Building Technology That Works Like a Light Switch – Ronnie Bryant, Charlotte Hornets

This transcript has been transcribed by Riverside.fm, no edits (please excuse any errors)

seancallanan (00:00:04)
Very happy to welcome a good mate of mine. ⁓ I've known him for a long time and I've been chasing him to get on the podcast. Ronnie Bryant, he's the Chief Information Officer at the Charlotte Hornets. Ronnie, welcome to the podcast.

Ronnie Bryant (00:00:18)
John, it's so good to see you, man. This it it it it has been a chase and you finally tied me down, man. I'm I'm glad you did. I'm l looking forward to hanging out with you today.

seancallanan (00:00:28)
Not a problem. ⁓ one of the things you have to do as a as someone who does podcasts is be persistent when you wanna when you when you wanna have a guest. And ⁓ you, my friend, have been on that been on that list for a while, so I'm glad we're able to tee up a time. I always start by asking people how they got their their start in the world of sports and sports and technology. What about yourself? How did you find your way into the world of sports business?

Ronnie Bryant (00:00:52)
Yeah, so I I've been in sports for about twenty-two years. And ⁓ I I I got lucky, I would say. I mean, it was definitely a draw to luck. I was working in healthcare at the time. ⁓ the the Charlotte Bobcats had just recently ⁓ relocated back to ⁓ North ⁓ Charlotte, North Carolina, and then ⁓ the NBA awarded the team in November of two thousand and three.

And I had applied for a job ⁓ to work for the team while I was working at the hospital in January of two thousand and four. ⁓ and then then all of a sudden they call and s I started working here in April of two thousand and four. I actually started funny thing is I started working for the Charlotte Steen at the time. I w I was the the the tech guy for the Charlotte Stein. It was the W MBA team that was in Charlotte. We did and the Charlotte Bobcats was coming back as a new MBA franchise and I started ⁓

We were we going through expansion draft and all that those things. And then the team started up in ⁓ November of two thousand and four as a NBA expansion team at the time. So yeah, that's how I got in. I mean, I honestly plot online at at the at at the

seancallanan (00:02:03)
And so what was what was your ⁓ at the ground floor, effectively, but what was what was your first role at the Hornets?

Ronnie Bryant (00:02:11)
My first role ⁓ back in back in that time was system administrator and I also was the project manager for the the current the spectrum center. I was one of the tech project manager for the spectrum center as we were building a new arena ⁓ at that same time and I was also the the the head tech person for our performance center that at the time was in ⁓ South Carolina.

seancallanan (00:02:34)
And was that a t I mean, you sort of said there was already a team in place for the Sting and obviously the the you know, and then coming in as a expansion franchise and effectively ⁓ coming back to the coming back to the market. Was it still a a small team at that point 'cause it was really starting to I guess skill up to be an NBA team again?

Ronnie Bryant (00:02:54)
Yeah, yeah, it was it was a very small team. It it primarily was starting over from scratch. Everybody that was previously with the team, ⁓ when it decided to relocate in 2002, they left with the team. And so every it was pretty much like you were starting over. The only people that were still around is the handful of people that worked for the WMBA team, because the WMB team was still in the city and it was still doing well. But yeah, but it was, you know, less than 50 people.

⁓ and at the same time, not only did we start the ⁓ NBA team, we also started our own sports network at the time as well, which was which was a interesting endeavor also.

seancallanan (00:03:33)
So that makes for ⁓ a very varied role from an IT and a tech point of view because you're not only supporting, you know, a pro team, ⁓ a facility or multiple pro teams, a facility and also a a sports network. So what was that like to tackle both yourself but also with the you know, you would have been constantly adding new pieces to the puzzle from your IT s time ⁓ IT point of view?

Ronnie Bryant (00:04:00)
met Sean, it was only four people ⁓ in IT on the team at the time, which was crazy. And we we were at seven different locations throughout the city of Charlotte and and I obviously we had one location in in South Carolina right off the right over the border. It was crazy. We were we were and we were in the middle of building a new arena. And so we started the arena construction started and we were we were ⁓ we were only giving ourselves about what two years

from ⁓ start to finish to build an arena, which was which was definitely crazy at the time to try to build an arena in two years. ⁓ but but we made it happen. ⁓ but yeah, it it was it was definitely a a a a a challenging and and ⁓ extremely rewarding experience. I I don't think I'd do it again the same way. I definitely do it again, but not the same way that we did it at at that time.

seancallanan (00:04:52)
Well Well effectively you are doing it again now. Like so what do you take from that early experience? Like you are s you do seem like a glutton for punishment and you're constantly building new facilities, but you're you're currently have you've got a current project now with a new practice facility. What are the lessons from that from those early days ⁓ that you're taking into this new facility that you're building?

Ronnie Bryant (00:04:57)
Ha.

