Fans of the Frisco RoughRiders can now enjoy free wi-fi at all home games thanks to a wi-fi and analytics solution from Purple and Skinny IT, which also improves marketing and fan engagement.
The Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas, is home to the minor league baseball team and welcomes thousands of fans through its doors each year. Skinny IT installed Purple’s cloud-based platform using 85 Ruckus access points, a highly-efficient quantity considering the stadium seats 10,600. This was completed in just three weeks to ensure wi-fi was available in time for the 2017 season.
Spectators can now log into the wi-fi service via a fully-branded splash page, which enables them to connect via social media or a short form. During the login process, all details are securely captured in the Purple portal, including email address, name, age, gender and social interests. Purple’s location services also track footfall, frequency of visits and behavior at the stadium to improve the team’s marketing output.
“The information gathered from our fans using the new in-stadium wi-fi will help shape our marketing and sales initiatives going forward,” said Matt Ratliff, senior director of marketing and promotions with the Frisco RoughRiders.
“Being able to see in real time the marketing analytics of our fans is extremely beneficial and the Purple solution provides us that luxury. We were also impressed at the speed and efficiency at which Skinny IT was able to install the wi-fi throughout our entire ballpark. We are thrilled to offer this feature to our fans and look forward to Skinny IT’s continued technological support throughout the coming years.”
The analytics data will be used to learn about the team’s core demographic so they can begin developing marketing communications and offers that appeal to key audience age ranges and interests. The team will also be using the CRM data to distribute emails and SMS both during and post-game to advertise merchandise, refreshments, season tickets, sponsor offerings and upcoming games. This will help increase sales and profits, while also providing fans with key updates about the team.
Since the solution was deployed last month, the platform has already captured 4,975 lines of data which can be exported into an existing CRM database and email marketing platform. Purple has identified the team’s core demographics are ages 25 to 34 years but wi-fi users range from over 65 years of age to 18 and younger, which is one of the reasons why content filtering was also needed.
Prior to the installation, wi-fi was not readily available but was recognized as a solution in high demand from visitors. Skinny IT researched wi-fi login software on behalf of their client and determined Purple met the Frisco RoughRiders’ expectations of simplicity in terms of login and usage as well as back-end analytics.
“The team at Purple worked closely with us to ensure their analytics engine was communicating effectively with our wi-fi,” said Sam Darwish, CEO of Skinny IT. “We now have a state-of-the-art in-stadium wi-fi experience for customers that we imagine other stadiums and concert venues across the county will be eager to install as well.”
Commenting on the partnership, Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, said, “We’re delighted to be working with the Frisco RoughRiders and I’m confident the team will achieve significant results and profit from using Purple in the stadium. Skinny IT was extremely proficient when installing the solution at the venue and I’m looking forward to working with the company on future projects across the USA.”
June 14, 2017
