The Rugby World Cup in Japan was ground-breaking. For the organisers who were bold enough to open up the sport to a new market, the players who produced the most competitive tournament in its history and the fans who were compelled to fill a record 99.3 per cent of available seats. A record-breaking showpiece.
However, arguably its most telling evolution, certainly in terms of the scale of impact, came in the social sphere. Last week, World Rugby announced that Japan 2019 increased social media video views by 600 per cent compared to 2015, attracting a record-breaking 2.1 billion views and making it the most interactive rugby event to date. This was apt reward for a rights-holder who produced light-hearted, creative and engaging content that not only met the needs of the established rugby fan but also appealed to an audience with no previous affiliation to the sport.
Identifying and executing a social strategy which breaks down the barriers to new fans has become an all-too familiar headache for rights-holders, sponsors, teams and venues alike. A key consideration in finding the remedy is; how do you increase fan engagement without cannibalising attendance numbers? When fans can watch the game from the comfort of their home, while engaging in interactive features and with fellow devotees on social media, then the live experience has to surpass this. It has to entice these fans from the sofa to the seat, and 5G might just be the key.
It is a perennial problem for the live sports fan; your signal jams as you seek the replay of that iconic moment, a pundit’s insight on a defining decision, the fans’ consensus on the final substitution, the historical statistics of this match-up or a simple distraction while you wait for a hot dog. The hope is that 5G will put an end to this, enabling venues to increase interactivity with a range of real-time stats, games, exclusive content and experiences that will surpass what you can access at home.
In September, VfL Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena became the first stadium to trial 5G in the German Bundesliga, developing a new real-time app that enabled fans to receive match and player stats directly to their smartphone.
In October, Vodafone launched the 5G Vodafone Business Lounge at the Wasps’ Ricoh Arena; showcasing 5G-enabled demonstrations, including a 5G virtual reality ‘drop goal’ and a haptic suit that simulates the feeling of a rugby tackle. Those lucky enough to be seated in Vodafone’s #5Gamechanger seats receive a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G phone, on which they can live-stream footage from three 360° cameras, view real-time data on the match, live streams of other matches, order food and drinks to their seat, and share the whole experience on social media.
In France, Olympique Marseille has announced plans to make Stade Vélodrome the first 5G stadium in the country and provide fans with access to exclusive in-stadium content on their smartphones, through an agreement with telco Orange. Likewise in the US, where 13 NFL teams are working with Verizon to install 5G in their home grounds.
The speed of 5G, which is up to 100-times faster than 4G, can allow for these creative live activities to turn fans into advocates, collectively sharing their experiences’ online.
The Dallas Cowboys’ “Pose with the Pros” is an excellent example of this. Intended as a trial to showcase the power of 5G with just 1,500 fans, integrated social sharing meant that the videos of these supporters with five of their favourite Dallas Cowboys went global, with more than 80 million online views.
Creating photogenic tech moments like this, the New Orleans Saints “Light up the Dome” feature, or the AR experiences in the Mercedes-Benz stadium, which can be shared immediately will be a key component in elevating the stadium experience and attracting new, younger audiences.
Some teams don’t have to wait for 5G to do this; the new Tottenham Hotspur and the Mercedes-Benz stadia have sufficiently built-in WiFi, but most stadia don’t have these capabilities. Among these venues, those that don’t have 5G in the pipeline are at risk of being left behind.
For teams and venues that do get it right, 5G offers an alternative to the pressure of constantly producing ‘viral’ content in-house, instead facilitating the sharing of authentic, user-generated content that showcases the live fan experience.
Facilitating these opportunities for the fans to share the story of their enhanced live experience, while identifying ways to accurately measure the impact of doing so, will be a new priority for 2020 and beyond.