Success Story
From Big Win to Big Data: How Chicago Cubs Uses Informatica to Build Lifelong Fans
“By choosing Informatica for enterprise data management, we’re in a great position to make sure people have experiences that will keep them lifelong Cubs fans.”
- Andrew McIntyre, Vice President, Technology, Chicago Cubs
As one of eight charter members of the as five million fans celebrated in the National League in 1876, the Chicago streets of Chicago. Nearly 50 million Cubs have become one of the most people watched the World Series recognized teams and most valuable games, and the Cubs sold $70 million franchises in all of professional sports. worth of merchandise in just 24 hours Business Needs: The Cubs won back-to-back World following the team’s historic win. The • Engage fans with richer, more entertaining experiences. Championships in 1907-1908 and Cubs are bolstered by an estimated • Maximize marketing opportunities at overcame a 108-year drought to win community comprising millions of ballpark and other adjacent properties. it all again in 2016. dedicated global fans known as • Direct more revenue into maintaining a Cubs Nation. Not only do these fans winning team. The team plays its home games at congregate in the stands, restaurants, Data Challenges: Wrigley Field, which is the second- • Integrate data from 24 sources, including on- bars, and their own living rooms, oldest ballpark in the majors. Its ivy- premises and cloud applications. they engage and connect over social covered brick outfield wall, iconic red • Leverage Wi-Fi, social media, ticketing and media to show their support. CRM data for advanced analytics. marquee, and hand-turned scoreboard • Keep data quality high for accurate, targeted add to its all-American charm. Home to marketing. the Chicago Cubs since 1914, it is a Data as a game- Solution: treasured national monument, hosting • Manage large data streams from online changer ticketing to game-day experiences with over three million visitors every year. It is Informatica Big Data Management. With such a highly valued brand, the also a favorite venue for concerts, and • Use Informatica Cloud Data Integration the campus serves as a neighborhood Cubs franchise is more than just a to integrate data from cloud applications, including Salesforce. gathering place for other events such as sports team. It’s a successful business • Use Informatica Data Quality to cleanse and farmers markets, movies in the park, and focused on providing its fans—among improve third-party data with Informatica ice skating in the winter. the most loyal and passionate in PowerCenter for data integration. baseball—the best possible experience Results: When the Cubs do anything, they do it not only at the ballpark, but also at • Opened up new lines of revenue with a single big. Their world championship parade view of every fan. the restaurants, souvenirs shops, hotels, was the largest ever recorded in the • Delivered fan experiences more effectively, and other businesses around Wrigley strengthening brand loyalty. Western Hemisphere and the seventh Field—many of which the Ricketts • Made faster, more profitable decisions about most-attended event in recorded history, ticket and product pricing. family own or support. To enhance entertainment value for fans and open real time is key to helping us connect with As a result, the Cubs launched an up new revenue possibilities, the Cubs fans more intimately,” says McIntyre. advanced online ticketing application needed a better view of their customers. “The better we can understand our and freed up valuable IT and fans and their needs and preferences, business resources. With Hadoop “Data has always driven the sport the more revenue we can bring into and Informatica BDM, the Cubs can of baseball—from batting average the organization to invest in players, aggregate massive amounts of data calculations to drafting and trading coaching talent, and new technology.” much faster than using a traditional players,” says Andrew McIntyre, Vice data warehouse. President, Technology for the Cubs. “Our organization needed to better tap Digital transformation data to drive the business of baseball.” with intelligent data Driving new revenue The club’s five revenue lines—ticketing, management with stronger customer broadcast rights, corporate partnerships, loyalty concessions, and merchandising—each The Cubs decided to partner with produce large volumes of data. But this Informatica to aggregate data from more The Informatica solution provides business intelligence was locked away than 24 different sources—including a single view of every fan, helping in separate data silos. The Cubs needed business systems, Wi-Fi, social media, the Cubs engage them with mobile to integrate the data from all the different ticketing systems, and Salesforce CRM— experiences such as MLB.com’s Ballpark revenue streams to unleash a holistic into a hybrid data integration platform to App. It will also enable targeted view of the customer. Understanding enable faster, more targeted decisions. proximity marketing, including real-time point-of-sale promotions in neighboring