1) Delaware North undertook the research exercise to look specifically at how emerging technologies might affect their sports industry and share the findings with clients to help inform decision making. 2) The 2016 version of the research was similar to 2015 in examining fast-changing technology trends, but updated areas like esports that had evolved significantly in just one year. 3) Todd Merry expects they will produce a third version to continue providing regular updates, as the world is moving quickly and technology is changing rapidly.

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FROM THE TOP WITH TODD MERRY
What were Delaware North’s goals in undertak-
ing this research exercise?
It first came about a year and a half ago.
We were nearing our 100th anniversary at
the company. Our Chairman Jeremy Jacobs
was talking one day about our brand and the
industry. He said we should talk to some fu-
turists. And so we went to some really smart
people and had a great discussion about some
emerging technologies.
After the fact, our Chairman said, that’s
great, but we should look very specifically
at how those technologies might affect our
industry of sports. The initial idea from our
Chairman was to do that research and share
it with some of our clients and some of our
I
n the wake of the launch event this fall for the second edition of The
Future of Sports,Delaware North Chief Marketing OfficerTodd
Merry spoke with SEAT about the company’s latest research itera-
tion.He explained that the themes in The Future of Sports have little
to do with food and beverage or retail specifically, but serve as thought
leadership that can inspire the imagination of the entire industry, from
chefs to ticket salespeople to team owners.Merry also spoke expansively
on the role of accelerating technology in leading change and addressing
opportunities,both in venues and around the world, brought about by
Millennials,Gen Z,non-traditional sports,and emerging markets.
By Jared Frank, ALSD
friends, our Chairman also being the Chair-
man of the Board of Governors for the NHL
and obviously team owner of the Boston
Bruins.
We did it last year for the first time. We
had modest expectations.We thought people
would appreciate it, but the reaction that we
got was extremely positive. People found it
very useful which is very encouraging. So our
Chairman asked us to do it again this year.
How is the 2016 version different from or simi-
lar to the 2015 edition?
What we found both the first time around
and then this time was how fast everything
is moving. I’ll give you one example. In the
first issue we did last year,we took a relatively
modest view at eSports. And in the course of
12 months, eSports has moved on and is rel-
evant to the sports industry and to venues.It’s
experienced a massive change in the course
of 12 months. It underscores that the world
is moving so quickly. Technology is moving
so quickly that doing regular updates to [this
research] is important.
So do you forecast that there will be a version 3.0
at some point?
We had our launch of the second edition,
which almost worked my team to death, two
weeks ago. And the first question we got was,
“Are you going to do a third one?”
Why not? We love it. It’s become a labor
of love for our Chairman and our CEOs and
the whole team here that works on it. I hope
there’s a third one.I love all of this stuff.I’m a
fanatic about some of the technology. I fully
expect that we’ll do a third one.
I find this research to be a tool to take cues from
and inform decision making for your company.
So why share it? Why not just use it internally as
a competitive advantage?
We did first imagine it as something to
share with our clients. But our Chairman
loves sports. It really was his gift to the in-
dustry in many ways.
Ted Leonsis was someone in the first edi-
tion that we ran a lot of stuff by. He’s a very
smart guy and very much on the cutting-
edge. So of course, we sent him a copy. Then
the list started to get pretty long, so finally,
we just decided to share it with everyone. It
seems very altruistic in a relatively competi-
tive business. But that’s been the direction of
our Chairman – to share it far and wide.
I hope people see that we’re a 100-year-
old brand, but we’re also very much looking
into the future.All we can hope for is that we
get into the consideration set,and I think this
does that to a certain extent. At the end of
the day, what’s going to win a bid is some of
the financials, the product, and your people.
But again, if it gets our foot in the door and
allows us to present, that’s a good result.

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How did you select the research team?
Since day one, we’ve worked with an out-
side agency called Attention Span Media.
They are a bunch of real smart guys. A bunch
of them have worked in journalism before.
