What our interviews did provide though was detailed specifications of what fans did want and what th

In late 2005 my firm was asked by TrackScan of NASCAR to evaluate a new fan experience product they were looking to launch.  The product was a hand held wireless device that allowed fans to watch the race on the device while in the stands.
My firm was retained because we were considered "experts" in the space (my experience is you can be an expert new zealand travel package for about 3 months, if you don't keep up you are no longer an expert).  The company that developed the technology for the product planned to test the product at the final race of the year in Miami.  Glen Aikenhead, who owns Track Scan ("scanners" that allow fans to listen to driver communications new zealand travel package during the race) was asked to be the trackside distributor for the product. Glen asked my team to assess and evaluate the product.  Glen did not see the value for fans, and didn't want to waste valuable resource selling a product he would have to refund after each race.  Glen was right.
NASCAR is a sanctioning body owned by International Speedway new zealand travel package Corp, Inc. (ISC), a publicly traded company.  All NASCAR owns are date, dates that races occur.  They organize, set the rules, determine new zealand travel package track location, own all rights, and promote race dates.  Tracks are owned, or accounted for separately, ISC owns several, as does SMI, but the track is separate from NASCAR, thus ticket revenues, concessions etc go to the track.  The track pays NASCAR.
Drivers are separate new zealand travel package from NASCAR they can be individual or teams.  NASCAR licenses new zealand travel package a driver to drive and the teams or owners retain all rights to the driver's likeness.  Sponsors who sponsor teams and their driver(s) may or may not have  rights to utilize the NASCAR brand, new zealand travel package but certainly care about the strength of the brand.
There are a number of vendors that work the event.  There are souvenir vendors (Chase Authentics), food vendors (crown, levy), entertainment vendors (Jay Howard Events), and many others.  The vendors pay the track and NASCAR to be at the event, and/or, are paid by NASCAR or the track to perform certain task.
A NASCAR new zealand travel package event last at least 3 days, in order for all of the parties to be successful  (i.e. the fans, sponsors, corporations, etc) the event needs to generate enough revenue in all areas to generate profit and to keep the event and the race going to meet the fans expectations.
NASCAR competes, like all other sports, for fan mindshare, and ultimately fan dollars.  NASCAR new zealand travel package in the past has been known to excel at branding.  I have worked with a number of teams, tracks, and vendors and they all understand the value and associated loyalty of the NASCAR brand. new zealand travel package Promotions are collaborative between NASCAR, the Track, and whoever owns the Television Broadcast rights new zealand travel package for the particular race.  In addition, new zealand travel package vendors support new zealand travel package the events new zealand travel package moving from track to track each week.  It is a festival atmosphere, 34 weeks per year.
Most professional sports are complex in their structure. There are lots of moving new zealand travel package parts, tons of companies, tons of employees, tv and radio contracts, and a few celebrities on which most fans focus their attention.  Coordinating these parts from event to event is difficult, and trying to insure a consistent brand across all parts is important and complex.  One fact remains throughout, without an experience the fans value (and value is the key word), all will fail.
The initial test was in Homestead Florida, the last race of the season, and actually a fairly unique race in demographics, which concerned us from the beginning with regards to understanding new zealand travel package if the adoption rate at other tracks would be consistent with this test.  Each of our team members received a device and went into the race.  I can sum the experience up quickly, it was TV, really bad TV.  When you left the stands, it no longer worked, which is when you needed the damn thing the most!  We spent about an hour and a half with the device, went back to Glen and validated his beliefs.  We spent the rest of the day interviewing the fans about the device and their experience.  To a person the response was the same, it didn't add any value to their experience, they had come to the race to watch it in person, why would they watch it on TV?  It had no replay capability, no interaction, nothing but 7 second delayed video of the race.
What our interviews did provide though was detailed new zealand travel package specifications of what fans did want and what they would be willing to pay (amazing what you can learn when you ask the customer what they really want, before developing the product).  I won't go through the list in this article, however, suffice to say they wanted an interactive experience that not only allowed them to watch the race and replays, new zealand travel package but showed them where other activities were located and what they were, they wanted to be able to take the device anywhere they went and keep up on the action, new zealand travel package and they wanted to be able to interact with other fans during and after each event.
