The team’s new home – the US $200m LIVESTRONG Sporting Park (one of five finalists for this year’s Venue of the Year Award at TheStadiumBusiness Awards) – takes its name from the internationally-recognized charity for cancer programs and for the duration of the naming rights agreement, a portion of all stadium revenues will fund the foundation’s advocacy work.

The innovation does not stop there. From the emphasis on fan experience, to the world class technology installed throughout the state-of-the-art stadium, to the team’s membership model for connecting with club supporters, this is no ordinary football club.

Outlining Sporting KC’s growth from concept to operation, we are delighted to welcome Robb Heineman, CEO, Sporting Club and Managing Partner of Sporting Innovations, as a guest speaker in day one of TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012… next week, in Turin!

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About the speaker:

Recognized as one of the most progressive, forward-thinking leaders in sports today, Robb Heineman is the CEO of Sporting Club, the parent organization of Sporting Kansas City, and one of the club’s five principal owners. Heineman also serves as Managing Partner of Sporting Innovations, a technology company focused on innovation in sports and entertainment. After taking over as the organization’s CEO in 2006, Heineman worked with several local municipalities around the Kansas City metropolitan area to get a soccer-specific stadium built for Sporting Kansas City.

In January of 2010 the Kansas Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the plan for the 18,467-seat LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, an 18-24 field youth soccer complex and new offices for Cerner Corporation. The project drew nationwide acclaim, and was ranked the 8th-largest economic development deal in North America for 2010 by corporate real estate magazine, Site Selection.

Since then, Heineman has been instrumental in creating partnerships with worldwide leaders in a wide range of sectors. The spring of 2011 saw Sporting Club announce historical partnerships with the likes of LIVESTRONG, Cisco and Google, enabling LIVESTRONG Sporting Park to serve as a living lab for sports and entertainment technology.

Heineman has been at the forefront of the creation of Sporting Club’s groundbreaking membership model, a revolutionary concept that has changed the way fans interact with professional sports organizations in this country. Known for his openness and accessibility to fans, Heineman has put a special emphasis on the power of social media, frequently making use of his Twitter handle @RobbHeineman to communicate with the club’s supporters.

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New stadium effects!
Learn from the opening seasons of three football clubs and their new home stadiums…

Stadium Marketing 2.0
Technology is opening up countless new ways to engage and entertain fans, leaving stadium operators facing a difficult question: “Of all the new things we could do, what should we do?”

TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2012 Gala Evening
Join the shortlisted nominees and industry leaders as we celebrate the achievements, successes and leadership in the global stadium and arena sector at the third annual presentation of TheStadiumBusiness Awards.

Grow your hospitality revenues!
Europe’s first Premium Seat Seminar brings together the leading executives in premium seat services from both sides of the Atlantic

Fan Engagement and Customer Service
A whole day dedicated to all things great for fans at the Fan Experience Forum.

The Smarter Stadium?
The long promised ‘smart stadium’ is finally here. But has this integration of all the stadium sub-systems really delivered on its promises? Or is it a case of more lights and no action?

Plus: Sustainability. Italy in focus. Projects showcase
and more!

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Our broad theme for TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012 – how technology can help us to deliver better customer service, and add real value to the live event experience – is interwoven throughout the conference programme for Turin. But Session 4: Crossing the Void: The Smart(er) Stadium will explore that theme in real depth, showcasing presentations from those clubs and venues who have embarked with major IT companies on smart stadium projects.

In March of this year, the Miami Dolphins of the NFL did just that; announcing a collaboration with IBM to integrate analytics technology into the 75,000-seat Sun Life Stadium.

• See ‘Creating meaningful visitor experiences’: Miami Dolphins partnering with IBM

And at TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012, Dolphin’s Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Tery Howard will join the international speaking programme to discuss how the Dolphins aim to use the technology as a key differentiator in the eyes of their fans.

“We are committed to enhancing the live experience for fans at Sun Life Stadium,” explains Howard.

“We see ourselves as competing with the in-home experience; the luxury and comfort of home, the High Def TVs, and the gadgets that around that allow fans to consume additional stats, replays and highlights, as well as interact with their friends.”

“Our challenge is to continue to make it exciting for people to come to our stadium as we compete with a constantly morphing entertainment industry that is increasingly interactive.”

