Stadium Tours at Your Fingertips: How Q2 Stadium is Using New Technology to Drive Additional Revenue
Posted on February 8, 2023 by National Sports Forum | Selling It | SUBSCRIBEBy: Camryn Henry
Dear Faithful Readers,
Warm Regards,
Melody Forstie
Marketing Coordinator
Description:
Stadiums are not only the home to our favorite sports teams but also a space for events and gatherings. Beautifully designed and equipped with the latest technology, many stadiums are looking towards multipurpose use of their space as a way to generate additional revenue and draw awareness to what they have to offer outside of the game of sports. Q2 Stadium, home of Austin FC, has partnered with Visiting Media to more effectively showcase the uniqueness of its stadium spaces and reach a wider range of clients who may be unable to visit the stadium firsthand.
Visiting Media’s TrueTour is a selling enablement platform that is used in a variety
of industries, including sports. This platform gives stadiums the opportunity to sell spaces virtually, whether it be for special events, sponsorship, operations, or ticket sales. Using both 3D and 360° technology, clients interested in hosting an event at Q2 Stadium can visit their website and take a virtual, panoramic tour of every available space — including Lexus Club, Pointsbet Sports Bar, Q2 Field Club, and more. The virtual tour gives online visitors the chance to see a 360° view of the entire venue, as well as 3D models that display each floor plan. In addition, a short description and information about the standing and seated capacity of the area is provided. Those interested in booking an event can now see the furniture, light fixtures, arrangement of the room, and, in some cases, what the room looks like unfurnished; such as the Lexus Club.
Objectives:
Prior to using TrueTour, the stadium would send room diagrams with an overhead view that demonstrated what the space looked like. These diagrams lacked specific detail, such as how much furniture is utilized in the space and what that furniture looked like. Without seeing the space, it made it difficult for clients to visualize and plan out their events. To eliminate these pain points, Q2 Stadium partnered with Visiting Media to give clients the ability to view the entire area as if they were there in person.
Many of their clients book events at the stadium from out of state and for different departments. When partnering with Visiting Media, one of Q2’s main objectives was to create an efficient way to showcase its beautiful spaces, as well as its furnishing and lighting, with these out-of-state clients. Audrey Bounds, Senior Director of Event Booking at Q2 Stadium, shared how useful this platform has become for visually showing clients what makes their stadium unique, she said, “A lot of clients aren’t used to seeing, at least on the stadium side of things…all of those details in our spaces that I think really sell people on what we have to offer.”
Another objective when implementing this platform was to give clients a useful tool that would make booking an event easier. They sought to alleviate time stressors and create an overall better experience for those interested in hosting an event at the stadium. “It’s about giving the client access to more than what they could have originally. We want to be able to empower clients to make happy decisions for themselves and what makes sense for their event,” Audrey emphasized.
Partnership:
The partnership between Visiting Media and Q2 Stadium started almost a year ago, with conversations between the two beginning in March of 2022. Audrey shared that she had heard about the platform from colleagues within the industry, which ultimately sparked an interest in those at Q2 Stadium.
With its variety of functions, it has been useful for multiple departments within Q2 Stadium — especially the sales team. With easy access to visuals of each space, the stadium has been able to show the benefits that they bring to its community, other brands, and to their clients. This partnership has expanded the stadium’s opportunities to book private events, giving clients more flexibility to be creative with each space and the ability to better plan events virtually.
Visiting Media works alongside the stadium’s team to keep the website up-to-date with pictures of the current layout and design. Erika Andal-James, Senior Account Executive at Visiting Media, explained “It’s an ongoing service and partnership…if there is a sponsorship change…we go out at no additional cost and reshoot the space so it can reflect the current signage.” Adding additional or new photos to the platform automatically updates the stadium website and all web-based links.
Results:
Since utilizing this platform, Q2 Stadium has been able to book events both more effectively and efficiently. The time and communication it takes to plan and book an event have reduced tremendously, and there is no longer the need to write a long description of the space and an itemized list of what it includes. Now, clients can see it for themselves. Audrey describes it as a “one-stop-shop” that gives everyone the opportunity to get what they want and execute an event just as they have envisioned it. “Instead of a constant back and forth of ‘this is what we have, this is what we don’t have,’ it eliminates 10 strands of emails and confusion from the client…We get to an end result so much faster,” Audrey explained.
Sending a short email with a link to Q2 Stadium’s virtual tour has also eliminated the time and need to travel to Austin. Over the Christmas season, Audrey shared that the stadium saw a significant increase in event bookings. She shared an example of an event planner from New York, who was able to use the TrueTour platform and successfully plan the event without having to travel to Austin.
Q2 Stadium has seen an overall success rate of return. In addition to that, conversations with clients are much easier and the event booking process is significantly shorter than ever before. Audrey summarized these results as she said, “It just takes the guesswork out of a lot of the process and it’s just so much more efficient.”
Looking Ahead:
Moving forward, Q2 Stadium expects to have the entire stadium mapped out via Truetour. They plan to continue their partnership with Visiting Media and to further enhance the online virtual touring experience for more clients. With its success over the last year, Audrey mentioned, “They [Q2 Sales team] are already recognizing what an asset this is to us as a selling tool.” They are excited to continue showcasing the uniqueness of their spaces and using new technology to effectively enhance the event booking process. Take a tour of Q2 Stadium’s spaces via TrueTour at https://www.q2stadium.com/host-an-event/.
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