Editor’s Note: The following is contributed by Matt Zajechowski from Digital Third Coast in conjunction with Northwestern School of Professional Studies. We encourage you to also read the full version.
It’s no secret that analytics are everywhere. Data is collected, deciphered, and used to create actionable items, the possibilities are virtually endless. This is especially true regarding the sports industry.
Statisticians and analysts are becoming increasingly more important for sports franchises. Since the sabermetric revolution in baseball, a huge increase in time and money spent in using sports analytics from wearable technology to help their athletes train and even make more money from their stadiums.
What has been a great success for television networks has been at the expense of live sports events. For decades, networks have worked to create an incredible at-home experience —one that many take for granted— that’s at least as good as the stadium experience. Their success has been emphatic. According to an ESPN poll from 1998, 54% of sports fans reported that they would rather be at the game than watch it at home; however, when that same poll was readministered in 2011 found that only 29% preferred being at the game.
While some sports might be considered as better for a live audience, the point stands: people would rather watch from their comfortable armchair, climate-controlled homes, with easy access to the fridge and bathroom, than experience the atmosphere of the stadium in person. There is the added benefit of replay as well as picture-in-picture or to watch two games on separate televisions, tablets or even smart phones.
However, fans could be persuaded to make their way back to the stadiums; 45% of “premium fans” (who always or often buy season tickets) would pay more money for a better in-person experience. That’s where wearable technology comes into play.
With the majority of sports franchises embracing wearable and mobile data in some form or another, it’s a natural transition for marketing departments to apply that data to the fan experience. With easy access to Wi-Fi, snacks, replays, and shorter restroom lines, sports fans can combine the atmosphere of game day with the comfort of being in their own homes.
The following infographic looks at past and more recent trends as well as what some teams and stadiums are doing to bring fans back and save live sports.
