NBA League Pass And Other Daily
Subscription Packages
Expected To Increase Hoteliers�
RevPAR
And Traveler Satisfaction
By Peter Klebanoff
March 2005
For a long time, hoteliers have told us their
guests want more sports entertainment in their rooms. Those sentiments
ring true with research showing that sports is one of the most popular
types of TV programming on the planet. Professional and college sports
broadcasting is a multi-billion dollar industry, and sports fans have more
live events to watch now than ever before. Yet until very recently, technology
limitations and licensing issues have kept hoteliers from offering more
than a fraction of that programming in their guest rooms.
That
has just changed. Recognizing the extraordinary value that expanded sports
programming could add for our client hotels and their guests, we spent
the last two years developing the technology to accommodate the broadcast
requirements and restrictions mandated by professional sports leagues and
major college sports networks. We also began negotiating with those parties
to distribute their programming under an alternative arrangement to the
traditional �free-to-guest� model. The result � Hotel SportsNetSM
� is the first service to deliver nationally branded sports programming
on a �daily subscription� basis to hotel guest rooms. What does this
mean for hoteliers? Plenty.
Technology, Content Teaming Up To Increase
RevPAR
Hotel SportsNet offers hoteliers new opportunities
to maximize revenues inside and outside their guest rooms. For example,
right now Hotel SportsNet is delivering NBA League Pass in select hotels.
For a daily fee, travelers can keep tabs on their favorite teams or bounce
around arenas from coast to coast � up to 40 games a week for the rest
of the regular NBA season. Pro basketball junkies are thrilled; and hoteliers
have their first real chance to make money from sports programming after
years of paying cable and satellite providers while guests watched for
free.
Although it�s too early to tell, we believe Hotel
SportsNet also has significant potential to drive incremental revenues
beyond usage fees (room service orders, for example), and may give hotels
a competitive advantage in winning lucrative group bookings from fan clubs,
media crews and even the sports teams themselves.
Subscription Sports Programming In The Guest
Room: It IS Rocket Science
You know what Hotel SportsNet is and why we launched
it. But you might also be wondering how we�re doing it. And if the concept
is so great, why haven�t we done it sooner?
The truth is, it�s not easy. It takes a lot of
negotiation, innovation and integration to roll out a service like Hotel
SportsNet. You need established relationships with nationally branded sports
programmers. You also need to ensure that each hotel can get a full slate
of available games � without violating the complex geographic �blackout�
restrictions that vary from market to market. We manage this through close
coordination with our nationwide satellite TV partner.
In the room, guests need to know which games are
available and when they start; we addressed this challenge though the LodgeNet
Media Management System, our centralized resource that beams each hotel�s
schedule directly to the on-site system over our satellite distribution
network. They also need an easy way to pull up those games and switch seamlessly
between them. We�ve covered that, too. The guest goes through a series
of on-screen menus to order the subscription package he or she wants (much
like ordering a pay-per-view movie), then uses an interactive channel guide
to choose the game they want to see. After that they can �channel surf�
to their heart�s content among all the available games in that package
� nirvana for fantasy leaguers!
One other thing to consider: It takes up
to ten channels to support a full schedule of games on NBA League Pass
alone; add other sports packages to the mix and you can see how channel
management becomes a big deal in a hurry. Our on-site system maximizes
the capacity of a hotel�s cable infrastructure to deliver every available
game, to every guest room, every time. How that happens is our secret;
but I can tell you that it works, and we have a patent pending to prove
it.
So there�s the scoop on Hotel SportsNet � ground-breaking
technology and the country�s best sports programming. When sports-starved
travelers tune in to their favorite game and pump up hoteliers� RevPAR,
they�ll never know they�re playing with rocket science. And that�s the
way we like it.
---
Peter
Klebanoff is Vice President Sales & Industry Relations and Chief Customer
Advocate for LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation, one of the world�s largest
providers of interactive television systems and broadband services to the
lodging industry.
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