Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal
Online ticket buying has made life more convenient for many fans. Not only can they purchase seats, but they can also locate them in stadium diagrams. In some cases, fans can experience the actual view from the seats by downloading digital photographs from team Web sites.
Ballena Technologies, an Alameda, Calif., company, has taken the experience one step further. It has created computer-generated models that allow ticket buyers to get a realistic, three-dimensional feel for their seats without downloading the time consuming plug-in software required by existing photography-based systems.
In effect, Ballena's "Seats3-D" platform takes the popular "Pick a Seat" promotion and brings it to a team's Web site. Fans who want to buy season tickets or upgrade existing plans can do so via computer. And fans unfamiliar with a stadium can get a feel for their seats beforehand.
"If you're entertaining clients, you need to know just how good a $50 seat really is," said Greg Cumiskey, Ballena's executive vice president. "It might be adequate or it might not be. This way, you can quickly compare it to a $60 or $75 seat."
The views produced by Ballena look remarkably realistic, even though no photography is used. They are computer-generated 3-D models, created from blueprints and architectural renderings of the stadium. A user can rotate the vantage point 180 degrees around a facility, even one that is under construction. Visitors to the New England Patriot's Web site, for instance, can get a view from any section of CMGI Field, which will not open until 2002. Ballena officials do visit construction sites, but can create models using just blueprints - even before groundbreaking.
The cost of a customized Seats3-D platform depends on the size of the facility, how many vantage points the team or stadium owner wants and whether separate models need to be created to give interior views of luxury suites to prospective buyers. Cumiskey said the base price is $10,000, but that clients spend an average of $30,000.
While it's difficult to quantify how much revenue the system produces, especially since most clients have been using it for just a few months, customers have been impressed so far. Joe Sharp, the director of ticket operations for the University of Washington, said the system should pay for itself if it generates a few dozen football season-ticket sales.
"A lot of people like to see the actual view from the seats beforehand," he said. "Some people are reluctant to buy season tickets until they physically come to the stadium and check out the various views. Now they can skip that step."
After working on research and development for three years, Ballena introduced Seats3-D on a limited scale last year, test marketing the product with the help of San Jose State University and the University of California - Berkeley. In recent months, Ballena has created 3-D models for the Patriots, University of Washington, Memphis Grizzlies and the International Speedway Corp. It is working with the expansion Houston Texans of the NFL.
International Speedway Corp. has used the platform to market seats on its Web sites for Daytona International Speedway and California Speedway and plans to implement it for several of its other 13 facilities.
David Dzanis, senior director of consumer marketing for International Speedway, said the Ballena technology has been especially valuable in marketing luxury suites, since it can provide views of the action and from inside the suites, with corporate logos swapped in depending on the client.
"You're dealing with people who don't always have the time to visit beforehand," Dzanis said. "With this, they can get a very good view of multiple suites without visiting the facility."
The technology, which is compatible with all online ticketing applications, also can be used to show potential sponsors how signs might look from sections throughout the stadium and which angles would be most likely to appear on television. Colleges could use it to show off a stadium to recruits. The computer model can be altered if a sports facility is used for a concert or other event.
And since the technology tends to draw a fair number of eyeballs, clients can put actual or virtual advertising on the computer model. Since the platform does not rely on photographs, signs can be changed easily.
"Some teams have been holding it back as a bargaining chip and asking sponsors for additional dollars to be placed in the model," Cumiskey said. "We believe the technology offers opportunities beyond just ticket sales."
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