Ronnie Bryant (00:05:16)
Sean, it's so funny you say that. I mean, because we are in the middle of building our Novant Health Performance Center, which we we believe will be the state-of-the-art performance center in all of sports. ⁓ And we started construction on it in March of 2025. And guess what? We plan on opening it in in the summer of 2027. So it looks like that two-year thing is something that's near and dear to my heart to make sure things happen in two years or less. ⁓

seancallanan (00:05:44)
Well I do. I remember talking to you last year in at I remember talking to you last year in Nashville and you're in those early you know, you're just broken ground and you'd done all the planning pieces and it's like I'm about to get into execution mode, Sean and it's like I've got it you had a bit of a furrowed brow, you you knew what was in front of you. Now you've been in it. ⁓ you know, how has it how has it gone? And I mean, 'cause every build is different and they always throw up different things, but how's it gone so far?

Ronnie Bryant (00:05:45)
So ⁓ so so ⁓

Ronnie Bryant (00:06:12)
Every build is different, and you're right. I mean, some of the life lessons that we learn. ⁓ in the the original build of this when we just finished up ⁓ a 245 million dollar ⁓ construction renovation for at the perfor at the spectrum center. And so all though all those different experiences honestly has been rewarding because going into our new performance center, I like you say you you learn. ⁓

from a lot of the the the challenges that you have. I won't call them mistakes. I call them more so challenges and opportunities. ⁓ And so we we've kind of revamped our thought process and and being more intentional and and evaluating a lot of the technology that at some times you you would decide like, you know we don't want to do it and next thing you know, two years down the road, you're like, man, let's do this. And then you you you realize that even though you're getting better technology than it was two years ago.

it oftentimes costs you twice as much to do it in a building that's already put together in instead of doing it when the walls are still open. And so we we are we are very being very strategic and and conscious on some of the ⁓ investments we should make that we know we want to do it and and and honestly jumping ship and taking taking and taking the time to make the investment today instead of thinking thinking about, hey, let's do it, you know, once we get in the building.

⁓ and and and make the modification in. So th that is one of the biggest lessons of it all is is think of instead of making it making decisions that you know three, four, five years from now you wish you would have made today. Even though it may ⁓ be a little bit painful because it's gonna cost a lot more money. ⁓ It's gonna cost money and ⁓ that you may not initially had in the budget. ⁓ And at the same time it it's gonna gonna put you ahead of the game and it's it's worth the investment today.

seancallanan (00:08:03)
Well definitely. I mean the future pain is gonna go to the future you, so ⁓ you w you wanna you wanna be ahead of that. ⁓ I mean the thing that's different, like 'cause you know, you we'll talk about the Spectrum Centre in a little bit in some of the renovations, but when you're doing a performance centre, it's a really different client than than a stadium. With the stadium, you know, it's very much the fan and how do we get the fan and and put the fan to focus. But really for a performance centre, it's really it is around high performance and what the coaches want and what high performance wants and

And also that performance edge. So how do you tackle it as a technology executive to sort of take what the you know, what the coaches want from a hey, here's what we want from a high performance point of view, ⁓ and and deliver that. ‘Cause it's a really different brief and, you know, a f a fan a fan concourse and what and what the stadium was because this is ⁓ you know, this is the game you're in, the MBA and the WNBA is the is the game of winning and you want to win. So you you know, this is your contribution to that to to potentially

You know, those on court winps.

Ronnie Bryant (00:09:07)
No, it it definitely is. And then and not only that, I mean we we we wanna be the best and we wanna be premier franchise in sports entertainment. So ⁓ we wanna make sure when it comes to our coaching staff, our players, ⁓ our our full time and part-time staff, when they walk into that facility that they feel like it's the best ⁓ and and making sure that we have the best of the best technology in that building. So ⁓ it's focusing on how ⁓ we we honestly took a cheat sheet and and saw what every other

performance center had in their building and and took all the the good stuff, you know, that they have and put it on ours and then honestly put our spin on it. Some of the things that we wish we would have we we we wanted and had in our building and and wanted in our building. We added that to it as well. So we added a ton of new technology. Some of the latest and greatest stuff, some things that some people are doing, some things that some people are not doing. So and then we also ⁓

⁓ the good thing about this this this technology network is it's one big family. ⁓ And so ⁓ talking to a lot of my peers and saying, hey, you know, what are the things you wish you would have done in the building that you didn't do? what are the things that you wish you would have done that you knew the team wouldn't embrace? ⁓ And and honestly, I was lucky enough to where we could we were able to incorporate a lot of those things and the team was willing to embrace it. And and and the good thing about it too is spending time with the coaching staff and the

and the ⁓ the the ⁓ performance staff to seeing what ⁓ how what things can make their life easier. I mean one of the things that I I always ⁓ focus on is is spending time with different teammates and figuring out what how can we make their life better through technology and what area of technology they're having challenges with and what we can find to make it better.