The collaboration with IBM offers the Dolphins new opportunities to deliver mobile content to guests at the Sun Life Stadium, increasing engagement, as well as opportunities to enhance operational performance: the technology will enable Dolphins’ officials to gain immediate insight into all stadium operations including visitor traffic, fan spending preferences and weather patterns, and adjust accordingly based on real-time events.

“As I’ll be discussing in Turin, we are now able to look through the eyes of the fan and develop unmatched services to create meaningful experiences for our visitors,” continues Howard.

LEARN FROM the experiences of the Miami Dolphins and the world’s leading sport and stadium businesses, only at TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Tery Howard is entering her 13th season with the Miami Dolphins and Sun Life Stadium as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. She joined the Dolphins after 15 years with Carnival Cruise Lines, where she gained experience managing all of Carnival’s shipboard technologies. As the CTO, Howard is responsible for managing and directing the technology initiatives and strategic direction of business operations at the Miami Dolphins and Sun Life Stadium. Her primary focus includes infrastructure, telecommunications, business systems and broadcast media, converging the technologies and services to position Sun Life Stadium and the Miami Dolphins at the forefront of the industry.

After successfully deploying FanVision at Sun Life Stadium for the Miami Dolphins, Howard was tapped by owner Stephen Ross in 2010 to lead the company’s deployment, distribution and activation of FanVision to twelve NFL and two NCAA stadiums. Howard also oversaw the expansion of the program at Sun Life Stadium to 25,000 devices, the largest deployment of any stadium.

Respected throughout the industry, Howard is frequently called upon to contribute to IT presentations, panel discussions and workshops. Under her leadership, Sun Life Stadium and the Miami Dolphins were recognized by InfoWorld as one of the “Top 100” companies who have made the best use of technology to enhance their business, and was also recognized by PC Magazine as one of the “Top 10” companies that are using technology in intelligent ways to improve their business. Howard was also recognized by Sports Business Journal in 2011 as a Game Changer in Sports for her innovation and impact to the sports industry. Howard was also a finalist for the Technology Leader of the Year Award at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to her responsibilities within the Dolphins’ organization, Howard is also actively involved in various community initiatives and advisory boards, providing guidance and a leadership role in the community and beyond. Howard earned a Bachelor of Science and a Masters in Business Administration from Florida International University (FIU), and resides in Miami Beach with her husband Eric Howard and three children, Natalie, Charlie and Monica.

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Headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, with regional offices throughout the world, Xirrus provides unique, high-performance, array-based wireless solutions that perform under the most demanding conditions all while delivering wired-like reliability, superior security and less infrastructure requirements.

And, at TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012 in Turin, Sean Larner, VP International Sales for Xirrus, will join the speaking line-up in the popular pecha-kucha Innovations Showcase session, highlighting their successes in global stadium deployments and explaining why their technology is suited to such challenging installations.

“Wireless connectivity is everywhere. People expect to connect without wire, including at sporting events – the explosion of smartphones and tablets has seen to that,” explains  Sean.

“According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, there are now about 800 million Wi-Fi-enabled devices being produced every year.

“Sporting events and concerts aren’t just about selling tickets anymore. Intelligent event and entertainment organizations are using those devices to engage audiences, provide new digital marketing opportunities and ensure attendees can connect under even the most demanding circumstances.”

Xirrus recently equipped the New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium with a wireless network to serve its premium seating areas. Club members in Gillette Stadium’s Putnam Club are now able to access exclusive video content on their smart phones instantaneously on game days, as explained in the following video:

Xirrus is also responsible for the wireless network installation at Edgbaston Cricket Ground. The refreshed Wi-Fi network enables TV, press and sports commentators to provide the very best coverage of major events at the Warwickshire ground.

“Wireless isn’t a ‘nice-to-have’ anymore,” continues Sean. “Done right, it’s a strategic IT infrastructure advantage that fuels event and entertainment organizations, letting them do more than ever before. And Xirrus does it right!”

For more, see www.xirrus.com

BRINGING TOGETHER the owners, operators and developers of the world’s most important and successful sports entertainment facilities, TheStadiumBusiness Summit is the number one meeting of the global stadium business community.

JOIN US IN TURIN TO FIND OUT WHY

It’s your business. It’s our business. It’s TheStadiumBusiness Summit!

At TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012 in Turin, Session 7: ‘Sense & Sustainability’ will explore just that, presenting industry-leading case studies from venues and organisations around the globe: including the Green Sports Alliance.

Founded in 2011, the Green Sports Alliance is a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance.

A finalist in the Sustainability Award at TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2012, the Alliance brings sports organizations and environmental experts together in an effort to improve the environmental performance of sports facilities and operations. Alliance members now represent over 90 sports venues and teams, across 13 sports leagues including MLB, the NHL, the NFL, the NBA, the WNBA, and MLS.

In Turin, Dr. Allen Hershkowitz Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council in the US and co-founder of the Green Sports Alliance, will join the speaking programme to describe the sports greening movement sweeping the US: and explain the important role the Green Sports Alliance is playing in connecting the environmental successes of teams and facilities continent-wide.

“The Alliance is the first ever North American inter-league collaboration on environmental protection among major sports teams and facilities,” comments Dr Hershkowitz.

“This type of inter-league collaboration is unprecedented. It speaks to the increasing recognition throughout the sports industry that ‘going green’ is not only business savvy but also enhances the fan experience and provides many ecological benefits.”

“As we’ll be discussing at the Summit, as the Alliance guides sports venues and teams to develop more sustainable organizations, these partners are also seeing the economic benefits that result from using fewer resources and producing less waste.”

“And we look forward to sharing our story with the global stadium sector in Turin.”

How will adopting environmental best practice and applying sustainable event management affect your venue’s bottom line? Find out, only at TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012, in Turin.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Dr. Allen Hershkowitz is a Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council and a leader in the movement to make environmental responsibility understandable and achievable for every individual and institution –an accomplishment that earned him the name “The Godfather of Greening” by Yoga + Joyful Living Magazine in 2009. Dr. Hershkowitz joined NRDC’s senior staff in 1988, and has been the force behind some of the organization’s most effective and visible initiatives. Through the years, he has championed systemic change on critical issues ranging from sustainable development and recycling to forestry, paper industry impacts, mountaintop coal mining, waste incineration, and medical wastes.

Melding ecological expertise with a positive approach, Dr. Hershkowitz directs the greening of American icons including professional sports leagues and major record labels. He was the architect of the greening of the 2007 – 2010 Academy Awards, and the 50th, 51st and 52nd GRAMMY Awards. His leadership in helping Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) go green earned him the U.S. EPA’s 2008 Environmental Merit Award. Dr. Hershkowitz helped drive the greening of the Warner Music Group and he helped establish and serves on the Steering Committee of Broadway Greening Alliance and the Board of Directors of the Green Sports Alliance. Dr. Hershkowitz also serves on the 2011 NCAA Final Four Sustainability Committee.

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The research – undertaken by sports and leisure consultancy StageUp – examines the necessary investments to take Italy’s stadiums from the current situation of being the “oldest and least profitable in Europe”.

StageUp calculates that renovation and modernisation of the country’s stadiums will require an investment of some €4 billion, generating some 85,000 jobs, over the next ten years.

But, warns the firm, the investment will only happen if the New Stadium Law (which should be approved by the summer) is also supported by new legislation on project financing.

• See Italy’s sports minister: “New stadium law is at a good point”

Giovanni Palazzi, StageUp’s president, suggests that two new tools for project financing provided by the Government are particularly relevant to the stadium sector:

The first is the concept of ‘exchange’, which would allow local municipalities to participate in projects by bringing in old properties into new project developments, and;

Secondly, the issuing of ‘project bonds’ – obligations related to the implementation of new projects which would support private investment, public and community supporters (such as PPP contracts and ‘community benefits’ partnerships that exist in other European countries).

Sources: www.ansa.it, www.calciomercato.com, www.stageup.com

Photo credit: fiorentina.theoffside.com

BE AT THE HEART OF ITALY’S STADIUM RENAISSANCE AT TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012. BOOK NOW!

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Related news:

• Italy: Gearing up for a stadium boom?
• Italy’s sports minister: “New stadium law is at a good point”

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The spectacular £93million, 22,500 capacity venue at Falmer (pictured below) has received numerous plaudits since its opening, both for its striking design, and well as its outstanding operational and commercial performance, and is a shortlisted finalist in a number of categories at TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2012.

