Binoculars Come to First Union Center

About 10,000 seat-mounted rental binoculars have been installed at the 20,000-seat First Union Center in all 126 luxury suites and club box sections and in most mezzanine level sections, said Tony Kavanaugh, vice president of Binocs Systems. "Yes, there`s TV monitors and scoreboards, but what`s being shown is not necessarily what you want to see," he said. "Sometimes you want to see who else is in the building, whether it`s celebrities or just people-watching. That`s almost as big as the event itself."

Fans give their row and seat number to a Binocs vendor in the stands or at a concourse concession table, and pay $5 cash or credit card. Vendors are equipped with Pocket PCs, which are about the size of a deck of cards and use wireless technology to open the binoculars housing on the underside of the seats.

Response has been positive in the two weeks since the binoculars were installed, but the NCAA East Regionals will be the "highest profile test" of the system, said Comcast-Spectacor`s John Page, general manager at First Union Center.

"We`re always looking for something that`s new, that`s innovative," Page said. "This is something our customers are really going to appreciate, and the technology gives us options that are limitless."

The wireless system could eventually be used to provide stats and video to customers right from their seats, he said.

The wide-angle, auto-focus binoculars are connected to a long, flexible tether and can be placed in their housing if the user leaves his seat _ though the units remain open for the duration of the event. They are designed to be not "so strong that you see the ball and that`s it," and have cups that roll forward for eyeglass wearers, Kavanaugh said.

The First Union Center is the first indoor facility where Binocs have been installed. They also are at Coors Field in Denver and the company is negotiating with more than a dozen other facilities nationwide, Kavanaugh said.

Binocs has installed the devices at no cost, Page said. After recouping its initial outlay from rental fees, Binocs and the First Union Center will then share the profits. Officials declined to specify the cost of the project.

"Facilities have tried binocular rentals before: They put a cart inside a building, you leave a deposit, then you have to basically swim upstream in the crowds to get back to the cart, return them and get your deposit back," Kavanaugh said. "We, as humans, are lazy _ we don`t want to do that, and this makes it easy."

A staff of about 20 Binocs Systems employees will check and clean the binoculars after each event.

"We realize they`ll sometimes get soda or beer spilled on them, and we know if the next person reaches in and finds a pair of sticky binoculars, that`s a customer we`ve lost forever," Kavanaugh said.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)