Beitrag Do 14. Jan 2021, 09:48

What To Expect At Arenas As Fans Return To Sports

What To Expect At Arenas As Fans Return To Sports And Concerts In 2021

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The first puck drops on the National Hockey League’s 2021 season this week, and with it will come a trickle of fans for the first time in almost a year. Three arenas will have limited patrons in attendance, a lifeline for teams that rely on ticket sales far more than in more TV-friendly sports like football and basketball.

As local coronavirus guidelines change, more buildings will open their doors in the coming months with fan-facing renovations geared towards safety, namely a cashless, ticketless and touchless experience. The updates are likely permanent. The upside: more time in seats at games and concerts, instead of waiting in line.

Your phone will be your guide from your home couch to your arena seat, says Pittsburgh Penguins CEO David Morehouse. The Pens partnered for their app with software firm Yinzcam, which was born out of Carnegie Mellon in the late 2000s and previously worked with the team for an app to view replays and real-time stats.

Once loaded, the app offers tips for taking public transportation or finding ride-shares and suggestions from Waze on the fastest driving route and best parking options based on your arrival gate. Divulging your personal habits enables concessionaire Aramark to take over inside the arena and suggest food and drink purchases based on past activity—say, a pre-faceoff hot dog and a beer—which gets plopped into a locker closest to your seat and timed to the moment your ticket was scanned.

“Our pre-Covid research showed that any snag in that process was an impediment to coming to the game,” says Morehouse, whose team will play its first home game Sunday against the Washington Capitals, inside an empty 18,400-seat PPG Paints Arena.

Many arenas sped up planned upgrades from three- to six-year plans to the current fiscal year, says Marc Farha, co-CEO at CAA ICON, a project management division of athlete representation giant Creative Artists Agency, which has worked with dozens of teams, including the Penguins and the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, on their re-opening strategies since Covid-19 shuttered buildings in March. “Back of the house” changes at arenas include enhanced cleaning, more robust air filtration systems, and employee safety updates.

“We will be 100% cashless, 100% ticketless and 100% touchless,” says Bucks president Peter Feigin. “All those things are easy to say but hard to do.”

Feigin and the Bucks opened a $524 million new arena in 2018 already equipped with an app, ticketless entry and other tech advances. By the time fans return to see reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo drive to the hoop in person, their enhanced app should have many of the similar transport and concessions tips for fans, as well as real-time information on which entry gates or bathrooms have the shortest lines.

Fans can purchase a replica Giannis jersey and pick it up on the way out, instead of navigating the inventory at a crowded team store, a constant exchange of availability and purchasing data that will happen while fans are focused on the court action.

The Bucks’ app will guide you through an NBA game or concert at Fiserv Forum, like the rescheduled show for country superstar Alan Jackson, now on the calendar for September.

The Houston Rockets, one of only six of the 30 NBA teams permitting fans into their arena so far this season, are also cashless, a trend the coronavirus has accelerated. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which hosts the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and MLS’s Atlanta United, was the first major venue to go fully cash-free in 2019. Major venues in Seattle, Salt Lake City and St. Petersburg, Florida, followed suit. The moves shortened transaction times and triggered shorter lines for fans. Teams benefited through reduced costs and access to a treasure trove of data on consumer behavior. Food and beverage spending rose 16% in the first year Mercedes-Benz eliminated cash.

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