Why today’s large sports venues should harness the benefits of digital signage

The summer sports season is fully underway, we’ve had Euro2016, Wimbledon, and the most prestigious of them all, the Olympics, starts this weekend. For dedicated sports enthusiasts, there is nothing quite like the thrill of watching a game or race as it unfolds live and being able to share this experience with friends, family and fellow sports fans using a smartphone.

Because of changing technology trends, sport stadiums are no longer just physical locations for teams and their associated brands; they now represent large, high footfall, multi-purpose environments that can go from hosting a game on a Saturday to a concert on a Tuesday, a film shoot on a Thursday and a religious festival on a Sunday.

Such diverse usage makes them extremely challenging and costly to run and this has been made all the more complicated over the last five years thanks to advances in IoT, wireless technologies, our dependency on smartphones and easy access to digital content. Spectators walking through those turnstiles will have smartphones in their pockets, HD or 4K TVs at home and they want the “in-stadium” experience to be identical to their “at home” one.

Expectations

The fans

Fans want to watch the game/race/concert at all times, whether they’re sitting in their seats, in the food court, or walking between locations. Furthermore, they want to use their phones to interact with events as they unfold, by streaming action replays or alternative angle videos to friends and family on Facebook, order half-time refreshments, find the shopping concourse or plan the best route home.

The owners/managers

Venue owners, on the other hand, have a number of stakeholders to satisfy, the teams themselves, the sponsors, onsite concessions as well as the fans. Ticket sales are no longer the main revenue earner and owners are constantly wondering how they can sell more merchandise, more advertising, more food more sponsorship to run a successful and profitable business.

The benefits of digital signage

Digital signage plays a vital role in all of the above because of its visual, engaging appeal and powerful “pull factor” capabilities. Indeed, according to industry statistics, it is one of the most powerful forms of advertising, with more than 63% of consumers admitting they react to visual information (source – RichMedia Technologies: Outdoor Effectiveness)

Not only is digital content hugely appealing in large sports venues, it facilitates interaction for all parties. Fans can interact with the content (comment on goals, place bets, vote for man of the match etc), sponsors can run targeted advertising campaigns at half-time and restaurant owners can create appealing digital menu boards, provide downloadable vouchers and even include IPTV feeds in the menu board template to ensure fans don’t miss any of the action.

OK, so the benefits speak for themselves, but what about the practicalities of setting up a digital signage network – they’re expensive, time-consuming and require technical know- how – don’t they…?? The truth is, it depends on the supplier.

Signagelive’s cloud based digital signage technology platform, together with its SoC and HTML5 software is enabling stadium owners the world over to harness the true power of digital signage and see rapid ROI. The StubHub Center in Los Angeles is just one successful example.

Digital Signage Software as a Service

Signagelive’s digital signage network platform is 100% cloud based, so there is no need for onsite storage servers. It is compatible with many display types (including Smart Displays) and sizes, regardless of vendor or operating system.

Its SoC and HTML5 software removes the need for onsite media players resulting in huge cost savings compared to conventional systems and because it is cloud-based, stadium owners can connect their already deployed displays directly to Signagelive for minimal investment. They can create content themselves, or access a wealth of content from supporting Signagelive partners and be quickly up and running with a powerful network that can be managed centrally, locally and / or remotely. Signagelive supports multiple content formats, including IPTV feeds, which can be displayed alongside conventional content for maximum real time experiences.

Signagelive’s SoC and HTML5 software is also fully compatible for web triggering and NFC technologies, so interactive applications such as kiosk-style services can easily incorporated to existing digital signage networks. Not only that, it’s Proof of Play module means results can be downloaded for key stakeholders and sponsors to see ROI .

If you’ve got the ideas and the content sources Signagelive will work with you to build a powerful digital signage network for your stadium.

Why not set up a free trial to see the results for yourself? More info on Signagelive stadia solutions can be found here.