Since this initial test Sprint has partnered with NASCAR to greatly improve the basic product, and technology innovations and smart phone/device adoption rates have made this much easier, however, the product still does not integrate with key stakeholders (Vendors, Sponsors, teams, and the cities the events take place, etc…) to maximize the value to the fan, and potential or existing advertisers.
This story is typical in sports marketing new zealand travel package departments I have worked with in the past.  I believe sports organizations are losing touch with the fundamentals of marketing and sales that were a part of making them successful.  Consumers have more choices for their entertainment than ever before, new zealand travel package and sports organizations need to determine how to bring consumers value, and stop tinkering with technology, leave that to the experts. In my previous example you had some of the brightest marketing minds I have ever met, who were not involved new zealand travel package in the development and deployment of something that was impacting new zealand travel package the fan experience.  NASCAR tried to become a "technology provider" for their fans, because they thought technology was the next generation of the fan experience, and it's not.   Technology is an enabler that can remove the word impossible from vocabulary's.  Technology can be utilized as a tool to extend the marketing reach, create new markets, and increase advertising inventory for marketing and sales, nothing more nothing less.
It is fine for sports marketing organizations to search for "the possible" of technology, but only as research, it is more important for them to rely on experts and understand the possible and then to incorporate technologies in order to build, enhance, deploy, innovate, or revolutionize their brand, marketing, and selling strategies; of which they should be the experts.
In this example, if marketing would have been involved from NASCAR, The Tracks, new zealand travel package and Key Vendors; a solution could have been easily developed that replaced existing signage, maps, schedules, scanners, and even tickets and passes for fans (which would have been big in 2005).  This would make access easier to control, exhibits and events easier to find, and keeping the fans in touch with race activities; all the while increasing advertising inventory for the sales department to sell.  All parties (vendors, sponsors, tracks, etc.) could have interacted with the fans before, during, and after the event.
When I enter into an engagement with sports organizations I first want to learn all I can about who their fans are, who are their targeted sponsors, who should be their targeted sponsors, what type of experience stakeholders currently have, and what they value.  I want to understand what their marketing strategies are in detail and how they are executing those strategies today, how are the measuring new zealand travel package them, and where they want to go.  I need to understand all I can about the fan of their sport, who they are, where they live, what they like, what they do with their free time etc..  Does this sound like a technology interview?  It's not, it is a marketing interview.  The marketing team needs to be included in every step of ANY new marketing program, technological or not.  From this understanding a technology plan can be created to incorporate or create the technologies that support their needs.
For example, one thing technology can do is allow the team or sport to go home with the fan, and to continue to be a part of their everyday life and activities,  I call it building tribes. Building tribes is something that marketing organizations in sports have been doing for years, it's not a new concept, but there are new tools that can allow organizations new zealand travel package to execute these strategies at level's never before reached, but not if they don't focus on their fan, the consumer, new zealand travel package coupled with equal focus on their sponsors and advertisers. The sports organizations ability to extend their sponsors reach into the tribe they are building is the critical measure used by the sponsor for success of the sponsorship.  The sports organization can become a conduit that associates a brand with a sport a consumer has already new zealand travel package said they find credible and that is a part of their lifestyle, adding value to that brand for the consumer.
I am sure you have noticed by now I use the word value a lot.  That is intentional; value is the key, the more value a fan finds in anything, the more of their dollars they will spend on what is providing them value.  It is simple, if a brand (sports or not) creates enough value, it will systemically eliminate other brands that compete for that dollar.   The more competition is eliminated and the larger the value base becomes the more profitable volume the brand will build.  This is growth, and it all starts with understanding the psychology of the fan, what they want, where they want it, when they want it; again, not technology concepts, marketing concepts.
Unless sports new zealand travel package organizations return to the basic fundamentals of marketing, and quit listening to all these "new consultants" who are suddenly technology experts on social media, mobile t