Score One for Technology: New Home Turf a Win for San Jose

Challenges
• Lack of a home
stadium limited game
attendance, branding
efforts and the club’s
ability to attract
corporate partners
• In Silicon Valley, fans
expect innovation and
engagement at the
highest level
Score One for Technology:
New Home Turf a Win for
San Jose Earthquakes, Fans
• Quakes management
knew technology
would be critical to the
fan experience, but
they were concerned
about hardware being
outdated in a few years
Value Created
• In the new cloudenabled Avaya
Stadium, all the
applications run over
the network, powered
by Avaya Fabric
Connect
• Avaya solutions for
telephony and box
office contact center
easily integrate into
the network, as will
anything else that the
team chooses to
deploy.
• A more engaging
experience for fans
means more revenue
for the Quakes, from
ticket sales to
corporate sponsorships
to stadium rental for
non-Quakes events
• For the first season in
Avaya Stadium, season
ticket sales surpassed
12,000 – more than
twice as many as two
years before
• The Quakes, with a very
small IT capability,
benefit from the Avaya
private cloud service,
which reduces the need
for in-house manpower
Avaya Stadium is First Cloud-Enabled MLS
Sports Venue
On a sunny October day in 2012, more than 6,000 soccer
fans showed up at an empty field to help kick off a new era
for their team, the San Jose Earthquakes. With Quakesbranded shovels in hand, they all dug for two full minutes,
and in doing so set the Guinness World Record for the
largest participatory groundbreaking ever.
It was not the first record for the Major
most technologically advanced
League Soccer team and it won’t be the
stadiums in the country. What better
last. Forty years ago the Quakes
place than San Jose.
became the first major sports team in
California’s South Bay. Since then,
“Fans in Silicon Valley expect more in
multiple players have set league records,
their sports venues, so we wanted to
including Chris Wondolowski for most
make sure this stadium had innovation
consecutive goals scored by one player.
and fan engagement at the highest
level,” said Dave Kaval, President of the
Now the Quakes are set to break ground
San Jose Earthquakes.
in another area: technology. Their new
home, Avaya Stadium, will be one of the
avaya.com | 1
“How do we build a stadium that can
still be at the forefront of technology
in three years, five years or ten
years?”
When Quakes leadership talked with
technology providers, Avaya stood
out for its ability to deliver that
scalable foundation for current and
future needs. An Avaya network
would provide the backbone to
support the high-bandwidth demands
at the stadium, from Wi-Fi to
videoconferencing, to the phone
system.
Goal: A Future-Proof
Home Field
“We met with so many other
The rising popularity of soccer, now
technology innovation and it just felt
the fastest-growing sport in the U.S.,
so corporate,” Kaval said. “Avaya
has upped interest in pro games. MLS
really has a fresh approach, and is
reached record attendance in 2014
really the perfect partner for the
culmination of 40
after six years of consecutive growth.
Earthquakes and what we’re trying to
years of hard work.
While nearly all MLS teams have their
share innovation and curiosity and an
own stadiums, the Quakes, however,
ability to attack problems in creative
have been one of the last to have a
ways.”
“Avaya Stadium is a
beautiful addition to
the Bay Area sports
scene and the
Our fans are excited
about it, our players
companies that talked about
accomplish in the Silicon Valley. We
home. For years, the team borrowed
fields for home games. Lack of a
branding efforts and the club’s ability
First-Ever CloudEnabled MLS Stadium
to attract corporate partners. The
When Avaya Stadium opened in the
Quakes have had the lowest season
spring of 2015, the Quakes scored two
attendance of any MLS team, except
wins. The first was winning 3-2 in an
really a transformative
one.
exhibition game against the Los
moment for us as an
As the Quakes management planned
playing in the first cloud-enabled
the new stadium, they knew
sports venue in the MLS.
are excited about it
and the community is
excited about it. It’s
organization.”
– Dave Kaval, President of the
San Jose Earthquakes
home turf limited game attendance,
Angeles Galaxy. The second was
technology would be integral to
creating an engaged fan experience.
A cloud-enabled stadium means that
But it had to be done right.
all the applications used by the
Quakes run over the network,
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| avaya.com
“All too often with these venues you
powered by Avaya Fabric Connect.
see technology put in for technology’s
Avaya solutions for telephony and the
sake and it quickly gets outdated and
box office contact center integrate
new hardware needs to be put in,”
easily into the network, as will
Kaval said. “As we considered the
anything else that the Quakes
technology for the stadium, we asked,
choose to deploy.
