When Clemson takes on Alabama today for the College Football Playoff championship game, it marks only the second in history, but it is already a premiere sporting event. In its first year, the College Football Playoff (CFP) was awarded the 2015 Sports Business Award for Sports Event of the Year by Sports Business Journal. Going forward, the CFP plans to maintain and build on this success by partnering with sports technology leaders who provide an optimal game experience for fans.
Gina Lehe, CFP Senior Director of Communications and Brand Management, says the CFP understands that fans are looking for ways to feel involved in the college football playoff experience so the CFP’s goal is to “be proactive and a leader in the industry.” As a result, the CFP is on the lookout for sports technology partners who provide capabilities that enhance user experience.
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Sports technology partners are selected based primarily upon their fit with the relatively new CFP brand. “Just because there is a social media brand out there to utilize does not mean we will automatically select it,” Lehe says.
Wise sports strategists select potential partners only after evaluating their strategic fit with a brand. The CFP’s approach is similar to the Platform Alignment Test developed by the co-authors of The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry, Irving Rein, Ben Shields and Adam Grossman, which evaluates whether the products and services offered by sports tech partners are created and delivered in a manner consistent with the identity and narrative of an organization.
Alignment is based upon three factors: fan audience demographic composition and size, how fans utilize the platform, and whether the product or service offered increases product consumption and provides both direct and indirect revenue opportunities.
According to Lehe, the top three ways a sports technology company can best align with the CFP brand is to offer:
- Solutions and features that address who the CFP is. Since the CFP is comprised of members representing all 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame who serve on the College Football Playoff Board of Managers, sports technology partners must be responsive to the entire membership.
- A platform that can be used to educate fans. The CFP is not team specific so it must provide alternative ways for fans to engage. One way to do this is to provide content that educates fans about the CFP’s purpose, its goals and its structure. This is accomplished by utilizing a platform that is capable of educating fans about the playoff team selection process, the Board of Managers and how they operate, and partnerships with event commissioners who oversee other bowl games.
- Elements that enhance the user experience for fans. The CFP wants to ensure that any sports technology it adopts benefits fans and enhances fan experience in an authentic and organic way. Sports technology partners must be able to effectively determine what fans want, specifically the content and forms of engagement that fans want, and then provide it.
“Catering to the audience is something we want to pay particular attention to,” Lehe says, “not just on game day, but throughout the year.”
The CFP found that sports technology company SportsLabs and its Advanced Media Platform (AMP) could deliver in all three of these areas plus the company complimented the CFP narrative. The two organizations partnered to create the CFP Gameday mobile app. Right before the start of the 2015 season, the CFP Gameday app was downloaded over 10,000 times. The demand provided a great learning opportunity for the CFP team, according to Lehe. She says, “College football fans crave information throughout the season and they look to the CFP to engage and to provide the content they want. People care about college football 365 days a year and we are fortunate to have tools, apps and platforms to tell the CFP story.”
To offer fans the feeling of involvement they are seeking, the CFP Gameday app offers features that deliver immersive college football information, real-time game updates, team rankings, CFP structure and purpose information, and in-app social media interactivity. New in this season’s refresh, are SportsLabs’ beaconing and geosensing capabilities that provide real-time information to championship game attendees. Lehe says these features provide location-based technologies that welcome fans to Phoenix upon arrival and connect fans to Playoff Fan Central and other CFP events. The app also delivers up-to-the-minute driving directions based upon current traffic conditions, available parking options, and the AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! These features utilize technology that engages fans at CFP events, drives attendee behavior, and provides digital activation opportunities for sponsors.
The CFP is only beginning to forge new paths with sports technology partners. As technology and College Football Playoff events evolve, the CFP will continue to seek out organizations that provide mobile platforms, features, data, and data technology to optimize sports experiences for fans, tell the CFP brand story as it progresses, and promote the CFP system.
Kristy comes from a corporate background having been a member of in-house legal teams in a variety of industries including tech, big data, financial services, and pharmaceuticals. Her experience in the intellectual property, transactional, regulatory and other corporate practice areas gives her a unique perspective and ability to identify legal issues and real-world solutions that satisfy the business and legal teams. Kristy focuses her efforts on sports tech law issues that arise where sports, tech, business and the law intersect, consulting for all sports industry players who utilize tech. Kristy received her LL.M. in Sports Law and Business from Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and her J.D. from Arizona Summit Law School. Kristy, based in Phoenix, enjoys all sports (but is partial to basketball and football), is an avid hiker, and loves jumping out of airplanes and other adventures.