Qualtrics is an experience data (X-data) company that designs global enterprise research software that offers automated analytics to 75%+ of the Fortune 100, and to 11,000+ global brands and sports organizations. Owned by SAP who are experts in operational data (O-data), the combination of X+O enables optimized management because they build experience management programs such as Customer Experience Management (CXM). Today they announced the launch of free solutions that enable businesses to understand how to best help their employees go back to work and get back to some type of normalcy after COVID-19 stay at home restrictions eased this past week around the nation. They analyzed new data sets that reveal what Americans and fans feel the most confident with regarding reopened businesses. By closing experience gaps, Qualtrics can better influence the NBA, NHL and MLB as to whether a season should even happen and how to best make it so based on data, not politics. Their recent study says 25% of customers who attend sporting events are wary of attending sport games, races and tournaments, and most likely will not go in the near future, and perhaps beyond until a vaccine is secured. The Sports Techie community blog is not on the fence as to whether sports and states should reopen like here in Georgia. Instead, as health experts are saying, it makes better sense to wait until more answers are uncovered about coronavirus but since we live in America, land of the free, citizens and business owners have the right to decide what do next in open states. The live sports game, work and business must go on, right?
Qualtrics Study
The full Return To Work/Back To Business study can be viewed here and key findings related to sporting events include:
- 79 percent of respondents would be uncomfortable attending a sporting event
- 24 percent of people who regularly attend sporting events said they are unlikely to attend in the foreseeable future
- People also remain uncomfortable interacting with each other. 68 percent of respondents are uncomfortable playing a team sport
The report is based on responses from 2,000 people in the U.S. in the last week.
It is eye opening that 79% of those queried would be uncomfortable attending a live sporting event because it tops the chart of activities but not surprising because I agree with them. Again, it is no surprise 68% of study participants would feel uncomfortable playing a team sport as I would too. My educated guess is the ladder number would actually be lower if only professional athletes were asked because they want to make cheddar, and are at low risk of death since they are young, in tremendous shape and have excellent immune systems to fight off the disease that old people and those with existing medical conditions too often cannot.
How Can Sports Generate Fan Confidence
The answer as to what sports events, teams and leagues, associations and federations, can do to help people feel comfortable sitting in a stadium, arena or grandstands when the time comes as the pandemic continues to spread, is not an exact science much like the recent NFL draft. Most experts felt the Seattle Seahawks 2012 draft was a bust when they took Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson in the 2nd and 3rd rounds respectively but nearly a decade later, they each have a Super Bowl ring and are both headed to the Hall of Fame. One thing for sure, the COVID-19 respiratory contagion is much more dangerous to the greater good than the flu. Those that argue otherwise are knuckleheads imo, and most likely voted in our failure of a President.
Is there a right or wrong way to proceed with reopening sports and non-sport businesses? Of course not, this in an unprecedented situation. The reality is as humans, it is OK to be scared, cautious and pessimistic when it comes to COVID-19 because it has been difficult to know what information to believe whether it comes from Trump, a Governor, the CDC or WHO. After all, Trump called it a hoax, and just a few weeks ago Georgia’s Governor Kemp did not know the disease could spread from asymptomatic people, and the CDC located here in Atlanta told Americans it was not necessary to wear masks then they completely flipped and said we all should. So, what did VP Pence, Chair of the White House Pandemic Task Force, do this week when touring a hospital? He did not wear a mandatory mask because he wanted to look people in the eyes even though the mask does not cover his eyes and everyone else in the building wore one, putting himself at serious risk of infection. See what I mean.
