Lakers Host Pacers at Crypto.com Arena
The Los Angeles Lakers are set to host the Indiana Pacers tonight at Crypto.com Arena. The game serves as a backdrop for the ongoing evolution of in-venue fan engagement, which increasingly relies on mobile ticketing and location-based app experiences.
Venue owner AEG recently entered a multi-year partnership with Twilio to deploy its customer engagement platform at Crypto.com Arena. The collaboration aims to leverage customer data to personalize fan communications and gain insights into preferences before, during, and after live events. This tech integration is part of a massive, multi-year, nine-figure renovation of Crypto.com Arena designed to enhance the fan experience. The upgrades include a new 5,500-square-foot center-hung scoreboard from Daktronics, new LED screens, and a modernized lighting system to create more immersive, game-presentation effects. Beyond visual upgrades, venues increasingly use location-based technology to engage attendees directly. Through geo-fenced zones within and around the arena, teams can analyze crowd flow with heat maps and send personalized, real-time push notifications for merchandise discounts or concession deals to fans' smartphones. The Lakers' official app, for instance, has integrated gamification, partnering with GTG Network on a free-to-play prediction game. Fans can win prizes by forecasting in-game outcomes, such as how many points a player will score, driving engagement directly from their mobile devices during the game. The Indiana Pacers leverage data-driven personalization through Salesforce Marketing Cloud to tailor their outreach to fans. The team's mobile app provides a contextualized experience based on user location and has previously experimented with augmented reality games that allowed fans to interact with a 3D version of the team's mascot. The sports technology sector is seeing significant investment, with startups playing a key role in innovation. Companies like Placer.ai, which provides location-based analytics and has been described as "Google Analytics for the physical world," and 15 Seconds of Fame, which delivers personalized video clips to fans, highlight the growing market for monetizing in-venue experiences. Looking ahead, AI is set to further transform fan engagement, particularly in ticketing. Ticketmaster and SeatGeek have already made deals to appear in Google's Agentic AI search to streamline event discovery, signaling a shift toward AI-optimized purchasing pathways.
