‘AI tech integral to shaping fan experience’



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Matjaž Možina at Coliseum Summit Image: Coliseum GSVA

Matjaž Možina pride himself on hailing from Slovenia (country in Europe) as he asserts that though Slovenia is a small country with a population of two million but the nation basks in its sporting glory as it has a strong Olympic record which he terms as a “great achievement”.

Možina is the top honcho of 2Mobile, Slovenia, and is a tech-oriented person who seeks out new technological advancements. He vouches for artificial intelligence (AI) which he says is the next big thing on the horizon with its potential to revolutionize how we work, live and interact with technology.

Matjaž Možina, Founder and Owner of 2Mobile, has over a decade of experience in mobile solutions. After venturing into entrepreneurship he established 2Mobile specializing in technological solutions for conversational marketing and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Matjaž Možina, CEO, 2Mobile, Slovenia, in an exchange with ‘Coliseum’ avow that though “AI scares sometimes but AI is the future” and his wise insight for the various sports bodies and the venue operators/owners is that the “sooner they will adopt this kind of digital solution automation (especially AI)” it will stand them in good stead and it will also help them to have their fingers on the pulse of the millennials as today’s fan base is dominated by the millennial generation.
 

2Mobile

Ljubljana (Slovenia)-based 2Mobile is at the forefront of the AI and C-commerce evolution and are experts in delivering advanced messaging solutions.
 

AI

Artificial intelligence (AI), in its broadest sense, is intelligence exhibited by machines, particularly the computer systems.

Matjaž Možina avers that “2Mobile does great stuff in software-IT environment. We hand out mobile solutions for the banks, the insurance sector, for the telco industry more or less, and for the corporate clients.”

He said that five years back 2Mobile took a deep dive into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and then came ChatGPT (a generative artificial intelligence chatbot).

When COVID-19 struck in the year 2019 it posed the biggest challenge to mankind. It also increased the use of AI and AI developments during the pandemic permeated into every sphere of our lives.

Možina narrated that the sports clubs and the venue operators/owners “was faced with the challenge of bringing back the fans into the venues’ fold in a safe manner”.
 

Case Study – NK Maribor

Možina and his team at 2Mobile decided to add AI as part of a project done in tandem with Mastercard Slovenia for the most successful football club of Slovenia NK Maribor which competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of the Slovenian football league system and “who have played a couple of times in the Champions League”.

The project was carried out in the top-flight’s home ground – the 12,700-capacity Ljudski vrt Stadium in Maribor, Slovenia – “We introduced a new way to interact with the fans – direct communication with the sports bots (robots or simply bots is a software application that is programed to do certain tasks).”
 

Chatbot

The chatbot is a software application or Web interface designed to have textual or spoken conversations. It is a comprehensive platform for fan engagement and VIP hospitality. It facilitates the clubs to get closer to the fans.

Explaining the NK Maribor project, Možina further informed, “Conversational AI is the next level of fan engagement. It’s simpler, faster, innovative, and efficient. It’s engaging and curious. That is why in October 2021 in collaboration with Mastercard Slovenia we launched a whole new way on how NK Maribor can engage with their fans through their favorite messaging apps. A successful advertising campaign right after the pandemic brought the fans back to the games, social posts engaged them to try our Chabot for ordering food and drinks straight from their seats with no additional download necessary. The hostesses handed out flyers with QR codes and menu items. The QR codes can also be seen on all the seats throughout the Ljudski vrt Stadium encouraging the fans to use the chatbot.”

He added, “Our main objective was to bring the fans together through messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Viber. We developed AI for NK Maribor and they have all the information about the teams, the rosters, analytics, and we integrated merchandising, we integrated ticketing and we also did food and drink order and payment through these apps.
 

Reaping Rewards

The head honcho stated that “after almost seven months of uncertainty the end result exceeded the expectations. The capacity of NK Maribor’s Stadium is 12,700. The attendance of the first few matches was smaller as the fans were still getting used to the lifting of COVID-19 regulations. In the 2021-2022 seasons the highest attendance was seen in NK Maribor’s matchups.”
 

Bot Benefits

“We also implemented sports bots for the ice hockey team of Slovenia HK Celje and faced challenges like enhancing the fan experience in a contactless environment. There was also a huge shift in the consumer behavior due to the pandemic and initial resistance to digital transformation in traditional sports settings. Our main target group is the millennials.”

The efforts of the 2Mobile team paid off “and in the first game of NK Maribor we already had more than 10 percent of orders via chatbot. The millennials are the most satisfied with this whole chatbot experience. It will also help the venue operators to reduce the operational costs.”
 

Bot Data

He also mentioned that more than 700 fans initiated chats with the bot and there were 1,200 unique interactions. Over 500 messages were exchanged with the bot and it increased social media reach by 20 percent. Eleven percent of food and drink was ordered via chatbot.
 

Wrap-up

Matjaž Možina wrapped up by asserting, “All in all, the global payment network Mastercard created sustainable solutions that the sports clubs and the venue owners/operators can build on to create a priceless experience for their fans. The AI technology is becoming integral to the fan experience and the early adopters will get a significant edge in fan engagement. The need of the hour is to shift towards AI-supported activations which will reduce the need for traditional methods.”

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