I am very excited to transition into the GM role for the Cisco Sports & Entertainment Solutions Group (SESG).  It's an incredible time for this industry, as stadiums around the world transform the fan experience via technology. This transformation has been on display this past week in Australia, where the Sydney Cricket Ground announced they would be upgrading their stadiums with Cisco Connected Sports solutions. We applaud these leaders in sport for driving change and delivering a more rewarding live experience.

I got to visit with another leader in sport, Real Madrid CIO Enrique Uriel, just a few months ago when I took in the final game of the team's season. I marveled at the passion on display from the fans at Real Madrid, but even more so I saw firsthand how Real Madrid and Cisco have partnered to transform the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium into the "Ultimate Bernabeu," -an immersive, connected and thriving environment.

Here is a video where Enrique speaks about what the future is...connecting people, fans, and the stadium.

Looking back, it's incredible to see how far this industry has come in such a short period of time, and how Cisco has been a true market maker -through the ongoing innovation in the custom Connected Stadium platform, StadiumVision, Connected Stadium Wi-Fi and now StadiumVision Mobile. Cisco has driven the fan experience forward, and now more than 150 venues (large and small) in more than 30 countries are using our solutions not only to provide the best fan experience but also to re-invent their business models.

This infographic showcases the instant impact Internet of Everything (IoE) -the networked connection of people, process, data and things, is having on profits in 2013 ($600B+). Note that the second biggest industry is customer experience...now swap out the word customer for "FAN," and it becomes abundantly clear that the market potential for sports and entertainment entities that embrace IoE is tremendous.

The mission since the inception of Cisco SESG has been to "connect the unconnected," to solve business problems and allow venues, teams, and leagues to tap into new market opportunities. While those goals will continue, we are evolving into a new age of connectivity, and the good news for our partners, and existing and future customers, is that no one is better positioned to help with that transition than Cisco.