With the rapid development of China's sports industry and the deepening of digital transformation, smart sports venues, as an important carrier for the integration of the sports industry and information technology, are ushering in unprecedented development opportunities. The local standard "Smart Construction and Management Specifications for Large and Medium-sized Sports Venues" (DB33/T 2305-2021) recently issued by Zhejiang Province provides a systematic construction guide for the industry, marking that the construction of smart sports venues in my country has entered a standardized and normalized development stage. This article will deeply analyze the current development status, market size, technology application trends, challenges and opportunities faced by China's smart sports venues industry, and provide comprehensive market insights for industry participants.
1. The smart sports venue industry ushers in a policy dividend period, and the market scale continues to expand
In recent years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the development and digital transformation of the sports industry, and has successively introduced a series of supporting policies. The State Council's "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption" clearly proposed to promote the development of "Internet + Sports" and accelerate the informatization of sports venues. The "14th Five-Year Plan for Sports Development" of the State Sports General Administration has listed the construction of smart sports venues as a key task, requiring that by 2025, the rate of smart transformation of large sports venues across the country will reach more than 60%.
Driven by policies, the scale of China's smart sports stadium market is showing a rapid growth trend. According to market research data, the scale of China's smart sports stadium market has reached about 85 billion yuan in 2023, and is expected to exceed 120 billion yuan by 2025, with an annual compound growth rate of more than 18%. Among them, the intelligent transformation of large sports stadiums occupies a dominant position in the market, accounting for about 65% of the total scale. medium-sized venues account for about 25%. small and other types of venues account for about 10%.
From the perspective of regional distribution, East China, especially Zhejiang Province, is in a leading position in the country in the construction of smart sports stadiums. The local standard "Smart Construction and Management Specifications for Large and Medium-sized Sports Stadiums" issued by Zhejiang Province systematically standardizes the construction requirements, system architecture, business applications and security management of smart sports stadiums, providing reference experience for other regions in the country. The standard divides the intelligence of sports stadiums into three levels: advanced, intermediate and primary, and lists 36 specific functional configuration requirements in detail, providing a clear technical route for the construction of smart stadiums.
It is worth noting that the construction of smart sports stadiums has shifted from a single hardware facility transformation to an overall solution. The system architecture of modern smart sports venues usually includes hardware perception layer, core technology layer, basic platform layer, business application layer, application display layer, network security level protection system and technical specification system. This all-round digital transformation not only improves the venue operation efficiency, but also greatly improves the user experience, providing a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the sports industry.
2. Technological innovation drives the functional upgrade of smart sports venues, and digital twins become a new trend
With the rapid development of information technology, the technical application of smart sports venues is undergoing profound changes. Modern information technologies such as BIM (building information modeling), cloud computing, Internet of Things, 5G communication, big data, artificial intelligence, and digital twins clearly proposed in Zhejiang Provincial Local Standards have become the core technical support for the current construction of smart sports venues.
In terms of the hardware perception layer, modern smart sports venues generally deploy a large number of perception and data collection devices, which can perform all-round physical perception of the infrastructure, hardware and software equipment, and personnel in the venue. These devices can realize the real-time collection of information such as location, identity, behavior, status, environment, competition, passenger flow, energy consumption, lighting, and network, and provide data support for upper-level applications. According to the standard requirements, the hardware perception layer must be linked with the basic platform layer and business application layer of smart sports venues to ensure the smooth transmission of information and data, and at the same time provide multiple security guarantees such as equipment security, user security, and access security.
The progress of the core technology layer is particularly significant. The application of edge computing technology makes data processing closer to the data source, greatly reducing network latency. the introduction of digital twin technology realizes the spatial positioning and data collaboration of important assets, energy, personnel, etc. of the venue, bringing the management of venue space, assets, security, operation and maintenance, energy, etc. to a new level. The Zhejiang Provincial Standard specifically emphasizes that the application of venue building information models should comply with the requirements of GB/T51212, and digital twin technology should realize the virtual display analysis and prediction functions of the venue.
The architecture of the basic platform layer is also becoming more and more perfect. The basic platform of modern smart sports venues usually includes three parts: business middle platform, data middle platform and AI middle platform. The business middle platform realizes the efficient transformation of back-end business resources to front-end applications. the data middle platform provides a collection of technologies for data collection, calculation, storage, and processing. the AI middle platform supports intelligent applications through technologies such as fast programming and algorithm containers. This middle-tier architecture greatly improves the flexibility and scalability of the system, providing strong support for business innovation.
It is particularly noteworthy that the application of digital twin technology in venue operation and maintenance management is accelerating. By building a digital twin of the venue, managers can simulate various operating scenarios in a virtual environment, predict potential problems, and optimize operating strategies. This "virtual-real" management model not only improves the scientific nature of decision-making, but also greatly reduces operational risks and maintenance costs. With the continuous maturity of technology, digital twins are expected to become the standard configuration of smart sports venues, driving the industry to develop in a more intelligent and refined direction.
3. Smart application scenarios are constantly enriched, and security and energy consumption management have become the focus
With the maturity of technology and the diversification of needs, the application scenarios of smart sports venues are constantly expanding and deepening. Zhejiang Provincial Local Standard divides the business applications of smart sports venues into three categories: venue operation management application, venue comprehensive operation and maintenance control platform, and venue equipment management platform, covering a full range of smart solutions from daily operations to equipment management.
