Six years after winning the Stanley Cup, the Tampa Bay Lightning saw a drop in home attendance, due to a decline in on-ice performance, as well as the economic recession and management problems. This season, however, thanks to the support of a new owner, the professional hockey team’s management has developed an RFID-based loyalty program for its season-pass holders, nearly doubling the number of customers using such passes in just one year. The solution—which features passive 13.56 MHz tags sewn into Lightning jerseys worn by fans, in addition to RFID readers deployed at concession stands and stores—allows a user to receive discounts every time he or she buys food, beverages or souvenirs, such as team apparel, at the St. Pete Times Forum stadium, in Tampa, Fla.
The Bolts, as Tampa Bay Lightning are popularly called, were purchased by Boston investment banker Jeffrey Vinik in 2009, when season ticket sales were at a low point—approximately 6,000 season passes sold for a stadium that can seat 19,300. Vinik urged management to develop new solutions to encourage the sales of season passes, says Brad Lott, the team’s VP of sales and marketing, thereby leading to some brainstorming sessions.
“Ideally, we wanted to give them some kind of discount for food or beverage,” Lott states. However, as it considered developing a discount card that season-pass holders could present at concession stands, the group saw weaknesses in such a system; for example, he notes, it would be easy for cards to be lost or handed off to other individuals in the stands. The group also considered the idea of providing a blue Lightning jersey to each season-pass holder, so that fans attending games could create a “sea of blue” within the bleachers. Then, Lott says, someone suggested, “Wouldn’t it be great if there was a chip you could put in a jersey?” This, the person explained, would enable season-pass holders to use their gifted jerseys as a means of obtaining stadium discounts.
The group spoke with several RFID providers, but found that it would be difficult to integrate RFID-based software into the stadium’s existing point-of-sale (POS) system. Therefore, the group met with the Bolts’ existing POS hardware and software provider, Quest. Coincidentally, Lott recalls, Quest had just completed an RFID-enabled bracelet system for ticket holders at a water park, utilizing technology provided by Quest’s parent company, Radiant Systems, a firm owned by NCR Corp.
Quest and Radiant Systems provided the hockey team with RFID tags from Precision Dynamics Corp. (PDC), sewn into 10,000 jerseys initially (another 1,000 such tagged shirts have since been sold), along with 200 fixed readers from Radiant Systems, at POS locations throughout the stadium. When season passes went on sale for the 2011-12 season, the team then notified jersey buyers about a new program whereby fans wearing the shirts could use them to receive 25 percent discounts on food and beverages purchased at the home stadium’s concession stands, as well as 35 percent discounts on merchandise.
To distribute the jerseys, the team rented two ballrooms at an Embassy Suites hotel located across the street from the stadium, and invited season-pass holders to schedule a time at which they would pick up their shirts. An event was held with Lightning cheerleaders and alumni players. Each user first selected a jersey that was a good fit, then provided his or her name and e-mail address, which staff members input into the Radiant Systems software, residing on the Bolts’ back-end database. The staff then read the tag on the selected jersey, linking the tag’s unique ID number with that individual’s data. The user could then have the shirt printed with the name of his or her favorite player, or that person’s own name, along with a number chosen by that customer. Each jersey also came with a patch embellished with a Season Ticket Member (STM) logo, thus indicating that individual to be season-pass holder.
While attending a game, fans can wear their jerseys. Each time a season-pass holder makes a purchase at a concession stand or store, that person first places his or her order, then positions the tag—which complies with the ISO 15693 standard—on the right sleeve, close enough to the interrogator to be read (within a few centimeters), after an employee presses a “loyalty” button on the POS register. The tag is read, and the ID number confirmed on the Radiant Systems software, which then calculates the cost reduction. At that point, the transaction is completed.
The RFID solution not only provides discounts for users, but can also help management better control activity at concession stands and in stores, by knowing which products are being purchased, when this occurs and the amount bought by each customer. Although Lott says he is only now receiving the first set of historical data from the system, he hopes to use that information to improve his understanding of purchasing trends, and thereby gain a better comprehension of how the services are being utilized by season-pass holders. For example, those who rarely make purchases may simply need to be educated that the products are available, or contacted to ensure they are continuing to utilize the season pass to attend games, as well as receive discounts.
In addition, the software will allow the team’s management to make future changes to the system—for example, offering other temporary discounts. One example could involve providing a 50 percent cost reduction for food and drinks to premium seat holders, or half off the price of a particular product on a specific day.
The number of season-pass holders has risen from 6,000 during the 2010-2011 season to 11,000 this season, and Lott attributes much of that gain to the use of the RFID-enabled jerseys. Since the shirts were introduced, sales at the concession stands and stores have also increased, he notes, and though he initially worried that the 25 and 35 percent price reductions would result in less revenue, he reports that revenue from sales of food, beverages and team merchandise is, in fact, up this season.
By next season, Lott says, he intends to add further functionality to the system. However, he declines to provide specifics at this time.