Foundation First: Setting the Ground Work for Success
Innovation is essential, but so too is setting the groundwork for a successful tech rollout.
The emergence of new technologies that are revolutionizing the fan experience continues to accelerate. The innovations we see today, including AI, predictive analytics, biometrics and wearables, all have incredible potential to advance the fan experience, driving more engagement and loyalty to your sports organization. It’s naturally tempting to get on board with every new, exciting innovation to stay ahead of the competition. Before you take that leap, however, you’ve got to build a firm foundation.
“Being lured by new technology will give you a solution looking for a problem,” said Tim Brady, Vice President, Solutions for Next League, a provider of technology solutions for sports organizations. “It may seem obvious, but you should start with business goals and success metrics.”
By taking key steps to build your technical foundation, you can avoid ‘the cart before the horse’ scenario, lowering risk and increasing the odds of success. Building a tech foundation might not sound as fun or sexy as implementing a new solution, but it’s essential. At the end of the day, the goal is to provide value to your fans and customers while making a profit. “There’s a fine balance between using only proven technologies and jumping into the latest shiny thing,” said Mike Grushin, Co-Founder and CTO at Next League.
Prep Work
To properly prepare for adding a new technology to your mix, your first step is surprisingly easy according to Brady: Write a press release — or at least pretend to. “Imagine writing a release in one year, highlighting your recent successes,” he said. “Oftentimes, that format will help you focus on the business value your upcoming work will provide. That will then focus the project’s goals and simplify the solution. Without it, it’s easy to overthink the problem or miss the goal entirely.”
Being clear on your desired outcomes is important, as is planning and aligning with other departments and partners. Grushin points to a recent Starbucks announcement about migrating its loyalty program to a Web3-based solution. “At the time it wasn’t clear what the benefits or reasons were behind this move,” he said. “A month later, they announced a partnership with Delta. Now, there is a good explanation why a blockchain-based loyalty program makes sense.” A partnership of this magnitude, with two iconic Fortune 500 brands, was undoubtedly in development for many months prior to its recent launch.
As your foundation starts to shape up and you move toward implementation, proof of concept becomes essential. Turn to a focus group to help test your idea and refine the user experience. “A/B testing can guide your messaging and offering,” said Brady. “A testing mindset allows you to humbly let the users tell you what works.”
Take, for example, the PGA Tour and its Every Shot Live rollout. This pioneering service covers every shot from every player on every hole across a four-day PGA Tour tournament. Getting to implementation involved building that firm tech foundation. Two years of planning and two years of testing led to a full rollout in 2021, a combined effort of the PGA Tour and its technology partners Amazon Web Services and Hawkeye, along with producer partners and AI highlights provider, WSC Sports.
Before a successful launch like Every Shot Live, don’t overlook communication to end users. “These days, users are much more familiar with the concepts of beta launches and more patient and understanding if they encounter issues as technology matures,” said Grushin.
Finally, reach out to experts as you take on new projects. “We’ve found that the best results are achieved when internal and external teams work together,” said Grushin. “Internal teams have the institutional knowledge, while specialized teams like Next League bring the innovation and experience of overseeing tech implementations across many sports organizations.”
What’s Ahead
Now that you’ve laid a foundation, what emerging technology should you consider? “Sports media is very good at making fantastic content that scales to large audiences,” said Brady. Look no further than ESPN’s ManningCast or Amazon’s Thursday Night Football for examples, both serving up a variety of options for NFL fans. “With alternative broadcasts, personalized content, individual bets and fans watching on their own phones, you’ll see more segments being served the way the fans want it.”
Grushin said Next League is having many conversations around AR and Web3, which deliver utility, value, community and loyalty. He adds it’s essential for sports organizations to continue to innovate, find new audiences and engage with their fans in new ways; these new technologies will help them do just that.
And as necessary as building a strong tech foundation is, Brady points out sometimes you still need to heed your gut instincts. “When we set up experiments, we often stay within self-imposed parameters,” he said, “but some groups are trying new things and engaging with communities in unique ways. I love following the Angel City Football Club social content, for instance, which is setting trends I think other sports media groups will follow.”
As referenced at the beginning of the most recent Leaders Special Report, “just like a house needs a strong foundation to build on top of, so too do organizations’ technology and infrastructure.” It’s easy to get excited by and want to take advantage of all the new technologies and innovations available in market. Before you leap, make sure you establish the firm tech foundation necessary to make these investments a success.
To learn more, download the most recent Leaders Special Report, launched in conjunction with Next League, called Data Engines: The numbers, systems and services driving sport’s next generation technology.