Josh McHugh and the team from Atten-
tion Span, they had connections at places
like Singularity University and a number
of think tanks on the west coast. They were
smart enough to know who the smart guys
were. One of the most gratifying parts of
this whole project is getting to know some of
these guys. It’s been fascinating.
In general, sports teams have not been early
adopters of new technologies. Is that mindset
changing?
Sports has been an early adopter on some
stuff and not on others. I think you’re right
that there is some sort of inertia on a number
of issues, broadcast being one of them. If you
look at the regional sports networks, and you
look at cable, and you look at ESPN, you re-
alize there’s actually no reason on the surface
for sports teams or franchises to innovate be-
cause they’ve got a pretty sweet deal.
On the other hand,if you look at the audi-
ence and where it’s headed, there has to be
changes made. The reality is that inertia is
going to run smack into the immovable force
of the Millennials and Gen Z, who are more
than willing to pay for stuff, but they don’t
want to buy a [bundled] cable package for
$119 a month.
Is there inertia in other areas of the industry?
There is an inertia on a number of subjects.
It’s just like the old phone company and the
long distance model. They held onto charg-
ing people a lot of money for long distance
up until the last second before that business
went away.
If you saw in the current edition of The
Future of Sports, we looked at Millennials.
There’s an impression that they want every-
thing for free. But the reality is they will pay
for stuff. It’s just in a different model.
We had a conversation early on about
Millennials. Again, there’s this impression
FROM THE TOP WITH TODD MERRY
KEY EXCERPTS FROM THE 2016 EDITION
OF THE FUTURE OF SPORTS
“The kids now coming of age are actually the most informed young sports fans in
history. They are cord cutters, but they have not cut themselves off from sports.
Sports programming and data are such a deep part of their culture that they feel a
sense of ownership. And that’s the trick to reaching them – empowering them to
take sports media as we know it, mash it up, and distribute it as they see fit.”
“Migration, tourism, and near-universal access to broadcasts and social media have
unlocked billions of potential fans – but they don’t live in your city, and don’t neces-
sarily speak your language. The next ten years will be a gold rush, as professional
teams and leagues race to claim this emerging audience.”
“By 2025, the distinctions between AR and VR will be insignificant; the devices
will converge and be multifunctional. Their vast capabilities to blend natural and
synthetic vision will cause us to rethink everything – from the social norms of hu-
man interaction to how private and public spaces are designed and navigated. New
sports will inevitably emerge that will be designed to test athletes’performance
across the spectrum of mixed reality.”
“32% of all American teens have played fantasy (versus 18% of adults). American
teens have long stamped their print on world trends. Then consider that even
where sports betting is legal, you have to be 18 years old to bet. So most teens will
start with free fantasy, then at age 18 start paying entry fees rather than switch to
traditional sportsbook betting.”
“Make no mistake: traditional professional sports are at risk of losing a significant
portion of their future audience. Millions of post-Millennials around the world are
growing up idolizing eSports champions.”
“While the Alt-Athlete may not be clearly identifiable by the team logo they wear
on a jersey or hat, they are the fastest-growing market – 76% of all regular exercis-
ers are Millennials – with a thirst for new products and technological advances that
help them reach that next goal.”

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that they’re freeloading. But in reality, they’re
the first generation, particularly Gen Z, who
has been raised in primarily a pay-per-view
model.
Let’s pivot to the Millennial Generation since
it’s come up. As an industry, do you think we’re
doing enough to change the way we sell, market,
and program, in response to documented Millen-
nial behaviors and preferences?
If you look at the changing fan in the ven-
ue, there’s a lot of things that have been done
and will be done. Bolstering the technology
backbone of any of these venues is incredibly
important when it comes to sponsors,when it
comes to the fan experience.
I think there’s two things as we look at
venues this year. One is looking at how tech-
nology is going to change the experience.We
spent a lot of time on VR and AR. Partly
my own opinion and partly what the futur-
ists said, VR is going to be an at-home ex-
perience, meaning it will be me on my couch
with my VR headset, experiencing the game
in three dimensions. But really, it’s AR that’s
going to change the experience of the fan in-
venue, being able to use your phone as your
AR instrument to overlay data, stats, and
replays as you’re able to pan around a venue.
