Along with the addition of new displays, SMT also added a Selfie with the Stars experience where fans could interact with digital images of their favorite players.
Rob Schaefer, Sports Business Journal
SMT installed 52 LED displays comprised of a total of 23.6M pixels at this year’s Credit One Charleston Open. The displays were featured at the competition and practice courts as well as fan congregation areas.
Headlining SMT’s new offerings for the event, which won the WTA’s 500-level tournament of the year distinction in 2022 and 2023, was a “Circle LED Display” situated on the site’s grand lawn. Standing more than 11 feet high and spanning 14.5 feet in diameter, the wraparound board projected live tournament video/scores, sponsored assets and a rolling ribbon for schedule updates. It is the first installation of this type SMT has executed, according to business development manager Angela Garcia, who runs the Credit One Charleson Open account.
“Going forward, what we see happening with [the display] is now that tournament sponsors have seen this opportunity, that we may see some dynamic takeovers in this space,” Garcia said. “I think that would be really exciting for them.”
SMT also for the first time this year installed an 11.5-by-6.5-foot display at the Oaks Deck music plaza and an interactive kiosk at The Charleston Place hotel, which provided schedule information off-site.
Returning this year were eight-feet tall, tri-panel information towers at Althea Gibson Club Court, COCO Row and Entrance Plaza. SMT also again produced its “Selfie with the Stars” interactive experience, where fans can snap photos at a freestanding kiosk with digital projections of players, which SMT’s Creative Studio designs and Video Production services team produces by filming talent in front of a green screen. Selfie with the Stars first debuted at a tennis event during last year’s Credit One Charleston Open and was also deployed at the Cincinnati Open in August (both tournaments are owned by Beemok Capital). Three were installed on Daniel Island this year.
SMT first began working with the Credit One Charleston Open more than a decade ago, and after a break in the partnership, has now activated there every year since 2020. As of 2022, the tournament fully furnished its second court, Althea Gibson, with video boards in addition to Stadium Court.
“The amount of video boards [at the Credit One Charleston Open], I would put it up with any 1000-level event,” Beemok Sports & Entertainment president and tournament director Bob Moran recently told SBJ. “The days of static signs are, in our opinion, over – how do we animate? How do we bring brands to life in the viewing process?”
Garcia added that SMT will look to continue expanding its LED display capabilities while being cognizant that added features do not distract from gameplay. SMT’s display activations supplement its scoring, data distribution and CCTV services as well.
“We see that transition, and have for the past several years, that fans are expecting and looking for a more dynamic engagement on-court and storytelling features – in addition to tournaments and sponsors being able to have the opportunity to put more active and engaging content within the eyes of those that are on-site, and obviously [watching on] television,” Garcia said. “I don’t think this is going away. I think it’s going to continue to get better.”