At TheStadiumBusiness Summit this May, Martin Perry, CEO, American Express Community Stadium & Executive Director, Brighton & Hove Albion FC, will join the speaking line-up in Turin to offer his reflections after a successful first season at The Amex.

Martin, himself a finalist in the Executive of the Year category at TheStadiumBusiness Awards, will join the Opening Experiences session on day one of the conference programme. The session offers a series of presentations from stadium operators who each opened their new (or enhanced) facilities during the last year.

What went according to plan? What didn’t? And what did the consultants forget to tell us?! Fascinating insights from a world of stadium business launches… only at TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012, in Turin!

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ADDITIONAL STADIUM IMAGES:

Images courtesy Brighton & Hove Albion FC

It’s your business. It’s our business. It’s TheStadiumBusiness Summit!

Established in 1993, and based in Helsinki, Larkas & Laine is one of Finland’s largest architecture agencies. The firm – renowned for its innovative and progressive approach – also has offices in Russia, through its subsidiary AMFI Architects; a practice with extensive experience in sports centres and hockey arenas in the region.

At TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2012, Larkas & Laine will feature within the popular Innovations Showcase on Day 1 of the Summit programme – a quick-fire presentation session which uses the pecha-kucha format (with each speaker having just 20 slides for 20 seconds each) to ‘deliver a wealth of new ideas, innovations and inspiration for forward-thinking stadium business’.

In Turin, Mr Olivier Lemarchand, Main Designer, Larkas & Laine will be joined on stage by Mr Heikki Järvinen, Managing Directo, Juva Engineering Ltd, to present the firm’s ‘Mechanic Stadium’ concept – a unique new architectural solution that allows venues to transform themselves from classic open air stadiums to indoor event centres… in less than an hour!

“We are very pleased to be a part of TheStadiumBusiness Summit,” comments Olivier, “and we look forward to showcasing the Mechanic Stadium to the industry.”

Based on the idea of a vertically moving ‘activity field’, which can be raised or lowered to accommodate events both on top of, or underneath, the platform, the Mechanic Stadium is a revolutionary solution that can substantially increase a venue’s potential for revenue generation.

“As we will explain to delegates, the Mechanic Stadium can be installed within new stadia or fitted to existing venues, and transform them into truly flexible, multi-purpose facilities – capable of hosting two different events simultaneously.”

For more information, please visit www.larkaslaine.com

BRINGING TOGETHER the owners, operators and developers of the world’s most important and successful sports entertainment facilities, TheStadiumBusiness Summit is the number one meeting of the global stadium business community.

JOIN US IN TURIN TO FIND OUT WHY

It’s your business. It’s our business. It’s TheStadiumBusiness Summit!

With almost 7,000 installations worldwide, SKIDATA provides sports stadiums, ski resorts, shopping malls, major airports, municipalities, trade shows and amusement parks with secure and reliable access solutions for people and vehicles.

In Turin, SKIDATA will become official registration sponsor for TheStadiumBusiness Summit, Premium Seat Seminar and Fan Experience Forum.

It has been a busy 12 months for the Salzburg-based company – one of six shortlisted finalists for the Industry Supplier Award at the TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2012.

In the area of major events, SKIDATA once again made a convincing case and won stadiums for EURO2012 in Poland and Ukraine, including the National Stadium Warsaw (pictured above left), Wroclaw Stadion in Wroclaw, Donbass Arena and Metalist Stadium.

In Formula 1, SKIDATA held the pole position in the Indian Grand Prix and provided race fans seamless access to the event.

You’ll also find high-tech SKIDATA solutions in stadiums in US cities. The MLS soccer club Philadelphia Union in Chester on the Delaware River, for instance, uses SKIDATA systems. Some 18,500 fans attending the Union’s matches use Smart Card RFID technology from SKIDATA. For sales, stadium operators rely on SKIDATA Print@Home and SKIDATA Business Services for intelligent solutions that build customer loyalty and facilitate member support.

For more, visit www.skidata.com

JOIN SKIDATA, and the leading owners, operators, developers and suppliers in the global stadium sector, in Turin at TheStadiumBusiness Summit.

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It’s your business. It’s our business. It’s TheStadiumBusiness Summit… in Turin!