NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke yesterday, January 14, at the Leaders Meet Innovation event in London, England, about how technology is changing the business of basketball, both on the court and off. In addition to topics such as player tracking and analytics, he spoke about apps and arenas.

“If you watched a game at home, you would have access to a lot of information that you wouldn’t have while sitting at the game – that struck us as getting things backwards,” he said, as reported by Patrick Burgoyne for Creative Review. “The people who were paying the most money and who are the most devoted fans didn’t have the same access to information as those at home.”

Silvers said that apps can provide a “driveway to driveway” game day experience. For example, fans can access the best driving routes to an arena, best parking choices, and best entrances to use, all through an app.

“Because we know where that fan is in the arena and their prior habits, we know if somebody likes to buy a hotdog before the game, so there’s a discount for them,” Silver said. “We know if they are a fan of a particular player, they might want to buy a jersey, so a promotion comes up for that jersey and it can be delivered to their seat. The opportunities are endless.”

For more on Silver’s thoughts about virtual reality (“a game changer”) and live streaming, please read Burgoyne’s article in Creative Review.

(Image: Twitter)

The San Diego Symphony plans to build a $25 million, 10,000-seat waterfront concert venue on San Diego Bay, and this week the San Diego Unified Port District board unanimously approved the project. The symphony can now work on negotiations for a 66-year lease on 3.6 acres on Embarcadero Marina Park South.

“First and foremost, we want to create a venue with superb acoustics that will be stunning … a postcard for San Diego,” San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer told The San Diego Union-Tribune. “The location on the bay is a premium and we need to create a premium that matches.”

The venue will be permanent, include a 4,800-square-foot stage, and covered by an acoustic bandshell with material similar to the San Diego Convention Center Sail Pavilion. Tucker Sadler Architects designed the complex. Capacity will range from 2,700 to 10,000 seats. The venue plans to open by June 2017.

Please read Roger Showley’s article in The San Diego Union-Tribune for more on the development.

(Image: San Diego Symplony/Tucker Sadler Architects)

The Bristol Old Vic in the U.K. is one of the world’s oldest theatres and in it is a contraption called a “thunder run.” It’s been restored to mark the venue’s 250th anniversary for a production of King Lear later this year. Check out the BBC video above to learn more and to hear the “thunder run” along with a few other sounds.

We’ve written about the Sacramento Kings and the team’s upcoming new arena a couple of times. Now for the hat trick with a third blog post about them. This one, too, is interesting.

The Kings are collecting used athletic shoes from former and current players and fans to use for construction of the Golden 1 Center court. The organization is partnering with Connor Sports to manufacture the court, which will include several recycled materials. The shoes themselves will be transformed into rubber grind that will be combined with Nike Grind and incorporated into the court’s foam layer.

“Golden 1 Center will set a new standard for how we think about our environment and sustainability,” said Kings President Chris Granger in a statement. “This program represents yet another unique opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to conservation while also engaging our fans by giving them an opportunity to be a part of our court’s DNA.”

(Image: Sacramento Kings)

Guests. Fans. Attendees. Whatever you choose to call them, they’re all the same: humans. And a human’s experience during an event is paramount to your venue’s success. We want to help you be successful, and that is why we focus on people so much at our annual GuestX conference.

“IAVM is pleased to announce a conference built on ‘smart practices’ regarding the guest/fan experience,” said Mark Herrera, IAVM’s director of education. “We are honored to have a session that will highlight what our guests from the professional leagues are doing to monitor the fan experience and ensure consistency across their organizations.”

The session Herrera mentions will feature representatives from the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer (MLS) who will discuss the most important element of any event day: the human element. When the unpredictable happens, your people, your team members, are the ones who will respond based on your proper, and prior, planning and training. During this panel session, attendees will hear about and discuss incidents from all types of venues related to guest service recovery from the perspective of those having to deliver it.

Larry Bowman, vice president of stadium operations and security for the Atlanta Braves, will moderate a panel that includes Robert Gallo, vice president, club business development, NFL; Paul LaVeau, stadium director, stadium operations, Oakland Athletics; and Jeff Stonebreaker, security advisor, MLS. More panelists will be named later.

“League representatives attending our past GuestX Conference were able to also take back ideas from the venue industry that were incorporated into their respective business plans,” Herrera said. “Again, the focus from this session will be on fan/guest interaction and also how to plan for the unpredictable and assess options in the moment to create an immediate recovery when issues arise. The session is focused on creating a winning fan experience.”

Other GuestX content includes a session on creating successful front line supervisors, excellent customer service the Ritz-Carlton way, and an off-site exercise for attendees at American Airlines Center. Check out the GuestX for the full schedule and to register to attend.