Guests’ mobile phones at the Palace of Auburn Hills will soon be able to talk with the seats.
“The 20,000 seats at the home of the Detroit Pistons will be equipped with near-field communications (NFC) technology that allows those using the seat to do things such as order concessions, said John King, [Palace Sports & Entertainment] PS&E’s director of information technology,” Bill Shea reported for Crain’s Detroit Business.
The new seats contract will be awarded this month, and the project will cost at least $6 million. The whole project will be completed by 2018.
Shea also reported that $15 million has been spent on technology upgrades at the venue, primarily on the video board system installed by Daktronics Inc. That cost is part of $40 million in renovations that include bathroom, suite, and lighting improvements, among other items. Ericsson also installed 300 wireless access points in the venue to improve the Wi-Fi service.
“An improved Wi-Fi network also allows PS&E and Pistons to push content, such as player and coach interviews and other internally-generated content, to fans via their mobile apps,” Shea reported. “Fan-generated content, such as tweets and photos during games and events, are used by the venue as loyalty-building tools.”
Please visit Crain’s Detroit Business to read more about what the venue is doing to improve the guest experience and its bottom line.
(Image: Rebecca Carlson/Creative Commons)
The lower bowl seats were all moved in and out by hand. Hopefully they will get power ones this time for the ops crew. That will be score / video board number #3 for the venue.