And so those are some of the initiatives that we did. And and and they spent a lot of time with the players and and and found out things they like, you know, sleep pods and you know all all other different cool technology. And so we added a lot of that stuff into the building to make it ⁓ a a way where make it a system to where it makes it attractive for us to ⁓ attract free agents, ⁓ rookies and all all players that that are coming out, you know, for DMEA draft.

seancallanan (00:11:20)
I mean if you're doing your job right they shouldn't notice the technology, right? It should just be you know, they have the connectivity, the the the tools and the systems they work always connects and always works. Like that's your that's your goal. It's sort of like if a if there's a good referee you don't you don't realise that they were there and you're not complaining about anything. Is that sort of a bit of a philosophy for everything technology?

Ronnie Bryant (00:11:42)
Definitely. I mean my goal is for technology to beat up the light switch. You walk in and on it works. Yeah, when was the last time you walked in the room and you flipped the light switch and you you had an idea that it may not work? Only time you ever felt that way is when you knew the lights were ⁓ out. But but my approach has always been developing technology and make it user friendly and make it make it so that, you know, when issues do happen

seancallanan (00:11:58)
Yeah.

Ronnie Bryant (00:12:10)
We have systems designed that's redundant and and reliable, ⁓ sustainable in and and developing a way to where, you know, n issues don't happen. So we always try to aim to even though the systems are home twenty-four by seven, ⁓ the goal is always to aim for it to always work on twenty-four by seven.

seancallanan (00:12:31)
And the advantage you have this time as opposed to your I guess your first couple of years, you're now a a longtime MBA vet and you sort of spoke about then, you know, the ⁓ the generosity of the MBA technology scene and and all the different CTOs and all the technology folk, which, you know, a lot of we've met, you know, via seat, ⁓ are really generous with their with their time. What's worked, what hasn't. Yes, there's a still a little bit of playing cards close to your chest on

on the on the real cool performance stuff that you're trying to keep that edge, but for a lot of the time there is a lot of there is a lot of knowledge sharing. ⁓ how much of that was really vital for you both over the last twenty years, but then as you sort of dove into this project?

Ronnie Bryant (00:13:13)
Man, it was very vital because I mean it's not like we were doing something that someone else have not done. So and and it's good to be ⁓ someone that's been in in in in the pro sports ⁓ area, you know, for for twenty plus years. That means you th I I I couldn I'm considered the old guy now. ⁓ when I first got in, I was the new guy, now I'm the old guy. So now ⁓ having a relationship with a lot of guys ⁓ that are around.

in sports and and I can call on them, they can call on me ⁓ and and ⁓ pick their brain and they can pick my brain. It's it's a it's a big family and we collaborate a lot. So it's it's good to have that ⁓ network that that can share, hey, I'm looking at this new tool. ⁓

you should check it out. we've saw some success in that. And so we share a lot of things with each other. ⁓ off the off the court is is it's no competition, but on the court we're we're we're we're at it ⁓ at the at each other's throat trying to trying to win the game. But yeah, we we do work well together ⁓ and and and use each other as a resource. A lot of times we are each other's research and development team. ⁓ And so and so that that's how we approach it.

seancallanan (00:14:19)
Mm-hmm. Well, especially even though you've even though you've got a bigger even though you've got a bigger team, like you sort of use them as a wider, like you said, R R and D team. I know the performance side of things ⁓ is is a little bit more of a of a closed shop, but is there some tech that you have rolled out or you are rolling out or it might actually be in your current facility and you're gonna migrate and upgrade it? That is that still makes you go, ⁓ gee, that's really cool and I really like it and it's doing it. Like is there some tech that you can talk about that's in the performance center that

Ronnie Bryant (00:14:30)
yeah.

seancallanan (00:14:49)
That you're really impressed with?

Ronnie Bryant (00:14:52)
I mean it's a lot of tech ⁓ that that we have in there that that I can definitely talk about. What some of it ⁓ outside of the basketball tech that, you know, we obviously try to keep close to the vest.

Some of the tech that I am looking forward to is we're we're putting in tag readers, we're putting in facial recognitions for entry and exiting the building. ⁓ I'm looking forward to some of that stuff. We're doing a ton of building automation, ⁓ occupancy sensors and and things like like that. I'm looking forward to that and and and having a building that's extremely smart ⁓ that we can ⁓ run it ⁓ very efficiently. I'm looking forward to playing with some of that that tech and and ⁓ and

showing the benefits of how technology can ⁓ make the buildings energy efficient and and and make it you know ⁓ run better faster and and extend the life of a lot of core systems in the facility. So that's some of the tech I'm looking forward to. The basketball tech I'm extremely looking forward to. But ⁓ obviously you know like I know a lot of that stuff.

