Case Study Fan Engagement at Major Events

How to achieve 17% adoption in event apps (when the industry average is 5-10%)

Download target exceeded | 17.2% adoption rate | Zero resistance

If you work with sports events, you're familiar with these scenarios: passive fans during waiting periods, invisible ROI for sponsors based solely on "estimated impressions," disorganized queues creating dangerous crowding, ineffective communication about event details, and meet & greets that turn into uncontrolled crowds.

The largest sports event for fans in Brazil proved it's possible to do things differently. And the numbers speak for themselves.

The context

We're talking about a major sports event held in São Paulo over 18 days in June 2025. The format included live broadcasts of the finals, interactive experiences for fans, premium experiences such as street court, 3x3 basketball, meet & greets and shows, plus premium sponsors. The challenge? It was the first edition with an official fan engagement app.

The organizer had four well-defined objectives: create real engagement instead of vanity metrics, provide a differentiated experience that fans would remember and share, generate measurable ROI for sponsors, and ensure smooth operations without chaos.

The 5 chronic problems in sporting events:

Before thinking about solutions, we identified the structural problems that affect virtually all major sports events.

The first problem is low engagement during waiting periods. Long intervals between activations mean bored fans scrolling through their phones without truly interacting with the event. It's a missed opportunity that repeats itself time and again.

Then we have invisible sponsors. Logos scattered everywhere, static booths, and ROI based on "estimated impressions" that, in practice, are little more than guesswork disguised as real data.

Disorganized queues are another endemic problem. Premium experiences transform into chaotic crowds where whoever arrives first, or pushes hardest, gets everything. The rest are left frustrated with a poor experience.

Ineffective communication completes the picture. Schedule changes and experience openings don't reach fans, or arrive too late. The result? Fans missing out on experiences they wanted to have.

Finally, chaotic access to celebrities. Meet & greets without proper management become a pushing crowd, leaving the celebrity uncomfortable, fans frustrated, and organizers stressed.

How we thought about the solution

We didn't start with the app. We started with the right questions.

Phase 1: Rigorous Discovery

For fans, we asked: what are the "dead" moments in the journey? What generates frustration? What would make the experience memorable? For organizers: what operational problems repeat at every event? Where is there chaos that needs order? How to communicate changes in real-time? And for sponsors: how to measure ROI beyond "estimated impressions"? How to integrate the brand into the experience without being invasive?

Phase 2: Strategic Feature Selection

Here we applied a simple but powerful rule: we only activate a feature if it solves a real problem. We didn't fall into the trap of "let's activate 50 features because the product allows it" or "every event has quizzes, let's have them too." Instead, we mapped each pain point, chose features that solved specific problems, and tested with real fans before the event. The result? Nine activated modules. Not fifty. Just nine.

Phase 3: Invisible UX

The principle was clear: if the fan needs a tutorial, we've failed. Each feature was designed to be self-explanatory in less than 30 seconds, show immediate value, and have zero friction. The best user experience is one that goes unnoticed, that works so naturally it seems obvious.

Phase 4: Physical-Digital Integration

We established a fundamental rule: the app never competes with the in-person experience. It amplifies it. For example, the fan votes in the app, the result appears on the physical screen, and the fan sees the real impact of their participation. Or a gameshow on stage where answers come through the app and prizes are real. Or meet & greet registration via app that generates an organized in-person experience. Digital serves physical, it doesn't replace it.

The features we enabled (and why)

We started with fan engagement. Interactive quizzes solved the problem of bored fans during waiting periods, and the numbers show it worked: 67% of app users played quizzes. We also implemented real-time voting, where 21% of users actively participated and saw their votes reflected on the big screen.

We created "Separated at Birth," a fun and shareable moment that generated 12% participation. "Answer and Win" integrated with the live gameshow, and although only 1% participated, it had stage prominence and created memorable moments. "Fan of the Day" offered recognition and gamification.

To ensure a smooth experience, we implemented meet & greet registration, ending traditional chaos. Eight percent of users completed organized registration. Digital queue management eliminated dangerous crowding, ensuring order without pushing.

In the information field, we provided an event map for fans who previously got lost looking for activations, a synchronized schedule because time changes rarely reached fans on time, and strategic push notifications for real-time communication.

