The Rise of iBeacon and ProximityTechnology in Sports

Trend ReportAugust 2014

By Steve Cobb and StaffCopyright 2014 Hashtag SportsTM

www.hashtagsports.com @Hashtag_Sports

This report covers the intersection of beacon

technology and sports including insights and

key takeaways from #SportsConf: Beacon 2014.

The Rise of iBeacon and Proximity Technology in Sports August 2014 Trend Report

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Hashtag Sports Trend Reports

“The Rise of iBeacon and Proximity Technology in Sports” is the first installment of our

new series of reports that will get you up to speed on specific trends in the fast-paced

landscape of sports, social media, and technology. These will provide insights, analysis,

examples, context, and predictions to help you stay informed and make decisions.

To access additional information and future reports from Hashtag Sports, please visit

us at HashtagSports.com/reports.

For any questions, comments, or general inquiries, email reports@hashtagsports.com.

Copyright and Legal Disclaimer

© 2014 Hashtag Sports™

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the copyright owner.

The information contained in this publication is believed to be correct at the time of

going to press. While care has been taken to ensure that the information is accurate,

the publishers can accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions or for changes

to the details given.

Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements including forecasts are not

guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that

cannot be predicted or quantified and, consequently, the actual performance of

companies mentioned in this report and the industry as a whole may differ materially

from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

_____

Contributors: Steve Cobb and Staff

Published by Hashtag Sports

Hashtag Sports is a d/b/a trade name of Activ8Social, LLC, the owner of all intellectual

property and currently pending trademarks.

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On Thursday, July 14, 2014, Hashtag Sports

gathered over 20 mobile marketing experts

from leading teams, leagues, brands, agencies,

and beacon startups to share early insights and

experiences with proximity technology at the

#SportsConf: Beacon virtual conference. This was

the first event to address the unique opportunities

and challenges that this game-changing

technology presents to our industry.

This trend report highlights key takeaways and

quotes from the 5+ hours of educational video

that include insightful audience Q&A sessions on

beacon topics and case studies.

Introduction

Anthony Caponiti - Co-Founder, Hashtag Sports

Using Proximity Beacons to Boost Fan Engagement

Marc Wallace - CEO & Founder, Radius Networks

Steve Alleva - Exec. Dir of Ticket Ops, Georgetown Athletics

Derek Shewmon - Director, OneUp Sports

Winning Sports Fans’ Mobile Moments Inside & Outside the Stadium

Matt Restivo - Director of Product, NHL

Brent Hieggelke - CMO, Urban Airship

Beacon + Basketball: Redefining the Fan Experience Through Proximity Awareness

Kevin Cote - Sr. Director of Digital, Golden State Warriors

Alex Bell - CEO & Founder, Sonic Notify

The Business of Beacon Panel: Sponsorship Activation Opportunities

Steve Cobb - Co-Founder, Hashtag Sports

Abel Cuskelly - Co-Founder, Pogoseat

William Corbin - Senior VP of Digital, Octagon

Leveraging Beacon to Create Unforgettable VIP Experiences in Sports & Retail

Craig Crawford - Head of Retail Strategy, Proximity Insight

Steven Orell - Co-Founder, Proximity Insight

First Things First: The Importance of Securing Data and Ensuring Privacy

Danny Newman - CEO & Founder, ROXIMITY

Chip Foley - VP of Technology, Barclays Center

Gimbal Panel: Enhancing the In-Venue Fan Experience through Location Awareness

Kevin Hunter - COO, Gimbal

Steve Reese - CIO & VP, Phoenix Suns

Priya Narasimhan - CEO & Founder, YinzCam

Tom Andrus - SVP & GM of AXS.com, AEG

Enterprise Beacon Deployment: Digitizing Faberge’s Massive NYC Easter Egg Hunt

Justin Vandehey - VP of Partnerships, Nomi

Closing Remarks

Steve Cobb - Co-Founder, Hashtag Sports

If you are interested in purchasing an on-demand

pass to view the #SportsConf: Beacon videos, please

contact reports@hashtagsports.com.

Conference Agenda

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Executive Summary

The recent introduction of iBeacon and mobile proximity technology is revolutionizing

how sports retailers, properties, and sponsors communicate with and learn about their

customers. The ability to accurately pinpoint indoor location and deliver customized

content opens the door to an entirely new breed of context-aware applications.

The concept of beacons is relatively straightforward, yet packs a tremendous amount

of potential. Beacons are a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) peripheral. To put it simply,

they are localized positioning systems that work indoors and outdoors.

While use cases extend into retail, restaurants, museums, travel, banks, healthcare,

hotels, and security, this report will focus on the sports industry. In particular,

the impact of beacons on the fan

experience both in-venue and beyond

with a look at the ecosystem that

includes teams, leagues, events,

sponsors, agencies, and vendors.

The advantages of beacon technology

to marketers are eye opening. By

tracking a fan’s location and journey

throughout a venue or store, brands

can provide timely content and

relevant notifications to mobile devices, deliver indoor mapping and navigation,

allow for seamless mobile payments, and gather data to help effectively target future

promotions. Fans, in turn, benefit from receiving real-time push notifications that are

both useful and convenient.

Proximity-based programs will generate new revenue opportunities in the form of

impulse purchases and sponsor integration. Over time, sports properties will also

collect more contextually relevant customer relationship marketing (CRM) data that

will allow for more accurately retargeted promotions and advertising.

In closing, rest assured, that you are not late to the game. Rather, it’s just getting

started. Taking the necessary steps to pilot beacons now will arm you with valuable

experience and data for when this technology is ready to scale—and that time looks as

if it is arriving in the not-so-distant future.

“Taking the necessary steps to pilot beacons now will arm you with valuable experience and data for when this technology is ready to scale—and that time looks as if it is arriving in the not-so-distant future.”

The Rise of iBeacon and Proximity Technology in Sports August 2014 Trend Report

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Table of Contents

#SportsConf: Beacon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Beacon 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

BLE and the Birth of iBeacon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Retailers Flock to iBeacon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Privacy Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Barriers to Adoption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Beacon and Sports: A Perfect Match. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Enhanced Fan Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Personalization through Proximity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Connected Stadium and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Value-Added Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Customer Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Traffic Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Sponsorship Opportunities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Inventory Abound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Value-Added Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Consumer Insight and ROI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Deployment Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Goals and Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Education is Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Mobile Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Budgeting and Vendor Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Security Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Major League Baseball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Georgetown Men’s Basketball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Golden State Warriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Fabergé . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Looking to the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

About Hashtag Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Companies Included: adidas, AEG, Apple, Barclays Center, BBVA Compass, BMW, Chicago White Sox,

Coca-Cola, Estimote, Facebook, Gimbal, Google, Jamba Juice, LA Kings, Miami Dolphins, NFL, NHL, Nomi,

Octagon, OneUp Sports, Phoenix Suns, Pogoseat, Proximity Insight, Radius Networks, ROXIMITY, San

Francisco Giants, Sonic Notify, Urban Airship, Wasserman, WillowTree Apps, YinzCam

The Rise of iBeacon and Proximity Technology in Sports August 2014 Trend Report

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About Hashtag Sports

Hashtag Sports™ is a media and business intelligence company focused on the

intersection of sports, social media, and technology. Sports decision makers from

around the world rely on us to provide highly curated news and insights through

digital media, trend reports, and thought leadership events.

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