Congratulations to the 49ers on an amazing season
both on the field and in the stands!
As the San Francisco 49ers prepare for Super Bowl LIV, the legendary franchise and long-time SAP partner is already celebrating another victory — this one focused on enhancing the fan experience at Levi’s Stadium this past season, thanks to SAP.
The 49ers are one of the most innovative and tech-savvy teams in the NFL, and are continually looking for ways to improve operations and to enhance the game-day experience for fans.
Early in 2018, the 49ers tapped SAP to address a key organizational challenge: the need to have more visibility across all operations in the stadium on game day, in real time. The team was looking for a custom solution that would aggregate and report real-time information so that the operations team could make better decisions, proactively address potential issues, and seize opportunities during games immediately rather than days later, as they had historically done.
In October 2018, SAP and the 49ers launched a connected stadium system designed to help improve how the 49ers capture, report, and respond to game-day operations at Levi’s Stadium. Executive Huddle is a first-of-its-kind sports venue platform that allows the team to visualize real-time data across all aspects of stadium operations and respond in the moment during games in order to optimize operations and ultimately enhance the fan experience.
Within a “digital boardroom” suite at Levi’s Stadium — and on mobile devices — team officials can see and monitor real-time data visualizations showing nine data sources, including attendance, parking, food and beverage, retail, weather, ticketing, social media, and more. The team can now call audibles throughout a game that positively impact operations, enhance fan satisfaction, and drive cost efficiencies. Executive Huddle is powered by SAP HANA, utilizing SAP Cloud Platform, to provide flexibility and a foundation of continuous innovation.
Wrapping up its first full-season in use, the 49ers have seen tremendous impact during home games this year, including during this post-season run, allowing the team to shift its operational approach from reactive to proactive. For example:
- Examining ticket data has allowed the 49ers to see how fans are entering the stadium. This has enabled ground staff to direct fans to the appropriate gates, reducing wait times to enter Levi’s Stadium.
- More than 40 percent of issues resolved were identified pre-game, meaning the team can catch problems before fans have entered Levi’s Stadium, minimizing negative impact on the fan experience.
- Recent surveys by the 49ers indicate that fan satisfaction is up 10 percent at Levi’s Stadium since Executive Huddle was implemented in October 2018.
This off season, the team will also use insights and data from Executive Huddle to examine popular food and drink items to finalize an exclusive menu for season ticket holders in Levi’s Stadium.
As Al Guido, president of the 49ers, recently commented in a MarketWatch story, Executive Huddle “is a perfect marriage” of technology and customer feedback at a major sporting event.
Currently, the 49ers are the only team in the NFL to use Executive Huddle, but teams such as the Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, and Las Vegas Raiders have also expressed interest in the solution for their new stadiums.
So when you tune into Super Bowl LIV to cheer on our partners at the 49ers, remember that win or lose, the team has already had a victorious season at home with its fans.