How Free Wi-Fi for Can Pay Off for Basketball Arenas by Audie Evangelista
People from almost all walks of life are more connected thanks to the internet. With social media around our activities are documented on line what we are feeling at the moment, what we are about to eat, what we are doing and almost everything. The younger audience is often seen attached to their smartphone. It’s a tool they use to express themselves. I once watched a movie with my14 year old niece; on our way she asked me if the Wi-Fi signal is strong in the movie theatre. My point is the new generation of fans will be bored in sporting events if they are not connected online and have their experience posted. A Cisco report revealed that the internet is as important as air, water, food, and shelter to one in three college students and young professionals. Having free Wi-Fi access in business establishments has been quite an essential part of attracting customers. Installing this kind of facility in basketball arenas can greatly affect gate attendance, plus you get free advertisement through social media sites. Fans watching the game will post pictures of the tickets even before they enter the venue and well share with their dozens to hundreds of friends on social media highlights of the game via series of pictures on social media sites. “This kind of additional exposure to potential customers means setting up a Ubiquity Wi-Fi network quickly pays for itself with additional ticket sales, due to the increased exposure” says my friend and London Ontario SEO Agency Manager Tim D. Hodges. “Often times the most popular people or connectors spend so much time connecting they don’t have enough money for expensive cell phone data plans. By having that free Wi-Fi lets people share their experiences on social media. Social is all about showing off life’s experiences. Being in an exciting sporting event like a basketball game easily qualifies and something that is social media worthy.” says the Ontario SEO expert.
With prices of bigger and better flat screens being more affordable inviting basketball fans to watch the game live has been a challenge for many team owners. Inviting friends and family for a game day party with barbeque has been made easy thanks to Facebook events too. Why not mix the old with the new? If you attract younger fans because of free WI-FI access they will watch the games live and will do tailgating. Once a fan gets to his seat with his chili cheese dog and cold beer what he will do first is take a picture of what he is having and show it off to his friends on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Pictures with cheerleaders and mascots are also fan gold. Fans leaving the game by halftime because they can’t connect online is one problem, but another serious matter team owners is attracting them to leave the comforts of home their man caves, and experience live games in person. Part of a millennial’s life is connectivity being connected to Facebook, twitter, email or instant messaging is very important to them. Now a day’s almost all sports team have apps, even though fans are on arena’s watching if they went out to go to the concession stands and missed an important play they watch the replay through their app. If they are not familiar with the venue they can use their smartphones to find out where is the snack bar the way to the washrooms and the nearest exit. There are some instances that parents will check if their kids are really watching the game live via their son’s or daughter’s social media post. Women sometimes will use this method to check on their husbands where about. Pay per view has existing for more than 50 years already, but the real competition is the influx of cheaper bigger TV screens. The reality is it’s much cheaper and fans watching games at their living room means that they do not have to leave the comforts of home. No waiting in line; no soggy overpriced hotdogs and much more. Plus the fact the prices of the game day tickets are expensive, it much practical to watch games at home than take the entire family out to the game.
Providing added features like WI-FI access in sporting venues like basketball and hockey arenas and football and baseball stadiums will entice the younger fans then will ask their parents to watch the game live. And I mentioned a while ago about the apps on smart phones, aside teams having apps for replays stats in game updates ticket seller’s/operators can provide a feature on their app a way for fans to upgrade their seats upon reaching the venue. Fans who will watch a game for the first time will not have the knowledge what is the best seat imagine this they found out their seat is not what they exactly want with WI-FI access they can just go online and do an upgrade. This kind of hassle free service can surely boost the retention of customers. The cost of installing free online access will surely cost team owners, but it is nothing compare to the revenue it will generate. The younger generation of fans are the target audience of this kind of service and they are outgoing and they want to be significant and want their voice to be always heard.
