Attempting to Improve the Game Day Experience is merely one piece of the puzzle

[Skiblets]

Interesting read (and listen) from Deloitte Consulting. Focus should not be just on game day experience, it should be on fan engagement - and knowing your customer as well as Amazon does. 5 overarching tenets:

1. Know your target. To design effective engagement programs, teams must be clear—and specific—regarding the target with whom they seek a relationship.
2. Make it personal. Programs designed to speak to everyone run the risk of speaking to no one.
3. Think holistically about experience. The live game experience is a focal point for fan interaction and franchises alike. What lies beyond it?
4. Engage year round. Meaningful relationships don’t start and stop with the sports season.
5. Recognize loyalty. Recognize, reward, and record each fan interaction.

http://www2.deloitte.com/content/da...-cb-redefining-home-field-advantage-final.pdf
Redefining home field advantage | Deloitte US | Sports

 

[Chin Diesel]

Interesting read (and listen) from Deloitte Consulting. Focus should not be just on game day experience, it should be on fan engagement - and knowing your customer as well as Amazon does. 5 overarching tenets:

1. Know your target. To design effective engagement programs, teams must be clear—and specific—regarding the target with whom they seek a relationship.
2. Make it personal. Programs designed to speak to everyone run the risk of speaking to no one.
3. Think holistically about experience. The live game experience is a focal point for fan interaction and franchises alike. What lies beyond it?
4. Engage year round. Meaningful relationships don’t start and stop with the sports season.
5. Recognize loyalty. Recognize, reward, and record each fan interaction.

http://www2.deloitte.com/content/da...-cb-redefining-home-field-advantage-final.pdf
Redefining home field advantage | Deloitte US | Sports

It's scary that those 5 objectives had to be farmed out to a consulting firm to figure out.

But it's a start.

 

[Skiblets]

It's scary that those 5 objectives had to be farmed out to a consulting firm to figure out.

But it's a start.

Generic white paper. Thought it was an interesting read since we focus here so much on game day experience. Customer engagement is a tough concept for an academic institution to master IMHO

 

[SubbaBub]

Normally, corporate speak drives me nuts. This however is a good example of communicating something everyone generally understands in a clear and focused manner that everyone can use to act on and refer back to to assure everyone stays on the same page.

Next step is to break each one down into a list of actions/proposals at see how each stacks up in meeting the overall goal of a top level fan engagement program.

I'll start with an oldie. The band entrance in to the stadium and pregame needs a complete overhaul. It isn't must see and it needs to be if you want seats filled before kickoff.

 

[uconnric]

Sometimes I think these things get too "thought out", and you end up with jibberish. Games run too long because of tv, can't do much about that. Maybe we could ban the stupid in-game promos, but they do kill time during tv time outs.

Just win, baby. (Didn't see that in 1-5)

 

[Chin Diesel]

Reports like this from D&T remind me that there's always room in corporate America for consultation. This white paper report didn't come from one team or one level of play. It was across the board. Companies will pay good money to someone to cover their butts and answer the obvious.

 

[ktuck911]

Agreed, uconnric, winning will improve any gameday experience... You can only camouflage things to a certain extent. Eventually, reality kicks in and you're back to square one.

 

[Chin Diesel]

We had a AA baseball stadium open near me in Florida 5 years ago. The principal owner of the team made a killing in health care consulting. He runs his stadium the way you would expect a numbers persons to run it.

The stadium is consistently ranked in the top 5 for minor league baseball and top 20 of all stadiums in all of sports.

http://www.pnj.com/story/sports/201...-ranks-blue-wahoos-stadium-no-11-us/80807088/

Stadium Journey said its ratings take into account the food and beverage served in the stadium, the overall atmosphere, the neighborhood where the stadium is located, the fans, access (which includes traffic, parking, ability to move around, and restrooms), the overall return on investment.

STADIUM JOURNEY

TOP 15 SPORTING VENUES

1) Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

2) Amsoil Arena (University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs).

3) PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates).

4) Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals).

5) Daytona International Speedway

6) Compton Family Arena (Notre Dame Hockey).

7) Carolina Stadium (South Carolina Gamecocks)

8) AT&T Center (San Antonio Spurs).

9) Parkview Field (Fort Wayne (Ind.) TinCaps)

10) Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis Colts).

11) Blue Wahoos Stadium (Pensacola Blue Wahoos).

12) Alex Box Stadium (LSU Baseball).

13) Notre Dame Stadium

14) Providence Park (Portland, Ore. Timbers Soccer)

15) Sporting Park (Kansas City, soccer).

Of Blue Wahoos Stadium, the report said: "Everything about the stadium screams you should have a good time at a Blue Wahoos game."