We attempt to keep keep close to our vest because we don't want we don't want everybody we want you to ride in the car, but you won't we want we don't want you to know what's in under the hood. ⁓

seancallanan (00:16:02)
That tha that's fair enough. So the the place where there is more ⁓ discussion and and ⁓ and bit more openness is is in the on the fan side because we do s you you know, you can walk into any stadium and you can see some of the tech or you or some of it is i is hidden, but it is something that, you know, I use the phrase steal with pride, but you would go into other stadiums and go, that's a really cool piece of tech. I want that in my I want to be putting that in my next upgrade or my next ren renovation. Where are things at with your

with your stadium and what are the things that you're either rolled out or looking to roll out that that that give a boost and and help the fans?

Ronnie Bryant (00:16:40)
One of the one of the cool things that that we're looking to roll out, and this has not been publicly announced yet, but we're rolling our iPads and our suites ⁓ to where it's gonna give our suite holders the ability to be order food, ⁓ control the TVs, request trash pickup, ⁓ order merch.

request their their their premium service ⁓ rep to come by their suite ⁓ or request the the suite attendant to come by. That's one of the texts I'm looking forward to introducing this season. ⁓ I think it's gonna be a really good fan experience ⁓ and then now they'll be able to control the TVs. And I'm obviously they can control the T V r with the remote, ⁓ but being able to pull it up where they can see a T a guide through the ⁓ through the iPad.

And then be able to order food. I mean, I think it's gonna be a a a really good experience along with the f the another good another big thing that we're doing is we just finished the rollout of Wi-Fi 7 in our facility. We'll be soon announcing that. So I'm looking forward to that announcement and that release of Wi-Fi 7 throughout facility. We partner with ⁓ our name and rights partner Spectrum's ⁓ enterprise. We're the first Wi-Fi 7 deployment ⁓ that they've started, you know, in the country. So we're looking forward to

getting that rolling and and having the fans experience the Wi-Fi seven network and and and being able to stream and and post their social media posts ⁓ through our new Wi-Fi network. So those are a couple of the new things that we have coming up for this season.

seancallanan (00:18:03)
I mean

seancallanan (00:18:07)
I mean the thing is, you know, we've been attending C long enough to remember when there was a discussion whether whether Wi Fi should be rolled out. You know, there were you know, there was, you know, how do we you know, how do we do it and ⁓ and where do we where do we do it? But the fact that now it's more integrated into the building, you know, the the there's different ways to hide ⁓ and put the antennas in different in different spots. ⁓ but it's also just now like we eventually got to the point and again this is

Ronnie Bryant (00:18:11)
Yeah.

Ronnie Bryant (00:18:16)
I know.

seancallanan (00:18:36)
Talking fifteen years ago when we said, Well, no Wi Fi is needed just like the the toilets are needed. It's an expectation of fans. But now the demand for fans to be able to pull out their phone, go live, ⁓ or just use other parts of your your building, be able to pull out the app and know where to go or or you know, order concessions, it becomes just a foundational part of the stadium if you don't have that infrastructure in place, both for f for for all the fans, but then also

the increasing demands are back of house, like all your POS systems and and all your systems are now, you know, ⁓ moving away from Wired and and just wanna ⁓ j jump on wireless because it's you know a bit a bit easier. I mean that demand hasn't hasn't that app that demand in appetite hasn't stopped. So it just it requires you to bring out new implementation.

Ronnie Bryant (00:19:07)
Yeah.

Ronnie Bryant (00:19:26)
Sean, the the crazy thing about it is when we first opened the Spectrum Center back in 2020, 2005, ⁓ I had stadium wide Wi-Fi, which was not not a ⁓ a thing that people did, but it was the thought process of, hey, you know, I I know where technology is going. I know we were were definitely an early adopter. We're one of the first facilities to do stadium wide Wi-Fi. ⁓ And so I was definitely patting myself on the back. ⁓

when we we we deployed state and white wifi in two thousand and five when the building opened. But then I was also punching myself in the gut in two thousand seven when the iPhone iPhone came out ⁓ and in the 80 access points I had had everybody ⁓ Wi Fi connection running like dollar because it was nowhere near ⁓ at the capacity level to hold hold ⁓ hold hold that many devices. ⁓ obviously we we we pretty soon upgraded but but it was definitely something

I'm definitely proud of that we were we did we were early adopter, one of first ⁓ stadiums to do building stadium wide Wi-Fi. ⁓ because we knew where the future was going. It's just ⁓ it it quickly ⁓ crashed and burned because I mean the it it it it grew Wi-Fi, I mean Wi-Fi devices ⁓ grew, you know, mo multiplied overnight, ⁓ which which which then turned.

