Sporting/Cisco collaboration video

Sporting KC - Livestrong Sporting Park from Steffan Schulz on Vimeo.

This a little video I found on blog, The Offsides Rules. It highlights some of the technological features of the park and what the organization is doing to engage fans and enhance the game day experience.

I don't have an android phone or an iPhone so I've never been able to take advantage of the different apps while at the stadium. I've heard good things but also some backlash about being distracted from the play on the field. I'd be curious to find out how effective that technology has been in enhancing the game day experience.

On the blog post, there was a snide post about "corporate buzzwords" in the comment section. Although I'm sure you'd find some cynicism in KC, I think those criticisms are mainly a reflection of people from outside the metro area. My best guess is that they're just jealous that they don't have a stadium as nice as ours and their ownership group isn't doing enough to reach out to them.

I have no problem with our ownership exporting and making a bit of profit off of what they've accomplished. It gives us some great PR/exposure and it allows them to see some return from all the money they've invested in this team and LSP.

Over the last year or so I've heard a little bit of criticism of OnGoal as being only in it for the money. That might be part of their motivation but they won't see any real return on their investment for years to come. The team has yet to make profit since the team was bought. I truly believe the ownership in it for the right reasons. But that doesn't mean they can't leverage what they've learned, consult others, and make some money.

I think in the future you'll see the technology being used at LSP being implemented in stadiums around the country and around the world. I saw a tweet that the CIO from Real Madrid was in town a few weeks ago. Not only will you see our technology in the rest of sports, but I'm guessing they'll find a way to utilize this technology in other areas of the market. Sporting Innovations will be only the beginning. We'll see the partnership with Cisco as well as Google and their high speed fiber grow in the years to come.

I for one am excited to see where all of this goes. It's fun to follow this stuff and see our team being used a vehicle for driving innovation in sports and the marketplace but I hope (I think they will) continue to invest in the team and product on the field.