1.
1
Stadium Technology
Insight Event

2.
Key Questions - In Summary
Little focus on the total cost of
ownership within the technology
lifecycle. How do I tackle this?
A need to prove a ROI for technology
investment, how do I do that?
A need to attract new fans / enhance
experience to meet expectations, how
can technology assist?
A short-term focus on the today and
tomorrow. How do I look ahead?
A lack of understanding as to what
technology should achieve – where does
it sit against must, should, could filters?
A lack of buy in from senior stakeholders
or business units – how do you drive
value across the club or venue?
Technology is a journey with no
destination, so when should you
invest or start / stop?
How does technology fit together and
how do we ensure it works?
Connectivity a key component

3.
Technology Approach
• Technology at your event or venue needs to work
from the top down
• Starting with your business goals and objectives,
work down through four key layers
• Data
• Applications
• Infrastructure
• Backhaul
• This works as a pyramid, with each layer wider than
the one above it to ensure that it can fully support it
• Often, the pyramid looks more like a diamond,
causing applications to fail and a technology
challenge

4.
9
Industry Keynote
Ben Wells
Chief Commercial Officer, Bath Rugby

5.
Approaching Stadium Tech Ben Wells
CCO , Stadium for Bath

6.
An Introduction
• I know what I want tech to do but I have no idea how to do it
• I do know that we don’t need a digital strategy, we need strategies for a
digital world
• This presentation takes in my experience both as a consultant (working for a
number of tech start ups) and more latterly my experience working on the
Stadium For Bath project
• I am more than happy to take questions but PLEASE don’t ask me anything
technical!

7.
• 24/7 sport & entertainment destination venue in
the heart of a 6m visitor UNESCO World Heritage
Site
• Every square foot counts: matchday & non-
matchday
• Technology will play a huge role in realizing its
potential

8.
In recent years,
we’ve seen the
equivalent of an
arms race as new
stadia compete
to be the “most
technologically
advanced”.

9.
What’s the RoI
on urinals?

10.
Tech is not a silver
bullet: it’s an
enabler. Nothing
will replace a good
plan.
Horse: Plan
Cart: Tech

11.
What might
these
people be
doing?
What might
these
people be
doing?
• Spending money
(gaming, downloading
content)
• Engaging with partner
brands
• Telling the rest of the
world: “You should be
here!”

12.
4?s
• Does it improve venue operations or
save cost?
• Does it generate revenue?
• Does it add value to a partner?
• Does it aid your data strategy?
If it doesn’t do any of these things, it’s
probably not worth doing

13.
But the number
one filter: if it
doesn’t add value
to the fan or
customer
experience, don’t
do it

14.
Tech cannot sit
on its own: it
needs to pervade
and accelerate
every part of the
stadium plan

15.
Are you
future
ready?

16.
Part 1: Connectivity
• The first thing we all do in a new venue is check for WiFi
• Don’t be cheap: if they’re using 4G+ you’re not getting their data
• Consumption is increasing at a huge rate: ensure that you’re not at full capacity
on opening day and that you can easily and cheaply increase your own capacity
• Make it easy (and free) to gain a basic connection (BUT)
• How can the need for download speed drive other commercial imperatives
(value add in STs, access to premium content etc?)

17.
Part 2:
Central
Control
Console
Example: Lighting can be connected to the
central control platform which:
1. Enables light shows to form part of the match
day experience (Commercial)
2. Enables smart usage of lighting to reduce costs
(Operational)
Technology enables a reduction in cabling costs
through a shared service deployment
mechanism.

18.
Part 3: Mobile
Platform

19.
It’s what
people expect

20.
28
Industry Keynote
Craig Flindall
Chief Operating Officer, Edgbaston Stadium

21.
Topics
1. My role at WCCC and how I got into it
2. The current state of the sports market with a particular focus on
cricket
3. WCCC strategy in light of the market with some specific
successful case studies
4. Advise for any aspiring students who wish to forge a career in
sports business
5. Questions and tour
Integrated with a bit of a sports quiz!!!
Stadium Technology
Insights
24 July 2019

22.
Edgbaston – famous for
Iconic moments
• 2005 Ashes – England beat Aus by 2 runs
• Lara’s 501 in 1994
• 1999 World Semi Final – Aus v SA tie
Atmosphere - England’s Fortress
Innovation
• 1st domestic floodlit game in the UK in 1997
• First floodlit Test Match in 2017

23.
Edgbaston history
• Club formed in 1882
• Cricket played at the existing Edgbaston site since 1886
• Test Match status granted in 1902
• 1st Test Match staged in the same year (Eng vs Aus – Aussies lowest ever total)
End v SA 1929

24.
Edgbaston history
• Hosted only 4 Test Matches in its 1st 27 years until 1929
• Re-entered the international arena following a period of post war
development in 1957
• Limited piecemeal developments there after

25.
Edgbaston – pre development

26.
Edgbaston – pre development

27.
Pre development economics/factors
• Low level of earnings in non Ashes years
• Large YoY earnings fluctuations
• Old facilities commensurate with low levels of matchday spend per
head and non matchday business generated
• Antiquated governance structures
• Increasing competition from new venues (Durham, Cardiff,
Southampton)
• No long term certainty over major revenue streams – short dated
staging agreement with ECB
• Real risk of losing international cricket in Birmingham
• We had a scoreboard!

