NFL San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers Take Innovation Beyond Silicon Valley And Into Cyberspace

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Santa Clara, CA, USA; General view of the inaugural football game at Levi's Stadium between the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Much has been said about the technology that went into the San Francisco 49ers‘ new $1.3 billion home that lies in the heart of Silicon Valley. Levi’s Stadium has set the standard for the next generation of ‘smart’ stadiums, and its Eco-technology is a self-sustainable model for the rest of the league.

“What we built is the physical manifestation of Silicon Valley,” 49ers president Paraag Marathe said.

But not only is the 49ers’ new home the centerpiece of cutting-edge technology, the organization has also expanded its culture of innovation and creativity into the world wide web.

When San Francisco’s Vice President and Executive Producer Robert Alberino came to Northern California in 2013, then president Gideon Yu wanted Alberino to become the franchise’s ‘chief storyteller’. Alberino formed the 49ers in-house production crew, 49ers Studios, and he envisioned the group to focus on sharing unique stories that are linked to the franchise’s rich history.

“Our aim is to tell the greatest stories never told.” Alberino said.

Alberino’s and 49ers Studios’ goal is to “match the spirit of excellence and reflect it in all things distributed digitally and socially by the 49ers.” So the newly formed crew developed a series of exclusive programming that could mainly be seen through the team’s website, 49ers.com.

One of 49ers Studios’ flagship productions, ‘The Faithful’, is a documentary series narrated by former 49er Dwight Hicks that shares the unique lives of 49ers fans and their timeless stories. Unlike the programs on the other NFL teams, ‘The Faithful’ features the interesting tales from a devoted fanbase while also diving into the little-known careers of some of the 49ers greats.

“It’s personal to me,” says Alberino. “When we sit down and talk with people about their stories, about how they fell in love with the team or a particular player on the team; it becomes personal to me.”

Now entering its second season, ‘The Faithful’ has gained in popularity through not only conventional television (Comcast Bay Area), but mainly through the internet. Most of the show’s viewership is primarily the team’s website which is becoming extremely popular in recent years.

San Francisco’s web presence has become one of the strongest in the NFL. They rank No. 1 in digital and social traffic as well as overall online engagement in 2015. This number is way up from last year when they the 49ers ranked No. 7 in the aforementioned categories.

Traffic through the website has also risen 126 percent in the past 12 months. “We style ourselves as leaders rather than followers.” Alberino said. “Everything might not always work, but we continue to push the boundaries and lead in innovation.”

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