Innovation Award 2018
adi.tv & Supponor
The perimeter branding space that frames our best loved sports is worth hundreds of millions in advertising revenue to clubs and sporting federations. Digital LED displays positioned around the pitch, court, track or field have become commonplace in football, rugby, basketball and many other sports. In the Premier League alone they are responsible for delivering over £50million in sponsorship and advertising revenue for member clubs.
ADI is already responsible for supplying the majority of those systems, providing them for 22 clubs across the Premier League and Football League, as well as rugby, horse racing and other sports.
Now, through innovation and collaboration between ADI and Supponor, we are fundamentally changing the way in which sports clubs and federations can commercialise such media space, and the development is due to transform the revenue potential of perimeter media space for sports clubs and federations.
Everton FC
Jack’s Virtual Mascot
This is a sport campaign with a difference. Working alongside No Isolation and Well Child Everton was able to utilise the power of sport and technology to make a young football fan’s dream come true.
Jack’s dream of becoming a mascot must have felt like it was disappearing after being confined to his home and becoming oxygen dependent after his health deteriorated.
However through an innovative approach Jack was able to be a matchday mascot from the comfort of his own home.
Utilising the AV1 robot Jack had a full behind-the-scenes experience by interacting with the Everton players and feeling what it would be like to walk out through the tunnel and onto the hallowed turf of Goodison Park in front of 40,000 fans.
Fanatics
Fanatics has completely transformed the licensed sports industry by identifying gaps in the market and establishing its innovative concept of vertical commerce or “v-commerce”, completely changing the way apparel and fan gear is designed and distributed.
This disruptive, innovative model combines a world-class technology platform with an agile global supply chain and on-demand manufacturing to create the broadest and most responsive assortment of high quality merchandise in real-time regardless of where fans are shopping: online, on mobile, in stadiums and arenas or at some of the world’s biggest events.
Aston Villa were the first football club outside of North America, where Fanatics has deals with all major sports leagues, to realise the potential of this full vertical commerce model. The new kit, designed by Fanatics and local Birmingham retailer Luke 1977 has seen sales of the replica kit up 700% year on year, reaction from the Aston Villa fans has been positive and the home kit design was awarded GQ’s best Championship kit 2018/2019.
Manchester City FC
Manchester City Football Club launched a world first in football for the 2017/18 season by introducing a brand new hospitality concept: The Tunnel Club. This pioneering new hospitality suite redefines the customer experience on a global scale by bringing hospitality supporters closer to the action than ever before, as they watch their heroes walk out onto the pitch through the 250m² glass tunnel.
The Tunnel Club is the first hospitality suite of its kind in the Premier League, giving supporters the chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the world’s greatest players, seeing the tension-fuelled rituals as the players get ready to meet the crowd. No other Premier League club offers this same unrivalled behind-the-scenes access to the beautiful game by inviting guests to listen to match-day game tactics from the Club’s Performance Analysts and observe the post-match media interviews from the comfort of their luxurious seats.
Video footage:
The Tunnel Club –
https://proxy.mancity.com/thetunnelclub/preview/
Southampton FC
When we were faced with replacing revenue when the second Robbie Williams concert date that did not take place here, we had to think of different options to fill the left over pitch event slots and replace revenue.
With only a couple of months lead in, we had to research and look into different ideas; this lead us to come across the Ultimate Strong Man Productions. This is the group that runs the Ultimate Strong Man competition across the UK, with athletes competing in various disciplines to get qualification points for the chance to participate in International Competitions.
STATSports Group
STATSports is the world’s leading provider of GPS player tracking and analysis solutions for elite sports teams.
In 2012, STATSports released the pioneering Viper system, which enabled elite sports teams to gather intricate data on their athlete’s performance. Many teams adopted this cutting-edge technology and saw the benefits it could bring. There was always room for improvement with the Viper system, even if it was the best system available on the market at that time.
Building on the success of Viper, STATSports released the brand-new Apex system for the 2017/18 season. STATSports Apex device is five years more technologically advanced than competing devices and is the first ever device to incorporate both GPS and Ultra-Wideband technology making the product suitable for both indoor and outdoor environments, a key development for the elite sports industry.
Apex incorporates Bluetooth LE which enables coaches to receive accurate and reliable live data to an iPad, mobile phone or smartwatch.
The success of the Apex system has allowed STATSports to grow at an exponential rate. Over the last 6 months, STATSports have signed many lucrative partnerships including with US Soccer, the Brazilian FA, the Chinese FA and Chinese Super League.
Swansea City FC and Other Media
The Official Swans app is engaging fans and augmenting the excitement and anticipation of the big kick-off for fans at the game and at home and keeping the buzz going after the final whistle. The app made Swansea fans the first to hold matchday tickets on their phones at the start of the year.
The app offers a way for fans to connect with their club, with each other, and feel part of a community, consuming everything Swans they need (and this really is about need when you are so passionately supporting your football team) at their fingertips.
Tottenham Hotspur – Seven League and Animal Vegetable Mineral
Seven League are a sports digital agency, retained by Tottenham Hotspur to accelerate its digital business. Seven League Senior Consultant Jon Ford works as the Club’s Head of Content, with CEO Richard Ayers playing the role of Senior Digital Advisor.
Animal Vegetable Mineral (AVM) are a production agency specialising in 360, AR and VR, enlisted as supplier on behalf of the Club by Seven League.
After 118 years, Spurs’ world famous football stadium White Hart Lane closed on 14th May 2017, following a 2-0 victory over Manchester United.
The Club wished to “archive the atmosphere” of the venue its global fanbase called home.
Seven League and AVM collaborated to create an explorable model of the ground, packed with embedded rich media, delivering an average dwell time of half an hour. More than just a 360 film, The Lane 360 is a world-first content platform with infinite inventory available to sponsors.
The Lane 360 combines the opportunity (the venue and its closure), the technology (AVM’s development), the video capability (numerous 360 video clips captured by AVM, facilitated by 7L for the Club) and archive rich media underneath an overarching innovation concept.
