Tech Stack: Portland Timbers, ICC and more

Wayfyndr, an interactive venue mapping and guest experience platform, has renewed its partnership with Major League Soccer team Portland Timbers and its Providence Park stadium.

The agreement seeks to provide an enhanced match-day experience at Timbers and Portland Thorns fixtures by connecting fans with information and resources to plan and explore their day.

The introduction of an upgraded PTFCmap.com will allow fans to explore and engage with Providence Park via an interactive multi-level map and intuitive filtering system that makes it easy to search event-specific concessions, merchandise stands, points of interest, guest amenities, brand activations, and entertainment pre, during and post-event.

The International Cricket Council and Nium, its official fintech infrastructure partner, have announced the winning idea for their first ever ‘Next In’ global hackathon, which was launched to invite tech-savvy fans to create solutions that improve the digital cricket fan experience.

Over 9,550 teams entered the hackathon and the winning idea was presented by team ‘Fanisko’ at an exclusive event held in Bengaluru, India. The solution offers an enhanced live cricket viewing experience through 3D augmented reality, allowing users to play the game in real time from home.

Fanisko’s solution is based on Web AR technology and can integrate within the ICC app, offering in-depth player insights. The other teams in the finale explored other aspects of digital fan engagement, such as a rewards-based crypto solution, an immersive metaverse experience, and a location-based social media application catered around cricket events.

From the concepts submitted, 32% focused on improving the experience of a fan going to watch a match in the stadium, while 28% centred on the use of AR/VR technologies to create a fan engagement activity or game.

Austrian Bundesliga football club LASK is rewarding fans who use public transport to travel to matches through a link-up with the Car-O-Mobility app.

Fans who use the app to travel to the stadium will receive a discount credit that can be redeemed in the kiosks at the newly-opened Raiffeisen Arena. Fans can use the public transport of the LINZ AG LINIEN service from five hours before kick-off until midnight for free when displaying their match ticket.

A ticket will then be generated in the Car-O-Mobility app, which can be redeemed at the stadium. LASK will also give away a special prize to fans who collect the most bonuses in the app by the end of the season.

AI-driven sports production solutions company Pixellot has signed a strategic partnership with Chinese internet giant Baidu to install 200 systems in venues across the country, with the goal of fitting an additional 6,000 systems over the next three years.

Pixellot will provide live game-streaming technology, automated highlights and advertisement placements, with the project officially launching at an event in Chengdu earlier this week.

The partnership will see Pixellot and Baidu bring tens of thousands of local sports games to the screen and is designed to further expand the latter’s involvement in the Chinese sports market.