The Impact of Technology on Sports Entertainment Revenue and Fan Engagement
Innovation is a key enabler to the digital experience economy.
- Enable the digital economy. The future is in the digital economy – you must be there to succeed.
- Develop business alignment. You must build business alignment and trust as a reliable operator to change IT's role into a business partner or innovator.
- Understand where and how to improve relationships. Business leaders are often unsatisfied with the quality of service they receive from IT. Identifying those areas, speaking with business stakeholders about their expectations, and addressing gaps through improvement initiatives are fundamental steps to repairing and building relationships and ultimately building trust.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
Industry leaders are aware of the impact the 360-degree experience has on revenue and fan engagement but often ignore the full fan journey cycle. Initiatives that would create high-value fan journeys and business alignment are recognized but still not prioritized.
Impact and Result
- Review the survey results to understand where the rest of the industry sits in terms of digital fan engagement and overall digital business strategy to compare.
- Assess the organization’s IT department through Info-Tech's CIO Business Vision Diagnostic to learn what the business sees as important as well as what their satisfaction is with core service areas to start the journey to becoming a business partner or innovator to achieve alignment.
- Devise a list of improvement and/or digital initiatives you can integrate into your IT strategic plan to transform the role IT plays in the organization.
The Impact of Technology on Sports Entertainment Revenue and Fan Engagement
Innovation is a key enabler of the digital experience economy.
Analyst Perspective
Leverage technology to achieve innovator status
In collaboration with the Association of Luxury Suite Directors (ALSD), Info-Tech Research Group conducted a survey in the spring of 2022 to better understand the key priorities of industry leaders. The ALSD is an association of sports and entertainment professionals from all levels of the venue marketplace, from premium seating to ticket sales, technology solutions, and facility operators. The association is made up of decision makers, sales leaders, service professionals, foodservice providers, architects, and builders of memorable experiences (ALSD, 2022).
In a post-pandemic world, the sports entertainment industry must adapt to remain competitive in the digital experience economy. This economy relies on younger generations that are not currently engaged with sports, such as Generation Z, to drive expectations and needs. Sports entertainment organizations must begin targeting the younger generation before it is too late.
Most sports entertainment organizations are beginning to implement or already have implemented technologies that further engage younger generations. However, it's important to highlight the importance a holistic high-value fan journey has on fan engagement and revenue. When organizations are only focused on 60% of the fan journey, they are letting 40% of opportunities go to waste.
A majority of industry leaders are aware of the great impact that a holistic high-value fan journey can pose on their business but remain hesitant to implement initiatives that would enable it. In the end, this hinders the organization’s success in becoming a business partner or innovator.
Additionally, sports entertainment organizations require business alignment to gain business buy-in for any type of high-cost investment. Overall, business alignment is critical to enable holistic high-value fan journeys and achieve innovator status.
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Elizabeth Silva
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Executive Summary
Your ChallengeEnabling the digital experience economy: The future is in the digital experience economy – you must be there to succeed.Developing business alignment: You must build business alignment and trust as a reliable operator to change IT’s role to a business partner or innovator. Understanding where and how to improve relationships: Business leaders are often unsatisfied with the quality of service they receive from IT. Identifying areas of dissatisfaction, speaking with business stakeholders about their expectations, and addressing gaps through improvement initiatives are fundamental to repairing and building relationships and ultimately building trust. |
Common ObstaclesTechnology has a large impact on fan engagement and revenue but requires investment. In the sports entertainment industry, technology and innovation deliver fan experiences that help meet business expectations. To compete with other forms of entertainment, even before the pandemic, the sports industry has had to adapt and innovate. Stakeholder satisfaction can impact support. Sports entertainment stakeholder satisfaction is generally not where it needs to be. Organizations within the industry need to assess where they are to understand where opportunities exist and engage with business leadership to better align the business and IT. |
Info-Tech’s ApproachReview the survey results to understand where the rest of the industry sits in terms of digital fan engagement and overall digital business strategy to compare.Assess the organization’s IT department through Info-Tech's CIO Business Vision Diagnostic to learn what the business sees as important as well as what their satisfaction is with core service areas to start the journey to becoming a business partner or innovator to achieve alignment. Devise a list of improvement and/or digital initiatives you can integrate into your IT strategic plan to transform the role IT plays in the organization. |
Info-Tech Overarching Insight
Industry leaders are aware of the impact the 360-degree experience has on revenue and fan engagement but often ignore the full fan journey cycle. Initiatives that would create high-value fan journeys and business alignment are recognized but still not prioritized.
ALSD and Info-Tech surveyed a cross-functional group of professionals
- The demographics of the survey participants are shown below.
- Technology that impacts revenue and fan engagement has a role within three different departments.
- IT has the smallest presence, indicating their seat at the decision-making table for fan engagement and revenue-related initiatives is not large.
- IT should not only be an enabler to this technology but also a business partner.
(Source: Info-Tech Research Group, Association of Luxury Suite Directors (ALSD) Member Survey, 2022, N=65)
Fan profiles are missing Generation Z
Through the survey, many sports entertainment organizations claim that most of their fans are families with children and millennials, but Generation Z is missing from the stands.Success will depend on attracting Generation Z, as they are the current generation to come out of college or university and into the workforce, meaning they are the next generation this economy depends on. This is especially important in the digital experience economy that Generation Z and coming generations will own.
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- Association of Luxury Suite Directors