Our new weekly tech round-up from the stadium and arena sector…
The Sacramento Kings NBA basketball team has partnered with US-based software company Glowing to offer a modern way for fans to communicate with staff via text messaging before, during and after games and events.
Glowing’s messaging solution will be used to heighten the Kings’ fan experience on game days. The team began offering the messaging solution for premium suite holders and has now expanded it to road trips as well as groups in attendance.
It is hoped the partnership will offer messaging to every fan that enters the Kings’ Golden 1 Center arena for any game or event. “Not only are we able to engage directly with our fans in real-time to share information and answer questions but we can provide ‘anticipatory service’ to ensure a positive and seamless experience,” said John Rinehart, the Kings’ president of business operations.
Elsewhere, the Las Vegas Raiders NFL franchise has teamed up with conversational AI platform GameOn Technology to make its official chat application available on Facebook Messenger.
The new experience combines the Raiders’ extensive team, community and new stadium content with GameOn’s chat technology, allowing the franchise to reach a larger and more diverse audience.
The service will provide fans with access to real-time game updates, highlights, news, player stats, scores, ticketing, stadium support and navigation, and more.
Scottish Premiership football club Rangers has also launched a similar experience for its fans.
The club has unveiled a new interactive help website entitled Ask Rangers, which will enable supporters to find important customer information at any time and from anywhere. Ask Rangers will cover topics such as ticketing, match day experience, MyGers membership, hospitality, Rangers TV, retail and more.
The service will provide improved contact forms and interactive answer functions to enhance the supporter experience. Rangers said the site will mark a further step in its strategy to modernise and enhance its fan engagement capabilities.
The NEC in Birmingham has announced the completion of a £7m (€8.4m/$9.4m) technology infrastructure investment across the venue.
The NEC has also become the first venue in the UK to adopt WaitTime, an artificial intelligence solution that provides real-time measurement of venue capacity and crowd density.
The technology will alert the NEC to capacity issues across the site and this data can then be used to trigger operational responses and inform the teams on real-time capacity levels. The NEC’s investment also includes a Wi-Fi upgrade using technology developed by Cisco.
Finally, conversational AI company Satisfi Labs has received investment from sports, media and entertainment technology company Sports Loft.
Satisfi, which holds a major partnership with Major League Baseball, first started working with Sports Loft in December 2019.
Sports Loft has also announced investments in Fevo and Slate.
Background image: Zoran Zonde Stojanovski on Unsplash
