in the market. They perform live broadcasts of sporting events, where the user can enjoy the experience of a game being outside the stadium.
The last stage of the competition will take place from November 4 to 7 in San Sebastian, where all the winners are invited for the immersion week with the club. During these days, the companies will be able to meet in person the directors of Real Sociedad, to learn how the club functions internally, what are the technological its needs and how they can customize their projects for the Anoeta Stadium. This activity aims to detect the possibilities that exist for these companies to implement a pilot in the renovated Real Sociedad stadium.