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Stadium Tech Report — NFL stadium technology reports — AFC East

November 4, 2014 by Paul Kapustka

Editor’s note: The following team-by-team capsule reports of NFL stadium technology deployments are an excerpt from our most recent Stadium Tech Report, THE FOOTBALL ISSUE. To get all the capsules in one place as well as our featured reports, interviews and analysis, download your free copy of the full report today.

AFC EAST

Reporting by Chris Gallo

Buffalo Bills
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Seating Capacity: 71,757
Wi-Fi – No
DAS – Yes, 200 antennas
Beaconing – No

The Buffalo Bills have had a busy offseason. After the passing of longtime owner Ralph Wilson, the organization was bought by Buffalo husaband-and-wife team of Terry and Kim Pegula for $1.4 billion. Even while the future of the team was uncertain, the stadium named after its longtime owner became fan-friendlier. New gates to enter the stadium, HD video boards, and increased cell service are just a few of the improvements. No Wi-Fi, but Ralph Wilson Stadium does have over 200 DAS antennas.

New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium
Seating Capacity: 68,756
Wi-Fi-Yes
DAS-Yes
Beaconing – No

The New England Patriots are doing everything to get fans off the couch and in Gillette Stadium, with Wi-Fi outfitted by Extreme Networks, a team-centric Game Day Live mobile app, and a squad that’s won the AFC East 5 years in a row. Is it time for another Patriots Super Bowl run?

Miami Dolphins
Sun Life Stadium
Seating Capacity: 75,540
Wi-Fi – Yes, 1,100 access points
DAS-Yes
Beaconing – Yes

Near the end of the 2013 season, Sun Life Stadium became one of the NFL’s first venues to feature beacon technology. The Qualcomm Gimbal contextual awareness platform delivers coupons for concessions as fans walk by and alerts them of shorter wait times on the concourse. Plus, AT&T upgraded the stadium with more than 1,100 Wi-Fi access points and DAS antennas a year ago. All of this has the Dolphins delivering one of the better wireless game day experiences. The search to find a new Dan Marino, however, is still a work in progress.

New York Jets
MetLife Stadium
Seating Capacity: 82,500
Wi-Fi – Yes, 850 access points
DAS – Yes, over 600 antennas
Beaconing – No

There are lots of benefits to hosting a Super Bowl – including the improved connectivity of your stadium. After AT&T and Verizon spent over a year outfitting MetLife Stadium with their own DAS deployments, the stadium saw a 60 percent increase in wireless data from the previous Super Bowl. Safe to say the stadium is well-equipped to easily connect fans with 850 Wi-Fi access points and more than 600 DAS antennas. MetLife Stadium enters its fourth season and continues to make the fan experience unforgettable. Now can the Jets make 2014 an unforgettable season and find their way back to the playoffs?

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, NFL, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: AFC East, DAS, Gillette Stadium, MetLife Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, New England Patriots, NFL, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, Wi-Fi

Stadium Tech Report — NFL stadium technology reports — AFC North

November 3, 2014 by Paul Kapustka

AFC NORTH

Reporting by Chris Gallo

Baltimore Ravens
M&T Bank Stadium
Seating Capacity: 71,008
Wi-Fi – No
DAS – Yes, 856 antennas
Beaconing – No

The Ravens are in the midst of a $35 million renovation to update their 15-year-old stadium. The focus of the enhancements is on aesthetics, with new video boards and more LED displays being installed. No Wi-Fi at the stadium yet, but fans should have no problem getting a cell signal via the now 2-year old Corning MobileAccess DAS system.

Cincinnati Bengals
Paul Brown Stadium
Seating Capacity: 65,515
Wi-Fi-Yes
DAS-Yes
Beaconing – No

The upgrades on the field over the last two seasons have been significant for the Cincinnati Bengals. And soon you’ll be able to say the same about Paul Brown Stadium. Wi-Fi from Extreme Networks is in place for all home games this NFL season.

Cleveland Browns
FirstEnergy Stadium
Seating Capacity: 73,200
Wi-Fi – No, planned for 2015
DAS-Yes
Beaconing – No

Less than a year ago, the Cleveland Browns were awarded $62.5 million from the NFL to improve FirstEnergy Stadium. Upgrades for the 15-year-old stadium include Wi-Fi, video boards, and a new sound system. With two first-round draft picks, a Heisman trophy winner potentially under center, and another new coach – the stadium is not the only thing experiencing a makeover. But Browns fans will have to wait a year to have Wi-Fi and Johnny Football at the same time.

