High-tech NBA Warriors Arena: A glimpse of the future stadium

U.S. NBA team Golden Warriors are testing some new technologies at their home arena, including Apple's ibeacon technology, some of which will be used in the new home arena they are building, according to a recent article by CNET, the US technology news website, said January 20. This gives us a glimpse of what the future stadiums will look like.

The main contents of the article are as follows:

When people walk on a floor tile, it can generate electricity, and streetlights can transmit data to pedestrians passing by, and video made by virtual reality makes them feel like they're in the field, actually they just sit on the couch in their living room.

This is not a scene from the sci-fi movie Star Trek (Star Trek), but some of the techniques the Warriors have tested for their new home arena. The Warriors new arena, located in San Francisco, will open in 2018. It will be an area of 12 acres of sports and entertainment complexes, including shopping malls, restaurants and park space, not only for the Warriors in the home games, but also for concerts and other events.

The Warriors recently scored well in the NBA, and its current home arena is the 50-year-old Oakland Stadium (also known as the Oracle Stadium) in Oakland, which has been used as a test place for new technology. But some technologies, such as Apple's ibeacon technology, are still poorly tested; some technologies will be tested only in parts of the Oakland Stadium before the Warriors move to the new home, while others may be eliminated after the test.

"Our goal is to provide a premier experience for the new San Francisco Arena, whether it's a Warriors game, a conference, an art exhibition or any other form of entertainment," said Kenny Lauer, vice president of Kenny Laure and marketing. We can't let the new arena just come into use. “

The Warriors ' effort to build High-tech Arena was emulated by other professional teams. As more and more fans choose to watch the game at home, all kinds of professional teams in the United States are trying to attract them to the game and get them to participate actively in the game. Some High-tech features, such as the cost of paying for a seat upgrade via smartphones, are also satisfying for professional teams as they get new sources of income.

As most of the technical warriors are still exploring, there are still questions about how to make the most of these features and how they actually work. In addition, the rapid development and changes in the High-tech industry have made it difficult for companies and other organizations to develop a few months of technology application planning, let alone a few years.

The Warriors are not the only ones that are keeping up with the technological trends. The Levi's Stadium (Levi's stadium) is located in Santa Clara (Santa Clara) and is home to the San Francisco 49-man rugby team. When the arena was launched in 2014, it was dubbed "the Silicon Valley Stadium" by some people, both because it is in the heart of Silicon Valley and because it has many high-tech capabilities. Many of the stadiums of the Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, including the home T Park of the 2014 MLB World Series champion San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets team's home Citi field--, are equipped with ibeacons base stations, Used to push exclusive offers and tidbits to tourists. T, which is home to the Dallas Stadium in Dallas and the Dallas Cowboy rugby team, is equipped with large, interactive LED displays to allow fans to participate actively.

At the same time, other teams have different views on the use of High-tech in stadiums. Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks boss, criticized the use of mobile devices in the game last year, Cuban told Businessweek: "People use them when they are bored." They don't want to have more reason to use them, but they want to use them for less reason. “

Warriors digital Another senior executive, Kevin Cote, said it would be unrealistic to expect fans to Kevin Cotte their phones when playing in a region of High-tech enterprise like the Bay Area.

"We have a unique fan base in the Bay Area and every game has been watched by executives from Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter," said Kurt. Even when the game is over and there are only 5 seconds left, everyone will be able to take out the phone because they want to record the decision. “

Push message

The Warriors were not the first to adopt a High-tech professional team, but last March became the first NBA team to install the Ibeacon base station in the home arena. When Apple released its iOS 7 phone software in 2013, it first introduced ibeacon technology, using Low-power Bluetooth technology to send notifications to smartphone users near the base station. The ibeacon base station is now mainly deployed in shopping malls and stadiums, allowing them to interact quickly with consumers and fans.

Ibeacon technology may be further popularized when Apple launches its first wearable device Apple Watch smart watch in coming months. Carolinamilanesi, an analyst at the Market research institute Kantar Worldpanel, points out that ibeacon technology makes it easier for users of Apple devices to use more apps, while allowing application developers to better understand the use of applications and gain more revenue.

"Of course, its use also helps to increase the stickiness of the ecosystem and increase interactivity, which will lead to higher brand loyalty," she said. “

The Warriors send four types of notices through the Ibeacon base station in the arena: welcome messages, and often prompt for promotional activities, such as free socks, offer seat upgrades, special deals, and promotions for team stores.

"We don't want fans to get messages they don't like, but we have to take advantage of that," said Kurt, the digital senior director of the Warriors. He also noted that when activating a feature of ibeacon, the feature "must have a direct benefit to the fans and it can drive the business in some way".

About 19,000 fans per game, says Kurt, about 10% fans receive ibeacon tweets. To push all the messages it wants to push, the Warriors need to install about 20 25 ibeacon base stations around the arena.

The Warriors have been using ibeacon technology for less than a year, and the effect is showing. Kurt said that about 15% of the seat upgrades were directly facilitated by the ibeacon message push.

The Warriors team souvenir shop, using ibeacon message push, offers a variety of concessions to fans, becoming a more successful area for ibeacon technology applications. Usually, a free souvenir is available after a certain amount is consumed in the store. Kurt said the fans who received the tweets were spending 93% more than they had received.

However, not all transactions delivered through ibeacon messages have been successful. The Warriors have not figured out how to get fans to take advantage of the grocery store's push, although they offer a discount on buying a slice of pizza free of popcorn.

Stealth Signal

High-tech NBA Warriors Arena: A glimpse of the future stadium

Using Bluetooth push function, ibeacon technology can also send silent ringtones to trigger the user's mobile phone. This allows professional teams to send messages through the sound system, whether the fans are sitting on the pitch or watching the game at home.

"We're exploring the concept of a second screen, sending silent tones to fans watching live, and activating their smartphone apps," said the warrior's Raul. ”

Another use of ibeacon technology is to provide better indoor maps and navigation services, but the Warriors are not yet using their ibeacon base station for fans to guide their way.

(Responsible editor: Lvguang)