No matter how much capacity a sporting venue’s network has, most–if not all–of the bandwidth will be tapped into. The demand definitely outpaces the supply. In effect, the discrepancy widens, with regards to the collective interdependency of fans’ data upload and the DAS or Wi-Fi traffic.
In spite of the wide-ranging variables pertinent to in-arena mobile reception, sports teams are compelled to supply an answer to this common complaint by fans: where can I charge my cell phone?
David Walke, Chief Executive Officer of goCharge, tells SportTechie that keeping fans’ smartphones charged “is now a basic hospitality offering.”
While starting out in 2008, goCharge didn’t enter sports stadiums until four years later. They have quickly become a leading provider of charging stations for several sports teams. To date, their products are now housed in 27 MLB ballparks, seven NFL stadiums, and four NBA arenas, and a single NHL site.
Two of the more recent partners, though, are the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers. The former has installed 22 high-top tables with four sets of chords each at Quicken Loans Arena, which accommodates for iPhone 4,5, and 6 users as well as a Micro USB. The latter offers three lockers that contain 10 cubbies for fans’ devices at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Both of these products, the tables and lockers, present a different fan engagement point than what this typically mundane task would be on its own.
Specifically, the tables can be purchased for upwards of $3,000, whereas the lockers range from $5,500 to $6,000. A sponsorship angle enables fans to not have to pay for the service, generating incremental revenue for the teams. At the moment, there’s no time constraints in which a fan can charge their devices.
However, goCharge plans to include a new technology that would enforce a six-minute time interval to pass before a fan is asked a series of sponsor-related questions, by which point they have to answer in order to continue charging their devices for an additional 45 minutes. It is this kind of real-time, branded experience that provides worthwhile value to the sponsors, particularly the data that’s captured.
“If we expect our fans to come into our building equipped with their smartphone and ready to use it to engage with our brand, we’ve got to be prepared to provide them the power to support that,” Mike Conley, Cavaliers’ Vice President of Digital and Web Services, told SportsBusiness Daily, with respects to charging stations being a need–not a want–in the modern day, in-venue fan experience.
“The last thing we want is people sitting down in front of outlets and blocking traffic. The tables allow us to drive our fans to defined areas to charge their phones,” added Conley.
About five to 10 percent of fans in a given game’s attendance could be projected as users of goCharge’s charging stations. These fans would likely bet at these tables anywhere between 15 to 20 minutes, with smartphones needing nearly two percent per minute while tablets almost half of that to recharge.
The Cavaliers’ needs have, so far, been met, with regards to their usage of the charging stations, including having sponsorship from a company called FirstEnergy for their tables. As for the Pacers, they will gauge fans’ response to them after this initial season before opting for more stations.
Going forward, the area of data offers the most potential for goCharge to grow among sports venues.
“In the near future, goCharge charging stations will be able to provide arena management with real-time data on their fans through our new data-capturing stations, as well as help them manage traffic flow in their arenas through crowd-sensing, sonar technology to measure foot traffic at specific locations,” says Walke.