Pittsburgh Steelers
Heinz Field
Seating Capacity: 65,500
Wi-Fi – Yes, 193 access points
DAS – Yes, 339 antennas
Beaconing – No

With plans to increase its capacity over the coming years, it’s important for Heinz Field to continue to be one of the best home field advantages in all of football. The easiest way to do that is to keep fans happy. And as a Steelers fan, what sounds better than waving your Terrible Towel whilst taking a selfie? Steelers faithful can do just that thanks to 193 Wi-Fi access points and 339 DAS antennas outfitted from AT&T and Verizon. Now can Pittsburgh return to the playoffs after a 2-year break?

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Cleveland Browns, DAS, NFL, Wi-Fi Tagged With: AFC North, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, DAS, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, Paul Brown Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Pittsburgh Steelers, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

Levi’s Stadium Wi-Fi update: Usage down from record, but still strong — 2.4 TB for Eagles game

October 30, 2014 by Paul Kapustka

Fans take pictures of opening-day kickoff from southwest concourse. Credit, all photos: Paul Kapustka, MSR

With three NFL games and now one collegiate contest under its belt, the Wi-Fi network at Levi’s Stadium is still handling big loads of data traffic, though not quite at the Super Bowl-beating level of 3.3 Terabytes recorded at the Niners’ home opener.

According to statistics provided by Niners vice president for technology Dan Williams, the Levi’s Wi-Fi network carried 2.4 TB of data during the Sept. 28 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and another 2 TB during the Oct. 5 contest with the Kansas City Chiefs, both sellouts with reported attendance of 70,799 fans. And at an Oct. 24 college game between Cal and Oregon with 55,575 fans in attendance, the network carried 1.5 TB of traffic.

As you might be able to guess from the bandwidth numbers, the Sept. 28 game also had more users on the network, with 22,942 unique users, compared to 21,133 at the Oct. 5 game. For Cal-Oregon the unique user count was 13,508. At the Niners’ regular-season home opener on Sept. 14, there were more than 30,000 fans using the Wi-Fi network, with a peak of 19,000 simultaneous connections. The peak numbers for the later dates were 15,500 for the Sept. 28 game, 14,500 for the Oct. 5 game, and 8,400 for the college game.

In-seat and express food orders stay strong

Screen grab from Levi’s Stadium app showing in-seat food delivery option.

Food and beverage orders via the Levi’s Stadium app appear to be holding between the 1,500-2,000 order level for both the express pickup option as well as the in-seat delivery, with both features available to every seat in the house. According to Williams, for the Eagles game there were 1,144 express pick-up orders and 1,652 in-seat deliveries, while at the Kansas City game there were 1,162 express and 1,712 in-seat orders. At the Cal-Oregon game, where many fans were probably not as aware of the Levi’s app functionality, there were 551 express orders and 308 in-seat deliveries.

The video-replay feature of the Levi’s app also continues to attract solid interest, with 1,297 unique users watching 5,089 replays at the Eagles game and 1,111 unique users watching 4,986 replays at the Kansas City game. At the college game 234 fans used the replay feature, watching 1,059 replays.

One more interesting stat provided by Williams — the Apple iPhone is the overwhelming favorite device for connecting to the Levi’s Stadium Wi-Fi, with 62 percent share for the Sept. 28 game, and 60 percent share for both the Oct. 5 and Oct. 24 games. Android devices represented 24 percent (Sept. 28), 26 percent (Oct. 5) and 25 percent of all devices, while Apple iPads accounted for 2 percent, 3 percent and 1 percent of devices for the respective Sept. 28, Oct. 5 and Oct. 24 games.

DAS usage also remains strong, but not tops in NFL

On the DAS side of the Levi’s Stadium network we have some stats from AT&T to share (but none from any other carriers). According to AT&T, for the Oct. 5 game AT&T customers used 549 GB of data, which was only the fourth-highest AT&T DAS total for that weekend. Dallas (827 GB), San Diego (716 GB) and New Orleans (598 GB) all had higher AT&T DAS traffic totals for that weekend’s games. (Remember, these are results for stadiums with AT&T DAS networks only, not for all stadiums.) For the Sept. 14 game, the Levi’s Stadium AT&T DAS recorded 673 GB of traffic, according to AT&T.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, AT&T, Dallas Cowboys, DAS, iPad, iPhone, NCAA Football, New Orleans Saints, NFL, Pac-12, University of Oregon, Wi-Fi Tagged With: AT&T, DAS, in-seat food ordering, in-stadium replays, Levi's Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, Paul Kapustka, San Francisco 49ers, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

AT&T: DAS network also set traffic records for 2014 World Series games at AT&T Park

October 28, 2014 by Paul Kapustka

Giants CIO Bill Schlough (left) talks with workers in the park’s main DAS head end facility.

