US motor racing championship NASCAR has sought to aid its reopening efforts by agreeing a partnership with conversational AI company Satisfi Labs.
Through the partnership, Satisfi Labs will deploy its Answer Engine so that NASCAR can engage with fans throughout the season. Satisfi Labs will be able to provide racing and venue information to all NASCAR-owned tracks including Darlington, Daytona, Homestead, Martinsville, Phoenix, Richmond and Talladega.
NASCAR’s Answer Engine is built on the back of Satisfi Labs’ professional sports and venue knowledge bases, tailored with nuanced knowledge specific to the motor racing industry. Fans can now engage a virtual assistant to ask questions directly through their preferred digital channels in a conversational format.
As NASCAR continues to bring fans back safely to race tracks amid COVID-19, the Answer Engine will be able to answer questions fans have around the likes of changed entry protocols and new in-venue activations.
The Answer Engine will also pull in direct feed information that adds specific knowledge around camping, travel packages for booking trips to particular race tracks and information on racetracks and infields.
Data gathered from the multi-track assistants will provide NASCAR with insights about fans’ race day priorities, concession preferences, stadium logistics challenges, as well as general insight that can be leveraged to improve future offerings.
Wyatt Hicks, digital managing director at NASCAR, said: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Satisfi Labs to utilise innovative technology to help fans feel safe coming back to races, navigate NASCAR’s track and race-day experience questions, and help provide a premium guest experience.
“Our goal is to consistently create new ways to help our fans get closer to the excitement surrounding fans’ favourite drivers, including upgrading customer services and leveraging digital technology in new ways. We’re glad to be accomplishing these goals and incorporate innovative solutions into our fan engagement strategy to provide the most approachable experience possible.”
The NASCAR deal comes after Satisfi Labs in February agreed a partnership with sports and live entertainment giant AEG covering its NHL ice hockey team LA Kings and Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise LA Galaxy.
“NASCAR is paving the way for fan engagement through flawless customer service and information accessibility,” said Don White, CEO and co-founder of Satisfi Labs. “Deploying our interactive Answer Engine to answer fan questions directly with conversational AI will grant racing fans on-demand access and deliver timely information tailored to each fan.”
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is set to continue on Sunday with the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
