Birmingham businesses team up to create “world-class” tech-enabled cricket stadium

IT services provider, Intercity, has announced a new partnership with Edgbaston Stadium & Warwickshire County Cricket Club, teaming up to support Edgbaston’s “ambitious” regeneration plans and to help them achieve their vision of becoming a “world-class” tech-enabled stadium.

The partnership has been announced at an “exciting time” for Edgbaston, hot off the back of Australia prevailing over England by two wickets in the first test of the 2023 Men’s Ashes Series. Both on and off the pitch, the Club’s “ambitious” plans are underway to maintain the stadium’s reputation as an “elite” sporting venue amongst a global audience.

As the official IT partner, Intercity will bring its diverse portfolio of managed IT solutions and award-winning customer service, which will be pivotal in enabling the delivery of Edgbaston’s Stadium & Community Master Plan set to create a mixed-use development which aims to benefit both cricket fans and the West Midlands community and economy.

Whilst the partnership with Intercity will help fuel the future for Edgbaston, an immediate benefit was the unique opportunity to use The Ashes as a ‘Living Lab’ to understand the requirements of mass crowds and how the IT provider can best add value.

With over 118,000 spectators in attendance and Sky Sports announcing their highest-ever recorded audience for a test match, Intercity has begun its exploration of the critical role IT, data and technology plays to enable the on-pitch, live sports action and the “first-of-its-kind” analysis will be shared in a ‘Sweating the Numbers’ report in due course.

From scanning thousands of e-tickets and using the Edgbaston app to deliver high end customer experience so they can click and collect food, beverage and retail orders, report in-stadium issues and receive live updates, integrated technology infrastructure is essential for large sports events, which Intercity will be unveiling in its analysis.

But the Sweating the Numbers report only marks the first innings of this tech partnership, with a host of further milestones at Edgbaston including the Women’s Ashes IT20 in July, Men’s T20 between England and New Zealand in September and the stadium’s next phase of regeneration.

Group managing director Charlie Blakemore at Intercity, commented: “We are delighted to become the official IT partner for Edgbaston Stadium, an iconic cricket venue that’s just a mile down the road from our headquarters in Birmingham.

“Intercity and Edgbaston share the same values and ambition to work together to provide a sustainable, world-class experience and add long-term value to our local community.”

CEO at Intercity, Andrew Jackson, added: “Our business is designed to create world-class technology partnerships with our customers and together with Edgbaston we are striving to create a unique experience that sets the standard in Sports Technology Infrastructure.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

• Add me on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up to date
• And follow Bdaily on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
• Submit press releases to editor@bdaily.co.uk for consideration.