Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Conversations with the smartest people in the golf business to get the inside stories and strategies driving the business of golf forward. Hosted by former PGA Tour player Roberto Castro.
Kevin Lawson
[00:00:00] Speaker: I'm Roberto Castro, and this is The Course Record Show, the trends, technology, and strategy driving the business of golf.
[00:00:13] Roberto: Welcome back to The Course Record Show field report from the PGA Championship. This is our fourth episode. I just wrapped up my day on the golf course for ESPN. I was on the featured holes 15, 16, 17. Takeaways: we have a proper major championship on our hands. The rough is a real problem. 16 was a par five, supposed to be the easiest hole on the golf course all day, and it wasn't.
The rough was brutal. The pin location on these famous Donald Ross greens, just over the bunker, three steps over the left bunker. I saw a number of bogeys and very few easy birdies. Another big event: Rory going for 74, you know, back-to-back Masters. This year I thought he was coming in a lot more focused, but I would say it shoots him out of the golf tournament.
Gonna be in for a great championship, though. I think 10, 15, 16-under is gonna win this thing. It's not gonna be a walkover. This is a real golf course that's testing the guys. All right, let's get back to business and technology. We've talked this week about the fan experience, the data layer. We had Rob, Ryan, Kaitlyn on, talked about how the PGA of America and CapTech are using live data to elevate that fan experience.
But underneath all that is connectivity, right? None of this works if the data can't move reliably around a temporary venue like Aronimink. We've said it before, it's a 100-year-old golf course. It's not a stadium. So joining me is Kevin Lawson from T-Mobile. He leads tech activation across all of their sports properties to talk about connectivity, IoT, private 5G, how all that is powering the modern live sports experience.
So Kevin, thanks a lot, man.
[00:02:05] Kevin: Thanks for having me. Pleasure to be here.
[00:02:05] Roberto: So a lot of people hear 5G, like me, and they think, "So my phone works faster, great." But at an event like this, 40,000, 50,000 people on site, there's something called private 5G. So explain to us what that is and why it really matters.
[00:02:05] Kevin: Great question. It's really important for your phone to work, and that's why America's best network is so important to bring out here to Aronimink. But private 5G is a tool that we have in our toolkit. It allows us to bring out a dedicated spectrum to support use cases for broadcasters, things that require really high throughput constantly. And so when we're powering broadcast cameras for CBS or PGA's digital show all across the course, those require guaranteed minimum throughput. You know it immediately if a video starts breaking up. Yep. And so this is one of the things we have in our toolkit. What broadcasters really care about are super-low latency, the ability to roam anywhere, consistency, and packet loss.
These are all things that we address with our private network system. This is our third year in a row deploying it at the PGA Championship and collaborating with CBS and PGA Digital.
[00:03:03] Roberto: Awesome. Yeah, we are recording this from the TV compound, and when we were driving down here, you said, "Oh yeah, we have a trailer down here too," which surprised me, but when you say that, it's not very surprising.
Let's talk about other data that's running on that network. Last year, you know, into this kind of data-driven fan experience platform that we've been talking about, we had ticket data, app data, point of sale. This year expanded to IoT and cameras. How does the 5G network enable that? Why does adding those data sources elevate what we're doing here?
[00:03:35] Kevin: Yeah. When we work with PGA of America, we create a shared brief on the front end, and on that brief, we really talk and think about, you know, what do we want to accomplish together?
[00:03:46] Roberto: Yep.
[00:03:47] Kevin: Each year we set out and we try and accomplish major things. This year, what we want to accomplish are really in three pillars, okay? And I would define those pillars as smart operations, broadcast and video production, and fan experience. Yep. For smart operations, we've talked about ticketing. Our network is powering the ticketing connectivity, the point-of-sale connectivity. All that's really important. Those are can't-fail type technologies.
It's a big problem if you have 10,000 people, 5,000 people in the pro shops and your point of sale stops working. That actually, like, has happened to me at events in the past. Yeah. Like, it's just a can't-happen thing.
[00:04:25] Roberto: Yeah.
