SVG, SMA, ShowMGR to build ground-breaking online venue technical database

Sports Video Group (SVG) and Stadium Managers Association (SMA) entered today into a strategic partnership to create the first nation-wide database on stadiums designed for use by the sports and live events industries.

When completed, the venue database will provide sports broadcasters, teams and leagues with a broad array of technical specifications and personnel contacts for more than 400 professional and collegiate stadiums. The password-protected and secure database will be available to members of the SVG and SMA as well as to customers of ShowMGR, the company that has built the database.

Our members have told us that an online database of facility technical specifications and related contact information will save them both time and money in planning and producing world-class TV productions, said Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG editorial director.

By working with the SMA and its members we can ensure the information is accurate and timely, making the Venue Database a winner for members of both organizations.

In the coming months SVG and SMA will work with its members to collect information for the database. ShowMGR will work with its clients, which include broadcasters like CBS, Fox Sports and the Fox Regional networks, to also populate date fields.

SMA Executive Director Kerry Goodson says the organization, whose members include stadium managers from professional and top-level college football and baseball stadiums is pleased to work with SVG in compiling this database and providing it to respective members.

By mapping the broadcast services that are used in each stadium, we can provide valuable information that will benefit the stadiums and the television production companies that broadcast the games, says Goodson.

The database has been designed by ShowMgr, an industry leader that creates standard software application for broadcast media operations that include a suite of pre-packaged, best-of-class applications to manage customer, partner, contractor, and employee relationships.

With the most comprehensive operations management solution for the broadcast, production and post-production industries, we are focused on functional growth and the continued expansion of management and control of the operational workflow, says Kevin Rosen, ShowMGR.com CEO. We believe that our joint development of the SVG Venue Portal is a strong step toward bringing advancements to the sports production/ distribution process and the overall consumer sports experience.

The in-depth database will serve two purposes: helping stadium (and eventually arena, NASCAR track, PGA Tour and other sporting venue) personnel easily see what trends are occurring in cabling, camera position and other technical areas while giving broadcasters and cable sports networks a chance to easily get contact and technical data without having to make time-consuming phone calls or frustrating on-line searches.

The software is currently in Beta and will be finalized in the coming weeks with the help of SMA and SVG members. In order to assist advance teams and field operation crews in the planning and execution of a broadcast, we built within the venue portal the ability to monitor and audit data entry, provide feedback, and download comprehensive overview reports in Adobe PDF format on an ad hoc basis or scheduled basis for distribution, says Jay C. Madison, Executive Vice President, ShowMgr.com.