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This news is a few days old now, but with the genesis of SB Nation United, I thought it would be useful to develop a hub page for all new stadium information. Content will still post on the front page, but you can bookmark the 49ers Stadium Hub for all the updates that come along over the next two years. It will include information pertinent to Candlestick Park, but the focus will be on the new Santa Clara stadium.
The latest news has the 49ers agreeing to terms on a deal with SAP as a Founding Partner in the new stadium. The agreement dictates that the 49ers practice facility, adjacent to the new stadium, will be renamed the SAP Training Center. SAP will be the team's exclusive Business Software, Statistics and Performance Partner. According to the 49ers, "SAP will support the 49ers year-round operations by enabling the organization to run better in all facets." They will be developing a statistics platform for the team, as well as human resources systems and "other creative systems that have the potential to help football operations function more efficiently and effectively."
I was checking out the SAP website and they described their work as follows:
SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively.
From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, and desktop to mobile device, SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently - and use business insight more effectively. We do this by extending the availability of software across on-premise installations, cloud and on-demand deployments, and mobile devices. We believe that the power of our people, products, and partners unleashes growth and creates significant new value for our customers, our company, entire industries, and the economy at large.
That certainly includes a lot of buzz words. If you've seen the Will Smith movie "Hitch", you might remember the scene where he is describing what he does as a consultant. He throws out buzz words and somebody else says they don't know what any of that actually means. Will Smith responds by saying, "That's why I get to charge so much." I don't think we will ever see specific dollar amounts, but this strikes me as a fairly high profile, high value partnership for the 49ers.
It does sound like SAP will be involved in improving the fan experience as well:
The partnership will take the 49ers fan experience to the next level by using SAP's expertise in analytics, mobility and real-time systems to decipher the information gathered from all digital fan touch points such as 49ers.com, Twitter and Facebook. That knowledge will help the team integrate new applications and features within the stadium on game day, and improve customer service throughout the year.
Although plenty of people appear to be purchasing tickets for the 49ers new stadium, there are still some grumblings about the re-location to the Santa Clara. A key step in getting people a bit more accepting is providing an ideal experience. A bad experience will only reinforce some fan frustration about the new stadium. This would seem to be a solid first step towards boosting that experience.