Bill Schlough, Senior VP and CIO of the 2012 World Champion San Francisco Giants, gave the visionary keynote at the Federal Cloud Computing Summit on Dec. 17, 2013 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.
1. Ubiquitous IT
Transforming the fan experience, player performance
and the business of baseball
Bill Schlough – Senior Vice President & CIO, San Francisco Giants
December 17, 2013
2. THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS: A BRIEF HISTORY
Founded in 1883 as the New York Gothams, renamed “Giants” in 1885
Five World Series titles in New York
– 1905, 1921, 1932, 1933, 1954
Moved to San Francisco in 1958
Five NL pennants and two World Series titles in San Francisco
– 1962, 1989, 2002, 2010, 2012
20 Giants (5 SF Giants) in Baseball Hall of Fame:
– Orlando Cepeda (1958-66)
– Juan Marichal (1960-73)
– Willie Mays (1951-52, 1954-72)
– Willie McCovey (1959-73, 1977-80)
– Gaylord Perry (1962-71)
3. AT&T PARK: A NEW ERA OF GIANTS BASEBALL
In 1992, Giants owner Bob Lurie signed an agreement to relocate the team to Tampa, FL
New ownership group led by Peter Magowan stepped in to rescue the franchise; first move was to
sign two-time MVP Barry Bonds
In 1997, after several failed attempts to
secure public funding, the Giants finally
broke ground on a new ballpark
– Total cost $320 million
– First privately financed MLB ballpark
since Dodger Stadium (1962)
– $50 million naming rights deal with
Pacific Bell (now AT&T) instrumental
in financing construction
4. OUR MISSION
San Francisco Giants Official Mission Statement
The San Francisco Giants are dedicated
to enriching our community through
innovation and excellence on and off the field.
San Francisco Giants “Unofficial” Mission Statement
WIN THE WORLD SERIES EVERY YEAR
2010 & 2012: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
6. FANS
MOBILITY – IN THE BEGINNING
In 2004, AT&T Park became the first Wi-Fi hotspot in professional sports
The ballpark Wi-Fi network is powered by 121 access points
The Wi-Fi network services laptops, HP iPaq and Palm Tungsten/Zire PDAs
At a typical Giants game, 94 fans (0.3%) leverage the Wi-Fi network
Digital Dugout features “Food Finder” and “Wi-Fi Replay”
7. FANS
MOBILITY – TODAY
The ballpark Wi-Fi network is powered by 121 931 access points
The Wi-Fi network services HP iPaq and Palm Tungsten/Zire PDAs, tablets, gaming devices,
iOS/Android/Windows Mobile smartphones and laptops
At a typical Giants game, 94 10,619 fans (0.3% 30.2%) leverage the Wi-Fi network
AT&T Park Per-Capita WiFi Data Traffic (MB)
AT&T Park Per-Capita WiFi Usage (Take Rate)
2011-2013
2004-2013
40.0
40.0%
30.0%
30.0%
20.0%
16.6%
10.2%
10.0%
0.0%
30.2%
0.3% 0.3% 0.5% 0.7%
1.7%
5.0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
29.1
30.0
20.0
15.9
12.8
10.0
0.0
2011
2012
2013
8. FANS
HOW ARE THEY USING THEIR MOBILE DEVICES?
Downloading stuff (305 GB/game)
Uploading stuff (166 GB/game)
Texting
Tweeting
Facebooking
Instagramming
9. FANS
HOW ARE THEY USING THEIR MOBILE DEVICES?
Using MLB At Bat & At the Ballpark apps
– Checking in
– Listening to the broadcast
– Watching video
– Tracking the game
– Reviewing statistics
– Checking scores
– Buying tickets
– Voting!
10. FANS
2012 ALL-STAR BALLOT
UPDATE:
JUNE 26TH
Pos
Giant
Rank
Votes
FINAL TALLY:
JUNE 28TH
Rank
Votes
C
Buster Posey
1
3,335,982
1
7,621,370
1B
Brandon Belt
4
1,291,982
2
3,912,945
2B
Freddy Sanchez
-
???
4
2,289,147
3B
Pablo Sandoval
2
2,223,269
1
5,743,542
SS
Brandon Crawford
5
1,298,704
2
3,666,897
OF
Melky Cabrera
4
3,045,884
1
7,521,784
OF
Angel Pagan
8
1,613,948
5
4,540,370
OF
Aubrey Huff
-
???
14
1,913,528
16. BUSINESS
PRICING INNOVATION
Ticket sales are priority #1 for MLB teams, generally accounting for 30-70% of local revenues
In 2000, the Giants were the first team to embrace the secondary market online, launching the
“Double Play Ticket Window”
Today, pricing innovation is revolutionizing our industry
THREE EXAMPLES
1) “One Size Fits All” Pricing
2) Variable Pricing
3) Dynamic Pricing
20. PLAYERS
FROM PITCH TRACKING TO HIT TRACKING TO ???
In 2007, Sportvision launched PITCH f/x at all 30 MLB ballparks to track the precise trajectory of
every pitch
Today, Sportvision and the Giants are moving beyond pitch tracking to change the way teams
define player performance with FIELD f/x
21. PLAYERS
PLAYER TRACKING – THE NEXT FRONTIER
For the first time since baseball statistics have been kept — we are talking 150 years — baseball
statisticians will soon have objective data on how quickly fielders react to balls in play, how fast
they get to the ball, and the accuracy and location of their throws.
– “For the Love of the Technology, the Bay Area Is Reinventing Baseball (Again)”, NY Times,
April 26, 2012
22. PLAYERS
BIG DATA = COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?
FIELD f/x Data Overview
– 9 defensive players, batter, up to 3 baserunners, 4 umpires, ball (15-18 total points of interest)
– Two cameras, capturing X/Y coordinates 20 times per second
– 20 minutes of action/game
– 30 teams
– 81 home games/team
Nearly one billion data points captured per major league season—but is that even a big enough
sample size?
The Giants are engaging big data experts and cloud-based storage to transform this data into new
performance metrics that could give the team an edge on the field
23. Ubiquitous IT
Transforming the fan experience, player performance
and the business of baseball
Bill Schlough – Senior Vice President & CIO, San Francisco Giants
December 17, 2013