Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Got Game? Venuetize Platform Lays Groundwork for In-Venue Mobile Experiences That Engage, Inform

12/06/2019

Got Game? Venuetize Platform Lays Groundwork for In-Venue Mobile Experiences That Engage, Inform District Detroit Mobile App handles ticketing, food pickup, navigation By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 - 11:07 am

Print This Story

Story Highlights

One of the major trends in sports-venue design is that the day of simply dropping a venue into a neighborhood and seeing what happens is giving way to an era of creating a district from scratch, complete with housing, restaurants, shopping, and other entertainment offerings. And such districts are creating the need for digital services like apps that can help visitors more easily engage. The role that Venuetize played in District Detroit shows the opportunities that await.

Venuetize's Craig Duncan: The goal is to communicate with patrons, so they come earlier and stay later.

The teams and venues want to have the fans engaging through their application and their brand because there is a tie to loyalty, says Craig Duncan, chief revenue officer, Venuetize. With a single application where everyone works together, all parties benefit.

District Detroit, for example, is home to Ford Field, Little Caesars Arena, Fox Theater, Comerica Park, Detroit Masonic Temple, and more. It hosts more than 240 live events per year, and the District Detroit Mobile App handles event and parking ticketing, express pickup for food and beverages, and navigation. Connecting via Bluetooth improves wayfinding and ensures that visitors can find the shops, restaurants, and activities they want. And an interactive chat box makes it even easier for consumers to use.

How do we use technology to improve traffic or ticketing and not just for the games but also for retail and hospitality? says Duncan. The goal is to communicate with patrons, so they come earlier and stay later. We want them to spend more money.

Venuetize provides a platform as a service that is below the application layer and, thus, can give cohesion to multiple apps and backend systems. The goal is to integrate what were previously fragmented technology silos that could require consumers to use multiple apps and create multiple accounts. The Venuetize team helps with the strategy, design, and development of an app and mobile environment that meets the needs of teams and the venue.

We stay involved post-launch as it is a multi-year iterative process, Duncan says. You aren't just launching an app. It has a life and will continue to evolve, and there may also be new integrations you will want to do. So we provide the services and support to augment the technology you build your applications on.

The key to a district-wide digital strategy is making sure that connectivity is robust across the entire location. With that in place, the Venuetize platform and team integrate all the digital entities and parties.

Unified app experiences make it easier for fans in the stands to purchase food and merchandise, embrace electronic ticketing, and locate the experiences that are most relevant.

There are dozens of technology integrations that need to happen as we extend the platform out and bring in other ecosystems so that they can tie together seamlessly and the visitor has a seamless experience, says Duncan. You want the consumer to have an easy experience doing things like parking and buying food: if it is more enjoyable, they will be more apt to share more data and trust it so that they can enhance their experience.

One problem with trying to create a one-off app solution that doesn't evolve over time is that corporate sponsors and partners that ideally will be integrated with the app might change. The Venuetize team manages those relationships and swaps out technology components as needed to best meet everyone's needs.

It may seem like a small thing, Duncan says, but there can be dozens of partners, or something like the ticketing partner can change two months before the season. We handle those integrations seamlessly to reduce the risk, the costs, and the possible loss of revenue.

Venuetize also ensures that new types of offerings, such as those that use augmented reality, can more easily be integrated within an app. At Little Caesars Arena, for example, the use of AR allows fans in the entire arena to take part in things like pizza tosses, with those in the upper levels catching virtual pizzas.

You can do gamification and reach the younger audience, Duncan explains. There are multiple benefits that come through gamification driven by AI.

He adds that any efforts around the launch of an app, especially one used in multiple venues and by multiple teams, requires that all the stakeholders be involved in the decision-making process from the beginning.

Mobile engagement touches every part of the organization, he notes. You also might want to bring in fans and corporate partners to be part of the design phase.

Leaving it to the digital and marketing teams can often result in an app or offering that is out of step with what management or even ownership is looking to offer.

Increasingly, Duncan adds, data-privacy experts are important and are playing key roles in ensuring that the best decisions are made to protect data and keep fans on board.

If you go wrong with things like GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation], it can impact the entire business, he says, and the trust that you worked so hard to build will go away very quickly.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2019/06/11/got-game-venuetize-platform-lay...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

23/07/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Shansley Glenn, University of Oklahoma

This Spring 2026 graduate from Honolulu found a home at SoonerVision as a live-production star and is ready to enter the industry as a replay op on Prime Video&...

23/07/2026

Miked Up Is an Everyday Deal for the Athletes Unlimited Softball League

As the AUSL postseason begins tonight, listening in to players during games enhances fan engagement for the young organization Ballplayers chatting with announ...

23/07/2026

Snap Announces AR and Creator Activations at Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris

Snap Inc. and the Esports Foundation have announced Snap's activations at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, running July 6 through August 23. For the fir...

23/07/2026

Sony Introduces FX5 Full-Frame Cinema Line Camera

Sony has announced the FX5, a full-frame Cinema Line camera built around a newly developed fully stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and BIONZ XR2 image processi...

23/07/2026

TNDV Powers Pickleball Slam 4 Broadcast for Ohlmeyer Kusserow Group

TNDV (a division of Live Media Group) provided technical production support for the Pickleball Slam 4 live broadcast from Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, ...

23/07/2026

LTN Surpasses 3,000 Satellite-to-IP Migrations as FCC Approves Upper C-Band Auction Rules

LTN has announced it has completed satellite-to-IP migrations for more than 3,00...

23/07/2026

Daktronics Announces 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase Winners

Daktronics has announced the winners of the 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase, a national competition recognizing student work in media production, storytellin...

