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Enhancing Fan Engagement and Venue & Event Performance

The sports & entertainment enterprise: trends and Challenges

The success of a sports enterprise or entertainment venue/event can be measured by the engagement of fans, team performance, and the level of friendly optimization of the venue that hosts the events. These three categories define the pillars of a sports enterprise or entertainment venue, as shown in the figure below. Optimizing sports and entertainment venues/events presents various challenges, including designing the building, constructing (infrastructure), and addressing operational issues such as pedestrian and traffic flows. Achieving a balance between event management, safety regulations, spectator experience, and financial goals is a complex process that requires thorough analysis and insights.

source: Game On! IBM, November 2015.

Trends and challenges

Simulation, as a predictive analytics solution, helps sports clubs, architects, owners, and operators/managers improve planning, utilization, safety, security, and revenue engagement. InControl Simulation Software Platform includes our crowd modeling application, which enables users to develop a virtual, mirrored 3D model (Digital Twin) of new or existing stadiums/arenas or entertainment venues. With these models, it is possible to analyze crowd flows for various scenarios, from regular game day operations to emergency situations. Our validated crowd algorithms realistically simulate spectators based on their profile characteristics. The easy-to-use application provides quantitative reporting to assess stadium or venue performance and benchmark different options, contributing to the optimization of the venue/event for fan enhancement, safety, and cost savings (see picture below).

Meet us at NCS4 and IIFX, where we will present the vast capabilities of our sports and entertainment applicationtogether with our
Business Partner and user Ilitch Holdings Inc.

added value of simulation

Organizations are becoming increasingly data-driven. InControl’s Simulation Platform offers customers valuable insights into their processes, increasing accuracy, reducing uncertainty, mitigating risks, and contributing to cost reduction and efficiency programs. A stadium/arena or venue digital twin is created based on multi-source data input, such as CAD drawings and BIM models. Once the layout is established, the simulation incorporates data on expected visitor numbers, ingress, circulation and egress during regular operations, intermissions, and evacuations, sheltering, arrival rates, process times for security checks and ticket control, etc. It also supports decisions regarding concessions and commercial advertising displays.

Input data can come from various sources, including:

  • Forecasting data
  • Statistical historical data based on measurements
  • Camera counting systems
  • WiFi/Bluetooth tracking systems
  • Ticket data
  • Transportation and Parking data
  • Expert knowledge
  • (LED) sensors

All input data is processed by the InControl simulation model to run simulations for a given period, whether it’s the duration of an event, match, concert, sheltering, or evacuation. Predictive analytics can be provided using data models and real-time comparisons can be made.

Capabilities of InControl Simulation Software

InControl software enables Sports & Entertainment Venues/Events to improve decision processes and predictability through the following capabilities:

  • Pedestrian Circulation/Routing
  • Evacuation/Sheltering
  • Wayfinding
  • Queuing/Magnetometers/Ticket Scanners
  • Crowd Crush
  • Site/Venue/Event Planning
  • Staff Training/Exercises
  • Staff Planning
  • Line of Sight
  • Emergency Vehicle Placement
  • AED/First Aid Placement
  • Realtime Tracking
  • E-Bomb Card (Emergency Bomb Threat Response)
  • Video Camera Integration
  • New Venue or Renovation Planning

Our software platform application is extensively used for traffic and crowd flow analysis in various settings, including airports, public transport stations, stadiums, arenas, events, expositions, and museums.

Safety & Security

InControl’s ability to model and simulate infrastructures at various levels of detail allows you to analyze the behavior of these infrastructures under hazardous conditions. This includes scenarios such as egress, circulation, traffic congestion, queuing, evacuations/sheltering, bomb threats, active shooter situations, terrorism, adverse weather, and congestion during ingress and equipment logistics.

Running scenarios during the design and preparation phase and staff training helps develop situational awareness of how the infrastructure and people within it function under normal parameters and potential risks and threats. These scenarios can also be used for the operational phases to address real-time situations. Simulation assists in visualizing the consequences of infrastructure, movement, equipment, and procedural failures.

The InControl Platform application serves as a predictor, operational tool, training module, and evaluation tool, applicable before, during, and after events. It helps organizations analyze risks and threats and develop procedures to mitigate their effects. Simulations aid in visualizing risks, threats, and designed procedures for all staff and first responders, making it an excellent training, preparation, and evaluation tool.

Simulations can also satisfy fire marshals’ requirements for validating safe person capacities, evacuation times and prevent crushing. Furthermore, they provide accuracy and clarity in business continuity and disaster recovery planning.

InControl software addresses the following customer issues:

Decision Processes

  • Sharing results and insights in complex and unpredictable (business) processes
  • Providing relevant information, graphs, dashboards, insights, and scenarios

Optimize Business Processes

  • Streamlining and integrating processes
  • Contributing to one-time-right solutions and deployment
  • Reducing time, effort, and costs
  • Increase fan satisfaction

Design, Built, Test, and Maintain

  • Gathering, modeling, simulating, and analyzing data
  • Presenting relevant “What-If?” information

Safety & Security

  • Sharing results and insights in complex and unpredictable (business) processes
  • Providing relevant information, graphs, dashboards, insights, and scenarios

get in touch!

Are you interested to learn more about the vast capabilities of our Sports and Entertainment Application?