requires you to you know have more robust systems for a stadium wide environment. But yeah, I mean, we're we're seeing, I mean, it's so many IoT devices in our facilities now that, you know, 10 years ago it was very small. You know, you went from having just phones and tablets now, we got Wi-Fi sensors in restrooms to make sure the trash pickup, ⁓ trash cans are empty, make sure the paper towel dispensers are are full. You got, you know, sensors and, you know, you got you got

fully Wi-Fi and capable ⁓ tablets that you use to be able to process food orders and stuff like that. You also have ⁓ Wi-Fi kiosks on the concourse to do things. I mean we have the Amazon just walk out ⁓ stations throughout our facility where you walk through, you tap and ⁓ and and process your order, walk through, pick up your food and leave. I mean the the transition and transformation of of

Ronnie Bryant (00:21:45)
of arenas and stadiums now is it's been been remarkable. And I think we're just at the beginning. I don't know with the with the ⁓ with with the the introduction of AI and and machine learning and stuff like that, we're we're we're on our way to really be able to fully customize ⁓ the fan experience to make it even better.

seancallanan (00:22:05)
Well that was the that was gonna be my next point you sort of touched on it then, you you've got the increase of devices and the increased demand and obviously you know, everything you've discussed, you're like you're always thinking forward going, I'm gonna roll something out, but I also know there's more coming. There's always there's always more coming and it's sort of been a theme. But na but but now, you know, as much as you've got the increase of devices, you've just g you've got an increase of data or data as you would say in your part of the world. ⁓ of of of data, of traffic, of Wi Fi traffic, of

Ronnie Bryant (00:22:21)
yeah.

Ronnie Bryant (00:22:29)
Yeah.

seancallanan (00:22:34)
of fan movement, of of interactions. How do you from a you know from an IT point of view make make sure that your data and analytics team, which again would have grown over the last twenty years in analyzing what the fans are doing, you know, what they're doing in stadium and what they're doing online, how is that sort of growth piece of, you know, the just the mountain, you know, you're really at the fire hose now, the amount of data that you're getting, ⁓ to be able to get it to a place

whether it's a data warehouse or ⁓ or or whatever's needed so so your analytics folk can actually ⁓ process that data and make use of it.

Ronnie Bryant (00:23:12)
Yeah, I mean we we've heavily focused on ⁓ improving our our data cleansing and our data ⁓ environment to to put the data in the in the right people's hand to make the best decision. Not only not only for the business, but also for the fan experience. And so we we've we continued to to expand in that area. We've added a lot of tools. To your point, you're right. I mean, our our ⁓ business intelligence team has has doubled in size, which isn't needed.

We got more data. We're doing more things and and we're analyzing more things and ⁓ we're we're we're honestly doing more events. I mean, you know, when stadiums open ⁓ in the early days, you just had basketball events and that's it. Now, I mean, we're doing concerts, family shows, conventions, basketball games. I mean, ⁓ we're extremely busy and and that's what we like. I mean, we we this building is a seven hundred and fifty thousand square foot building, is not meant to sit sit empty.

⁓ We we need events and we want events going on. So I mean, ⁓ being able to understand what's the best events to come to bring to the facility, what the fans want, understanding ⁓ what events they want to see, what what in and man managing our our game schedule. We got four to one home games every year in this building in the regular season. So making sure ⁓ on ⁓ all those days that the the fans are able to come here and have a great time and we're able to, you know, manage the expectations as much as we can.

seancallanan (00:24:38)
So the other ⁓ absolutely. And and then the other thing of you've got the growing ⁓ you know, appetite for data and Wi Fi, but then the other thing when you're in the IT point of view is is protecting all of that data and protecting your stadium and and understanding what cybersecurity is. You know, I think every week you get an email of someone being hacked and ⁓ and data leaking and that kind of thing. What are the what are the kind of

Obviously that's a big concern for you and making sure that everything that you do is both securing for the organisation, both from a high performance but also the f ⁓ from the fan point of view.

Ronnie Bryant (00:25:13)
Definitely, I mean, a as as as important and as critical as the data is, the the quality of the data is good, but also the security of the data is good as well. You wanna make sure people feel comfortable that their data is s secured, safe, ⁓ and and and they don't wanna go go home and and get get a hundred spam calls.

Just cause, you know, we're we're not ⁓ protecting it safely. And so we we we've spent a a significant amount of ⁓ funding in investing in our cybersecurity infrastructure and and managing our ga data governance and making sure we're in a place where we can avoid any issues like that ⁓ occurring when it comes to ⁓ data. So we're using all the the top the best of the best companies to ⁓

to manage and and and keep our data ⁓ safe and secure.

seancallanan (00:26:06)
So we did reconnect recently. Seat was in in Charlotte this year. ⁓ it was g ⁓ one, I want your opinion on one, what it was like having Seat in in your hometown and ⁓ and what are the conversations ⁓ that you always look forward to at Seat.

