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Stadium Digital Acquired By Canadian Soccer Business


TORONTO (September 21 2018) – Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) has acquired Stadium Digital – a full service digital media company and Canada’s leading fan engagement platform provider. This acquisition accelerates the roll-out of Canadian Soccer Business’ media and partnership strategy for Canada Soccer and the Canadian Premier League – Canada’s highly-anticipated professional soccer league set to debut in April 2019.

The Stadium Digital team will now deliver all fan-facing digital technology and content for the Canadian Premier League including all league, club, mobile and venue platforms. The group will also be responsible for delivering CSB’s distribution strategy of live content.

“Our launch of the Canadian Premier League is timed perfectly with the maturity of mobile technology as fans’ preference for interacting with leagues and clubs,” said David Clanachan, Commissioner, Canadian Premier League, and Chairman of Canadian Soccer Business. “By acquiring Stadium Digital we now have the intellectual property and experience to deliver on our mobile-first mandate, while taking advantage of the rapidly changing landscape of live content delivery and consumption patterns of the sports audience”

Stadium Digital launched in 2014 with a mission to bring world-class fan engagement platforms to Canada’s top sports properties. The company has successful long-term partnerships with more than 80 of Canada’s top professional leagues, teams and national federations. The company is widely acclaimed for its award-winning All Access and ShowDown loyalty and engagement programs along with delivering national web networks for national and provincial associations.

The entirety of Stadium Digital’s team will join CSB, including President Mark Silver, who will now also become Chief Digital Officer of CSB

Silver is amongst the most recognized digital executives in Canada, having previously led digital for Bell Media’s TSN and for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium during the London 2012 Olympic Summer Games. He also oversaw operations for the ground-breaking and award-winning digital coverage during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. In 2013, Silver was named “5 to Watch” in Canadian Sports Business by George Brown College. Silver regularly presents at industry panels on digital integration in sports.

About the Canadian Premier League
Canadian Premier League (CPL) is Canada’s domestic men’s professional soccer league set to debut in April 2019. Playing in world-class and unique venues, the CPL will bring professional soccer to communities across our great country.

About Canadian Soccer Business
Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) represents a suite of top-tier national assets that comprise the backbone of soccer in Canada. This includes representation for all corporate partnerships and broadcast rights related to Canada Soccer’s core assets including its national teams, along with all rights associated with the CPL – Canada’s professional men’s soccer league set to debut coast-to-coast in 2019.

About Stadium Digital
Stadium Digital specializes in the creation and management of content and technology to deliver products in the areas of sponsorship, fan engagement, ticketing and e-commerce. The company supports sports properties and their partners realize the full potential of their brand and content rights.

Contact
For additional information, please contact:
Micki Benedetti
Communications for Canadian Soccer Business
micki.benedetti@canpl.ca
905.466.2575

Belleville Senators Partner with Stadium Digital to Launch New Digital Platforms

Belleville, ON (October 2, 2017) – The Belleville Senators announced today that they have partnered with Canada’s leading fan engagement platform provider, Stadium Digital, to officially launch its new digital platform, BellevilleSens.com.

As the digital home for the team’s historic inaugural 2017-18 American Hockey League season, the site is the go-to destination for Senators fans. The platform features a dynamic content hub to share Senators news, stats, ticket offers, information and highlights. The site is fully optimized for all platforms.

BellevilleSens.com also features original content showcasing elite players and introduces the next generation of Senators stars. Fans will also now be able to join Belleville Insiders, the best way to follow the team. Members will receive first access to news and information including exclusive content, special team and sponsors offers and community events.

“We are delighted to officially launch our digital home and share all of the excitement of our inaugural season with fans around the hockey world,” said Rob Mullowney, Belleville Senators Chief Operating Officer. “With Stadium Digital’s dynamic platform, we are able to connect with our fans, partners and sponsors in an impactful way.”

Fully designed and managed by Stadium Digital, the infrastructure is hosted on the Microsoft Azure Cloud Platform and allows for a streamlined interface for users across all devices. Highlights of the new digital network include:

  • Mobile first content hub user experience
  • Deep statistics integration for roster, schedule and live scoring data provided by Hockey Tech
  • Ad supported video player and platform integration
  • National and local sponsorship opportunities

“This is an exciting new era for professional hockey in the Bay of Quinte,” said Mark Silver, President of Stadium Digital. “It has been wonderful working with such an energetic team to create a platform to serve passionate Senators fans and build a closer connection with the team both on and off the ice.”

