DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONLINE STADIUM MANAGAMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

An online stadium management information system for the Godswill Akpabio

International stadium Uyo, was be developed in this project. The current process of
management at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium is being operated manually
and due to this procedure numerous problems are being encountered. The system is
developed in order to tackle these problems encountered by the use of the
conventional manual registration and ticket procurement.

This system is capable of performing crowd management, ticketing management, fraud

checks, and customer care/ advertisement. The incremental software development
process was employed in the development of the system. The development of the
system passed through three increments and in each increment communication,
planning, modelling, construction and deployment activities were carried out. The
system iterated between development and testing stages until the set objectives
were met. The application was developed using XHTML (Extended Hypertext Markup
Language) for the interface, MySQL (Structured Query Language) for the database,
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) for connecting between the database and GUI, and
Apache (Webserver).

The result of the developed system are positive, as the system could be used to
create a database of customers in the stadium, better the administrative process of
the stadium management, therefore making the general running of the stadium easier
and efficient.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The role of information and communication technology (ICT) in stadium management is

that systems are designed to make it easy for spectators to connect with the
stadium administrators through the internet with their devices (J. R. Mehmet). It
provides a mechanism that connects people, goods and services and delivers content
and services that spectators can enjoy at the stadium. Furthermore, updates that
generate interest in teams, players and games are made possible, which further
contributes to the growth of the sports industry, which has close links to local
communities, by attracting new fans and encouraging them to watch their teams live,
thereby generating greater income for the stadium managers.

The current system of operation at the Godswill Akpabio International stadium is

that where when matches are set to be played at the stadium, a promotional team is
often set up who go around into town with flyers in a float form and some dancers
alongside music trucks to promote the match at some strategic areas around town
some days to the match, as well as radio and TV station advertisements. Tickets are
then designed and printed which are sent out to distributors like DSTV offices,
fast food joints, restaurants, etc, who sell these tickets to the customers when
they come to their offices. The tickets which are not sold are returned and then
disposed off, constituting a waste of money.

Information management (IM) concerns a cycle of organizational activity: the

acquisition of information from one or more sources, the custodianship and the
distribution of that information to those who need it, and its ultimate disposition
through archiving or deletion (Wikipedia).

Strategic information management is the key to the success of any business in this
digital world. All organizations understand the importance of information
management and is taking initiatives towards that implementation. There are many
operational benefits for an organization if a proper strategic information
management is implemented. Information pertaining to the concerned department is
available easily through the information systems. There is no delay in getting the
information and hence the productivity of the department is increased. Information
is easily shared between the department within an organization and with their
clients externally. With proper security and protection to the information in the
systems, there is no fear that unwanted information is disclosed with the external
entities. The information used in the process is consistent .

The most important is the improvement in the decision making. The top management
would find it very useful to make decisions faster than earlier when there were no
information systems. It helps the organization to move forward faster.

Upon educating the staff on the use of the information systems, all the processes
are improved and are on fast track. Redundant information and processes are easily
identified with the proper implementation of strategic information management and
they are removed from the process. Cost is also reduced with the removal of
redundant information and process. Lots of paper work is eliminated since all the
data are available in the systems. The users know what information they have and
what their clients need clearly (Dr. Dennis Wood).

Earlier, before the use of information system data would have been lost. After the
implementation of the strategic information system, the data is protected and
available anytime. This saves a lot of time and cost involved in replacing lost
data earlier. With the strategic information management unnecessary work is
eliminated thus saving time and cost. An online information-management system is a
tool that can help stadium managers get the best outcome from the use of the
stadium.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The problem with today’s stadium ticketing method is that you have to show up early
so you can find a parking spot and choose a good seat. In addition, it is not
guaranteed to get them. However, with this online ticketing system you will book
the seat you like and a seat will be saved for you. Therefore, you can attend the
game just a few minutes before the referee's whistle.

The current ticket purchase system makes room for different parties involved in the
production and distribution of event tickets of the stadium to be fraudulent
thereby making it difficult to attain optimum profit from events held at the
stadium. This leaves the government with lesser revenue compared to profits
projected when these events are being planned. This in the long run leads to the
poor management of stadium facilities, dilapidation of the general structure and
eventually the closedown of the stadium except funds are pumped into the system to
give it a facelift and keep it running.

After the occurrence of events at the Uyo international stadium, there exists no
system to aid the stadium management in keeping record of customers, reach out to
these customers and accommodate complaints or suggestions from the customers. The
stadium is stadium is just left off in wait of another event, and then the same old
routine of sourcing for customers is repeated over and over again. This usual
culture of not mapping out a strategy of retaining a customer base greatly hampers
the revenue generation and maintenance of the stadium. There is a need to curb this
menace which has eaten deep into the stadium management system before it causes a
major havoc on the system.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The primary goal of this project is to implement a stadium management information
system with an online interface between the supposed customer and the
administrative body for the Godswill Akpabio international stadium, Uyo. The
specific objectives include:

To design an online system for the stadium for ticket sales/ booking, and payment.
To design a system that manages customer information and details of previous
transactions.
To design an administrative system that handles crowd control and prevents
defrauding of the stadium management body.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The benefits of the proposed online stadium information management system in the
Godswill Akpabio international stadium, Uyo, are as follows;

To create a website system for managing ticket reservations and making it easier
for the user to book tickets and pay electronically.

To immensely reduce the costs of organizing an event in the stadium at any point in
time which will give the management more time to create awareness about events
through other means.

It reduces the wastage of overall promotion materials and pre-printed tickets which
will in many cases will not make it to the target customers.

It ensures effective monitoring and checking by the administration at the comfort

of their internet devices.

It makes for orderliness in the entire stadium environment.

1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

This research work will concentrate on designing and developing an online stadium
booking website, as well as an administrative site with information management
mechanism using the Godswill Akpabio international stadium, Uyo as a case study.
Only booking features, payment features, customer database, and ticket confirmation
features will be available in the design. This limitation is posed by majorly
financial and time constraints since it is only a proof of an idea.

1.6 PROJECT LAYOUT

Chapter two contains the concept of ticket reservation system especially as it

pertains to most stadium managements in Nigeria. It offers a review of works
related to this project and the limitations of the work.

Chapter three presents in an encompassing manner the design and research

methodology. It also explains the current and proposed booking and information
management systems. Furthermore the chapter explains in details the system
architecture, requirements and specifications.

Chapter four deals with the implementation of the proposed Online Stadium
Information Management System and the results are also discussed here.

Chapter five provides the summary of the entire project report. It also gives a few
recommendations on how to improve the system