SYDNEY — College football returned down under for a second straight year, providing Australian gridiron fans with a world-class fan experience as the Stanford Cardinal faced off with the Rice Owls at Allianz Stadium for the Sydney College Football Cup.
The college football season opener saw 33,000 passionate fans treated to a game-day experience that included iconic American sporting entertainment features like tailgate parties, a dedicated “Frat Party” seating section, innovative fan engagement as well as American-themed food and beverage options.
There was also state of the art technology being featured for the first time for the College Cup combined with a host of best practice fan (and media) engagement activations.
The improved SCG & Allianz Stadium app was another handy addition to the fan experience that enabled fans here to use a few features like “Fan Cam” that enabled them to take a selfie with the game day filter of their choosing, use the express mobile ordering function to pre-order food as well as participate in live polls.
Allianz Stadium Digital Marketing Specialist Ethan Hodson said of the app: “We envision the SCG & Allianz Stadium App as the ultimate game-day companion, providing fans with access to all that is on offer within the precinct. With that in mind, the challenge for our team is understanding the fan journey so we can provide relevant information and functionality to make that journey as memorable and seamless as possible. The stadium App equips fans with the ability to make each point of their experience more enjoyable, while providing our team with the insights to understand the journey and deliver an enhanced experience.”
The in-app live poll engagement piece, which made its maiden appearance at college football was also a fun, engaging campaign for fans to participate in over the course of the game. Hodson explained postgame that “the campaign successfully drove an average 52 percent engagement on polling questions. This was astonishing given that our fan segmentation is generally based on rich data that we gather from fans that frequent events over seasons. The campaign was strategically run not only to drive engagement but to increase mobile ordering awareness.”
The new geo fence technology deployed by Allianz Stadium also proved to be a useful and effective tool for fans to access important messages regarding the fan experience both before and during the game while also enabling them to interact with the in stadium promotions like Fan Cam, stadium discounts and live polling.
Hodson elaborated on this by stating that “location-based alerts have enabled our team to interact with fans through targeted, relevant and contextual messaging in the venue and its surrounds. This has meant an increase in engagement, while helping us to avoid App abandonment that occurs from receiving non-contextual and irrelevant messaging. Location-based messaging doesn’t just serve the interests of marketing, we are also seeing it used effectively to aid in the venue ingress with timely reminders for fans to move through the gates.”
Geo-fencing working wonders at @AllianzStadium @CFSydneyCup to push out game day info to fans. #CollegeFootballSyd #CFSydneyCup pic.twitter.com/1gXBlAQUEM
— Blair Hughes (@MrBlairHughes) August 27, 2017
Fans were not left disappointed on the food and beverage front either with long “SuperDogs” selling out in quick succession, an “All You Can Eat” stand as well as American-style burgers, pizza and loaded hotdogs, which were created exclusively by the Allianz Stadium caterer for this event available for purchase in the concourse concessions ensuring that fans weren’t left hungry. An impressive new feature of the Allianz Stadium app that utilizes AirService also enabled fans to express order their food and drinks for easy collection from a concession stand.
The customer journey and user experience of this part of the app proved to be fast and easy to navigate when road testing it in ordering a beer and while there is a small fee attached to using the service the clear advantage here was not having to waste time waiting in concession lines. Of the express ordering app feature, Hodson stated, “Food and beverage queues are a pain point for most attending a capacity game. Fans want to be engaged with the action on field, rather than waiting in line for beers and burgers. With that in mind, mobile ordering is geared to improve the fan experience while releasing pressure on F & B outlets and crowd safety staff.”
Ahead of the gates opening at 10 a.m., merchandise stands were busy as American tunes from Bruce Springsteen and the Foo Fighters played over the speakers while the college mascots danced around taking pictures with fans. Event sponsors were also visible handing out food and drink freebies to the eclectically-dressed crowd of NFL jersey-wearing fans, which added to a vibe similar to a U.S. game day.
The pregame American tailgate party proved to be a popular choice among fans, with ticket holders being able to select an add-on option which allowed them to partake in a unique VIP experience with fellow American football fans. This sponsored fan zone area featured an artificial turf gridiron-style field where fans could throw around plush footballs while also enjoying free American food and drinks like burgers, hot dogs and doughnuts as well as ice-cold Budweiser beers. The pregame tailgate ticket deal also included free items for fans including hats, programs and koozies while there was a dedicated kids area which included a mechanical bull ride and an American football style inflatable obstacle course, both of which also proved popular with the big kids too.
The fan engagement inside the ground featured photo opportunities with mascots and cheerleaders while the T-shirt cannon shot free merchandise out to fans and DJs pumped out more classic American tunes for fans to dance along to over the course of the day. Closer to kickoff, team marching bands entertained the crowd while the American national anthem had the crowd stand at attention in admiring what is an iconic moment in the U.S. sporting experience.
The Sydney College Cup was an impressive display of fan engagement best practice from both the promoters and the venue which utilized some clever and innovative technology to add to the fan experience while also embracing a truly American sporting feel for this event.