The other thing is looking at content com-
ing into these venues that isn’t the traditional
sports. Again, I’ve somehow woven my way
back to eSports here. I’ve attended a num-
ber of eSports events in the past 12 months,
both here and in Europe. And I can tell you,
it’s a different crowd with different expecta-
tions, all of it good. All of this is content for
these buildings, and content that’s not going
away, and content where people spend a ton
of money and eight or ten hours in a building
across a Saturday and a Sunday. A lot of the
concessionaires, retailers, and building own-
ers have to adjust to this new audience and
new experiences.
How are growing middle classes with Internet
connections in emerging market economies going
to shape the future of sports?
FROM THE TOP WITH TODD MERRY
You just can’t ignore the size of these mar-
kets – China, Brazil, India. There’s a lot of
value in these markets.
We’ve all been exposed to the global na-
ture of sports through the Olympics and the
World Cup becoming incredibly popular.But
what you realize is there are other sports out
there.
I know as Americans,we often think base-
ball, football, basketball, and hockey, plus the
rest of the world plays soccer. But it’s not
as easy as that. I was to Germany last year
and went to the team handball finals, where
you had 18,000 people packed into the SAP
Arena.
Our Chairman often points out that the
most popular spectator sport in 1970 was
horse racing. And of course, horse racing has
all but disappeared in the U.S. now. The les-
son to be learned from that is no one has a
right to exist. The leagues and sports have to
change and have to adapt, and frankly may
see a rise and fall of popularity depending [on
whether or not they change].
How will teams and venues in North America
reach their remote fan bases around the world
that are never going to step foot in their venues?
Some of the technology helps with that.
I’ve mentioned VR. Although there’s noth-
ing like the in-venue experience.
The storytelling of some of these brands
helps. Those sports narratives are a universal
language. You gravitate towards these amaz-
ing brands and these amazing stories. And
that’s a huge opportunity to connect with
fans. All fans appreciate a story and a narra-
tive. Technology allows us to bring that in-
game experience that much closer to those
people.There is a huge opportunity.
Is there part of this research that stands out as
most impactful for foodservice or retail in the
future?
There isn’t a ton in here that directly re-
lates to our business. It’s about understand-
ing the changing fan base and the changing
expectations of the Millennials and Gen Z,
the hard-to-understand next group of con-
sumers, understanding them, understanding
their experiences, and understanding what
they expect.This is a new audience and a new
group of people who expect different things
in their F&B experiences.
For us, the biggest outcome of the latest
edition is a reminder that our audience is
changing and expects new things. And that
does help us when we go in and come up
with new concepts. Our Sportservice group
has caught the bug.
This type of innovative approach has in-
fused all of Delaware North. Not just our
sports or venue business, but our travel busi-
ness and resorts and gaming business.They’re
all taking something away from this as well.
We’re now setting up a whole innovation lab
as part of Delaware North. So it’s pushed us
forward on the innovation front across all of
our businesses.
Back to the point of brand. It doesn’t spe-
cifically help our business, but we like being
able to put these really smart people in front
of our clients and share what they know.
This research is a little overwhelming at first. So
what advice do you have for a reader of The Fu-
ture of Sports? How can they best consume and
use the information?
It’s taking small sips. There are so many
different and daunting subjects in here. You
have to take them one at a time. There’s so
much to be gathered here.I think it’s a jump-
off point.There’s a lot more out there.
We are not predicting the future. We have
no idea where the future is ultimately going
to go.All we’re doing is raising some interest-
ing questions and hoping it spurs some sort
of discussion. I encourage everyone to read it,
ask questions, and participate in it.
To obtain copies of the 2015 and 2016 editions of The Fu-
tureofSports,visitfutureof.org.
“If you look at the audience and where it’s headed, there has to be
changes made. The reality is that inertia is going to run smack into the
immovable force of the Millennials and Gen Z.”