The attendees asked, and the conference organizers delivered. For its 2025 version, the SEAT Conference is headed to Nashville, the town most requested by participants, for the yearly gathering of sports technology and business professionals. The event takes place June 29 through July 2.
Josh Barney, CEO of the rebooted version of the longtime stadium tech show, said the location of this year’s event was a perfect combination of the desires for both the show and its attendees.
“Sixty percent of the respondents to a survey at last year’s event chose Nashville for the next place to go,” said Barney. “And it’s a perfect fit for the show’s desire to take SEAT to a place having its moment in time.”
[STR READER DISCOUNT TO SEAT: STR readers can get a $200 discount off the regular price by registering here for the SEAT Conference. Use the code STRNASHVILLE on checkout to receive the discount. Stadium Tech Report is a media partner for the event.]
The revival of SEAT (which stands for Sports Entertainment Alliance in Technology), the longtime conference for the stadium technology and business community, continues its progression with its third event under the direction of Barney, following a few years with no events after the original show was discontinued during the Covid pandemic. According to SEAT, this year will be the 16th version of the show. JMA is the title sponsor of the event.
After events in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas the past two years, Barney said this year’s show is generating more excitement from attendees and sponsors, in part due to the location. The conference has already announced attendee events at Bridgestone Arena and Geodis Park, as well as at the Country Music Hall of Fame. And it’s still unannounced, but it’s also expected that SEAT will offer attendees a chance to tour Nissan Stadium and to hear about its already under-construction replacement.
Barney is particularly pleased that in addition to the city’s sports teams, there will be conference participation from the city’s vibrant music industry.
“We’ll have people from the entertainment side as well as from sports, to see the parallels,” Barney said. “It’s really nice to be in a space of general excitement about the event.”
More direction from the user-led steering committees
As he tries to build SEAT back up to its former stature within the industry, Barney said the show put an emphasis this year on having its steering committees dictate the bulk of the presentations and panels. The four content tracks, which include Venue Tech & Security, Data & Business Intelligence, Digital, Sponsorship & Ticketing, and Fan Experience, all have their own steering committees which include heavy end-user participation.
“SEAT has a community, they are involved individuals, and they do care [about the panel content],” said Barney. “The most honest thing for SEAT is to have content coming straight from the community.”
One panel Barney is especially enthusiastic about is what he calls “the SEAT OG panel,” which will feature some long-time industry and SEAT participants including Oak View Group CTO Katee LaPoff, Phoenix Suns CIO Steve Reese and longtime sports-technology executive Tod Caflisch.
“It will be great to show some familiar faces, who can talk about what it’s like to be doing this [stadium technology] for 20 years,” Barney said. Caflisch, Barney said, provided some on-the-spot mentoring back in 2016 when he told the then-employee of the Utah Jazz to attend SEAT to get some first-hand advice.
“When I was trying to figure out what to do at the Delta Center, Tod told me ‘you need to go to SEAT,’ ” Barney said. Learning from others he met at the conference, Barney said, “bridged the gap for me” in a way so many others in the industry have found.
More events, more interaction
To assist with what he thinks makes SEAT so different from most industry events — its ability for attendees to network with each other and not just wander past exhibit booths — Barney has doubled down on the number of all-attendee socializing events this year. So far, the 2025 SEAT schedule includes a welcome reception at Bridgestone Arena, a Monday night visit to Geodis Park, and a Tuesday night event at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Cisco is a sponsor of the Monday night event, and AmpThink is a supporting sponsor for the Tuesday night event.
“Booths and sessions are great, but we want SEAT to be a place where you can network and have fun,” Barney said. “It’s our job to create spaces for people to get together. At other events, you don’t have the opportunity to rub shoulders like you do at SEAT.”
In the spirit of SEAT visiting Music City, AmpThink is planning to release a series of original tunes to celebrate the mashup of country music and stadium tech.
STR got a early release of one of these songs: “It’s Like a High School Reunion, Only Better.” Give it a listen here: https://suno.com/s/318E6MmQ86fKX53U