For sponsors, we created dedicated areas that allowed measurable ROI instead of traditional "estimated impressions."

The results

The numbers speak for themselves. The download target was exceeded. The adoption rate reached 17.2%, when the industry average oscillates between 5% and 10%. This means we achieved performance two to three times higher than expected. And most importantly: zero resistance. Adoption was organic.

Engagement was distributed in an interesting way. Quizzes led with 67% of app users participating. Activations generated 36% engagement, followed by voting with 21%, "Separated at Birth" with 12%, meet & greets with 8%, and "Answer and Win" with 1%. Zero dead features. All generated real value.

What the fans said

“This is the third event I've attended with my boyfriend, and this time we noticed a big difference with the app. It helped with waiting in line and everything else. We even got to participate in activities without waiting in line, which was really cool. We also played some games on the app and won a prize, which was a lot of fun.”

— Anonymous event visitor

“We used all the activities through the app's schedule. Everything worked out great. Everything was perfect, we went on time and also took the quizzes that were there. It was really cool.”

— Bruna, event visitor

Why did it work?

We Chose The Right Features

The common mistake is thinking "our app has everything! 50 features!" What we did was different: rigorous discovery where each feature solves a specific problem. The result? 67% used quizzes because they solved the concrete problem of bored waiting.

Frictionless UX

Another frequent mistake is apps that need a five-minute tutorial. Our approach was to create an intuitive interface where value is perceived in less than 30 seconds. The result? 17.2% organic adoption. Zero resistance.

We Solved Real Problems

Each feature responded to a real operational problem: bored fans got quizzes and voting, invisible sponsors now had dedicated areas and measurable data, chaotic queues became digital queues, ineffective communication gave way to push notifications and updated schedules, and chaotic meet & greets became organized experiences with controlled registration.

Physical-Digital Integration

The app amplified the physical experience instead of competing with it. Votes in the app appeared on the physical screen, "Answer and Win" happened live on stage, and meet & greet registration via app generated an organized in-person experience. This integration was fundamental to success.

Impact for sponsors

The traditional problem is that ROI is based on "estimated impressions," which are nothing more than guesswork. What we offered through Buzzer and Alley was completely different. Sponsors now had access to concrete data on awareness (how many fans saw the sponsor's area in the app), engagement (how many clicked, read, interacted), conversion (how many visited the booth after seeing it in the app), sentiment (Alley detects emotions in mentions of the sponsor), and 360° profile through behavioral data cross-referencing.

Premium sponsors received an integrated presence in the fan journey and, more importantly, measurable data that proves the investment's value.

Three lessons applicable to any event

Lesson 1: Less is More (When You Choose Right)

Don't activate 50 features. Activate nine that solve real problems. Rigorous discovery is the first step and cannot be neglected. It's the difference between an app nobody uses and one that reaches 17% adoption.

Lesson 2: Invisible UX is Perfect UX

If you need a tutorial, you've already lost. Fans must perceive value in less than 30 seconds. Friction is the enemy of adoption, and each extra second of confusion is a user who gives up.

Lesson 3: Digital Amplifies Physical, Doesn't Compete

The app shouldn't distract from the experience. It should enhance it. Vote in the app, result on the physical screen, real impact. This integration is what transforms an event app into something truly useful.

Is this replicable?

The short answer is yes. Buzzer is white-label and modular by design, which means this approach works for different types of events.

Potential use cases include stadiums and arenas to improve matchday experience in any sport, music festivals where engagement goes beyond the stage, sports leagues and tournaments of all modalities, brand activations that create memorable experiences, and conferences and conventions where networking can be gamified.

The key is adapting features to the specific problems of each context, always maintaining the fundamental principles: solve real problems, create frictionless UX, and integrate digital with physical naturally.

Conclusion

This case study proves it's possible to transform the experience at sports events when we focus on solving real problems instead of adding features just because. The 17.2% adoption rate didn't happen by accident. It was the result of a thoughtful, tested, and rigorously executed process.

The future of sports events lies in this intelligent integration between physical and digital, where technology serves to amplify the experience, not replace it. And the numbers show that, when done right, fans not only adopt the technology but transform it into an essential part of their experience.

All numbers and testimonials are real and verified. Case study of a major sports event, June 2025.