"The seats come with great sight lines, and plenty of room is available to move about the rows. The crowd and staff at the ballpark give off friendly vibes and workers being recognized at a game for their performance helps encourage this. Seeing Pensacola Bay from just about any seat adds an element to Pensacola Bayfront Stadium that most ballparks do not possess."

I use the team's website to buy tickets directly so they have my email. Every time I use a ticket by the 7th inning I have a Survey Monkey email asking me about my experience.

Questions include-

What is my impression of the first employee I met at the stadium?

Do I remember the greeters name?

How long did I wait for concessions?

What was the conditions of the bathroom?

What food did I buy?

How was the quality of the food?

How was the cleanliness of the food stations?

Impression of between inning contests?

Variety of the contests?

Theme night impressions?

Etc, etc. No where does it mention score of the game. Game scores are a variable that you can't control for atmosphere. Make it worthwhile regardless of the score.

 

[SubbaBub]

The team running New Britain Stadium when the Rock Cats played there also had a good reputation for fan experience. Maybe hire one of those guys.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The team running New Britain Stadium when the Rock Cats played there also had a good reputation for fan experience. Maybe hire one of those guys.

Most of the AA and AAA ball parks I've been to in the past 10 years have been great. Excellent return on investment. Minor league teams are entirely dependent upon having a parent club run their roster so quality of play is always a wild card.

I've had a great time in Lancaster, Ca watching the Astros Single A team the Jet Hawks play. The stadium is literally built on dirt on an exit ramp, but the seats are comfortable, food and drinks are reasonably priced. When I go to the area for work I always check their schedule.

Without trying to thread jack this, the point is that any stadium, for any sport, at any level of competition can provide a quality environment that welcomes people to come to the events.

 

[Skiblets]

We had a AA baseball stadium open near me in Florida 5 years ago. The principal owner of the team made a killing in health care consulting. He runs his stadium the way you would expect a numbers persons to run it.

The stadium is consistently ranked in the top 5 for minor league baseball and top 20 of all stadiums in all of sports.

Stadium Journey ranks Blue Wahoos Stadium No. 11 in U.S.

Stadium Journey said its ratings take into account the food and beverage served in the stadium, the overall atmosphere, the neighborhood where the stadium is located, the fans, access (which includes traffic, parking, ability to move around, and restrooms), the overall return on investment.

STADIUM JOURNEY

TOP 15 SPORTING VENUES

1) Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

2) Amsoil Arena (University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs).

3) PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates).

4) Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals).

5) Daytona International Speedway

6) Compton Family Arena (Notre Dame Hockey).

7) Carolina Stadium (South Carolina Gamecocks)

8) AT&T Center (San Antonio Spurs).

9) Parkview Field (Fort Wayne (Ind.) TinCaps)

10) Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis Colts).

11) Blue Wahoos Stadium (Pensacola Blue Wahoos).

12) Alex Box Stadium (LSU Baseball).

13) Notre Dame Stadium

14) Providence Park (Portland, Ore. Timbers Soccer)

15) Sporting Park (Kansas City, soccer).

Of Blue Wahoos Stadium, the report said: "Everything about the stadium screams you should have a good time at a Blue Wahoos game."

"The seats come with great sight lines, and plenty of room is available to move about the rows. The crowd and staff at the ballpark give off friendly vibes and workers being recognized at a game for their performance helps encourage this. Seeing Pensacola Bay from just about any seat adds an element to Pensacola Bayfront Stadium that most ballparks do not possess."

I use the team's website to buy tickets directly so they have my email. Every time I use a ticket by the 7th inning I have a Survey Monkey email asking me about my experience.

Questions include-

What is my impression of the first employee I met at the stadium?

Do I remember the greeters name?

How long did I wait for concessions?

What was the conditions of the bathroom?

What food did I buy?

How was the quality of the food?

How was the cleanliness of the food stations?

Impression of between inning contests?

Variety of the contests?

Theme night impressions?

Etc, etc. No where does it mention score of the game. Game scores are a variable that you can't control for atmosphere. Make it worthwhile regardless of the score.

This, this, this!!! Little things matter, paying attention to detail matters and the AD needs to understand that they are in the entertainment business. Simple things - like when I send in my season ticket renewal and they ask you to send two checks - one to the AD and one to the Foundation or wherever. Could you imagine any retailer doing that?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Most of the AA and AAA ball parks I've been to in the past 10 years have been great. Excellent return on investment. Minor league teams are entirely dependent upon having a parent club run their roster so quality of play is always a wild card.

I've had a great time in Lancaster, Ca watching the Astros Single A team the Jet Hawks play. The stadium is literally built on dirt on an exit ramp, but the seats are comfortable, food and drinks are reasonably priced. When I go to the area for work I always check their schedule.

Without trying to thread jack this, the point is that any stadium, for any sport, at any level of competition can provide a quality environment that welcomes people to come to the events.

