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For the San Francisco Giants, Innovation Is At all times a House Run

RBIs, At-Bats, Strikeouts, No-Hitters … If there’s one sport that is inherently data-driven, it’s baseball. This will load the game. And it can play a huge role in the journey to victories by helping teams shape everything from recruiting players to increasing field speed and reducing injuries.

But data also helps the San Francisco Giants outside of the field to make even more competitions. So betting on innovation has helped the team win big.

Make innovation a culture, not a function

Leaving data in the dugout can be a novice – especially when you’re competing with other sports, streaming services, and entirely new ways of consuming entertainment. The ability to slice and dice high quality data helps the Giants bend against change. CIO Bill Schlough says, “The shift is happening on the macro level – how fans generally consume broadcasts and entertainment – down to the specifics of how fans interact with the game.”

He notes that technology wasn’t always something many in the industry talked about or thought about. “Those days are long gone,” notes Schlough. “We have always viewed technology as a strategic enabler that can give us a competitive advantage instead of just leaving the lights on.”

“From a macro perspective, innovation affects everything from our technology infrastructure, our communications infrastructure that allows fans to stay connected, to our business analytics and how we sell tickets and drive revenue.” -Bill Schlough, CIO

But embracing technology also means having a winning lineup off the field. When Schlough first joined the Giants in 1999, no other team or league had a CIO. “The concept of technology as a strategic enabler in sport was unique,” ​​he says. Dan Quill, Senior Director, Software Engineering, added, “I was maybe the second or third software engineer in the industry, but that growth has been tremendous,” as many teams now have 10 to 20 developers.

Establish a data-driven technology trifecta

Schlough says, “Our IT team paved the way for us to find creative ways to evolve our technology and use it to achieve our goals,” including prioritizing the following three areas:

1. Develop the customer experience

“Historically we were very much geared towards season tickets, and we were an outlier there. For many years, fans committed to an entire season of 81 home games, sharing or selling tickets to games they couldn’t play. Now we’re seeing changes in fan behavior and we’re trying to adapt to them. “

The team collects data on fan behavior to reveal ticket purchase patterns. Inform data as they:

  • Customize ticket packages. “Whether it’s packaged food, various entertainment experiences or promotional items, we try to adapt as a company. It’s a big focus for us. ”Data also provides a wealth of insight, such as how long in advance tickets are bought and why.
  • Develop incentives such as creative theme nights. To encourage fans to come physically to the park, in addition to watching TV, the team also uses data to organize themed evenings and special events that appeal to current and new fans. Nobody has carried out more special, micro-goal-oriented events than we have, from Star Wars Night to Stitch n ‘Pitch Knitting Night to our Chinese Astrology Night. “
  • Stay in touch with the fans. “We are very focused on our community. Our reach is one of the best in the industry and with everything that happens it has really been worth it. “

2. Gain a competitive advantage

“The other side is tied to the health and wellbeing of the players – keeping them healthy, which is not trivial in sports,” says Quill. This means data will be used to improve the health, performance, training, recovery, and longevity of players, including the use of:

  • Biometrics and biomechanics. “Biomechanics is purely a competitive advantage,” he says. AI-assisted analysis of high-definition video reveals what pitches and throws are doing with a player’s arm and uses data to analyze movements. “With several recordings per second, you get very detailed information about how the body is moving,” he says. “Our current data set has 17 points on the body for analysis, and we expect we can grow to 25 over time. It really helps to spot bad mechanics to help coaches address them and avoid injuries. “
  • Gameplay Analysis. For the Moneyball fans out there, you know exactly how analytics affects coaching, recruiting, and gameplay. Quill adds, “Data drives our baseball analysis and other various systems to help our players perform better. Here technology is something that can give us an advantage as opposed to costs that can be minimized. “

This is proof that modern innovation doesn’t just benefit IT. It helps the coaches and the players thrive, and they have the best record in franchise history to back it up.

3. Increase sales and increase business

The company uses the cloud, advanced analytics and Pure Storage® arrays to stay agile as an IT organization. Pure enables them to start servers whenever they need them and helps business units pursue initiatives with true agility. This includes new applications and services, such as an advanced tool to help salespeople manage seat sales, especially in luxury seating areas.

An example of business development data? The 415 section at the ballpark encourages the engagement of a subgroup of loyal fans. “This section of the ballpark is dedicated to the hardcore fans. This gives them their own unique ballpark experience, where they can be a bit more rowdy and boisterous, maybe even harass the other team – all without sitting next to your grandmother. “

Find partners who share your values

In a geographic area defined by top tech giants, it makes sense for the Giants to be inspired by tech-savvy fans, sponsors, and owners to be innovators themselves. The team saw Pure Storage as a natural addition and a co-organization that has brought innovations with it from the start.

Pure has revolutionized the way the IT team works. IT Director Jackson Wan says simplicity and effortlessness are key. “Pure is one of those technology stacks that when you don’t hear about it, do their job and we never hear about it,” he says. “It was rock solid and gave us the flexibility and agility to easily add VMs when we need them.”

The team has some exciting new initiatives and applications under development to stay ready for curve balls and open up new opportunities in the blink of an eye. Data will play an increasingly important role and Pure is ready to help you bring it home.

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Author: Carey Wodehouse

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