Sports teams have unique technology requirements, vendor relationships and the challenge of melding digital and physical experiences. In the end, running the technology infrastructure is the ultimate customer service and relationship game.
DisrupTV caught up with the CIOs from the Boston Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and New England Patriots this week.
Here are some of the takeaways from Michael Israel, CIO New England Patriots, Josh Carley, VP, Technology, TD Garden & Boston Bruins, Brian Shield, SVP, CTO Boston Red Sox and Jay Wessland, CTO Boston Celtics.
Melding the customer and digital experiences. Shield said the challenge for a ballpark like Fenway is building out technology while keeping the ballpark's legacy and appeal intact. Behind the scenes, the Red Sox want to be as predictive as possible. Shield said:
"You want to know everything that is happening at concessions and attendance, but the way we're delivering the data is much different. In the past you'd put it in a report or dashboard. Today you want AI to predict what's happening."
Wessland said technology in the NBA has moved well beyond video into every part of operations. As a result, you have to pick projects selectively with smaller teams.
Carley said that technology has to provide value to the guests. "From a leadership perspective I've had to differentiate fandom from the business. Once you disconnect them you have to reconnect them somehow for engagement," said Carley. "I want a ring just as much as the guys on the ice do."
Learning to juggle. Israel runs IT for Gillette Stadium as well as the businesses of the Kraft Group, which includes the Patriots. Fan and customer engagement, point-of-sale experiences and how technology is used are all on the to-do list during an event. "I don't think I've watched 15 minutes of a football game in the time, I've been here," said Israel.
Shield said a sports team CIO has to blend multiple skills together including digital leadership, software engineering, product engineering and customer service.
Building teams. All of the CIOs from the Boston sports teams have relatively small staffs relative to other enterprises. As a result, team building is critical. Staff development is critical and as a team you want a core technology group, some free agents via consultants and contractors, a few hall of famers and all stars. Player development is critical. "I will meet you halfway if you're going to invest in yourself and I will be investing in you and that has been throughout my career," said Israel.
Collaboration. Sports team CIOs have unique challenges and the four leaders across the Boston sports teams frequently meet up to talk shop. That collaboration has moved down the hierarchy to staff. "There are a lot of things that apply to the average business, but there are a lot that's unique," said Wessland.
The information exchange among the teams is critical when staying ahead of emerging trends and how they would apply to the fan experience.
Vendor management and strategy. The Boston sports CIOs said they lean heavily on vendors to be more strategic partners.
"We have a lot of vendors and we're trying to make sure that we're always best of breed, and evaluating them against one another," said Shield. "It's thinking about it as sports franchise as a service across Fenway Sports Group."
Requirements for a sports franchise technology vendor include the following:
- Implementation help in the sales process as well as usage. Implementing a tool that has 50 features and you're using three doesn't work.
- Post sales services. Sports CIOs expect an ongoing relationship. The marriage experience has to be better than the courtship.
- Ability to scale projects in a time frame. Sports CIOs said that the offseason is the season for technologies projects and upgrades.
- Realizing sports teams are unique. Technology vendors often view sports teams as big wins, but it's an opportunity and a threat. The Boston sports team CIOs all noted that executives throughout the leagues all talk. If a vendor is doing a great job it can go from one club to 20 clubs quickly. If a technology vendor doesn't deliver for one team it isn't going to expand to others because all of the CIOs talk.
Wessland summed it up:
"The one rule I have about vendors is that everybody makes mistakes, everything gets into trouble. Everybody screws up. Good vendors know how to correct mistakes, get themselves out of trouble and move forward and go on. That's a partnership. A bad vendor gets into trouble and can't get themselves out. Those are the vendors you can't work with. We have vendors that are also sponsor partners and all of those combinations. The expectations are the same from a vendor standpoint. They have to be a good vendor. It's got to be good relationship."