Yes. Understanding your customers is key. The Brockton Rox get rave reviews from families. They know that they serve mostly as an affordable, fun way for families to introduce kids to baseball.

Brockton Rox promises affordable Family Fun!

I think UConn's new AD definitely gets it.

 

[SubbaBub]

Discussion topic number 2: Student booster clubs. Could be one or create tailgate groups from existing clubs.

I'm thinking a single main club. Early access to tickets, busses, a special tailgate area, maybe sponsored food, tshirts. Would lead the student section and stadium cheers.

 

[Waquoit]

I still don't understand the hang-up on "gameday experience". Great tailgating, the band and cheerleaders come through. It's easy getting in, leaving isn't so bad. An accessible stadium that has great sight lines and doesn't jam you in. Top notch marching band. Plenty of beer, selection gets better every year. I think we have the important stuff down. I read the suggestions in the various "gameday experience" threads and none really move the needle. I don't think the present UConn "gameday experience" costs the program any attendance.

 

[Bonehead]

Helicopter 'dropping dimes' over the rent seats like Kevin Love - but use $20 bills. Happens as the team runs onto field.

You don't want extra twenties stay in the lots (and clean your area ).

Who is paying you ask - LAZ and Mexico.

 

[upstater]

Reports like this from D&T remind me that there's always room in corporate America for consultation. This white paper report didn't come from one team or one level of play. It was across the board. Companies will pay good money to someone to cover their butts and answer the obvious.

Exactly, it is CYA, and it's the type of BS work that drives me crazy.

 

[SubbaBub]

I still don't understand the hang-up on "gameday experience". Great tailgating, the band and cheerleaders come through. It's easy getting in, leaving isn't so bad. An accessible stadium that has great sight lines and doesn't jam you in. Top notch marching band. Plenty of beer, selection gets better every year. I think we have the important stuff down. I read the suggestions in the various "gameday experience" threads and none really move the needle. I don't think the present UConn "gameday experience" costs the program any attendance.

The pageantry and tradition of game day is what brings people to the college game. Especially in this age of high quality TV at home. People go to games at Michigan, OSU, ND, PSU because of the spectacle. This is also true at places that don't perpetually reside in the top 25. If it's just a game, then people won't commit an entire Saturday.

 

[whaler11]

The pageantry and tradition of game day is what brings people to the college game. Especially in this age of high quality TV at home. People go to games at Michigan, OSU, ND, PSU because of the spectacle. This is also true at places that don't perpetually reside in the top 25. If it's just a game, then people won't commit an entire Saturday.

It also isn't minor league baseball where nobody cares who wins. People go to that because it's summer and they aren't busy. They eat and drink some, enjoy the weather - watch the dumb contests, fireworks and go home.

College football is on Saturdays in the fall where you compete with a million activities and rarely is anyone going to enjoy the weather at Rentschler.

You need to be competitive and you have to differentiate it from the dozens of other things people can do - including watching the game and dozens of others on TV without any marginal dollars spent.

 

[SubbaBub]

It also isn't minor league baseball where nobody cares who wins. People go to that because it's summer and they aren't busy. They eat and drink some, enjoy the weather - watch the dumb contests, fireworks and go home.

College football is on Saturdays in the fall where you compete with a million activities and rarely is anyone going to enjoy the weather at Rentschler.

You need to be competitive and you have to differentiate it from the dozens of other things people can do - including watching the game and dozens of others on TV without any marginal dollars spent.

Yes, nobody wants to watch their team lose. I'm fairly certain everyone concerned knows that by now. If you want a vibrant program there needs to be more, so especially on those days when the home team doesn't win it is still an enjoyable outing. That differentiation you are looking for is the shared experience of the fans in attendance. English soccer has it. Certain college football programs have it. The Packers have it. The Mets don't. Most of it has to happen organically, but there are things you can do to promote that atmosphere.

I haven't met a single season ticket holder that wasn't completely geeked out over a free baseball hat. When the student section is on, it energizes the entire stadium. Something as simple as the padding in front of the dog pound for them to bang on and make noise was removed and eliminated a minor but important part of the fan experience.

We complain about the PA, the sleepy scoreboard operator, the endless promotions, the talking over the band. All these minor detail are part of the experience, they matter. Part of what this report is saying is that you need to pay attention to every part of fan engagement no matter how small. It's the difference between a Queen concert and a Nickleback concert. Between a Broadway show and the local rep.

 

[whaler11]

Yes, nobody wants to watch their team lose. I'm fairly certain everyone concerned knows that by now. If you want a vibrant program there needs to be more, so especially on those days when the home team doesn't win it is still an enjoyable outing. That differentiation you are looking for is the shared experience of the fans in attendance. English soccer has it. Certain college football programs have it. The Packers have it. The Mets don't. Most of it has to happen organically, but there are things you can do to promote that atmosphere.