customers’ interactions with the Cubs “We want to be the best both on the restaurants, hotels, and souvenir shops, across the board would give the Cubs field and off the field, and that means to enhance the fan experience and the insight needed to target the right partnering with the best technology increase revenue. The organization offers to the right fans at the right time. companies,” says McIntyre. “We chose also plans to offer fan-facing Wi-Fi For example, the Cubs wanted to Informatica because we knew data at the ballpark, which will provide leverage online ticketing information integration was going to be critical to additional insights into fan sentiment and other transactional data to better our success.” and behaviors. understand important demographics: The Cubs selected Informatica Intelligent “Informatica is literally a game- Who is sitting in which seat at what Data Platform as its end-to-end platform changer by helping us understand game? Who sold their tickets, and when? for data management and data-driven who our fans are and what they want, Who gave their tickets away? Is a fan’s digital transformation. The solution while helping us maintain the tried- attendance increasing or decreasing, and combines Informatica PowerCenter and-true traditions at Wrigley Field,” why? Are they eating at restaurants or for data integration, Informatica Big says McIntyre. “It will help us change patronizing local hotels? Answering these Data Management (BDM) to manage the way we interact with customers questions would help the Cubs track and increasingly larger data streams, and visitors, and attract the next customize offerings, identify cross-sell and Informatica Data Quality to cleanse generation of loyal Cubs fans.” up-sell opportunities, and establish new third-party data, and Informatica Cloud corporate partnerships to sell hotel suites Data Integration for better application For example, the introduction of video or tickets to other Wrigley Field events, integration between cloud applications, boards and digital signage is not such as concerts. including Salesforce. new in baseball—but it was for the Cubs. The organization introduced “Unifying their experience across The Informatica solution provides a video after extensive consultation with properties and making sense of it in near unified approach to greater fan intimacy. its stakeholders, including fans and community members. On the flip side, that go into managing our ticket About The Chicago interacting with hawkers selling food inventory. What used to take several and drinks at the ballpark is part of the days now takes minutes. We can read Cubs quintessential experience of attending the market faster and optimize pricing.” The Chicago Cubs, a charter member a Cubs game, so implementing mobile of Major League Baseball’s National ordering is not a priority for the Building lifelong fan League since 1876, have won the organization at this time. relationships National League Pennant 17 times and were the first team to win back-to- Making faster, more Informatica is now an official corporate back World Series titles in the 1907 profitable decisions partner of the Chicago Cubs and is and 1908 seasons. The team claimed helping the team expand its data-driven its third World Series Championship Intelligent data management helps initiatives to its global fan base and in 2016. Known for its ivy covered the Cubs make the best business Spring Training facility in Arizona. outfield walls, hand-operated decisions—from which broadcast “At every stage of our journey, scoreboard, and famous Marquee, partners to work with to how tickets and Informatica has played a role—whether historic Wrigley Field has been the other products such as season ticket it’s as a strategic advisor, helping us home of the Chicago Cubs since packages, group sales, and suites are choose the best solutions, or identifying 1914, making it the second oldest presented and priced. people we should work with,” says ballpark in Major League Baseball. “The more data we have, the better we McIntyre. “By choosing Informatica for In 2009, the Ricketts family bought get at making decisions that deliver the enterprise data management, we’re in a the Cubs from the Tribune Company best possible fan experience, and boost great position to make sure people have and named Tom Ricketts, son of TD our bottom line,” says McIntyre. “With experiences that will keep them lifelong Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, Informatica, we’ve streamlined the data Cubs fans.” chairman of the team. For more acquisition, preparation, and processes information, visit www.cubs.com.
Digital transformation is changing our world. As the leader in enterprise cloud data management, we’re prepared to help you intelligently lead the way. To provide you with the foresight to become more agile, realize new growth opportunities or even invent new things. We invite you to explore all that Informatica has to offer— and unleash the power of data to drive your next intelligent disruption. Not just once, but again and again.
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