How Important is NFC Asset Tracking System for the Sports Industry?

Sport games entertain and energize everyone! People exult and enjoy the game. However, it is a tense period for the organizers of the event to manage thousands of people who have come to watch and enjoy the game. Besides the game itself, there are so many other things to be taken care of. This is where NFC Asset Tracking Software comes into play. It provides real-time location of assets, assisting management to manage their assets efficiently.

According to the report of Industry Arc,  “Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) are opted to track the location of objects, assets, or individuals in real time monitoring. This is done by embedding tags to the object being tracked. The signals sent by the tags are received by fixed receivers or readers to identify the location. The major applications of RTLS in the sports industry include asset tracking, player training tracking, and player in game tracking. The RTLS in Sports Market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 14.7% during the forecast period 2018-2024. APAC is projected to be the fastest growing market with a CAGR of 24%.”

To achieve real-time asset tracking, several techniques are utilized such as Barcode, QR Code (Quick Response Code), RFID (Radio-frequency identification), NFC Tracking (Near field communication), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), GPS (Global Positioning System), IoT (Internet of Things), etc.

However, can NFC be really beneficial for stadia? Here are five cases to prove that how NFC can be quite efficient in a sports arena.

Benefits of NFC Asset Tracking

Preventing Theft

There was an incident in which a media member stole Tom Brady's jersey! In order to avoid such situations, NFC tags can be utilized. They are small in size and can track items that are worn or used by the player. This not only will help in preventing theft but also help in identifying the stolen items. This is a win-win for the NFL and their fans as they can also buy the merchandise items.

Vehicle theft at a stadium is not anything new. There are several incidents of a vehicle theft that have taken place. In order to prevent theft, NFC can be placed at vehicles to provide real-time location of the vehicle.

Fast Entry Process

Nowadays, sports enthusiasts buy tickets online. However, when the throngs visit the stadium to watch their favourite team in action, there can be long queues. The whole process takes a lot of time and people can already start getting tired. Is there a solution to the problem?

Also Read: RFID vs NFC: How They are Different in Terms of Asset Tracking?

According to the pymnts,  “Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that the Oakland Athletics participated in a new NFC ticketing solution that allowed fans to enter stadium payments by simply tapping their phone (or Apple Watch) to a ticket scanner.”

We also know that Apple has been using NFC contactless technology in their mobile phone and watches. This time, they collaborated through Applepay.

This makes the whole process very quick and easy to make mass entry and save time and energy. NFC is more secure than a barcode and less prone to error.

Increasing Sale & Its Process

Games last long and spectators need the energy to cheer up their team and for the energy they need food! People crowd to food before the game kicks off but again there can be long queues. This problem is resolved with NFC technology.

According to the digital trend  “At the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, you can use your smartphone to pay for memorabilia or food. Granted, you'll still need a smartphone equipped with services like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay among others in order to make use of this feature.”

This avoids waiting in queues and food gets delivered at your seat! So you enjoy the game, food, and the technology that made everything so easy. The payment gets deducted from the account and food is delivered. Gone is the old style where you paid cash, waited for the balance change to be returned.

It made the process that much longer and irksome. Through this digital process, the sales process also increased and customer satisfaction got a big boost.

Engaging Customer

NFC has been used by Adidas in their footwear business. The shoes are equipped with NFC chips, which help the runner to stay fit. Through these chips, Adidas has collected a good deal of data. Using the data they are able to launch products as they know the preference patterns of their customers.

They also enhance their products with the help of the data they have collected. Furthermore, they are looking at newer ways of engaging with their customers.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is built to change the client experience by assisting the customer and companies get real-time insights through cell phones. It is reshaping the experience of both customers and companies that serve them.

It is especially helpful for organizations as it enables them to know more about their customers, their trending their needs. With such information, companies are in a position to make better business decisions to boost sales.

Are There Any Flaws in NFC Asset Tracking?

NFC asset tracking is still considered relatively new as a technology and is constantly evolving. It may not be compatible with all devices. Moreover, not many people are still aware of this technology.

Furthermore, the NFC range is very short. With its 4-5 inches of data-reading capability, it may be good for handling payments, but for asset tracking needs, the short-range could be a major issue.

The other aspect of NFC technology is that it is relatively expensive. There are several technologies that are more cost-effective than NFC.

Conclusion

NFC asset tracking is making an important imprint in the sports world and is enhancing customer experience. It saves a lot of time and energy too. NFC provides crucial security and makes sure that no duplicate ticket is used.

There is no doubt this technology has a lot of potentials as it can be used in marketing campaigns and efforts to improve the bottom line of businesses. When this technology is utilized with asset management software, it can optimize daily operations and provide real-time tracking.