I haven't met a single season ticket holder that wasn't completely geeked out over a free baseball hat. When the student section is on, it energizes the entire stadium. Something as simple as the padding in front of the dog pound for them to bang on and make noise was removed and eliminated a minor but important part of the fan experience.

We complain about the PA, the sleepy scoreboard operator, the endless promotions, the talking over the band. All these minor detail are part of the experience, they matter. Part of what this report is saying is that you need to pay attention to every part of fan engagement no matter how small. It's the difference between a Queen concert and a Nickleback concert. Between a Broadway show and the local rep.

I wasn't disagreeing with you - just pointing out getting 6k to show up for minor league baseball is a lot easier than college football - which had to do with prior posts not yours.

I wasn't all that excited about the hat.... but nobody hates JT on the PA more than me. He is awful.

 

[Nostical]

I've been to the pre-game at about 10 major college stadiums around the country (Penn St, NC State, Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, even Auburn) and I can tell you that ours has all the elements of the others--Fight songs-patriotic songs -pageantry etc. What's missing are the people in their seats to create the roar and excitement. Watch these three short excerpts from:
BC TubeChop - Chop YouTube Videos
UConn TubeChop - Chop YouTube Videos
and
Auburn TubeChop - Chop YouTube Videos
David Benedict will be trying hard to create a War Eagle type atmosphere at The Rent, and he should, but it will frankly depend a lot more on us and our commitment to change our New England habits toward college football than any gimmick on the field.

 

[Exit 4]

I whole heartily agree with Nostical. The issue is not UConn's effort, but the habits and challenges of NE.

In my opinion, attendance issues at the Rent have many contributors which I think rank as follows - many of these cannot be fixed in the short run:
i) winning - the best medicine
ii) absence of an on campus stadium (would improve the atmosphere for both students and non students)
iii) NE habits - its just not a habit in the northeast to think of attending live college football. people here in lower FF county think I am asking them to consider a trip to the moon when I suggest we drive 1.5hrs to east hartford.
iv) HD tvs - same double edge sword helping tv revenues continues to hurt ticket sales - a global sports issue
v) relatively weak state economy. your bread and butter middle class family has decided to do something else with their entertain dollars (or they have fewer entertain dollars to spend). i don't think any gameday experience improvements will necessarily draw this group in, they just need more time (working longer) and $$.
vi) smallish alumni base (as a % of the population)- even smaller wealthy alumni base. the wealthy don't always fill the stands, but they can be influential in validating a fan base. as a relative newbie on the academic scene (only been recognized as a great school for approx 15 years) it will take time for this to improve.

all that negativity aside, UConn is well positioned and very well on its way to becoming a premier national university thanks to the remarkable achievements of the past 25 years.

Bottomline - wonderful fans like Nostical are waist deep in other parts of the country...which is not the case here...yet.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I complained to someone in the AD about the Hartford Colonials name being visible in the end zone after a game. I was told "Really? we are playing for a chance at a BCS bowl next week." I told him that I was very aware but it still looked bush league. All those little things mentioned do make a difference. As far as the game day experience, I think it will improve as the program matures too. We really need a 1-2 loss breakout year.

 

[SubbaBub]

I've been to the pre-game at about 10 major college stadiums around the country (Penn St, NC State, Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, even Auburn) and I can tell you that ours has all the elements of the others--Fight songs-patriotic songs -pageantry etc. What's missing are the people in their seats to create the roar and excitement. Watch these three short excerpts from:
BC TubeChop - Chop YouTube Videos
UConn TubeChop - Chop YouTube Videos
and
Auburn TubeChop - Chop YouTube Videos
David Benedict will be trying hard to create a War Eagle type atmosphere at The Rent, and he should, but it will frankly depend a lot more on us and our commitment to change our New England habits toward college football than any gimmick on the field.

Watch how PSU's band and players enter the stadium and the lack of lulls in the pregame program and how UConn's does it. 100k people make anything exciting, but 300 kids milling about waiting to march a single letter formation 30 yards excites no one. Details matter.

I doubt UConn could pull this off safely, but what if regular students formed the tunnel the players run through. Both sides seemed excited about the Dog House party. Trick would be to get them there regularly and on time before getting them into the stands on time. Sounds like something for a student club and an on-campus stadium. Watching 200 kids run out onto the field to form the tunnel is more exciting than what we do now.

 

[Sky ball]

Sometimes I think these things get too "thought out", and you end up with jibberish. Games run too long because of tv, can't do much about that. Maybe we could ban the stupid in-game promos, but they do kill time during tv time outs.

Just win, baby. (Didn't see that in 1-5)

Winning and competition is key. Move Michigan into the AAC with a losing record and see how many seats are filled in that 100K+ stadium.