Game Day Experience

Game Day Experience

Professional and collegiate sports organizations are increasingly taking measures towards enhancing the overall fan experience for sport spectators all over the world. One of the tests includes the identification of essential variables that could create a collective arena experience and positive in-game that aid in maintaining and building a loyal fan following. Theoretically, through the improvement of consumer fan experiences, sports organizations additionally create tangible and intangible benefits. Over the decades, the marketing and service industries have mastered the art of understanding the essential parameters that entice the targeted consumers in the market (Silk, 2013). However, it is vital that the sports organizations first implement the policies that are formulated for customer engagement as that would greatly help in determining whatever is essential to the stakeholders individually.

The most common research tool that has always been used to gain further approach from then selected consumers is called a focus group which plays the role of collectively sharing perspectives about an exact research topic. From researches conducted, we learn that America is majorly driven by sports as well as the experiences that surround the games (Davis, 2012).  Additionally, we learn about the billions of money that are used by the united states in all the events that are sports-related such as the half-time shows and the after-parties. The latter is a clear indication that sports are embedded in American identity. Additionally, currency logistics have shown how American sports consumers feel connected to their teams to the extent of buying a franchise that supports their respective organisations. Apart from how American sports is embedded in their identity and how much the American citizens are willing to spend on the game, the paper is also going to talk about the future of the American games day such as technological advancements and reinventions.

In context to identity, sports is considered a fundamental aspect of the American society because they are requisite when it comes to the impacts they have on a surplus of public arenas with the inclusion of mass media and economics. It is not a coincidence that sport coincides with community values as well as political agencies in an attempt to define the ethics and moral attributed to society as a whole and not only to the athletes. Spectator sports fans find a reaffirmation of important values in the community through sports since they give their lives meaning. When one becomes a fan of a particular game, they engage in specific pleasures that fulfil their desires trough narcissism, voyeurism and fetishism. Sports also tend to provide critical dynamics in the amplification of universal principles through the enhancement of an individual’s physical and mental well-being as well as the integration of social classes. Winning in sports is a prime example of the success that results in a feeling of superiority and elitism.

The “Americanization” of sports is something that fans and consumers rely on to provide fans with entertainment as well as a method through which they can derive their hidden values entrenched in competitors (Porter & Chin,2012). We must understand the “Americanization” of sports as it is fundamental in encoding unseen communal and cultural significances possessed by many athletes. Games also tend to counteract religious morals as well as instilling a false sense of achievement and guarding society against bleak realities. The world of sports encourages sexism, nationalism and commercialism. For example, the national soccer team in Iraqi has ultimately become an agency of national pride and identity for the country as they believe that the soccer team helps in tackling issues of terrorism in the country. In overall, we must examine sports from both societal and business viewpoints before viewing them as fans or spectators. Sport is s universal phenomenon, a human institution that serves in instilling meaning and some sense of belonging to the lives of many people. We have the responsibility of not placing value on athletes but on the impacts that their respective professions have on humanity. When we realize athletes as commodities and sport as financial service and political, it will aid in reshaping the perception that sport just a means of amusement and diversion from the hardships we experience in life daily.

The world would better exist without the egotism and arrogance attributed to particular athletes, and it can live without the apparent disregard that several sports organizations have to their loyal fan base(Silk, 2013). The sports that are created in America widely represent the country as well as its citizen’s main reason being that the spot is created by a  mixture of foreign influences that make up the general identity of Americans. However, we are left wondering if the world can survive and function with the absence of hidden values that have been hidden in communal insight sports and competitors given to us on a national scale.

While the majority of Americans streamline their budgets in a bid of the country’s struggling economy, the ones who love sports are in the minority. Sports fans in America are more than willing to dish out more significant amounts of money on their favourite kinds of sports in the form of logo apparels, event tickets, jerseys, placing bets and transportation to the venues of the events. The American Express Spending and Saving Tracker recently conducted research that revealed that the majority of sport consumers were planning to set aside most f their income savings for sports leisure purposes. Out of the number, thirty-four per cent admitted that they felt guilty whenever they cut their spending on sports activities. The research also showed that seventy-six per cent of the fans that were surveyed admitted that they spent freely without any limit on various sports activities (Porter & Chin,2012). In addition to the sale of tickets, the amount used by the fans to attend the events adds a lot of revenue to the sports industry. Sports fans spend lots of money on paying up quality parking spaces as well as the purchases made on concession stands. The costs usually increase significantly whenever the fans visit different areas hence spending money on transport and lodges.