The no-fan, made-for-tv era of live sports is here. Empty stadiums may be a regular occurrence for the foreseeable future but that is not stopping greedy leagues from pushing forward with reopening so they can broadcast games and make money. The idea that starting sports up again is a way to get back to normalcy makes no sense in that nothing changes at home or at work for fans. Rather, I would label it as a distraction from reality. The danger COVID poses to those in attendance and the surrounding communities at large is not worth the risk. White House infectious disease task force member, Dr. Anthony Fauci, as well as the CDC Director, are both warning to expect another wave to come this fall that when mixed with the flu, will make for another shut down waiting to happen. Only this time, it may need to be nationwide. The NFL and college football are certainly aware of this all too real possibility. Reopening is a pure money play, plain and simple, whether it is for states to avoid paying unemployment to those that need it the most, or owners and a significant percent of pro athletes that probably don’t need the money but can’t help themselves because cashing in is what drives them every day.
NASCAR is running 7 races over an 11-day span during May with no fans but with up to 1,000 personnel in attendance. The NBA is looking into a ‘bubble season’ in perhaps Orlando at Disney World or Las Vegas with the goal of 15,000 tests hopefully taken daily. MLB announced the idea that spring training would be conducted in the home ballparks of each team if an abbreviated season in three states was going to happen. The NFL announced a delayed season schedule and neutral sites in case it is needed and most likely it will come autumn. All these concepts are with zero fans and social distancing protocols.
Qualtrics is the patch sponsor for the Utah Jazz, the NBA team that first tested positive for COVID-19. Larry H. Miller Group (LHM) operates the Jazz, more sports teams, financing businesses, movie theaters, and auto dealerships across seven western states. “Everything changed when we learned that the NBA had postponed games,” said Amanda Covington, Chief Communications and Government Relations Officer of the Larry H. Miller Group.
After public officials claim it’s safe, and a treatment or vaccine for the virus, and/or an antibody test is readily available for all, people are inclined to want a few or all these factors below to happen before they feel comfortable attending a live sporting event, concert or conference:
- Social distancing established and enforced – 39 percent
- Mandatory mask-wearing – 36 percent
- Assigned seating with attendees kept at a safe distance – 33 percent
- Temperature checks done on all people entering the event – 29 percent
Free Solutions
Qualtrics will launch new, free solutions available to every business, government and educational institution – large or small – to help them understand how their employees and customers feel as they make decisions around returning to work.
- Return to Work Pulse isan automated solution for leaders to continuously listen, understand, and act on employees’ health and safety needs so they can return to their offices with confidence. Whether teams have been working from home, on furlough, or out due to temporary business closures, Back to Work Pulse helps HR, Operations, IT and Leadership teams address each employee’s unique needs to make a safe and positive transition back.
- Back to Business solutions are designed to help organizations stay connected with customers, understand their expectations and preferences, and take actions to build customer confidence as businesses reopen their doors.
- These new COVID-19 solutions are built on key learnings from 31K projects across 8K+ organizations Qualtrics has worked with over the past month to support remote workers since the start of the pandemic (e.g., GoDaddy, Larry H Miller Group, St. John Ambulance in Sydney), in addition to their efforts to dramatically increase COVID-19 testing in the Utah, Nebraska and Iowa.
Visit Qualtrics XM for more info.
Sports Techie, bettering the Human Experience is a core competency of Qualtrics. The world as well as sports needs it big-time after COVID-19.
Data and insight into human emotions, beliefs, sentiments and values assist Qualtrics close the planet’s biggest gaps for people, companies, communities and governments. Their powerful technologies scales in order to tackle political problems, human rights, unequal health care practices, gender equality issues, education initiatives and income disparities.
Qualtrics begins to understand problems by taking feedback collected from clients, employers, supply-chains, partnerships, and additional stakeholders within the preferred channel or channels. They use complex text and voice analytics to uncover unseen insights overlooked in customer feedback automatically. Finally, using AL and machine learning together provides them with action items which are directly sent automatically to decision makers that can make change a reality.
No wonder Qualtrics has more than 11K brands and over 75% of the Fortune 100 as customers.
Their X+O technology is a checkered flag, home-run, touchdown, and game winning three-point shot, all rolled into one.
See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!
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