In our creation myth, two teams of football-playing robots were vying for victory at 49ers stadium when suddenly the power went out. Fans then realized they could clap their hands to power the robots, thus collaborating to achieve a goal together. This made the overall experience more joyful for everyone involved.
Moving along from the myth, we laid out some goals and parameters that reflect 2 core values our story emphasized — the strength of community and a sense of delight.
As a starting point for what this experience might look and feel like, we began by identifying the 2 main touch points: spectators’ phones (input) and the jumbo screen at the center of the stadium (output). We’d like each fan to have the opportunity to feel like they can control some element of a game on the big screen, working with other fans toward something bigger.
We thought about when this game would take place, and how many “rounds” it might have. Here’s a quick map of the relationship between 49-ers game time and collaborative fan game time:
Fan game time will take place during sufficiently long breaks, such as commercial breaks and halftime. Each break will consist of one round of play, for which a different award will be granted. Everything will culminate to a final round, where the reward will be most appealing.
What are the rewards? We brainstormed a few delightful experience-rewards that could be beamed to the phones of fans on winning teams, taking full advantage of the stadium wireless technology:
- Fake Selfie Generator — Snap a selfie and watch it magically transform into a photo that looks like you & your favorite 49ers team member. Post your bragging rights for the world to see!
- Jumbotron Victory Dance — The faces of various winners will appear on the Jumbotron atop vibrant, animated bodies of dancing football players with #12 jerseys. (Think: Elf yourself)
- 12th Player Facetime — Winners get exclusive chance to Facetime with the team while they huddle during halftime.
- Go-Pro Point of View — An exclusive chance to view the game from the perspective of the players themselves. Footage streams from cameras strapped onto players’ helmets to the phones of lucky winners.
Like the idea of having a secondary game that is ongoing during the breaks in the actual game. I wonder if there would be a way to directly tie it to what is happening in the actual game so that you have a sort of game specific fantasy football experience, so that even if your team is losing you still stay engaged because the secondary game that you are playing with the other fans still requires outcomes of the actual game?
Is there a way to take this and feed it back to the actual game?
How do you create this secondary experience and not steal from the actual game experience? Do breaks have to get longer to support the 12th man reality of sports? Can’t wait to see what you develop out of this.
-Michael