Arena WiFi: Understand your fans and drive superior engagement

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Arenas across the globe are continually looking to embrace the latest technologies that effectively provide visitors with memorable experiences while delivering a strong return on investment.

One of the most popular solutions has become guest WiFi which Forbes highlighted as “a true service differentiator with fans.”

No longer just a nice to have, guest WiFi has evolved to become a tool for generating positive business outcomes such as collecting customer feedback at scale, or revenue-generating activities like promoting up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.

Challenges arenas face today

Knowing fans / 3rd-party resellers: A large number of fans are acquiring their tickets from 3rd parties leaving arenas unaware of who exactly is in attendance during an event. Additionally, arenas won’t have collected their contact information at the point of purchase meaning there is no way to contact them directly. One NBA team already utilizing Purple’s guest WiFi solution realized that 40% of fans in attendance did not directly purchase their tickets from a known service provider.

Declining attendance: In the last decade, major sports leagues such as the NBA have seen a gradual decline in fan attendance. While there may be many contributing factors to this, fans are choosing to ditch costly season tickets and experience the game at home or a hospitality venue with infrequent ticket purchases to experience a game in person. It’s clear that fans are looking for a personal reason to come back without the hefty price tag.

Collecting feedback: Many arenas and similar large venues aren’t actively collecting visitor feedback because they have no automated system in place to do so. Not having an automated feedback system in place means arenas are unable to continually gather valuable and actionable insights. This challenge results in a lack of positive actions being taken, and limited improvement in the visitor experience.

Content management: Arenas often manage a large range of events each year, and ensuring that the correct content such as branding and promotions are set up in advance can be difficult. Failing to accurately monitor and apply content at the right time can cause poor user experiences and losses in potential sales.

Here are some of the top reasons to consider investing in Purple’s award-winning Guest WiFi solution for your arena.

Operational & marketing benefits

Understand visitors: As visitors get online the user data captured is automatically transformed into digital profiles providing arenas with unmatched insights. These insights can be segmented for arenas to better understand who is in their venue, and the way visitors move around, as well as drive superior engagement!

Increased customer satisfaction: Providing guests with access to a reliable WiFi network can greatly improve their experience at your arena. With more people relying on their mobile devices to stay connected combined with the unreliability of cellular data within large structures, having a secure and fast WiFi connection can help ensure that visitors are able to access the information they need when they need it.

Season ticket sales: Newly collected data and integrated CRM systems can be used to inform marketing campaigns that promote the sale or renewal period of season tickets increasing the channel’s income.

Increased incremental revenue: Guest WiFi can be utilized to drive new and existing revenue for arenas by promoting cross-sell and up-sell opportunities, such as upcoming event tickets, merchandise, food and beverage offers, or VIP experiences. By segmenting the visitor data collected, arenas can create hyper-personalized and automated marketing campaigns that help to increase revenue.

Sponsors and corporate partnerships: Interstitial advertising capabilities during the access journey represent an extra opportunity for arenas to promote their own goods and services as visitors connect. Alternatively, arenas can use the space to attract potential sponsors or sell the space to existing partners.

Mitigate safety concerns: Location data collected by user devices and the guest WiFi infrastructure enables arenas to easily monitor visitor foot traffic, identify security or safety concerns, and alert the relevant staff to act accordingly.

Information Technology benefits

Bandwidth management: Large venues such as arenas and stadiums have to provide fast, stable, and secure connectivity for all visitors, but also all internal systems that require an internet connection. Avoid strain on networks by setting bandwidth limits to provide stability for all devices.

Provide a safe network: Hackers can exploit the security vulnerabilities of traditional guest WiFi connections, however, overlaying a captive portal for the pre-authentication of user devices works to protect the individual and their personal data.  

Increased engagement: Once online, arena guests can be encouraged or redirected to access your website and social media pages. This can help increase the amount of time visitors spend engaging with your content leading to increased brand loyalty and overall customer satisfaction. Additionally, the booming adoption of team-specific applications presents a perfect opportunity for download promotions as well as receiving real-time fan engagement.

Reduced workload & Heightened UX: Effortlessly automate event content to be displayed on the right day and at the right time by scheduling them within the Purple platform. Ensuring content is scheduled correctly enables arenas to exceed visitor expectations creating the opportunity for relevant upsell opportunities and feedback collection.

Investing in a reliable Guest WiFi solution can help ensure that your guests have the best possible experience when they come to your arena – speak with a Purple expert today!

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