Mark Cuban has often been a few steps ahead of his media contemporaries in terms of grasping the potential of technology, for better or worse. In this case he blogs about exploring what kind of added services he could offer patrons with networked devices at the American Airlines Center in Dalls (in this case the iPod Touch and iPhone) before, during and after Mavs games as well as HDNet boxing matches.
For years, as the number of capable mobile devices has increased, I’ve wondered why more venues don’t offer more context-relevant enhanced information, features, etc. to people. Bluetooth and WiFi seems like the easiest technologies to execute such initiatives.
A few years ago, the Seattle Mariners ran a pilot to offer the fans at Safeco premium features via the WiFi on their Nintendo DSes. Here’s a sampling of some of the features they offered:
*Watch the Mariners network broadcast of games in real time right on the DS from almost any seat in the stadium – some of the controversial plays they don’t show on the Jumbotron will still be able to be seen by fans.
* Order food from your seat – use the DS Lite to order hot dogs, sodas, etc. using a credit card – which also keeps those long lines down at the ATMs where people are waiting to get more cash.
* Access to players stats from all around the MLB.
* Updated scores and information from other MLB games in progress.
* Fans can compete against each other in trivia and word games.
How awesome does that sound? Look out for more of these kinds of apps in the near future.