There are two things I really dig: mobile technology and the National Basketball Association. That’s why it’s very cool to see the Phoenix Suns, Samsung and Verizon Wireless teaming up to bring Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets to the game.
These 4G LTE-enabled tablets will be used throughout the Suns’ operation. This will include workers at the game showing perspective clients interactive views of their game seats and you could easily see kiosks or retailers in the arena using these to jazz up displays. It’s not just the business side though, as every player will get a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and this will include the team’s playbook, videos, scouting reports, travel itineraries and the 4G LTE means that these will be able to be updated on the fly.
“Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a new era in the NBA, where I think teams throughout the league will want to integrate a tablet into their operations,” said Suns’ coach Alvin Gentry.
This is another sign that there definitely is a place for mobile technology at sporting events on all sides. We’ve already seen some NFL teams use the iPad to replace playbooks and I wouldn’t be surprised to see every team have this within five years.
While the Suns organization was never really able to surround Steve Nash with a championship cast (they let A’mare and Joe Johnson walk, sold draft picks that could have been Luol Deng and Rajon Rondo) but the team has done a great job of investing in its digital media strategy. Along with the tablet announcement today, this Phoenix team has been miles ahead of nearly any other organization when it comes to social media.