iBeacon Becoming a Staple of Major Sporting Arenas
For those who are not yet familiar with iBeacon, the indoor positioning system billed by Apple as being a "new class of low-powered, low-cost transmitters," this nifty innovation enables push notifications to be sent to iOS devices in close proximity.
As MMi has reported in recent months, a number of iBeacon initiatives are now underway at a multitude of major retail outlets across the U.S. as businesses attempt to connect more efficiently and personally with consumers to encourage stronger engagement. But perhaps nowhere is the growth of iBeacon technology more pronounced today than in the world of sports.
As Bloomberg revealed this week, iBeacon is a hot commodity in a growing number of major U.S. sporting arenas. Fans who bought nosebleed-seat tickets to see the Golden State Warriors, for example, may now receive a "friendly suggestion" from their phones when they step off the escalators at Oracle Arena that better seats are available for a small bump-up in price.
"Sneaking into better seats is a time-honored tradition among sports fans, but in recent years, teams have started using mobile apps to persuade attendees to pay more instead," the report reads. "Pro baseball teams began selling seat upgrades through smartphones last season, and the Warriors have been doing the same. The idea is to boost demand by capitalizing on another tech craze working its way through professional sports: the use of cheap sensors to track people’s exact location within the stadium. The Warriors are the first in the NBA to roll out iBeacons, sensors that use low-energy Bluetooth signals to communicate with any phone that has the team’s app installed."
Some analysts believe that within three years (if not sooner), every sports arena in the U.S. and the developed world will likely deploy iBeacon or a similar technology for every sporting event held at its facility.
Source: Bloomberg
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