23/07/2026

beIN Sports Extends Exclusive Roland-Garros Rights Across 10 Asian Markets Through 2031

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and beIN Media Group have announced a five-ye...

23/07/2026

Clear-Com Provides Intercom System for Fryderyk Awards Gala at Tauron Arena Krakw

Clear-Com provided the communications infrastructure for the Fryderyk Awards Gal...

23/07/2026

How the FIFA World Cup's Record Revenue Masks a Structural Market Contraction

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is, on paper, an unparalleled financial success. Total t...

23/07/2026

From Green Screen to LED: How BBC Sport's World Cup Studio Became the Blueprint for Match of the Day

Standing inside HQ3 at MediaCity Studios during the FIFA World Cup 2026, it quic...

23/07/2026

How the 2026 FIFA World Cup Tightened the Bond Between the FOX Sports Digital, Linear Teams

Having attracted upwards of 17 billion views throughout the tourney, the broadca...

23/07/2026

Low End Candy release Preverb

Quickly creates reverse reverb effects Low End Candy have recently released a new plug-in that offers a quick and simple way to create reverse reverb effect...

23/07/2026

Expressive E Noisy 2.6 arrives

New engines, resonators, effects & more Expressive E's versatile soft synth has just been treated to an update that greatly expands its sonic range. Noi...

23/07/2026

SGL Carbon expands photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site

SGL Carbon has further expanded its photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site in Austria. With the commissioning of new PV carports, the sites solar sys...

23/07/2026

NITV launches new By Mob For Mob series in partnership with NRMA Insurance

NITV launches new By Mob For Mob series in partnership with NRMA Insurance 23 July, 2026 Media releases National Indigenous Television (NITV) has launched ...

23/07/2026

Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO series oscilloscopes

Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO seri...

23/07/2026

Why The Next Big Opportunity in Sports Lies Outside the Stadium

In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni explores how the launch of Play Snooker reflects a wider shift in sports economics - from monetising peak broadcast audiences ...

23/07/2026

Scaling Smart with Vivid Broadcast

Download Now! To receive a short case study showcasing Vivid Broadcast's audio setup, please enter the following details: -- First Name* First Name ...

23/07/2026

Sony Unveils FX5 Full-Frame Camera

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Sachtler To Show Akti8T Fluid Head, Flowtech75 Tripod At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

NextGen TV Launches in Cleveland

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Yospace Stitched 11.57 Billion Ads into Live Streams During World Cup

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

At IBC2026 Witbe Will Showcase Tests That Build Themselve...

Witbe brings its AI-native testing and monitoring infrastructure to Amsterdam: demonstrations on real devices, a peer-reviewed technical paper in the conference...

23/07/2026

Quickplay Caretta Research Evergent and Yospace Announce...

Quickplay, Caretta Research, Evergent, and Yospace have announced that the renowned IBC Pride Happy Hour will once again bring the vibe and fun back to IBC on F...

23/07/2026

IBC2026 Interra Systems Brings Trusted Media Intelligence...

At IBC2026, Interra Systems will present this year's focus: operational AI at scale for QC, monitoring, and captioning workflows. The industry has moved pas...

23/07/2026

Illusionfx is finally coming!

Illusionfx is finally coming! Alex Perea July 23, 2026 0 Comments The new website is now live to mark the occasion. Since the last update, feedback h...

23/07/2026

Evergent showcases AI agents for streaming retention at I...

Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...

23/07/2026

Brian Jones Named NCTCs New CFO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Scripps Unites TV Operations Under Dean Littleton's Leadership

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

2D House is First North American Rental Facility to Offer...

David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...

23/07/2026

Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program

Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026 Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...

23/07/2026

New Samsung Galaxy Foldable range available now to pre-order on Sky Mobile

Thursday 23 July 2026 New Samsung Galaxy Foldable range available now to pre-order on Sky Mobile Sky Mobile, the award-winning network voted this year by Expe...

23/07/2026

Jason Statham leads Sky Original action thriller MUTINY in explosive new trailer

Thursday 23 July 2026 Jason Statham leads Sky Original action thriller MUTINY in explosive new trailerTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy optio...

23/07/2026

Riedel Implements RefCam and Easy5G for the First Time at an International Soccer Match

Wuppertal July 23, 2026 Riedel Implements RefCam and Easy5G for the First Time...

23/07/2026

Centra returning as the official food partner of The Traitors Ireland

RT Commercial has today announced Centra as the official food partner once again of The Traitors Ireland, coming to RT One and RT Player later this year. Ce...

23/07/2026

Honda sponsors Today with David McCullagh on RT Radio 1

RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am. Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...

23/07/2026

RT NEWS ANNOUNCES NEW JOURNALIST REPORTING FROM ACROSS CORK AND KERRY

RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region Working al...

23/07/2026

GeForce NOW Sets Sail With Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame' Joining the Cloud

Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...

22/07/2026

ESPN's AutoMic Technology Pays Off at Wimbledon; Baker Credits Team, AELTC for Successful Fortnight

Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...

22/07/2026

Australian Sports Technologies Network Reports Industry Growth of 16% in 2026

The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...

22/07/2026

Production Wins, Man!': Men in Blazers' Founder Roger Bennett on Winning the FIFA World Cup as a Digital Media Brand

From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...

22/07/2026

TMRW Sports Appoints Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football

TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...

22/07/2026

Stephen Arnold Music Creates Audio for FIFA World Cup Projection Mapping Display at Rockefeller Center

Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...

22/07/2026

Harmonic Donates $25,000 to Venezuela Earthquake Relief Through Global Empowerment Mission

Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...

22/07/2026

Telemundo Acquires Exclusive U.S. Spanish-Language Rights to UEFA Mens Club Competitions Beginning 2027/28

Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...