I wrote about beacons in my first post for the Front Row News blog. Major League Baseball (MLB) had just announced a partnership with Apple to offer location-based information for At the Ballpark app users. Now, almost three years later, location-based technology is widespread throughout MLB stadiums and many other sports venues.
According to a report from Proxbook, a directory of proximity companies, 93 percent of MLB stadiums use beacon technology. The same technology is used by 75 percent of NFL stadiums, 53 percent of NBA arenas, and 47 percent of NHL arenas.
“Beacons and proximity technologies are not only helping to sell more tickets. They are redefining how sports teams communicate with fans, increasing revenue from merchant sales as well as seat upgrades,” Proxbook wrote in the report. “Proximity technology also opens up brand new sources of income from enabling sponsors to interact with fans and monetize hyper-accurate visitor segments through advertising.”
One stat that stands out is organizations that have used location-based technologies “have seen an ROI as big as 40x from incremental merchant revenues alone within one season.”
“Events and conferences are also quick to adapt proximity, as the majority of top event organizers already have an app in place, therefore, adding location and proximity features is a natural addition,” Thomas Walle, CEO and co-founder of Unacast, wrote in the report. “It has become more common to use beacons or other proximity sensors for indoor navigation, smart check-ins, intelligent networking, and agenda updates. Proximity marketing has proven to enhance the attendee experience significantly.”
Please visit Proxbook to download the free, full report.
(Image via Flickr: Steven Martin/Creative Commons)
