San Jose Sharks: Optimizing Event Management and Profitability Through Real-Time Data Analytics
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San Jose Sharks: Optimizing event
management and profitability
through real-time data analytics
Known for its dramatic pregame entrances through the mouth of a 17-foot shark, the
professional ice hockey team the San Jose Sharks competes in the National Hockey
League and is owned by Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE) LLC. SSE also owns
the American Hockey League’s San Jose Barracuda and manages the SAP Center, a
venue that holds 18,000 fans and hosts hundreds of events each year.
The San Jose Sharks wanted to help its operations team make better decisions and
proactively address potential issues during games, rather than days later. To achieve
this, it needed to move from postevent operational performance reports to real-time
game-day analytics. The right solution would provide insights into metrics such as total
ticket sales, scan rates, and attendee arrival patterns based on ticket type. Picture Credit | San Jose Sharks, San Jose, California. Used with permission.
San Jose Sharks: Optimizing event
management and profitability
through real-time data analytics
Known for its dramatic pregame entrances through the mouth of a 17-foot shark, the
professional ice hockey team the San Jose Sharks competes in the National Hockey
League and is owned by Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE) LLC. SSE also owns
the American Hockey League’s San Jose Barracuda and manages the SAP Center, a
venue that holds 18,000 fans and hosts hundreds of events each year.
The San Jose Sharks wanted to help its operations team make better decisions and
proactively address potential issues during games, rather than days later. To achieve
this, it needed to move from postevent operational performance reports to real-time
game-day analytics. The right solution would provide insights into metrics such as total
ticket sales, scan rates, and attendee arrival patterns based on ticket type. Picture Credit | San Jose Sharks, San Jose, California. Used with permission.
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“Deploying intelligent technologies using SAP solutions
was fast, and our team can manage them intuitively. We
now have one source of truth and deep insight that allow
us to better connect with fans.”
Neda Tabatabaie, SVP, Business Analytics and Technology,
Sharks Sports & Entertainment LLC
San Jose Sharks, owned by Sharks
Sports & Entertainment LLC
San Jose, California
www.nhl.com/sharks
Industry
Sports and entertainment
Products and services
Professional ice hockey
club and event venue
Featured solutions
SAP BTP, SAP Integration Suite,
SAP Datasphere, and SAP Analytics
Cloud
5
Third-party data
sources integrated with
SAP Datasphere to
centralize vendor-
owned data
12-hour
Reduction in turnaround
time for venue
operational reporting
Before: Challenges and opportunities
• Continuously improve operations and enhance the game-day experience for fans
• Consolidate multiple data sources for vendors and systems across ticketing, parking, food and
beverage operations, e-commerce retail, and more to create a single source for insights
• Access real-time insights to help make better decisions and address issues in the moment
Why SAP
• Experience in creating solutions that enable innovative stadium experiences for other sports teams
• Support for constant business innovation through SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)
• SAP Integration Suite, helping consolidate multiple internal and external data sources
• SAP Datasphere solution, enabling a single source of truth across different operations
• SAP Analytics Cloud solution, providing a single entry point for employees to gain insights from data
and user-friendly dashboards to visualize, analyze, and identify patterns in consolidated data sets
After: Value-driven results
• Increased visibility and data access across the organization and reduced reliance on third-party reporting
• Reduced the need for manual tasks by automating reports, improving the employee experience
• Enabled venue operations to identify operational inefficiencies and become more proactive
• Added 10 third-party data sources to the road map as part of efforts to centralize vendor data
Embracing game-day insights to improve operations with
SAP Business Technology Platform
89961enUS (23/11) © 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. sap.com/terms-of-use
“Deploying intelligent technologies using SAP solutions
was fast, and our team can manage them intuitively. We
now have one source of truth and deep insight that allow
us to better connect with fans.”
Neda Tabatabaie, SVP, Business Analytics and Technology,
Sharks Sports & Entertainment LLC
San Jose Sharks, owned by Sharks
Sports & Entertainment LLC
San Jose, California
www.nhl.com/sharks
Industry
Sports and entertainment
Products and services
Professional ice hockey
club and event venue
Featured solutions
SAP BTP, SAP Integration Suite,
SAP Datasphere, and SAP Analytics
Cloud
5
Third-party data
sources integrated with
SAP Datasphere to
centralize vendor-
owned data
12-hour
Reduction in turnaround
time for venue
operational reporting
Before: Challenges and opportunities
• Continuously improve operations and enhance the game-day experience for fans
• Consolidate multiple data sources for vendors and systems across ticketing, parking, food and
beverage operations, e-commerce retail, and more to create a single source for insights
• Access real-time insights to help make better decisions and address issues in the moment
Why SAP
• Experience in creating solutions that enable innovative stadium experiences for other sports teams
• Support for constant business innovation through SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)
• SAP Integration Suite, helping consolidate multiple internal and external data sources
• SAP Datasphere solution, enabling a single source of truth across different operations
• SAP Analytics Cloud solution, providing a single entry point for employees to gain insights from data
and user-friendly dashboards to visualize, analyze, and identify patterns in consolidated data sets
After: Value-driven results
• Increased visibility and data access across the organization and reduced reliance on third-party reporting
• Reduced the need for manual tasks by automating reports, improving the employee experience
• Enabled venue operations to identify operational inefficiencies and become more proactive
• Added 10 third-party data sources to the road map as part of efforts to centralize vendor data
Embracing game-day insights to improve operations with
SAP Business Technology Platform
89961enUS (23/11) © 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. sap.com/terms-of-use