This is the second AHL team to launch with Stadium Digital, following the Toronto Marlies last season. Stadium Digital has confirmed that they are actively engaging other AHL teams to expand their industry-leading infrastructure across the league.

The Sens begin their inaugural season October 6th with a trip to Laval, Quebec. After a nine-game road trip to start the season, Belleville’s home-opener at the renovated Yardmen Arena will take place November 1st against the Syracuse Crunch.

 

About the Belleville Senators

The Belleville Senators are an American Hockey League franchise set for their inaugural season in 2017-2018. The team serves as the primary professional development affiliate of the Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League. Upon their relocation to the Bay of Quinte area, the team will play its home games in the newly renovated Yardmen Arena. You can follow the Belleville Senators on their official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages via @BellevilleSens or visit us at BellevilleSens.com for more information.

About Stadium Digital
Stadium Digital specializes in the creation and management of content and technology to deliver products in the areas of sponsorship, fan engagement, ticketing and e-commerce. The company supports sports properties and their partners realize the full potential of their brand and content rights. Its client include the CHL, WHL, QMJHL, OHL and all 60 teams, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts, Toronto Marlies, Belleville Senators, Cycling Sports Group (Cannondale), Toronto Rock, Golf Canada, Canada Snowboard and the Greater Toronto Hockey League. For more about Stadium Digital, please visit StadiumDigital.com.

For additional information, please contact
Greg McIsaac Communications
gregmcisaac@yahoo.ca
416-458-3591

Winnipeg Blue Bombers Launch Fan Zone Engagement and Loyalty Program

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers confirmed today they have partnered with leading fan engagement platform provider Stadium Digital, to launch a new fan engagement and loyalty program Blue Bombers Fan Zone.

The Blue Bombers will leverage Stadium Digital’s industry-leading All Access platform to better connect with fans throughout the season.

“Expanding our digital reach is a key component to our overall growth plans,” says Wade Miller, President and CEO of the Winnipeg Football Club. “We are looking forward to working with the team at Stadium Digital on innovative ways to engage and reward our amazing fans. ”

Blue Bombers Fan Zone is designed to reward fans for their digital interactions with the team across various platforms. Fans can accumulate “Yards” throughout the season that can be redeemed for unique experiences and products such as road trips, visits with players and alumni, or signed jerseys and helmets.

Ways to Accumulate Yards

Stadium Digital has launched similar programs for other teams in the CFL, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2015 and the Toronto Argonauts in 2016. The company is currently in discussions with other teams and leagues to extend their All Access platform to new partners.

Create a Sustainable Technology Legacy

Author: Mark Silver

Have you met anyone who can tell you where things are headed with the digital side of the sports business? Anyone who knows where all this all going, and when anyone can see a real return on investment? If you have, please let me know who that is.

Don’t get me wrong; there are many amazing leagues, teams, broadcasters, sports properties and technology providers who are doing incredible things. The challenge I’ve been seeing over my career though is along the lines of the tail wagging the dog. We all know investing in digital is the right thing to do, but what many fail to see on an ongoing basis is that most sports organizations aren’t nimble enough to keep up with the pace of change nor continually implement the next big must have thing. For transparency, the company I run, Stadium Digital, is another one of those ‘next big things’, but I’ll get back to that later.

The challenge that most sports properties face is that their technology both back office and customer facing, has been built out in a hap hazard way over many years with several vendors and there simply is not sufficient in-house expertise and resources or capital budget available to fix the problem in a timeframe where the loss of further ground is not the end result. To be clear, my advice is not to fix the problem. Instead, focus on digital activities that support achievement of your short and long term business objectives. Determine where to invest smartly today, to get the most bang for your buck, so that every dollar leaves a sustainable legacy. In time, your problem should disappear, though please be patient and try to retain your top performers who can see the vision through.

At Stadium Digital, we are experts in all facets of the sports business, and our focus is in supporting our clients in realizing a return on their investments in content and engagement technologies.

For more on how we have helped our clients, here’s a recent case study.

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