“The elasticity of the network and
barcoded e-ticket on their phones.
ability for it to grow over time were
Using the same app, they can read
what we were most intrigued and
about players, order food from their
excited about in working with Avaya,”
seats, or watch video replays within a
Kaval said. “We can swap things out in
few minutes of a play.
the cloud and not worry about
running new lines or changing the
In the club offices, and one of the
hardware in the building. Our stadium
private suites, Avaya Video enables
will stay on the forefront of
live videoconferencing. Staffers can
technology for many years to come.”
conduct meetings with partners,
foreign players can videoconference
Creating Shared
Experiences
Avaya Stadium is unlike any other,
with their families back home, and
suite owners can conduct business
meetings at Avaya stadium using the
advanced conferencing tools.
giving fans an experience unlike any
other. This 18,000-seat, Europeanstyle, open air stadium boasts the
longest open-air bar in North
America, using 1,000-year-old
The phone system and box office also
run over the network, reducing costs
for the soccer club and giving staff
more flexible communication options.
network and ability for
it to grow over time
were what we were
most intrigued and
excited about in
working with Avaya. We
can swap things out in
the cloud and not worry
about running new lines
or changing the
hardware in the
building. Our stadium
reclaimed California redwood in its
construction.
“The elasticity of the
The bar is just one of the ways that
Increasing Attendance –
and Revenue
Avaya Stadium encourages shared
A more engaging experience for fans
experiences among patrons.
means nothing less than more
“Neighborhoods” throughout the
revenue for the Quakes, from ticket
stadium give various groups their own
sales to corporate sponsorships to
homes, from a standing-only section
stadium rental for non-Quakes
for the most avid fans to a family
events.
will stay on the
forefront of technology
for many years to
come.”
– Dave Kaval, President of the
San Jose Earthquakes
section to another for visiting fans.
Above the scoreboard is the secondwidest LED screen in the state, at 120
feet by 30 feet. The screen serves as a
spot for fans to share their
experiences on social media – using
stadium Wi-Fi. When posting with
Quakes hash tags, fans have the
chance to broadcast their messages
and images automatically on the
massive screen.
Technology also saves time for fans.
Using a Quakes mobile app allows
them to pre-pay for parking online
and then enter each game with a
avaya.com | 3
“What we found in all the studies is that fans that are more avid and have a stronger
connection to the brand will go to the website more, research the players and come
to more games,” Kaval said. “They actually become brand evangelists and get
others on board. Their lifetime value is higher.”
The impact of the new stadium is already showing. For the first season in Avaya
Stadium, season ticket sales surpassed 12,000 – more than twice as many as two
years before.
Kaval and the rest of Quakes management see this as just the beginning, with plans
to bring more technology to Avaya Stadium. With the Avaya foundation, they have
the bandwidth to make their vision a reality.
“We have a rich history of soccer but we’ve never had our own home,” Kaval said.
“Avaya Stadium is a beautiful addition to the Bay Area sports scene and the
culmination of 40 years of hard work. Our fans are excited about it, our players are
excited about it and the community is excited about it. It’s really a transformative
moment for us as an organization.”
Solutions
•Avaya Fabric Connect
•Avaya IP Office™
•Avaya Scopia® Video
•Avaya Aura® Platform
•Avaya Virtual Services Platform 7000
•Avaya Virtual Services Platform 8000
•Avaya Ethernet Routing Switches 4000 Series
About Avaya
Avaya is a leading,
global provider of
customer and team
engagement solutions
and services available
in a variety of flexible
on-premise and cloud
deployment options.
Avaya’s fabricbased networking
solutions help simplify
and accelerate the
deployment of business
critical applications
and services. For more
information, please visit
www.avaya.com.
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| avaya.com
About San Jose Earthquakes
Formed in 1974, the San Jose “Clash” first played in the North American Soccer
League (NASL). In 1994, the organization became a charter member of Major
League Soccer, and then changed its name to the Earthquakes in 2000. The
Earthquakes have won two MLS Cup titles, in 2001 and 2003, and have logged
numerous record-breaking seasons with the fewest losses in the league. With the
opening of Avaya Stadium, the Quakes again make history with the first cloudenabled stadium. For more information, visit http://www.sjearthquakes.com/.
Avaya sponsors the San Jose Earthquakes. Sponsorship support includes financial contributions and
in-kind donations of goods and services.
© 2015 Avaya Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Avaya and the Avaya logo are trademarks of Avaya Inc. and are registered in the United States and other countries. All other
trademarks identified by ®, TM, or SM are registered marks, trademarks, and service marks, respectively, of Avaya Inc.
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