Ronnie Bryant (00:26:25)
Man, I I I've been I've been seat for si since I think my first seat was two thousand and ⁓ six or two thousand and seven was my first seat, one of the two.

And man, seed has been such an amazing experience. And I i I think the one the the things that excite me more is being able to ⁓ connect with a lot of a lot of my peers across the country ⁓ and and spend time and honestly hanging out with you. I mean, we we're able to get you to come to America and hang out with us. That's that that doesn't happen often. So ⁓ Josh has done an amazing job and I was I was extremely excited when he selected Charlotte. ⁓

to host seat this year. For one, I get to sleep in my own bed, but for two, I get to showcase the nice facilities that we have across our city ⁓ and showcase some of the cool stuff that we're doing. I mean, it was amazing. I mean I think ⁓ seat is really good and then and it's good to see a lot of the continuous partners continue to ⁓ continue to support support seat. ⁓ I think we're we're gonna continue to grow and continue to develop ⁓ into an amazing conference.

seancallanan (00:27:33)
absolutely. And like like I said, you're one of the the OGs when when CET was really just all the tech the tech folk. I mean my first seat was was twenty eleven and and yeah, and it was all the CTOs ⁓ of all of all the different stadiums and that that was the discussion, like what was Daz doing and I think it was a five dollar fine if you mentioned Daz 'cause we were talking about Daz so often. ⁓

Ronnie Bryant (00:27:40)
Yeah.

Ronnie Bryant (00:27:46)
Yeah.

Ronnie Bryant (00:27:51)
Yeah.

seancallanan (00:27:56)
And then that was that then there was that discussion I was like, well, if we get this technology in these stadiums, well we want the digital folk who market it. We want the data and BI folk. And as you've said, your data and BI team has, you know, doubled or tripled it since that since that time. And the same's happened on the digital marketing and the and the social and and the and the content side. So it's a really good it's a really good mesh to get those three sort of departments sort of congregating and and networking and learning from each other because if you don't roll out the tech

Ronnie Bryant (00:28:10)
Yeah.

seancallanan (00:28:26)
then the data and BI folk don't have anything to analyse and the digital folk, you know, have trouble going, hey, we want to get people in. So it's a real ⁓ it's really it's a real collaborative effort and I think SEET solidifies that. I love it when I see ⁓ multiple people from multiple departments from the same team. It's probably the only time they catch up and they do you know realise that they're really connected because they're all doing their own things. That's the bit that I love about Seat and yeah it was my first time in Charlotte

Ronnie Bryant (00:28:48)
No.

seancallanan (00:28:55)
⁓ and you know, absolutely you know, absolutely loved it. So ⁓ I'll I'll have to come back sometime in the in the NBA season a to to to catch a game.

Ronnie Bryant (00:29:07)
Sean, you are always buffering to Charlotte. You you are you you you gotta see that see that see that the arena at any time for any event, any concert. But yeah, you're so right. ⁓ it's crazy how a a lot of ⁓ a lot of those different teams, the marketing, the ticketing, ⁓ the the ⁓ VI teams, ⁓ they work for the same organization, but they never see each other. One of them work on one side of the building, the other one work on the other side. ⁓

But but the the value of seat is is to give all those groups a glimpse of whatever everyone else that that's in their company is facing. ⁓ I'm now able to sit and understand, hey, what are my BI team? What are the challenges my BI team ⁓ is having? How can I be a resource to them? They get to see some of the challenges that I'm having and then they understand when I say, hey, you know, we can't develop, it's gonna take us X amount of days to implement that because of XYZ. They understand, like, ⁓ not only I gotta look at

you know, I'm working on implementing that stuff. I got a hundred other things coming from, you know, sales, coming from the arena management, coming from marketing, coming from, you know, ⁓ finance, ⁓ HR. You know, you got so many other departments trying to get things implemented when a lot of times you look at it and you focus on what all you have going on. So with all the different areas, it it is ⁓ I think it definitely opens your eyes at what other people are have going on and how you can assist and and

and and support them in their initiatives as well.

seancallanan (00:30:34)
⁓ absolutely and then I mean I only got a brief taste of it ⁓ when I was at seat and it was like you'd have to to host a host a panel with yourself with some other ⁓ Charlotte executives ⁓ sort of talking about the Charlotte scene but talk a little bit about Charlotte as a as a sports town and ⁓ and and what it is like as as a as a sports town and as a city.

Ronnie Bryant (00:30:56)
Man, Charlotte is an amazing sports time. Hey, you're in basketball country. North Carolina is basketball country. And so ⁓ you know, here, I mean, we have the NCW ACC, ⁓ which is ⁓ the the the in my opinion, the best basketball conference in all of NCAA ⁓ i headquartered in in in this city. ⁓ we we host a ton of basketball games. We have we have the b a couple of the blue bloods in our state. And so basketball is is here and strong.