28.
New Edgbaston

29.
New Edgbaston

30.
Vision
Facilities Cricket
Sales/earnings
Customer Experience People
Community
Future
Vision
Win back respect
Pay-back on the investment
Build Loyalty
Share and widen success
Stay hungry
Keep improving

31.
▪ Cricket
▪ Customer
▪ Commercial
▪ Community
▪ People
▪ Venue

32.
Post development successes
• Great allocation of Major Matches between 2016-24
• Hosting several high profile matches, including the recent ICC Cricket World
Cup, 2 versions of the Champions Trophy and Ashes series, home of Finals
Day and one of the new Hundred teams
• Significant growth in non matchday revenues
• Renowned as delivering “best in class” matchday and non matchday hospitality.
Joint venture with Compass group a critical part of this.
• Record event day catering levels
• Significantly improved customer experience
• Shift change in mindset from a traditional club to a modern cricket/sports
business

33.
Challenges
• Model still has a lot of un-controllables factors which can significantly
impact earnings:
• Attractiveness of the England side
• Attractiveness of the opposition
• Impact of the British weather
• Long term attractiveness of Test Match cricket
• Hosting Major Matches is very competitive
• Revenue certainty matched to Major Match allocations – makes long term
planning difficult
• Highly leveraged, capital/resource is scarce!
• High profile small business

34.
Historical technology position
• Initial focus on assets, ops and people
• Technology decisions made in silos when somebody got wind of a
lucrative commercial/supply deal or something broke!
• Lack of follow through in resourcing and infrastructure to make a real
difference
• No technology/IT governance with overreliance on a small number of
people in the business

35.
Vision
Facilities Cricket
Sales/earnings
Customer Experience People
Community
Future
Vision
Win back respect
Pay-back on the investment
Build Loyalty
Share and widen success
Stay hungry
Keep improving

36.
Emerging position
• People and ops now in a good place
• Need to identify new ways to improve customer experience and
earnings
• Digital connectivity and engagement is now the norm with increasing
expectations.
• Cricket benefits from a long dwell time.
• New technology/IT governance structure now in place via a Chief
Technology Officer who Chairs a periodic Technology steering group
and owns the Club’s Technology strategy
• All key technology decisions go through this steering group which
includes reps from across the business

37.
Current examples
• New EPOS/merchanting position in place around the stadium which
allows us to see real time trading across the stadium and react
accordingly
• Cashless operation in place apart from member areas, reducing cash
leakage and security costs and staff overtime
• New scoreboard installed following successful tender exercise which
significantly reduced the expected capital cost
• Upgraded IPTV/signage in place across the whole stadium
• Edgbaston App tender process currently down to shortlist of 3 with a
new App expected to be in place by the start of the 2020 season
• E-ticketing
• Pre ordering before the match and during the game to minimise F&B sales risk
• Technology integration with the next phase of the Masterplan

38.
48
Industry Keynote
Antony Tomlinson
Chief Executive Officer, Ontix

39.
Wireless: 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi
24th July 2019

40.
Introduction
What you may be hearing:
• 5G can be transformative for consumers and industry
alike
• 5G could be worth billions to the UK economy
• The UK needs to be in the lead
• Businesses need to know about 5G and what it can do
• Businesses need a plan
But:
• How much of the story should you believe?
• What do you need to do, and when?
Today: background and context
• What 5G is, and how it’s different
• Current status, and what needs to happen
• What you should know as you develop your plan
“Only 28% of businesses know what
5G is and what it could do on a
practical level”
“only 9% are allocating significant
resources in order to take advantage”
“Revenues will increase and the
economy will benefit, the UK will
remain competitive on the world stage
and workforce productivity and
employment (both direct and indirect)
will rise”

41.
ITU predictions:
• Global mobile traffic to grow 26x (low
case) or 70x (high case) in next 10
years
Drivers:
• Short term: HD video
• Medium term: AR / VR, gaming,
immersive media
• Long term: autonomous vehicles,
smart cities, manufacturing,
agriculture, health
Data demand