[00:04:26] Kevin: And then when you get on site, you just never know what's gonna happen. You know, you might have a gate where you don't have power or Wi-Fi now. And so our connectivity, our solutions are able to provide flexibility for PGA, for their ops team, for their vendors, and give them the ability to roam throughout the course.
You mentioned a couple of other technologies we should touch on. The first one is IoT sensors. We've developed something brand new with CapTech and PGA of America called the Smart Operations Command Center, and what we found out is that when you're putting on an event like this, we call it the traveling circus, 'cause nothing exists here. You come, and you build it, and then you tear it down right after you leave.
There's an incredible amount of logistics that go into that, from shipping an enormous amount of stuff here, building it, dropping in fiber, dropping in power, bringing in tons of different vendors. It's really easy for stuff to get lost. And so to track all of that, we've introduced IoT sensors and devices for PGA to track their critical inventory. So we have that in golf carts, we have it on, like, medical personnel, the things that really matter for fan experience. Yeah. And so these were some of the pain points that they wanted to solve.
If you have a medical emergency at the 18th tee or at the 18th hole, you wanna be able to know who is close by and who you can dispatch really quickly. So that type of intelligence is really important. We've also created a Smart Ops Command Center. So we're not just pulling in that data, we're visualizing that data for operators in a three-dimensional twin of the course.
So that gives them true spatial and visual awareness of what's happening on the course in real time. Just as we're watching the play unfold, they're watching the event unfold from a data metric standpoint.
[00:06:15] Roberto: Yeah. I think visualization is, you know, step one. It's really cool, by the way. This platform that, you know, we built in collaboration with you guys and PGA is just cool and fun to look at.
But let's talk about a decision that might be made using that information. So it's Thursday afternoon, we've got good turnout in the practice rounds. We have one day of real competition in. Anything that jumped off the page as an example of, hey, we saw this happen on the golf course, we changed this decision, and it affected what happened out on the property?
[00:06:46] Kevin: We're seeing a few hotspots pop up in areas that we didn't anticipate.
[00:06:50] Roberto: Okay.
[00:06:51] Kevin: And they're kind of remote spots, and it's the opposite effect of what we had last year. Last year was really hot earlier in the week. People were seeking shade under these giant trees at the back end of the course. Okay. In an area where there's, like, no water, there's no concessions, restrooms, anything like that. So the solve was, "Hey, well, let's go send some of those amenities and services out to where people are naturally congregating."
Wow. And so we're starting to see some of those pockets emerge. It's always fun to see when you get your big hitters out on the course. Yeah. We call it the beehive effect, where you just have this cluster of people that follow them throughout the course. What's really important for that is we can see how that's unfolding.
We can see there's 2,000 people following Scottie Scheffler as he's going throughout the course. They're getting ready to go through, let's say, the concession stand on the 13th hole. We can trigger the staff at the concession stand to, A, staff up because they're about to get slammed. Okay. And B, stock up so that there's plenty of food there. While that's very operational-driven, it directly affects that fan experience, right? We want everyone who comes on site to have a great fan experience. Taking that data and not just, like, being able to see it, but interpret it in a way that impacts operation workflows and directly affects fan experience, that's what we're trying to solve here.
[00:08:16] Roberto: That's cool. And honestly, that's half the battle. When I think fan experience, yes, surprise and delight, right? You wanna do that at certain stops in the journey, but you also wanna remove pain. When I've been waiting for 20, 30 minutes and I've missed golf, and I get to the front of the line and, you know, maybe I'm gluten-free or I had my eye set on a chicken sandwich and they're out of those items, that is really detrimental to the fan experience.
So being able to anticipate that and avoid that pain is really, really valuable. Yeah. When you look beyond this week, you know, all of this ties into something you could call a portable smart venue. You work across multiple sports and big events. Where else do you think this applies?
[00:08:53] Kevin: I think it applies everywhere. Whether that's an enterprise business, whether that's a permanent baseball stadium, a racetrack. What we're doing here, I mentioned the traveling circus. This is probably the most difficult environment in which to set up this type of system, because everything is temporary. This is a 100-plus-year-old course.
