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Gensler and ROAR are sifting through the social media posts of thousands of FIFA World Cup fans as they provide real-time commentary on their experiences in North American sports venues. Their aim is to better understand “how to make the stadium and district experience better overall for fans,” said Lauren Adams, Dir of Lifestyle Research for Gensler Research Institute, the architecture firm’s internal research arm.
“Sports places in particular are an amazing way to bring people together,” Adams said. “The more we understand what brings people together, the more we can support that, the more we can support our designers, but also the better places we can make.”
This is the first time Gensler has conducted a social listening research effort. The data that they and ROAR — a data and analytics firm owned by mixed-use development firm Seregh — gather is being compiled in an interactive website being updated throughout the tournament. The two parties will produce a report post-tournament sharing what they learned.
“We felt like there was this natural potential experiment happening right before our eyes,” said Adams.
Gensler, which didn’t design any of the 16 World Cup host venues, and another research partner, Oxford Economics, have additionally surveyed 6,000 North American fans and will incorporate those takeaways into the final publication.
But they were limited in their ability to survey fans attending World Cup matches, an issue that social media helped solve.
Because social media posts can be geofenced to include those made in and around a stadium before, during and after a World Cup match, researchers can see what people are saying in their own words in real time without potentially leading prompting from an in-person surveyor.
Gensler and ROAR launched the concept five to six weeks ago, with the architecture firm’s development team whipping together the website and capabilities to track social media sentiment.
Thus far, fans appear overwhelmingly excited about being in North America for the tournament, with positive sentiment about the U.S., particularly, as a host, as well as about people’s experiences inside the seating bowl and the surrounding districts. It represents a big shift from the more negative sentiment leading up to the World Cup.
“So we’re seeing these shifting stories as the tournament goes on,” said Adams.
When fans’ social media posts turn negative about the experience, it’s almost always related to entry, queuing, and transit to and from the stadium.
“It’s kind of like an airport situation where until you get through security you’re in this tense place,” said Adams.