In addition to the over-the-top Wi-Fi usage numbers, it turns out that the in-stadium AT&T cellular network also experienced record usage during the recent World Series games at AT&T Park, with Saturday night’s crowd using 477 Gigabytes of data, according to AT&T.

In case you’re not familiar with the DAS acronym, it stands for distributed antenna system, and basically is a network of small antennas that bring cellular service to the tightly packed fans inside stadiums or other large public venues. At AT&T Park, AT&T runs the network as a neutral host, meaning that Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile customers can also use the DAS to connect. If you’re in the park and you haven’t enabled your device to connect via Wi-Fi, you’re probably connected via the DAS. However, the stats provided here are only for AT&T customers on the DAS, since AT&T doesn’t have visibility into the other carriers’ metrics. Since the Wi-Fi network is open to all, the Wi-Fi numbers we reported earlier are for all customers, no matter who their provider is.

But even just the AT&T cellular numbers are pretty impressive, perhaps not surprisingly so since a good-weather World Series game is a bucket-list event for most attendees, meaning that texts, tweets, selfies and Vines were likely flowing freely at all three games in San Francisco. Here’s a breakdown from AT&T about how much more data was used during the games last weekend:

— Fans used an average of approximately 447GB of data per game over the weekend on the AT&T cellular network. This is equivalent to more than 1.27M social media post with photos.

— The numbers represent an increase of approximately 29 percent in cellular data usage compared to the average game during the League Championship series vs. St. Louis.

— It’s an increase of approximately 109 percent in cellular data usage compared to the average game during the final home series of the regular season vs. San Diego (9/25-9/28).

— The peak hour of data usage during three home games was on 10/25 was from 5-6pm PT, the hour in which the first pitch occurred. In this hour more than 83GB of data crossed the AT&T venue-specific cellular network.

According to AT&T, the total combined Wi-Fi and AT&T DAS traffic hit a record high of 2.09 Terabytes on Oct. 25, the highest single-game total in AT&T Park network history. What would be even more interesting would be if we could get DAS statistics from Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile to get the total-total number for wireless data consumed during the biggest games of the year.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Baseball, DAS, Major League Baseball, San Francisco Giants, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 2014 World Series, 2014 World Series cellular traffic, 4G LTE, AT&T, AT&T Park, DAS, Kansas City Royals, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, San Francisco Giants, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, World Series

Half a stadium using Wi-Fi? 2014 World Series games set Wi-Fi records at AT&T Park

October 28, 2014 by Paul Kapustka

Though this year’s World Series still isn’t over, the three games this past weekend in San Francisco set new local records for fan Wi-Fi use, arguably cementing AT&T Park’s title as baseball’s best-connected stadium.

One of the more stunning numbers provided to us by Bill Schlough, the senior vice president and CIO for the Giants, was that nearly half the crowd in AT&T Park for Sunday’s Game 5 used the Wi-Fi network — a “take rate” we’ve never heard of before at any sporting event of any kind. According to Schlough the Giants’ Wi-Fi network had 20,638 unique users during Game 5, a take rate of 49.7 percent. (According to the official box score, the attendance that night was 43,087, give or take a Panda or four.) The game also set an AT&T Park record for Wi-Fi upload traffic with 747 Gigabytes of data being sent by people at the park out to the network.

(Including one special photo tweeted out by a former Giant you may have heard of.)

Hanging With @kanyewest @KimKardashian @SFGiants Game time Yes Yes Yes⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️@BondsPat pic.twitter.com/82xaSl9Hlb

— Barry L Bonds (@BarryBonds) October 27, 2014

A record for downloaded Wi-Fi traffic, of 937 GB, was set during Friday night’s Game 3, and the record for a combination of download and upload traffic was set during Game 4, with a total of 1.62 Terabytes. According to Schlough, the total data transferred during the eight games of the 2014 postseason at AT&T Park was 10.3 TB, which is easily the high-water mark for any baseball stadium network we know of. (The total does not include regular cellular traffic carried by the AT&T Park DAS; we will add those numbers in when they become available.)

And while individual games such as Super Bowls or contests down the San Francisco Peninsula at Levi’s Stadium may set higher overall marks (thanks in part to having more fans in the building), we’d be interested to see if any other stadium networks can match AT&T Park’s season-long data number of 59.3 TB, which according to Schlough represents total traffic over 2014’s 91 games (regular and postseason) at AT&T Park.