Hey, we just the Carolina Hurricanes, the NHL champions, they're out out of North Carolina. So we have that. And and and I I can't I'd be remiss if I don't share the our our NBA ⁓ G League team, the Greensboro Swarm, which is the the ⁓ the G League champion this past year, ⁓ go swarm. And so ⁓ I we have the Charlotte Hornets, we have the Carolina Panthers, we have the Charlotte Knights. I mean, we ⁓ we have the Charlotte Crown.

the the the the the they won the championship this year. So we w we have three champions ⁓ for the 2026 year in in our state. So I mean I think think we're we're we're doing really well in the sports ⁓ sports area. Next next thing coming up is the Charlotte Hornets gonna win the championship and then falling after that going to be the Carolina Panthers. So we're we're we're we're gonna make it happen.

seancallanan (00:32:15)
Absolutely. And and in in all that, you know, also the home of Nascar, you know, which is, you know, ⁓ which meets

Ronnie Bryant (00:32:19)
⁓ The home of that that is the even best part. I mean, the the and I'm glad she brought that up. Yeah. I I I I I apologize for missing that, but definitely the home of NASCAR, which which the the the one good thing for us is is fifty percent of the time the NASCAR champion is living in Charlotte, the or the Carolinas. So yeah, home of NASCAR and I and I hope you when you were here you were able to attend the wonderful NASCAR Hall of Fame and have a really good time there. So yeah.

Thanks, thanks, thanks for that that reminder, but yeah. Nice cars here and and it's really well.

seancallanan (00:32:51)
It it was, yeah. We had the we had the n we had the night at the at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and and it was a it was a fun night. ⁓ I found out that I definitely can't drive in either hemisphere of the world, but that's fine. ⁓ that's why that's why the Uber works for me. ⁓ you did say you're very very lucky to get your role in in the world of sports. I d I I don't believe in luck. I think it it's it's hard work, experience and and knowledge gets gets you there. But what advice would you give to someone that

Ronnie Bryant (00:32:57)
Yes.

Ronnie Bryant (00:33:08)
Ha ha ha.

seancallanan (00:33:21)
says, Hey, I want to work in sports and potentially in in sports ⁓ technology, what would you what would advise would you give them to try to to break into this industry that we love?

Ronnie Bryant (00:33:31)
No, I I'd say find something. I mean, everyone ⁓ will not have the opportunity to get on the field or get on the court. ⁓ It's only it's only about four hundred spots on the on the on the court to do that. So I mean, a as you can tell, you got guys like me that that's behind the desk. ⁓ it's a lot of other opportunities and sports that you can work in. ⁓ Find something in in that you're passionate about regardless what it is in the area.

And and and if you find something you're passionate about that you love to do, whether it's helping people, whether it's you know, ⁓ calculating numbers, whether it's being being active or working out in the community, ⁓ once you've done that and you you go in sports and and and it'll allow you to elevate it to the next level. So it's a ton of opportunities. I mean, it's it's ⁓ so much more to do. We have every area of of of business in the organization and every sports organization. So it's a lot of opportunities, and I think

once you've discovered that ⁓ you work in sports, you will you would love it every day. It would not seem like a job. It just seemed like you're just doing what you love to do.

seancallanan (00:34:37)
Well i yeah, exactly. It's a really good way of putting it because there is a lot of you know, from a front of house point of view sorry, back of house point of view, there you know, IT functions and being able to support everything from an from an admin sign and front of office and ticketing like that it that can be similar to working in IT in banking or or or retail and those kind of things. It it does present its unique challenges in in some instances, in you know, the spikes of of when when fans are in be around game nights. Game nights are different to a

you know, than working at a running at IT in a shopping mall and those kind of things. But there is roles ⁓ across the board, you know, and it's now more business intelligence, is obviously obviously marketing roles, ⁓ but you've just got to then get used to the I guess the usual cadence and sometimes chaos that sport can offer, which is part of the fun of it.

Ronnie Bryant (00:35:26)
No doubt, no doubt at all.

seancallanan (00:35:29)
Well Ronnie, I really do appreciate ⁓ you locking in a time. ⁓ like I said, it's ⁓ I think I've been harassing you for the last couple of seats and you finally relented. ⁓ so I really do appreciate it. I wanna get to the sports geek closing five. Do you remember the first sports event you ever attended?

Ronnie Bryant (00:35:37)
Okay.

Ronnie Bryant (00:35:48)
Yes, my first sports event, professional sports event I ever attended was in two thousand two. It was the Charlotte Hornets. I mean yeah, Charlotte Hornets Milwaukee Bucks playoff game.

seancallanan (00:35:59)
Okay. Very very cool, very cool. ⁓ and you would have been a lot of sports events in your time. Do you have a favorite food or a food memory or a go to food?

