Ticketmaster Sport X Loughborough University in London
This week we were delighted to take part in an initiative with Loughborough University in London where groups of students were invited to ‘hack the experience’ as part of a single day hackathon.
The brief, designed by Ticketmaster Sport focused on keeping existing fans engaged whilst also bringing new fans into sport through the ongoing pandemic. The aim being to make them more excited than ever about getting back to live sport experiences once organisations are able to fill their stadiums once again.
Briefed in the morning, given the day to respond and then pitch back quickfire (3 minute) ideas to a panel which contained our own Adam Newsam, Chris Gratton and George Hellens in the afternoon, it wasn’t for the faint hearted.
10 groups of students from around the world in groups of 5 spent the day hacking our brief. In the fashion we are now accustomed to, the hack was performed by teams mixed of ‘offline i.e. in person at the London campus of Loughborough’ and online through the power of technology to collaborate at speed.
Presentations which were all excellent, ranged from rewards apps, enhancements of existing OTT broadcast platforms, partnerships with grassroots events and other community sports platforms.
All were well thought through, researched and in context which made ‘judging’ a very difficult process. The eventual winner (without giving too much away, as we look to see if we can make this a reality within the business) was focused in the area of Women’s sport. This initiative set to unlock new audiences and ensure all areas of the club work together to bring new fans into the sport and move existing fans into areas they perhaps hadn’t considered previously.
Honourable mentions to other teams include two groups who proposed a similar idea with slight differences which was to form a strategic partnership with the EFL app iFollow to help pair the world of an OTT platform with the world of ticketing. Allowing fans to engage with the broadcast of EFL football to win loyalty points that can be redeemed in the return of fans to grounds.
Needless to say, it was an exciting day to gather ideas from the future leaders of the sports industry and all provided plenty of food for thought for us and to help build our ongoing strategy in returning to live sport with full stadiums.
More to follow as we explore other areas to work together on initiatives with one of the top Sports Technology institutions in the world in the coming months.