There's not fiber and power all over the place like there would be at a permanent building that's been constructed over the last few decades. So if we take this from an enterprise standpoint or a business standpoint, this technology directly applies. If you run a manufacturing plant, if you have a large facility like a hospital, or if you run an airport, it's critically important for you to have visual access to your data and to have that in front of the right people, then have the right AI agents to interpret that data for you and proactively address issues before they even happen. That's where we think we're heading.
That's why we're taking this first step here, because we think that the implications in sport, yes, are tremendous, but the implications at an even larger scale are equally as exciting.
[00:10:03] Roberto: Yeah, it's really cool. Kaitlyn, data engineer at CapTech yesterday, talked about the AI agents that are layered on top of the data platform and how they're proactive. They're alerting, you know, the operations team as opposed to having multiple analysts sitting there analyzing reams of data. That's really cool.
T-Mobile has a great footprint across sports, right? Just maybe zooming out a little bit, collaboration. Technology's complex. At the end of the day, yes, it's technology, but it comes down to people. I would just love to know personally, what does it take to bring these partnerships together and get results like the ones we've been talking about?
[00:10:38] Kevin: I think it first starts with vision, right? It's critically important for us as we, you know, consider partnerships to have a shared group of values, right? And so we have the opportunity to partner with some amazing organizations: PGA of America, Major League Baseball, who we've had a relationship with for over a decade, and growing our relationship with Formula 1 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
These are all organizations that have a shared embrace of using technology to advance the game, to advance fan experiences. And then from there, we have great people on both sides of the table. It's really a conversation that evolves year over year. And some of the things that we do across sports, you've probably seen automated balls and strikes in Major League Baseball. That takes multiple years to develop and prove and test and iterate upon before you finally see it at the Major League level.
We're seeing some of that now with PGA of America. But it all starts with shared values, this innovative spirit of changing the game, doing things that haven't been done before, leaving the game and leaving the fan experience in a better place than it was when we came into it together.
[00:11:49] Roberto: That's well said. So asking about ABS and baseball. Yeah. It was well-tested. It was a long journey, but I mean, do you have a personal anecdote from just seeing it go live this year? It's been such a big success. It's, I mean, how was that journey? And any aha moments where, you know, maybe some of the best baseball players in the world are like, "This is great"?
[00:12:10] Kevin: It's been fantastic. The feedback in the minor leagues, where we tested it, has been phenomenal, and we've been doing that over the past couple of years. I umpired baseball for 14 years when I was younger. Yeah. And so from my perspective, it's always a little bit of justification when you get a challenge from a batter or someone and then the umpire ends up being right.
[00:12:32] Roberto: Yeah.
[00:12:32] Kevin: And more often than not, you know, right now it's about, like, a 60/40 split where the umpire is right, but what's incredible is, like, you wanna get those calls right in the critical moments. And so there's not one that sticks out, but what is sticking out is, like, the moments that really matter, the right call is being made, and there's no question about it.
[00:12:53] Roberto: Yeah.
[00:12:54] Kevin: And so I think that's really exciting from an integrity standpoint of the game.
[00:12:57] Roberto: It's great.
[00:12:58] Kevin: And it adds a new layer of fun. You know, it adds a new layer of fun to the game, just giving the players a little bit of control, a little bit of a voice in those moments where they agree or disagree, to be able to challenge that ruling on the field. That's awesome. And so it's been a fantastic showing for us so far. We're really excited about that one.
[00:13:17] Roberto: That's very cool. You know, I think baseball has so much momentum behind it, right? The pitch clock, some big-market teams that are strong, ABS. By the way, we have on the TV here T-Mobile's activation on the 13th tee. We were talking about this. Yeah. It's on as we speak. 360-degree view of the golf swing. I mean, you explain it to me, but I'm watching Max Homa right now on the TV while we record this.
[00:13:42] Kevin: Hey, Max Homa, one of our favorite golfers, by the way.
[00:13:45] Roberto: He's the best. T-Mobile athlete right there.
