By Bill Smith
When Major League Soccer’s newest team, St. Louis CITY SC, hosted its inaugural game at CITYPARK on March 4th, fans enjoyed a seamless fan experience thanks to SKIDATA’s groundbreaking Connected Stadium technology. The technology allows fans to use a single credential on their smart phones to access everything the stadium has to offer. When fans arrive at the stadium, they use their phones to access and pay for parking, enter the stadium, and even pay for concessions and souvenirs.
“The connected stadium is the future of venue management, providing complete access to an event and all 
the associated services with a single credential,” said Andrew Feffer, Head of Venues and Events for SKIDATA. “St. Louis CITY SC’s fans are going to enjoy the convenience and benefits provided by this technology.”
The credential connects the fan’s device to an enterprise platform that manages all elements of an event. The platform also provides rich data to stadium operations managers so they can better understand individual fan preferences and behaviors. This will allow the team to send personalized promotions, offers, and added value benefits directly to fans.
“As one of the few professional sports teams with our new stadium, offices, practice facilities, and parking structures all located within one urban setting, we chose to invest in campus-wide technologies that support a seamless and fully connected fan experience,” said Matt Sebek, St. Louis CITY SC Chief Experience Officer. “This approach allows us to manage the entire guest journey from parking to ticketing to multi-channel commerce while also simplifying the operational management of many roles and permissions on our campus.”
Bill Smith is with Smith-Phillips Strategic Communications.
