Experiential Activity Reflection and Event Critique: Pistons Game

This report details an experiential activity involving attendance at a Detroit Pistons basketball game held at Little Caesars Arena. The reflection covers knowledge gained regarding event management, financial aspects, and audience engagement in large-scale sporting events. It applies course content related to sports management, venue operations, logistics, security, and communication synchronization necessary for effective event execution. The report includes an event critique worksheet, assessing aspects such as event details, distinctive features, transportation support, vending, sustainability, technology, sponsorship activation, accessibility, emergency attributes, and customer service. The overall experience underscores the importance of spectator participation and support teams in contributing to the success of sporting events, highlighting the collaborative effort between organizers and audiences in celebrating sporting spirit.

Running head: EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY REFLECTION AND EVENT CRITIQUE
EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY REFLECTION AND EVENT CRITIQUE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY REFLECTION AND EVENT CRITIQUE
Activity Overview
The activity I undertook was visiting a Basketball game. It was a home match of the
Detroit Pistons basketball team. The game was held in the Little Ceasers Arena located in Detroit
in Michigan. The event was produced by the Fox Sports Detroit. The venue is active for 2 years
running. The date I visited was on the 17th of March. The Detroit Pistons faced against the
Toronto Raptors. It was a game in which the Detroit pistons won. I was seated at the section 226
in the 6th row. The ticket for the event cost me around 34 US Dollars. The attendance of the
stadium was 19,277. In the end the match was won by the Detroit Pistons 110-107.
Knowledge Gained
The knowledge I was able to gain was that big events required significant support from a
large number of involved personnel to be completed successfully. I understood that management
was important in sports as it helped in the successful completion of an event. I was also able to
learn that a lot of finances are actually involved in a sports event. This was evident from the
number of sponsors that were present to support the event financially. However, the main
organizers remained the Fox Sport Detroit, who contributed the most towards organization of the
event. Also an important thing I was able to learn was the audience engagement that needs to be
done especially in large scale sporting events. The knowledge I gathered helped me in
understanding that engaging with the local community was an essential part of a sports team. The
most important thing I learnt was that an event was a joint responsibility of all the stakeholders
that are involved in the event organization.

2EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY REFLECTION AND EVENT CRITIQUE
Course content application
The course content helped us to understand the importance of sports management and
venue oriented management activities. Sport event management takes into consideration the
logistics, the financial factors, security factors, engagement factors and other essential aspects
that are required to successfully manage an event (Getz & Page, 2016). A sport event is an
opportunity for a team to engage with the local community. Moreover, in sports events it
becomes important that the right activities are in place to manage the large number of audiences
that attend a particular sports events. Hence, as learnt from the course security also becomes a
major factor. The transportation support mechanism is important to support the large number of
audiences that visit the stadiums. In essence, organizing sports events requires the effective
synchronization of management and communication activities. All these factors guide the
effectiveness of sports events (Close, Lacey & Cornwell, 2015).
Conclusion
Visiting a stadium presented in front of me significant number of observable aspects.
Observing these aspects helped me to understand the importance of sports events. Apart from the
participation of the sports teams, I believe the participation of the spectators and the support
teams become much more important towards dictating the effectiveness of sporting events. I
understood that sporting events are large celebrations of sporting spirit that requires the effort of
the organization and the participation of the audiences.

3EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY REFLECTION AND EVENT CRITIQUE
Experiential Event Critique Worksheet
1. Event details
Event name- Detroit Piston’s basketball game against the Toronto Raptors
Event producer- Fox Sports of Detroit
Venue name- Little Caesars Arena
Location- Detroit, Michigan
Event purpose- NBA season basketball name
Number of event years- The arena is relatively new with 2 years of operations
Event start/End time- The event was held on Sunday, the 17th of March. It was against the
Toronto raptors. The seat was in section 226 on the 6th row. The match was won by Pistons 110-
107. The start of the game was at 4.00 pm EST and it ended at 6.22 pm EST.
Cost of attendance- The ticket cost was 34 US dollars.
Key event sponsors- Flagstar Bank, Little Caesars Pizza, Jeep, Plum Market, 97.1 the ticket,
Buffalo wild wings and Chewy.
Capacity and attendance- The stadium capacity was 20,491 and the attendance was 19,277.
2. Event description

4EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY REFLECTION AND EVENT CRITIQUE
The event was a basketball event with majority of the supporters representing the Detroit
Pistons as they were the home team. The Detroit pistons engaged effectively with the crowd and
there were loud cheering.
3. Distinctive features
One of the distinctive features of the arena is the Budweiser Biergarten. It is a lawn area
situated outside the arena and has a patio and a lawn. It goes great with the audience engagement
features that are very important for sports venues.
4. Transportation support
There are around 32 parking facilities that are present in the arena (Entertainment, 2019).
There are restrictions on the parking of large vehicles. The transportation facilities to the Arena
are great with regular city transport services available.
5. Vending
There are a number of bars and restaurants that are present in the area of the Arena. Craft
cocktails are much available, beers vending centers are also present. Food services are available
at the various pop-up stands. Also services are available at portals 10, 20 and 67. There is a box
office facility and a memorabilia center for ice hockey team of the city.
6. Sustainability
The arena has started a green initiative with a significant waste reduction system in place.
Recycling is practiced by the maintenance teams of the Arena. No environmentally harmful
elements are allowed inside the arena.

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7. Technology features
The Arena is technologically advanced with facilities for a number of sports including
basketball, ice hockey and figure skating. There is a large HD television and scoreboard at the
top of the arena.
8. Sponsorship Activation
The Olympia Entertainment officially takes part in the sponsorship activation for the
event. Arena tours are organized by the sponsors to increase participation (Entertainment, 2019).
The sponsors also open the arena for the organization of private events. Catering services and
audiovisual services are provided for the guests.
9. Universal design and disabled staffs accessibility
The Arena has facility to help both disabled audiences and staff members. Disabled
members can be assisted by special guide animals. These are the only types of animals that are
allowed in the stadium. There are lift facilities and special available chairs for the disabled.
10. Emergency attributes
The stadium only allows soft materials to be brought inside during events (Entertainment,
2019). There is the feature of texting the authorities in case of emergencies. There is a dedicated
lost and found department. The arena also houses emergency exits.
11. Customer service
The customer service is good. With a lot of available facilities the arena has a large
customer service team. The team assists the spectators before, during and after the matches. The

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customer services are also provided at the various places inside the premises of the arena where
food and drinks are served.
References
Close, A. G., Lacey, R., & Cornwell, T. B. (2015). Visual processing and need for cognition can
enhance event-sponsorship outcomes: How sporting event sponsorships benefit from the
way attendees process them. Journal of Advertising Research, 55(2), 206-215.
Entertainment, O. (2019). Little Caesars Arena | Olympia Entertainment. Retrieved from
http://www.olympiaentertainment.com/little-caesars-arena-2
Getz, D., & Page, S. (2016). Event studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events.
Routledge.
Michelini, L., Iasevoli, G., & Theodoraki, E. (2017). Event venue satisfaction and its impact on
sponsorship outcomes. Event Management, 21(3), 319-331.