One more fun number from Schlough: Since the park turned on its fan-facing Wi-Fi network in 2004, there have been 4,085,518 Wi-Fi connections during the 946 game days. Kansas City’s Kaufmann Stadium, which just got its Wi-Fi network installed recently, has one or two more games this season to start trying to catch the Giants from a networking perspective.

UPDATE: Looks like the Royals are claiming some already-decent usage of their Wi-Fi network:

Almost 100K fans have utilized it during our recent testing and tuning, but now it’s official: free RoyalsWiFi available at #TheK!

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) October 28, 2014

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Baseball, Cisco, DAS, Major League Baseball, San Francisco Giants, Wi-Fi Tagged With: AT&T Park, DAS, Kansas City Royals, MLB, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, San Francisco Giants, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi, World Series, World Series Wi-Fi

Confirmed: KC has MLB-provided Wi-Fi, part of plan to bring Wi-Fi and DAS to all MLB stadiums

October 23, 2014 by Paul Kapustka

The rumored Wi-Fi network at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium is now a confirmed entity, according to Joe Inzerillo, executive vice president and CTO for MLB.com. In a phone call Thursday, Inzerillo said the Royals’ new network is part of a league-wide effort to bring Wi-Fi to all MLB parks, a task he thinks may take another year or two to complete.

As MLB.com has stated publicly before — but maybe not spelled out in so much detail — it has a program under which Major League Baseball teams can “opt in” to have MLB.com and the nation’s top four wireless carriers participate in the funding and building of both Wi-Fi and DAS networks in MLB stadiums. Though he wouldn’t divulge the specific financial commitments for specific deals, Inzerillo said that under the program “everyone has some skin in the game,” though he did allow that the league and the carriers, not the teams, foot the bulk of the bills.

Still, Inzerillo stressed that individual teams play a huge role in the Wi-Fi deployments, from design to deployment to management on site. “It’s not just like we show up and we’re the Wi-Fi fairies,” Inzerillo said. “This program wouldn’t be possible without the teams and the work they do.”

Given MLB’s synchronized digital strategy of having the same app — and only the same app — available for fans in each ballpark, Inzerillo said that having high-quality cellular and Wi-Fi networks in each stadium was a key necessity, especially to make MLB app functions like seat upgrades and concession purchases work.

“You need to have the right [network] plumbing in place or none of the other stuff matters,” Inzerillo said.

Kauffman Stadium’s network, Inzerillo said, was just one of about a dozen MLB Wi-Fi projects that got underway this year. That it was finished in time for postseason play was just luck, and not some last-minute installation due to the Royals’ on-field successes. “It was just a fortuitous thing that it was ready,” said Inzerillo, who said that construction of Wi-Fi at Kauffman had been ongoing for the past 5 to 6 months.

Though the network wasn’t promoted on the team’s website or anywhere else on the Internet, Inzerillo said the Royals were promoting it at the stadium. Even without a lot of advertising, fans found the network, he said, claiming “tens of thousands” of Wi-Fi connections during the Royals’ postseason run. However, Inzerillo also said some extra cellular trucks were brought in by some of the carriers for the Royals playoff games because the DAS at Kauffman isn’t quite finished yet.

Inzerillo said that anywhere from 22 to 26 teams will eventually end up using some combination of league-provided Wi-Fi and/or DAS. The league’s goal of having every stadium fully wired should be nearly complete by opening day of 2015, he said, with a more likely “final” goal of complete coverage reached sometime in 2016. In 2014, Mobile Sports Report research showed that 10 of the 30 MLB stadiums didn’t have fan-facing Wi-Fi; some of those teams (like Kansas City) will be getting MLB networks, while some other program participants are upgrading existing systems, Inzerillo said.

Under the MLB network deal, the DAS in each stadium will be a neutral-host deployment hosted by one of the four major U.S. cellular carriers — AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile — depending on things like regional/historical market share and existing contracts, Inzerillo said. While the carriers will operate the MLB DAS deployments, the Wi-Fi networks will be deployed, run and monitored by MLB, either from its New York City or San Francisco network operation centers, Inzerillo said. Wi-Fi gear will come mainly from Cisco, though Inzerillo said there is also a small percentage of Meru Networks gear based on teams that had previously installed Meru equipment.

Though Inzerillo said MLB may make some overall announcement once the league-wide project is completed, he didn’t necessarily think that having working Wi-Fi and DAS in stadiums was such a big deal.

“It’s kind of a weird thing to think about bragging about,” said Inzerillo, who compared Wi-Fi and DAS to plumbing as a basic stadium necessity, not an amenity. Having high quality networks, he said, “are table stakes for a modern facility.”

UPDATE: The Kansas City Royals are now officially promoting the Wi-Fi, with some usage claims: