Automation now has a place in every industry—even sports. While athletes are still responsible for their own “manual inputs” of talent, they can enhance their performance with more calculated training, body monitors, and other wearable technology.
But automation benefits the entire industry too with technology that makes operations easier for everyone, from venue operations to fan engagement.
Still running your team with paper sign-ups and overwhelming spreadsheets? It’s time to join the big leagues with a digital transformation.
The Benefits of Digital Transformation in Sports
Automation is now the price of admission in the sports industry. Fans expect online engagement, seamless ticketing, and unique experiences that sync with their digital-first way of life.
Many sports organizations are applying automation to both internal and external workflows to keep up with changing operations and fan behavior. In fact, there’s a whole host of use cases for automation in sports. Here’s how four different sports teams have used automation to create better fan experiences, improve operations, and boost their bottom line.
1. Ticketing
No more paper forms or notes from call-in orders. Digital forms make collecting fan data for ticket requests simple and convenient. You can then use the data you collect to personalize and pre-populate receipts, season ticket renewal letters, and email newsletters.
Take it from the Texas Legends, an NBA G League team and minor league affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. Previously, the Legends organization manually collected fan data for ticket requests through paper forms, individual emails, and several spreadsheets. The system was inefficient, time-consuming, and nearly impossible to scale as the organization grew.
By digitizing their ticket requests and internal office processes, the Legends have eliminated hundreds of spreadsheets, saving employees many hours of data processing per week.
2. Fan Engagement
Sports spectators now have several options for consuming the content they love, from traditional TV and radio to online streaming and even social media. Are you meeting them where they’re most engaged? Automation makes it easy to gather their information and use it to stay connected through personalized emails, contest sign-ups, social media challenges, and more.
The Chicago Fire Football Club uses automation to streamline data collection and build fan engagement to better understand their experiences. Now, Chicago Fire FC can build fan profiles, unlocking data on likes, dislikes, and purchasing behaviors. The profiles help drive customer conversations forward, while automation saves the team 15-20 hours per week.
3. Sponsorships
Sponsors want to see that their investments are spent wisely and fan engagement stays high. Automating back office workflows in sports ensures employees have time to focus on sponsors and grow the fan base.
Sponsorships and contest opportunities are a big part of the Minnesota Lynx WNBA organization, who frequently partner with corporate sponsors to host contests and drive fan engagement. The ability to quickly create on-brand forms is essential, and employees don’t always have the time or knowledge to build with code.
Digital forms give the Lynx the opportunity to build and brand with ease, and quickly share the data they collect with sponsors to demonstrate how well a contest or campaign is performing.
4. Integrations
Already have a system for managing customer data? No problem. You can integrate your Salesforce workflows with an all-in-one form, document, and eSignature solution to automate everything from fan data collection to event RSVPs.
Hawthorn Football Club (nicknamed the Hawks) is a professional Australian rules football club. With help from Skie, a boutique cloud services company specializing in Salesforce, the Hawks were able to easily collect RSVPs from multiple people for a corporate function. Instead of requiring a custom build, Skie used automated, branded forms that integrate with Salesforce to not only collect the information, but keep it updated in the Hawks’ records.
Win More Fans by Automating Your Sports Workflows
Formstack makes sports organization workflows easy with digital forms, documents, and eSignature technology that automate the way you collect data and put it to work. Build forms branded to your team or club with drag-and-drop functionality to grow your fan base, collect ticket requests, increase fan engagement, and even simplify your venue operations.
How will you use automation in sports? Request a Formstack demo to try it yourself and see how automation can improve your sports organization.
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