42.
A brief history of wireless

43.
The evolution of the Gs:
• New spectrum is released: but never enough
• New Gs mean devices can:
– use more frequencies without interference (“multiplexing”)
– modulate individual frequencies more efficiently (“modulation”)
– use frequencies from different bands at the same time (“carrier aggregation”)
– use multiple antennas to transmit / receive simultaneous streams (“MIMO”)
• New Gs squeeze more out of the spectrum
– 2G: 14.4 Kbps
– 3G: 3 Mpbs
– 4G: 20-40 Mpbs
– 5G: [100] Mbps
• Evolutions or revolutions?
A brief history of wireless

44.
Three Objectives
• High capacity for smartphones and other devices
• Low latency for safety critical use cases
• High volumes of connections for IOT
Key Technologies
• “Massive MIMO” and “beamforming”: new antennas with
multiple elements focus transmission on a specific user, rather
than transmitting across the whole cell.
• “Small Cell”: large numbers of low powered cell sites provide
high capacity
• “millimetre wave”: wide bands of high frequency spectrum
provide very high localised capacity
Social Impact
• A social and industrial revolution that will become a “General
Purpose Technology” like the steam engine and electricity; or
• “just another G”?
What is 5G?

45.
What will 5G mean in
practice?
eMBB (“Enhanced Mobile Broadband”)
• Target actual: 100 Mbps, 5x LTE
• Much lower latency: <10 ms compared to 40ms for
LTE
• New possibilities: AR / VR, 3D video, holographic
calls
• Will it deliver? too early to tell
URLLC (“Ultra reliable low latency communications”)
• 1 millisecond round trip: relevant for safety critical /
industrial applications.
• Remote controlled industrial machinery. Remote
surgery?
mMTC (“massive machine type communications”)
• Potentially: on a massive scale (1 million connected
devices per km2)
“Only 28% of businesses know what
5G is and what it could do on a
practical level”
“Revenues will increase and the
economy will benefit, the UK will
remain competitive on the world stage
and workforce productivity and
employment (both direct and indirect)
will rise”

46.
Infrastructure: 4G vs 5G
4G Requirement 4G Status 5G Requirement 5G Status
Existing Sites Upgrade with new shared
antenna
Largely complete: after 5 years most
MNOs are 80%+
Major upgrade for new MIMO antennas Complete in launch cities
Limited progress elsewhere
Small Cells 100s required for capacity
hotspots
Limited deployment: most MNOs still
trialling tech
1000s required in dense urban areas:
5+ for every macro cell
Not started
Inbuilding New 4G IB solutions required
for voice
Limited to prestige locations; MNOs now
unwilling to fund solutions
Query whether 5G or Wifi 6 will be the
solution for many offices / venues
Not started
Transmission Upgrade existing link Largely complete New optical fibre for full 5G: major
challenge will require new build
Not started
Core 4G core Complete New core required for 5G “Stand Alone” TBC:
Full 5G will take 5 years+
• Lots of noise now with EE / VF launches: but full 5G is a long way off
• 4G to 5G is a huge step: bigger than 3G to 4G. And does the business case stack up outside of city centres?
• 4G is mature and will be around for years to come

47.
Wi-Fi evolution
• Wi-Fi is increasingly using similar tech to cellular
• Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 ac): 6x step up in headline speed
• Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 ax): will offer 4x step in speed, but also greater
efficiency / stability
• Innovations:
• more frequencies / more modulation / more MIMO
• network managed contention, not “first come first served”
• Passpoint: will offer seamless roaming between networks
Pros
• Wi-Fi 6 will tackle Wi-Fi’s weak point: very high footfall areas
• Wi-Fi is your network: your customer, your channel, your data
• Wi-Fi is economic: and backward compatible
Cons
• Hard limits on available spectrum
• Wi-Fi is still a download technology: upload
Wi-Fi

48.
• If you don’t have the coverage and capacity that your customers need today: it’s a 4G problem that needs a 4G solution
• Wifi 6 is worth considering: but query whether it will really meet your customers’ expectations
• If you need a solution then you may well need to fund it: the MNOs now expect “cost neutral”:
• which means paying for their network kit and transmission!
• DAS is the standard solution:
• there are clever new solutions that could offer better value: but very few are MNO approved
• DAS is expensive, but you can keep it simple:
• £500k+: but the MNO network equipment is on top
• the solutions are all bespoke: significant cost for design and PM resource, MNOs need to approve every design, install
can be expensive: rigging antennas at height , and head end kit can be expensive,
• You can keep the cost down by keeping it simple: 4G only (not 2G or 3G), and not every frequency band
What does it mean for me