Big plans are in store when it comes to fan experience at SoFi Stadium.
CNBC spotlighted the Inglewood-based future home of the Rams for its offerings that will be in place upon its scheduled completion of July 25.
Among the amenities: A 70,000 square-foot double-sided Oculus display board with 4k video and Wi-Fi 6, the next generation of wireless internet whose performance is optimized for stadiums and other large public venues.
The strategic decision to incorporate these useful features is based on creating value for fans living in what Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff calls the "experiential economy."
"It needs to be better than what is being offered at home, and it needs to be personalized," he told CNBC last month.
Demoff, who is part of the team helping bring to life the vision of Rams Owner/Chairman E. Stanley Kroenke in SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, expanded further on the venue's innovations and amenities alongside Amy Howe, President and COO, North America, Ticketmaster, in an interview with Julia Boorstin, the network's senior media and entertainment reporter, at its CNBC Evolve event in Los Angeles.
Demoff said the Rams often discuss what a "closet to closet" experience looks like from their fans – from the moment they throw on their Jared Goff jersey, or Rams hat, for example, and leave for the stadium, to the moment they return home – and how they can personalize and tailor their experience to make attending a game at the stadium as seamless as possible.
Technology plays a central role in that.
Examples that came to mind for Demoff during Tuesday's panel discussion: Figuring out which parking lot a fan should be directed to based on where their tickets are, telling a fan which gate to go to based on which one has the lowest wait time, and having a fantasy football lounge where fans can watch highlights of their team's best player after they score a touchdown.
"We want people to be engaged and be Rams fans and be watching when they're there, but we also want to make sure that the daily lives that they are used to leading, they don't have to leave those behind to come to the game," Demoff said. "I think that's where the juxtaposition, when you talk about watching on television, is – do I give up my daily life and everything I'm used to, to come to the game? Usually that revolves around technology."
And yes, Demoff already has some ideas for avoiding, or at least reducing, postgame traffic.
"We have 500,000 square feet of retail, 18-20 restaurants, we can send you a text towards the end of the game, 'If you want to stick around for dinner, here's 25 percent off to go to dinner in our entertainment district if you sit on this side of the stadium,'" Demoff said, speaking about the entire Hollywood Park campus which will begin to come to life in the year following the opening of SoFi Stadium. "If you sit on this side of the stadium, we give you an incentive to go to the northern part of the campus."
"If you minimize those detractors, but at the same time, deliver a highly personalized and really enriching experience, that's magic," Howe said.
Moving forward, the challenge is making sure the technology that is a core part of the fan experience does not become obsolete and having the infrastructure to make those changes. For example, Rams are "future-proofing" the near-3.2 million square foot building by having more than four-times the wire Wi-Fi infrastructure necessary for when things like 5G (the fifth generation of cellular network technology) kick in.
Overall, though, the fan experience at the stadium isn't complete without one key, and obvious, ingredient.
"You can build the greatest stadium in the world," Demoff said. "But without fans, it won't feel like it."
