One on one
“Not understanding who your customer is: that’s a significant problem” aren’t doing the same, when they are such powerful brands in the minds of the consumer. Xtreme: What led to this kind of alienation from fans? Walker: It’s a very obvious answer when you think about it. Before, there used to be generational fandom. If your mum or dad were Dodgers fans, you became a Dodgers fan – because you grew up seeing them on TV. And that was all you had the opportunity to watch. Our company really studied the impact of technology on fan behaviour. We found that the die- hard generational fan is on its way out. There are still very passionate supporters, don't get me wrong, especially in Europe and South America. But if a new technology and experience allows them to watch or consume something, they are inevitably going to gravitate to that. Because it’s going to be cooler, better, faster and more exciting than sitting in a seat, watching a match for four hours.
industry. We meet somebody who knows somebody, and they make a recommendation.’ It was really like an old boys’ network. And she loved the idea of the rigour that I was applying to it. As we got started, we found that the problem in the industry wasn’t how to buy the latest and greatest technology – they were obsessed with it and looking at every shiny object. The issue was they didn’t know who their fans were. Not understanding who your customer is: that’s a significant problem. We kept going deeper into this issue, and found that companies didn’t have sophisticated back- end systems, relying instead on a lot of partners to take care of it. If you’re the New York Yankees, you may count on legends to help reach out to customers. If you’re TD Garden in Boston, you might depend on the Celtics, who then need Ticketmaster to get word to your clients. There ends up being several steps of disintermediation in the industry. And that’s another problem, because then you don’t get zero-party data. They look at Netflix, Google and Facebook – who are going like crazy – and can’t figure out why they
JOSH WALKER Sports Innovation Lab president and co-founder
Xtreme: How did Sports Innovation Lab get started? Josh Walker: The company was established in 2016. My co-founder Angela Ruggiero had been on the executive board of the International Olympic Committee and was chief strategy officer for the LA 2024 Olympic bid, which became the 2028 bid. She was getting a lot of inbound technology companies saying, ‘We can make your Olympic Games the most innovative ever.’ We met around that time, when I was trying to run a company that researched and evaluated sports technology. Angela said: ‘Nobody does that in the sports
DATA ORACLE Sports Innovation Lab seeks to understand how technology changes fan behaviour – and thus the future of the industry
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 FEED:XTREME 31
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