Islanders partner with AI company to improve fan experience: ‘Potential to be industry-changing’
The New York Islanders announced on Friday they have partnered with Viam, an AI technology brand, in efforts to improve the fan experience during games at UBS Arena.
The arena remains the newest sporting venue in the Big 4 sports in North America and is widely considered as one of the best in the sports.
However, the improvements never stop, said Dan Griffis, the president of global partnerships at Oak View Group, which co-owns the arena.
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"We always wanted to be tech-forward in this building. This is different. We were actively outlooking for stories to tell to remove friction points from the consumer experience," Griffis told FOX Business. "As much as you want to design an arena to remove all this stuff, you don’t really know all the friction points until you get open and operations, and you’re moving forward with it. This was a deliberate tactic we took."
"We're excited about what we're going to roll out at UBS Arena. The thing that really makes me excited to work with them is they're always innovative, they're always thinking about the future, and they are so focused on using technology in interesting ways to improve the fan experience to make sure everyone that comes through the doors has an unbelievably good time," Viam founder Elliot Horowitz added. "That's a goal I love, and I'm incredibly happy to partner with him."
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Those friction points Griffis mentioned, primarily, are the never-ending issues of waiting for bathrooms and food, parking and leaving a sporting event.
So, Viam is set to implement a bathroom wait-time system, a feature which will tell fans when and where they can get the freshest food and a system to make entering and exiting the premises easier.
"The number-one complaint from fans is ‘it’s not fast enough, I can't find my seat quick enough, the food line is long, there aren't enough bathrooms.' If we can remove food waste, great. If we can let people idle less while trying to get out of the parking lots for best routes in and out of the arena, great. And let's progressively get better - I suspect every team will be doing something similar in three to five years," added Griffis.
"It's universal. I think we have some innovative solutions for fans to just do what they need to do," Horowitz also said.
The partnership is a full-circle moment for Horowitz, who has been a New York sports fan since "about day four of my life" - his two teams are "obviously" the Islanders and Mets.
"I've known [team owner Jon Ledecky] for a little while, and the passion he has for that team and making the fans excited, it gets every Islanders fan excited," Horowitz said.
Viam's logo will also be featured on the team's helmet beginning Friday.
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