According to studies performed by the National Sporting Goods Association, adults in America spent more than $8 billion on sporting apparel alone. Analysis carried out on over twenty thousand households showed that sports logo clothing was purchased for more than a dozen different sports. Over the past years, sports lovers shelled out approximately $56 billion in attending the sporting events according to a recent study including food and drinks. The fact that people are willing to spend so much on sporting activities is a clear indication that the valuable experience and memories so much instead of just any other staff. Studies by the TeamMarking.com showed that the amount of money used by a family of four to attend the National Football League game was $502.84 which included four tickets, parking, four hotdogs, four small soft drinks, two small draft beers and two cheap hats. The latter compares to $219.53 spent on Major League Baseball game, $339.02 paid in National Basketball Association game and $363.58 sent on National Hockey League game. It is not debatable that significant sporting events like the NBA and NFL have become harder for any average working American citizen to afford.

Recent studies show that sports fans with lower incomes less likely attend many sporting events due to their straining finances. The respondents that were interviewed revealed that twenty-six per cent had incomes below $30,000 in comparison to forty-nine per cent that earned above $75000. Americans also had an expenditure of $33 billion on athletic equipment and $19 billion on gym memberships. In the last twelve month alone, consumers cashed out more than $100 billion on purchase hat were sports-related.

According to Hamari and  Sjöblom, the future of all sports is esports as there is evidence that supports the claims.  In the world today, participants and spectators expect to be engaged digitally as they watch the game. One of the most important ways by which digital engagement can be delivered is through gamification. Gamification refers to the transformation of viewing into playing. Despite the real sports world being more prominent than the esports community, which is also competitive, esport has proven to show their supporters a new kind of future. The future is made up of experiences instituting most of their fan’s desires for interactivity within their leisure know-how. Consumers nowadays don’t want to listen or watch as they also want to participate actively, and it is the only esports that integrates the various principles into the leisure time of the people. The latest development bringing the two different worlds together is through the creation of a new and a virtual reality gaming experience which alternatively turns esports into a physically active experience (Davis, 2012).

Virtual reality may be the only kind of technology that unites the two different words of sports as well as esports that are otherwise struggling to find common ground. It may take many years to finally understand the impact that esports has on the sporting world. Still, the rise of virtual reality and mobile gaming combined make a fantastic prospect from where the future can be imagined. An example to be considered is HADO which is a new two-versus-two sports game that is arena-based and consists of battles that are virtual reality-based. The game players are all required to wear virtual reality headsets together with mobile strap devices around their arms through which they can virtually see each other’s action where they retaliate by flinging virtual fireballs at each other. The main reason why HADO is more critical is the fact that it brings the three-dimensional experience to the esports arena where they are otherwise played out in flat screens that are watched by the spectators ( Hamari & Sjöblom, 2017). sony television is working tirelessly on producing a spectator VR system that could watch esports through virtual reality.

The rise of the affordable headsets used in virtual reality has substantially kick-started new revolutions on fitness with the pimped-up gymnasia fast rising into virtual reality spaces for exercises. The collaboration of physical fitness and high-end gaming technology could be the most compelling method used in bringing the two different worlds together. Rumours are also spreading that the International Olympic Committee is immensely interested in virtual reality as a possible route used in the inclusion of esports in the Olympic programmes. On the other hand, the fields and stadia used to play popular spots may as well be re-imagined in the virtual arenas that are majorly designed to maximize excitement to the players. For example, tennis players in the future could be using virtual reality to play in courts where they will be able to move in three dimensions instead of the usual two aspects.  The later could be made possible with the use of three-dimensional virtual reality systems that are full-body where the players can truly experience and feel the world around them by wearing exo-suits that stimulate their virtual environments. There are a significant number of technological evolutions that are yet to be introduced, and esports are still in the process of establishment.

In conclusion, sports is believed to be one of the many topics that have contributed to the culture of America. Sports, together with the environment that comes with it, helps in building an individual. Sports is a symbol of the American creed as it is an important part and parcel of people’s lives and also helps in shaping their identities. Sports being a symbol of the American creed, allow people to do whatever they like and even in expressing their interest without fear of any contradiction.  Whatever makes a person’s American creed should entirely be up to them. We also learnt that American sports fans use huge sums of money to facilitate their engagement in the sport. From the purchase of jerseys, going to the stadium together with other expenses that they incur in the process, we get an in-depth understanding of why some individuals are fanatics. The paper also talks about the contemporary evolution of gaming over the years. Over the years, there has been a breakthrough in the gaming industry which is symbolized by the virtual reality video games that are equally enjoyable and effective experiences to players all over America.

References

Silk, M. (2013). The cultural politics of post-9/11 American sport: Power, pedagogy and the popular. Routledge.

Davis, J. A. (2012). The Olympic Games effect: How sports marketing builds strong brands. John Wiley & Sons.

Porter, P. K., & Chin, D. M. (2012). 15 Economic impact of sports events. International handbook on the economics of mega sporting events, 246.

Hamari, J., & Sjöblom, M. (2017). What is eSports and why do people watch it?. Internet research.