The People’s Architect Podcast
Episode #6: Reimagining Fan Experiences: Technology and Design in Modern Sports Venues
“Reimagining Fan Experiences: Technology and Design in Modern Sports Venues”
On today’s episode, host Joe Corvaia, Principal at Crawford Architects, is joined by Derek O’Hara, Managing Director at Canopy, and Todd Semple, Principal at WJHW, to explore the evolving role of technology in sports architecture. They dive deep into how innovative design decisions, cutting-edge tech, and fan-centric solutions are shaping the future of sports venues. From video boards and sound systems to fan experiences and behind-the-scenes operational enhancements, they highlights the balance between tradition and innovation in creating spaces that enhance both game-day excitement and long-term value.
GUESTS:
Joe Corvaia, Principal & Senior Architect at Crawford (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-corvaia/)
Derek O’Hara, Managing Director at Canopy Team (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dereksohara/)
Todd Semple, Principal at WJHW, Inc. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-semple-63a5b719/)
Listen to episode #6 here:
Part One: Listen Now
Part Two: Listen Now
Quotes from the Episode:
“I think lately–we’ve gotten really video board heavy. So (we are) trying to find ways to add layers of technology into an experience that’s not just putting a video board on it. The earlier we were able to look at those problems, explain the experience we’re going for, work directly with a team that all kind of understands the goal, we’ve found that we’re able to do some more interesting things that way.”
“There’s a funny difference between venues and sports. And I think the goal is to try to make things as frictionless as you can. You know, in the 90s, you had a little tube TV about 30 feet up, probably in a corner, or it was virtually impossible to see. And what we try to do is make the whole venue feel like you’re already there, which still ultimately you want to be in the stands for every moment possible. If there’s still a crowd, still an atmosphere, still sound video and a perspective to the field for baseball, we found people leave their seats voluntarily, far more often than almost any other sport. If you can create these alternate locations and if you can go get your beer at a bar that still has a view of the field, you kind of feel like you’re not missing anything.”
“I hope we get into more of a kind of complete balanced environment where you have so many other opaque places around the venue that have 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 people looking in that direction. That even the halo boards are repeating information for different perspectives. So it’s not all that different from spreading that around. It’s just all in one piece. So I think if it’s thoughtful and it belongs and everyone’s trying to value all the things they’re sacrificing or taking a hold of. I always keep seeing the PR of this is bigger—this is now the biggest. That never lasts more than a couple of months, so I hope that’s not people’s goal.”
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Crawford Media CONTACT:
Crawford Architects
1801 McGee Street Suite 200
Kansas City, MO 64108
Devon Wolfe
Dwolfe@crawford-usa.com
