In their quest to become one of the most technologically savvy organizations in sports, the Portland Trail Blazers have found help in a place teams often overlook: within their own city limits.
“Portland has become more of a tech hub in the last 10-15 years,” the Trail Blazer’s VP of Brand Strategy and Digital Dewayne Hankins said in a Skype chat. “And we want to take advantage of those opportunities.”
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One of those opportunities has led to a partnership between the Blazers and Digimarc, a Beaverton, OR-based company that uses watermark technology to embed invisible bar codes onto static images. The Blazers currently utilize Digimarc’s barcodes in their newly released Fan Scan portion of their official team app to offer an interactive experience with posters, calendars, flyers, and other print images. “We think there’s a lot of value to [Fan Scan], because we can change that link on the fly,” Hankins said, “so if a poster is hanging in a kid’s room, we can change that link once a month, and it can open up a new experience.”
The Blazers have also connected locally with Citifyd, a Portland-based startup that aims to expedite long parking waits fans face when arriving to the arena. Citifyd’s service cuts down on parking by allowing fans to pay for a parking space before they leave home. The service is currently in a beta test, but the Blazers are optimistic that they’ll soon have a solution to what Hankins called “the biggest pain point in surveys that most teams do.”
These advancements don’t come without challenges, however. The Blazer’s improvements are small in comparison to those of their closest rivals in Sacramento and Golden State. Both the Kings and the Warriors will be opening new arenas in late 2016 and 2019 respectively, and with both teams’ proximity to Silicon Valley, the Blazers face a technological disadvantage to their closest competitors.
To keep up with their rival organizations, the Blazers have invested $20 million into upgrading the Moda Center over the past two seasons. These improvements include the installation of 150 new audio beacons, newly added amenities to the 300 level, partnerships with local food carts and vendors, and an overhaul of their fan shop, now named the Rip City Clothing Company. “Fans in Portland have come to expect that the arena reflect the unique nature of the city,” said Hankins. “So now hopefully when you walk inside the building, it looks more like the reflection of the city instead of a building that can be dropped in any NBA town.”
Justin Palmer, a season-ticket holder in the Moda Center’s 300 section for the past seven years, has noticed the changes. “The food and beer selections are one of the brighter spots of improvement just in the last couple of years,” he said. “I believe everyone wins with the addition of local food options like Sizzle Pie, Killer Burger, PoShines, Cha Cha Cha and more.” Jenny Le, a Portland area fan, finds the new food selection an attractive feature of the arena, saying: “It’s actually encouraged me to go to the games more.”
The Blazers try to talk directly to their fans when brainstorming ideas to improve the gameday experience. Hankins said they first heard of Digimarc from their in-house musician, DJ OG-One. They also got the idea to work with Citifyd from a digital agency headquartered down the street from the arena. These ideas and many more often come from fan workshops, surveys, and direct interviews with members of the front office. “It’s really about the fan base,” said Hankins, “and we just try to engage them properly… and talk to them like the fans they are.”
It might take some time, however, before Blazers fans start noticing the arena’s technological improvements. Cole Davenport, a Portland-area fan, hasn’t noticed much difference other than how “one can actually get cell reception now [in the arena].” Le agrees, saying: “I can definitely tell there’s a bigger social media presence around the arena…but from a fan perspective, there isn’t a ton of tech-savvy stuff that I notice.” Although the organization has invested much time and effort into their new technology, the most difficult part may be informing their fans and seeing if they’re willing to play with the new gadgets.
Despite being in the eighth-smallest NBA market, the Portland Trail Blazers have fashioned themselves into one of the most technologically ambitious organizations in the league. Their access to a tech-savvy city and openness to an excited fan base has the front office optimistic about the future value of the franchise. Regarding their recent playoff clinch, however, Hankins shows a more cautious optimism.
“We’re playing with house money no matter what.”