Next-Generation Sports Hospitality
Corporate Entertainment ain't Like it Used to Be
by George Pollington | Published in September 2007 Focus on Event Marketing
Chocolate and peanut butter. Fish and chips. Sports and hospitality? From the earliest Olympic Games to the infamous Kentucky Derby parties, sports and hospitality have always had a close relationship.
And today, more than ever, hospitality continues to gain importance as a central marketing avenue at sporting events.
Official hospitality programs are currently available for every major domestic and international event, from the Super Bowl to the US Open, a PGA Tour event or the FIFA World Cup. These programs are generally sold by the governing bodies, usually through appointed official suppliers, or provided to rights holders as part of their sponsorship activation. Official hospitality is a move by governing bodies to control the guest experience while cracking down on the secondary ticket markets, which in turn generates more revenue for them.
Unfortunately for today’s corporate guests, these official programs often deliver a cookie-cutter experience, which may or may not include access to some level of on-site facility, usually a tent (or “chalet” or “pavilion,” as it is apt to be described), that is climate-controlled, with A/V facilities and food and beverage service.
During the last 10 years, we have also seen the emergence of the mobile skybox, which has enabled corporate guests to enjoy the hospitality somewhat closer to the action than the ubiquitous, though not always convenient, “corporate village.” Then, of course, for stadium events, there are new luxury suites and club lounges that are becoming more utilized as corporate hospitality facilities.
The good news is that the face of corporate hospitality is changing.
A Different Kind of Corporate Hospitality
The boom in new stadiums and cutting-edge sports facilities is a great indication of how rights holders are providing better tools in order to create a better fan experience. And some high-end hospitality programs have started to put their shows on the road.
Formula One (F1) racing, in particular, took the lead in creating the premier hospitality experience with the creation of the Paddock Club. The Paddock Club and its trained staff are transported around the world to create a consistent, high-end experience for F1 fans. These facilities are located in the heart of each event, typically overlooking the high-action garage and pit lane areas. Few sporting event experiences rival the Paddock Club’s Relais & Châteaux atmosphere.
Over the past several years, the NFL, as part of the Super Bowl festivities, has provided an official corporate hospitality village. Typically located adjacent to the host stadium, the village provides a unique opportunity for sponsor and nonsponsor companies that are entertaining clients. More recently, the NFL has offered in-stadium facilities, provided the venue has sufficient space. There is no way to get closer to the action and excitement of the “Big Game” than through the hospitality village.
The trend toward high-end hospitality isn’t limited to the United States. A recent visit to newly launched Wembley Stadium in London, which will play host to the first regular-season NFL game outside of the U.S., showed that the stadiums of the future will incorporate larger hospitality facilities for corporate entertaining. Wembley boasts in-house hospitality space for approximately 3,000 people (not including luxury boxes or suites).
The Total Event Experience
All of the above being said, it has also become more apparent that there is a need to give corporations and their guests more of an “insider” experience. Many of today’s corporate guests have a “been there, done that” outlook as far as sporting events are concerned. Clearly, then, their interest is less a function of money and more a function of uniqueness — where can they find an experience they can’t get anywhere else?
One such experience was “The Tournament Club,” which rEvolution created and executed at the 2006 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Indianapolis. The goal of club was to provide the NCAA’s “Corporate Champions,” partners and large corporations with a next-generation facility to entertain guests prior to and during the semi-final and championship games. This was the first such hospitality program in NCAA history.
The vision for the program was to recreate a club atmosphere that captured the excitement, spirit and heritage of the Final Four while treating guests to a premier hospitality experience. A raw, 20,000-square-foot ballroom was transformed into a vibrant, upscale club featuring a high-definition theater area, velvet lounge with a live band and a bar surrounding a live broadcast booth. Former NCAA coaches and NBA players were also in attendance and entertained more than 800 guests with interviews from the live broadcast booth.
Of course, The Tournament Club is only one such example of the next generation of sports hospitality. Corporations and key decision makers will continue to seek new, memorable avenues to build relationships with clients through sports.
Additionally, we expect governing bodies will begin to reach outside to partner with creative event and production agencies to refresh and outdo the last event experience. Gone away is the ticket experience. Here to stay is the total event experience.
With the increasing sophistication of fans, events and stadiums, it’s clear the face of corporate entertainment at major sports events is changing and will continue to change. We all know that a happy client is a client who will keep coming back for more. And a client who keeps coming back for more is a client willing pay the price of admission.
In sports, that’s the bottom line.
About the author: George Pollington
George Pollington is vice president, corporate hospitality, with rEvolution, a Chicago-based integrated sports marketing and media services agency.
Contact: gpollington@revolutionworld.com