7 Technology Trends Shaping the Future of Sports Arenas and Stadiums
Are you desperate to watch some sports live? While many of us still can’t enjoy live sports, arenas and stadiums are using this downtime to prepare for a surge of fans in the future. Like every other industry, sports viewing and broadcasting is also getting affected by new technologies, so here are a few trends that will shape the future of sporting venues and make our viewing experience much better.
Air quality check
Coronavirus made health everyone’s priority, so sporting venues also need to think about how they can provide users with clean and fresh air. Filtering and ventilating big spaces is not an easy task, but new and complex HVAC systems can assist with this problem. This new tech will not only filter out the pollutants and pathogens but provide a much more pleasant environment for everyone’s needs, both players’ and spectators’. New air quality tech will change not only the sporting industry but affect big businesses and industrial enterprises as well.
Instant branding
LED lighting provides sporting venues with something truly magical—the ability to change the look of the venue with a touch of a button. Each diode can be programmed to take whatever color is necessary and we can forget about bulky scoreboards. Also, the skin of the arena or a stadium can be whatever the sponsors and organizers need it to be. You can easily change the interior and exterior to fit an NBA game today and a Rihanna concert tomorrow. And since the price of this display technology gets lower and lower every year, more venues are considering changing to this tech. Thanks to LEDs, instant branding is not only possible but very easy and affordable.
Smart lighting
Floodlights are not only meant to make the watching experience great for those present at the sports game or match, but also the people sitting at home and watching the broadcast. For that reason, many venues are opting for LED lighting for sport courts that provides users and organizers with all the illumination necessary for a pleasant viewing experience and television broadcasting. These new and improved floodlights are also energy-efficient, so they provide venues with other benefits like money-saving and green social influence.
Biometric screening
One of the biggest issues that customers complain about is long waiting times. So, to address this issue, many companies are investing in solutions that will boost the convenience of their stadiums, one of them being biometric screening. This technology provides users with a painless way to enter various sporting venues with a simple touch of a finger to a screen. Some stadiums and arenas already have “fast lanes” that go around the ballpark for people who adopted this technology. A one-time enrollment at a designated station can provide users with a much easier ticketing and concession experience.
Cashless payment systems
While people still love cash, it can indeed be very inconvenient at crowded sporting events. Instead of wasting time on cash, fans of the future will be able to move through souvenir shops and concessions lines quickly, gaining more time to look around or enjoy the game. In the upcoming years, this is one of the more feasible upgrades venues might be getting. According to some predictions, in the next 5 to 10 years, all sporting venues, professional or not, will go completely cashless.
Wireless charging
Another thing that can greatly improve the user experience in sporting venues is more charging stations. So far, public charging is very difficult since you need to find a compatible connector, hassle with a plug and leave your phone at a designated area. However, with Apple’s wireless technology, charging your phone will be a breeze. An in-seat charging will provide people with an option to always have a charged phone ready to capture all the best moments and create long-term memories. Without plugs and cables, arm-rest charging stations can be made completely water-, beer- and soda-proof and ready to top up your phone whenever you set it down.
Augmented reality
Many sporting venues already have VR and AR experiences provided to their fans as a sideshow. However, VR and AR are still solo experiences, much like esports used to be, but that’s about to change. With new tech, fans will be able to enjoy the highly-customized experience with their friends and family. Sports training and entertainment can now happen wherever you are with the help of flight simulators, more advanced VR headsets, immersive AR games, and the best golf launch monitors. Want to play a game against the Red Sox? In a few years, you will be able to see how easy it is to lose against pros.
One thing is guaranteed—fans will have a blast every time they enter an arena or a stadium of the future. The thing you present will still have to make the most of the work (athletes, performers) but how you present it will make good memories into great ones.