In terms of venue operation management, smart applications have penetrated into every link. The venue reservation management system supports complex scenarios such as time-sharing and venue-sharing pricing, holiday pricing, and rescheduling. the ticket management system realizes online and offline multi-channel ticket sales and intelligent verification. the membership management system provides personalized services to users through big data analysis. It is particularly noteworthy that the passenger flow monitoring and management system realizes real-time monitoring and thermal analysis of venue passenger flow through binocular passenger flow monitoring, WiFi probes, face recognition and other technologies, providing data support for safety management and service optimization.
The intelligence level of the venue's comprehensive operation and maintenance control platform has been significantly improved. The comprehensive situation system can conduct a comprehensive analysis of political, economic, social, technological and other factors that affect the development of the venue, as well as the venue's hardware facilities, service items, and financial status. the real-time energy consumption platform collects and analyzes the energy consumption data of the venue's air conditioning, lighting, electromechanical and other facilities and equipment, providing a basis for energy saving and consumption reduction. the intelligent emergency management system uses video monitoring and artificial intelligence technology to realize intelligent inspection, automatic alarm and emergency plan activation, greatly improving the emergency response speed and processing efficiency.
In terms of venue equipment management, smart security and energy consumption management have become the focus of construction. The smart security equipment platform integrates multiple subsystems such as video surveillance, intrusion alarm, electronic patrol, and security inspection, forming a comprehensive security technology prevention system. According to the standard requirements, the video surveillance image resolution should not be less than 1080P, and the surveillance video should be kept for no less than 30 days (no less than 90 days in key anti-terrorism areas). Some areas even need to be equipped with 4K and above ultra-high-definition panoramic cameras. The fire monitoring and management system realizes real-time monitoring of the operating status of building fire protection facilities and automatic fire alarm, and links with the video security system to form an integrated security guarantee system.
The energy consumption metering system management has also made significant progress. The energy consumption management system of modern smart sports venues can not only monitor and count energy consumption such as electricity, water, natural gas, heat, and cold, but also link with equipment monitoring systems, intelligent lighting systems, and environmental monitoring systems to achieve energy efficiency optimization management. The intelligent lighting management system automatically adjusts the lighting illumination and mode according to the use of the venue and the needs of the sports events, which not only meets the visual requirements of the game and the spectator, but also realizes the efficient use of energy. These intelligent applications not only improve the management efficiency and service level of the venue, but also make important contributions to energy conservation, emission reduction and sustainable development.
4. the industry faces challenges in standardization and network security, and has great potential for future development
Although the construction of smart sports venues has made significant progress, the industry still faces some challenges that need to be solved urgently. Standardization issues are an important factor restricting the development of the industry. Although Zhejiang Province has issued local standards, there is still a lack of unified smart sports venue construction standards and evaluation systems across the country, resulting in uneven construction levels in different regions and obstacles to system interconnection. The industry urgently needs to accelerate the pace of national standard formulation, promote the standardization of key technologies and interfaces, and lay the foundation for the large-scale development of smart sports venues.
Network security risks should not be ignored. Smart sports venues are highly dependent on network and information technology and face security threats such as data leakage and system paralysis. Zhejiang Provincial Local Standards particularly emphasize the need to establish a complete venue operation security system architecture, including physical security, network security, application security, data security and other levels, and comply with national standards such as GB/T 20271 and GB/T 22239. In actual construction, how to balance convenience and security, and how to achieve coordination between user data protection and business needs are still issues that venue operators need to seriously consider.
The shortage of professional talents is another prominent challenge. The construction and operation of smart sports venues require compound talents who understand both sports business and information technology, but the current supply of such talents is seriously insufficient. The standard proposes to "equip professional and technical personnel in the fields of digitalization and informatization required for the construction, operation and maintenance of smart sports venues" and formulate an annual training plan, but talent training requires a process, and the talent gap is difficult to fill quickly in the short term.
Despite the challenges, the future development prospects of smart sports venues are still broad. With the further maturity of technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, the functions and performance of smart sports venues will continue to improve. The holding of large-scale sports events (such as the Olympics, Asian Games, etc.) will also inject new impetus into the construction of smart sports venues. In addition, the in-depth implementation of the national fitness strategy will give rise to more demand for the intelligent transformation of small and medium-sized sports venues, bringing new growth points to the industry. It can be foreseen that the smart sports venue industry will maintain a rapid growth trend in the next few years and gradually develop in the direction of standardization, intelligence, and greening.
The above is a comprehensive analysis of China's smart sports venue industry. From the perspective of the policy environment, both the national and local governments attach great importance to the construction of smart sports venues and provide strong support for their development. the market size is showing a rapid growth trend and is expected to exceed 120 billion yuan in 2025. technological innovation, especially the application of cutting-edge technologies such as digital twins, is profoundly changing the operation and management model of venues. application scenarios are constantly enriched, and security and energy consumption management have become the focus of construction. Despite the challenges of standardization, network security and talent shortage, the smart sports venue industry has great development potential under the background of digital transformation and sports industry upgrading, and is expected to become a model of the integrated development of "Internet + Sports". In the future, with the advancement of technology and the improvement of standards, smart sports venues will play a more important role in improving operational efficiency, improving user experience, and promoting sports consumption, providing solid support for the high-quality development of China's sports industry.