[00:13:47] Kevin: Yeah. So what you're seeing here is, we partnered with CBS and kind of an emerging company called Muybridge. Okay. And what they have developed is a volumetric video capture system that is live for broadcast. And this is comprised of a camera array both on the front and the backside. It's volumetric because you're getting not just, like, front and back, you're getting a true almost 360-degree, but also different elevations for that shot. Yeah. And so you're really able to get those in-depth views of a player, like, striking the ball that we just haven't been able to do before.
[00:14:27] Roberto: That's awesome. Well, I know we are recording audio, but you will see this 13th tee activation with T-Mobile on the CBS broadcast all week. So check it out. The tech is amazing. I was talking to one of the guys from the company. It's a Norwegian company, I believe. Yes. Very, very cool. All right, two quick hits. Five years from now, what should fans expect at a connected live sports event that's not possible today?
Tell us what's around the corner.
[00:14:52] Kevin: Oh, man, that's a great question.
[00:14:53] Roberto: Just one thing. It can be just a fun one.
[00:14:55] Kevin: I'm gonna share with you one of my personal visions, because I'm older. All right. Right? I'm approaching 40, and my eyesight, you know, isn't as great, so I have trouble tracking the ball.
[00:15:05] Roberto: Okay.
[00:15:06] Kevin: And what I'd love to be able to unlock for fans, and selfishly for myself when I'm on the course, is the ability to see the ball from the moment it leaves the tee to the moment it lands in the fairway or on the green. I was watching out here earlier today, and, you know, I lost it in the clouds. Yeah. And I just, there's no way I was gonna see it.
[00:15:26] Roberto: I was covering three holes for ESPN, 15, 16, 17. I need this, so keep going.
[00:15:31] Kevin: Yeah. And so, you know, this exists. There's a lot of great technology out there right now. There's different eye wearables. But I think from a fan experience standpoint, the form factor I really see for this is almost like a pair of sunglasses, where you click a button and it turns on, like, your golf ball tracking ability.
I'd love to be able to wear this at the course when I play with my buddies on Sundays. Yeah. And I'd love to be able to deliver this to fans when they come to a championship event so that they can track the ball in the air while they're here in person.
[00:16:01] Roberto: That's awesome. And you've already said the word vision. That's a big one right there. I love it. All right, let's close with golf. We're both golf fans. Yeah. It's Thursday afternoon. Give the listeners maybe a flavor of what's happening in Aronimink, a big takeaway from you today of the tournament getting started.
Right now there's, I think, seven guys, as we record this, tied for the lead at three-under. What do you see?
[00:16:23] Kevin: The thing that really surprised me when I came out here, because the course is, like, deceptively tricky. Yeah. It's a fairly, you know, we're here in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It looks fairly tight. There is no wasted space in this course design. It is maximized to the T.
The weather will be tricky, right? It's cooler today. The breeze will play a factor, and then it's gonna heat up, right? So you're gonna get, like, almost completely different setups of the course, and I think that might throw some folks for a loop.
[00:16:46] Roberto: Mid-80s on Sunday.
[00:16:51] Roberto: I'm gonna double down on that. The compressed property makes for great energy, though. Yeah. With the crowds, you can see multiple holes. Yeah, it's probably a little tight sometimes, you know, for fans. But it makes for really, really good energy. And I think come this weekend, you know, I hope we keep a crowded leaderboard. I mean, there's some great names on there right now. I think it's gonna be an awesome championship.
[00:17:15] Kevin: Yeah.
[00:17:15] Roberto: Kevin, thanks a lot for being here. Thanks for your partnership with CapTech and PGA of America. I mean, this is exciting stuff. It's very cool.
[00:17:24] Kevin: Thank you so much for having me. We're excited to be here. You know, we feel like we're just getting started, and we're getting some momentum behind us, so we're looking forward to continuing to build together over the next few years.
[00:17:35] Roberto: That's awesome. All right. That's Field Report number four from the PGA Championship. Course Record Show, the business of golf and sports. Thanks for listening.
This episode is presented by CapTech. We are building what's next in sports, focused on modernizing and monetizing data, building new sports experiences, and deploying sports AI agents that have a real impact. Reach out to me or our sports practice lead, Jon Bradway, anytime to talk about the future of sports.