Ronnie Bryant (00:36:02)
Yeah.

Ronnie Bryant (00:36:10)
man, favorite food memory, go to food. I really don't. I mean, I like it all. I mean, if if it was just a favorite food, I'd say popcorn. popcorn would be my favorite thing that to to do at at the sports venue.

seancallanan (00:36:21)
Yeah, no problems. ⁓ what is the first app you open in the morning?

Ronnie Bryant (00:36:27)
man, that's a good one. First app today I open in the morning ⁓ is probably Instagram.

seancallanan (00:36:35)
Yep. Okay. That's fine. ⁓ is there is there someone ⁓ either it might be someone that you follow online, it might be an author, ⁓ it might be a colleague that you follow, that the podcast listeners should follow and why?

Ronnie Bryant (00:36:37)
Yeah. Yeah.

Ronnie Bryant (00:36:51)
wow. Yeah, I don't I don't know. I can't that's a good one. I don't I gotta I gotta reevaluate. I don't know if there's anybody I I'm like following and and and and and monitoring everything that I'd say Sean, Sean Callan, you you, you.

seancallanan (00:37:04)
Is there someone that you re is there an author that or a book that you read recently? I ⁓ can take nominations for myself, but but if there's a if there's a book or something you could recommend?

Ronnie Bryant (00:37:10)
Man. ⁓ I'm trying to think.

Ronnie Bryant (00:37:18)
Wow, yeah. It's man, that's a good one. I it's a lot of books in my head right now. ⁓ Man, what book?

seancallanan (00:37:30)
Well I can give you I can give you one while you're thinking. So ⁓ one I always I always recommend Phil Knight's shoe dog, which is the story of ⁓ of Nike, ⁓ which is a which is a which is a good read. And my latest one ⁓ and is Ben Crow's book. He's a mindset coach. ⁓ he's a coach of Ash Bardi who won the Australian Open tennis. ⁓ and I c I keep it's where the light

Ronnie Bryant (00:37:31)
I don't even I can't even Yeah.

seancallanan (00:38:00)
⁓ I keep forgetting the name of the book. ⁓ Where the Light Lets In. And it's all around perspective and understanding your perspective and controlling what you control ⁓ and that kind of stuff. So that's the one that I'm recommending. ⁓ but yeah if you if you have one ⁓ let me let me know. But I'm gonna finish this up asking you ⁓ what social media platform is your VP?

Ronnie Bryant (00:38:09)
Mm-hmm.

Ronnie Bryant (00:38:25)
Ooh. Social media platform that's my MVP. Man, I don't I don't have one. I I'm I'm not on social that much.

seancallanan (00:38:35)
You don't have one, but Instagram's your first one you op first one you open.

Ronnie Bryant (00:38:39)
Yeah, but it's not my MVP. I I I I can't give that one. I mean, ⁓ I don't I don't I don't know ⁓ I I don't have a social I I don't know what social media platform I would really give ⁓ classify as an MVP. ⁓ I don't I don't know. I I I'm not I don't know on that one, Sean. I don't know if I wanna give Instagram that much that that much publicity ⁓ as my MVP. That that's a hard run. ⁓

seancallanan (00:39:05)
No problems, Ronnie. I really do appreciate you ⁓ taking the time. I always ask listeners to reach out ⁓ if they enjoyed the episode as much as I did to say thank you. ⁓ what is the best way to people to reach out and connect with you?

Ronnie Bryant (00:39:20)
The best way we reach out and connect with me is on LinkedIn. I mean, that that would be the best best way to connect. Would would would love to connect. I think it'll be great. ⁓ and yeah, I mean that's ⁓ that's a good deal.

seancallanan (00:39:36)
Appreciate appreciate you coming on the podcast, mate. I will put a link to the showno to your LinkedIn in the show notes. I really appreciate you taking the time. They're always good to catch up.

Ronnie Bryant (00:39:48)
Good to catch up as well. And on that book, I just bought this book on ⁓ on Monday. ⁓ the book name is There's Gotta Be a Better Way by Donald Kiefer. So that would be the book ⁓ I would recommend. There's Gotta Be a Better Way by Donald Kiefer.

seancallanan (00:40:00)
Okay.

seancallanan (00:40:08)
Alright, I will I will look it up myself. ⁓ thank you very much for sharing. Thank you for taking the time. All the best for the season ahead. And like I said, ⁓ I I look forward to catching up either at Seat next year, if not sooner, if I'm in your part of the world.

Ronnie Bryant (00:40:16)
Thanks so much.

Ronnie Bryant (00:40:24)
Cool. Thanks a lot for your time, Sean. Always good to see you and we'll connect again soon.