It seems that barely a moment goes by without another major sporting event hitting our TV screens and dominating our mainstream and social media feeds.
In the past six weeks alone we’ve had the European Football Championships, Copa America, Wimbledon Open, the British and US Open Golf, the French Open, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals and the Tour de France.
Have a breather and prepare for the Olympics and Paralympics.
Rarely discussed in the mainstream media, or social for that matter, is the huge amount of planning and preparation that goes in to these events, the investment that is made on venues, the technology that is put into place and the time and effort made to ensure that it’s not only the TV audience who get a world-class showing, it’s the ticket holders too.
We’ve been hugely privileged to have had the opportunity to be involved in a number of events over the years, for example the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, we’ve delivered solutions for the America’s Cup Sailing, Euro 2012 and for several venues used in the 2012 Olympics; but this year has been something else.
In recent weeks our digital signage and IPTV technology has been in use at the Wimbledon Open as Andy Murray won his third major title, at the Stade de France as French hearts were broken by the Portuguese, going back a little further we’ve seen the thrills and spills of the Daytona 500, England hammer Sri Lanka at Edgbaston and six of our stadia were involved in a thrilling English Premier League.
And they’re just the ones we’ve been a part of.
Sports and technology have almost become synonymous, running hand in hand to deliver an experience for supporters they cannot get anywhere else. The level of investment at the top end of professional sports is phenomenal, not just monetarily but in time too; they really want their fans to engage and enjoy their visit.
In a results based business where TV incomes tend to outstrip gate receipts this is to be applauded, the venues and teams know that the fans are the lifeblood of sport and so continually develop their experience.
Even at the 2nd/3rd tier of pro-sport we see wise, considered investment, but investment none the less, as clubs like Rotherham United, Atlantique Stade Rochelais, Omaha Mavericks, Cardiff City and Harlequins strive to deliver a top level experience for their supporters; often based around a return on investment model to allow them to generate ongoing incomes and ensure technology is a benefit not a burden.
It has been Tripleplay’s honour to be a part of these events and the evolution of our sports partners’ technological offering, but without the foresight and desire of the clubs themselves none of it would happen.
For this reason we applaud them, as an industry there are few that can match their desire to deliver world-class experiences for their clients on the level they do.
Tripleplay’s Digital Signage and IPTV platform was selected as the Best Technology for Commercial Return at the 2016 Sports Technology Awards, find out how our clients achieve return on their investment by downloading our Digital Signage in Sports ROI Guide.
