Whether it's concussion prevention, new training methods or stadium enhancements, technology has been seeping deeper into the world of sports over the past few years.
Tim Steudler and his new firm
are at the forefront of the sport-tech scene. Founded by Steudler and industry vet Craig Howe in January 2015, Rebel not only advises and invests in blossoming startups, but also provides digital strategy solutions to some of the top sports franchises and leagues in the U.S. and Europe.
Howe leads the digital strategy side of the company, focusing on building client’s online presence and technological innovation. Rebel's clients include the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Liverpool FC, and Real Madrid.
A former SVP at AdColony, Steudler spearheads the venture side of Rebel and acts as a mentor for the Los Angeles Dodgers Accelerator with R/GA, which concluded in November. We sat down with him to discuss online strategies for teams and what the future of sports looks like for the fan: The potential of Virtual and Augmented Reality in sports
When 3D TVs were released, the public was convinced it would become the new medium to watch media and sports. Within a year, that notion was entirely dispelled. The viewing experience is becoming increasingly more enjoyable for fans, but there has yet to be a suitable medium beyond a standard high definition television.
With hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into virtual reality companies, it’s a safe assumption that many sports will soon dabble in the experience. But do all sports really lend themselves to a 360 degree view?
“Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality is here to stay,” Steudler said. “Coming from some vast experience in the gaming industry, I know VR is a no-brainer for gaming, but when you look at VR for movies or live sports, this is an entirely new medium the content creators and storytellers have to learn. Watching a live broadcast of a sporting event in VR is going to be a very different experience — it’s even going to be a different experience among the sports. Tennis or golf might lend itself more to that type of medium versus basketball or football.”
How teams are leveraging the internet to build global brands
A sports team’s online presence has come a long way from barebones Facebook pages and Twitter handles. Less than a decade ago, a team’s social media was nothing more than an outlet for them to post news and scores. In 2015, a Facebook page, Twitter handle and Instagram account are the most vital ways for franchises to interact with fans and develop a brand identity.
“Teams are ultimately the brand at the end of the day. There’s no difference between the Chicago Bulls and Nike. I think digital strategy and what we do is somewhat ambiguous because it’s different for each team, but essentially what we’re able to do is come in and audit everything they're doing across web, social, and mobile and then provide best practices.
It could be how you’re engaging with fans across all of these mediums and essentially that comes down to enhancing their experience or delivering value to them. Sports has been married with advertising since the dawn of time, but a lot of that has been a very traditional advertising business and both those brand advertisers and the internal sales organization at these sports teams are trying to navigate how to incorporate digital into those partnerships.
We encourage them not to just throw out sponsored posts from Brand X. Why not create something unique and original that’s going to enhance the fan experience, have some engagement touch points and deliver some value back to them? We're able to use first and third party data to understand your audience, bring in technology to have a closer, one-to-one direct relationship to that audience, and enhance that experience for everyone through content.”
Envisioning the stadium of the future
If the Dodger’s Accelerator taught us anything, it’s that stadium technology is beginning to advance at a rapid pace. From Appetize, the in-seat mobile ordering app for live events, to Doorstat, a demographic-reading facial recognition software, teams and stadiums will soon have a variety of new engagement tools.
However, some sports fan bases aren’t as keen to a futuristic Big Brother stadium. Sports are deeply rooted in tradition so finding the balance between preserving the past and embracing the future is key.
“I’m a Boston sports guy and the Boston sports fan likes that nostalgia of Fenway Park,” Steudler explained. “So I think, from an architectural standpoint, you want to have an arena or stadium that’s going to be able to deliver the history and pride, but you also have to update it. I personally think the single most important thing for a stadium in the future is that the stadium should know me. They should know who I am, they should have my credit card information, my email, behavior data and what I like. Whether it’s the stadium itself, like the Staples Center, where I might go for four or five different events, or whether it's specifically a team like the LA Kings — they should know their fans and they should be able to cater and customize the experience to that fan. Once you have that, there’s a million different opportunities you can do with that one-to-one relationship.
All of my sentiments are as a fan, wanting that relationship, how do I get out to take a half court shot at halftime or how do I get access to practice? There's such a huge appetite for fandom around sports and entertainment. For me, I'd be willing to opt into that direct relationship, but I need to know what I’d get in return. Obviously privacy and security are paramount but I’d rather see that type of [engagement] rather than cameras and drones in the sky scanning me and then using algorithms to tell me who I am. Let me tell you who I am. You tell me how you’re going to do to enhance the experience for me and let’s have a relationship."
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