Provide Fans with "Instant Rewards" for their Venue Check-Ins

As geolocation based services (Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places) begin to play a larger role in the sports space, sports organizations should consider ways to instantly reward fans for their actions. Fans commonly "check-in" while attending games for a number of reasons, including interaction with other fans in attendance, sharing stadium photos, tips, and insights, and browsing various "check-in" locations throughout the stadium.

But while this engagement is appealing to some, teams will likely need to begin providing fans with incentives to continue their actions, especially as geolocation based services remain in the early adoption phase. As sports organizations look to engage their corporate partners in their social media and geolocation based marketing efforts, a true opportunity exists with "instant rewards".

GranataPet Snack, a German-based pet food company, recently created an interactive billboard display that rewarded all consumers who "checked-in" on Foursquare while walking their dog in front of the area. The interactive dispenser, triggered by a sensor, engaged hundreds of consumers and created an instant case study for brands and organizations looking to reward consumers in real-time for their actions on Foursquare.

Teams can look to create a similar interactive display within the concourse (or adjacent to the ticket box office outside the stadium/arena during the off-season) that engages and rewards fans for their actions. Teams could provide a variety of low-budget items to consumers to create an element of surprise, including exclusive promotional giveaways, leftover premium items, autographed merchandise, t-shirts, mascot rewards, and products/services provided by corporate partners.

GrenataPet Snack reportedly worked with a German-based agency called Agenta to execute the campaign. We'll be on the lookout for vendors that can build and execute an interactive Foursquare-based prizing system!