Background

Sporting events at any level make for good entertainment. Millions of viewers tune in regularly to watch their favorite player and/or team. Livestreaming from companies like BallerTV makes it possible for fans to enjoy sports from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

At its core, BallerTV is a livestreaming service providing live coverage, replays and highlights of more than 10,000 games on any given weekend. They have truly changed the game of sports broadcasting.

Opportunity/Challenge

Like many other industries, BallerTV was hit hard during the pandemic. Many sporting events were simply shut down. However, when the world started coming out of isolation, they found themselves in a unique position and seized the opportunity. "Coming out of the pandemic with all of the precautions and restrictions, streaming events almost turned into an essential service because a lot of the events posted wouldn't allow spectators," said Clint Grey, Senior Logistics Manager for BallerTV.

More opportunities lead to more game coverage, and more game coverage could lead to a logistical nightmare for Grey and his team. Fortunately, they were proactive in looking for a way to better track the assets they have coming and going from their facilities.

Upon doing research, Grey and his team found Metalcraft, a Mason City, IA-based manufacturer of identification solutions including both barcode and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

Solution

After qualifying the application, the Metalcraft team recommended their Universal RFID product line. This revolutionary product line is designed to achieve excellent read range on metal surfaces, but it also gets great read range on a variety of other surfaces like plastic. In addition, Grey and his team incorporated a preprinted barcode matching the RFID programming so their technicians can use either tracking technology.

At the item level that Grey estimates, it takes their technicians 10-15 seconds per asset to scan manually. While that may not sound like a lot, there can be up to 200 assets per handling unit and thousands of handling units. The time savings really add up.

Result

Grey said that their plan is to eventually fully utilize RFID technology during the inbound and QC process, but it doesn't just stop there. "Once we incorporate the system into the field, we will then be able to essentially walk through a venue or facility with a handheld accurately capturing these devices," he said. "We'll understand exactly where it's at in that facility."

Video: Asset Tracking with BallerTV and Metalcraft RFID Tags

To learn more about our asset tracking solutions, contact us today at [email protected].