Episode 4 of the STADIUM TECH REPORT PODCAST is live, in which hosts Phil Harvey and Paul Kapustka go to the mats to figure out if WrestleMania and the associated WWE operations are the perfect storm for mobile-content creation. We also discuss why WrestleMania and events like it are capable of creating massive demands for in-stadium bandwidth, like the latest big wireless day at WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium. Listen now and let us know what you think!
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The Undertaker arrives at AT&T Stadium for WrestleMania 32. Photo: WWE.com
The 101,763 fans who filled AT&T Stadium Sunday for WrestleMania 32 set new stadium records for Wi-Fi, according to figures provided by AT&T Stadium and AT&T, with 6.77 terabytes of Wi-Fi traffic and an additional 1.9 TB on the AT&T network on the stadium’s DAS for a total wireless figure of 8.6 TB.
The Wi-Fi numbers put Sunday’s signature WWE event (also the biggest WrestleMania by attendance) into second place in our unofficial record-keeping of the largest single-day Wi-Fi traffic stadium events. Only Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium earlier this year was bigger, with 10.1 TB of Wi-Fi traffic. So far, WrestleMania 32 is also now third in combined Wi-Fi and DAS figures, trailing Super Bowl 50 and Super Bowl XLIX (see charts below).
1. Super Bowl 50, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif., Feb. 7, 2016: Wi-Fi: 10.1 TB; DAS: 15.9 TB; Total: 26 TB
2. Super Bowl XLIX, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz., Feb. 1, 2015: Wi-Fi: 6.23 TB; DAS: 6.56 TB**; Total: 12.79 TB**
3. WrestleMania 32, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, April 3, 2016: Wi-Fi: 6.77 TB; DAS: 1.9 TB*; Total: 8.6 TB*
* = AT&T DAS stats only
** = AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint DAS stats only
1. Super Bowl 50, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif., Feb. 7, 2016: Wi-Fi: 10.1 TB
2. WrestleMania 32, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, April 3, 2016: Wi-Fi: 6.77 TB
3. Super Bowl XLIX, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz., Feb. 1, 2015: Wi-Fi: 6.23 TB
4. Alabama vs. Texas A&M, Kyle Field, College Station, Texas, Oct. 17, 2015: Wi-Fi: 5.7 TB
5. College Football Playoff championship game, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, Jan. 12, 2015: Wi-Fi: 4.93 TB
John Winborn, chief information officer for the Dallas Cowboys Football Club, said in an email that the reported claims of the Wi-Fi being offline Sunday — and that being the reason why entry lines were long and slow — were not true. While Winborn did admit that one single Wi-Fi AP (out of the more than 2,000 in the stadium’s network) was offline and there were “a couple issues” with ticket scanners, he said “there were no Wi-Fi issues that would have had a significant impact on ingress.” Other reports have claimed the doors were opened later due to extended show rehearsals, while commenters on MSR’s posts have claimed that a lack of wristbands for stadium-floor seating also led to seating issues even for fans already inside the main building entrances. So far, we have not seen any official explanation for the delays other than the official apology from the stadium and the WWE:
“To ensure the safety of WWE fans, increased security measures were put in place tonight. We apologize that it may have taken some fans longer than usual to get into AT&T Stadium.”
During Sunday’s event Winborn said the Wi-Fi network saw 20,462 concurrent and 34,951 total user connections, some via a network of 150 temporary Wi-Fi APs installed among the seats on the stadium floor.
While Sunday’s WrestleMania 32 eventually ended up with a record attendance for the WWE’s signature event with 101,763 fans in attendance, some snafus with the entry process had fans reporting as long as three-hour waits to get in, with some pegging a Wi-Fi outage that disabled ticket scanners as one of the roots of the problem.
Here's what it looked liked for fans trying to get into #WrestleMania From @dallasnews photog David Guzman pic.twitter.com/BaZS8U5wxN
— Mark Francescutti (@mfrances100) April 4, 2016
We don’t as of yet have any on-the-record comments from AT&T Stadium so we can’t say exactly what the problem was. UPDATE, 4/4/16, 2:50 p.m.: According to John Winborn, chief information officer for the Dallas Cowboys Football Club (and the person who runs the network inside AT&T Stadium), despite the rumors that emerged there was no Wi-Fi outage at the stadium — in fact Winborn said the crowd used 6.77 TB of Wi-Fi data Sunday, a single-day stadium Wi-Fi total second only to the 10.1 TB used at Levi’s Stadium for Super Bowl 50. (More details on the Wi-Fi consumption coming soon.)
Wi-Fi rumors aside, on Sunday night Twitter and Instagram were full of photos from irate fans who were stuck outside the venue, with some reportedly unable to get inside or to their seats before the actual matches started. According to a blog post at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the WWE and the Stadium issued a joint press release halfway through the event that read:
“To ensure the safety of WWE fans, increased security measures were put in place tonight. We apologize that it may have taken some fans longer than usual to get into AT&T Stadium.”
Several other news outlets reported the problem, with all seeming to peg the issue on a Wi-Fi problem with the ticket scanners. Winborn, however, said there were no Wi-Fi outages in the stadium or with the ticket scanners.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram report, the vitriol on Twitter and other social media outlets may not have been entirely correct; according to the report:
Do not believe the viral reports and unsightly online pictures that fans could not get to their seats by the time the early matches began — they could but they preferred to walk around, buy food, drink and merchandise. But the images and the complaints that flooded the Internet about #WrestleMania32 were so plentiful, and negative, joint press release was issued halfway through the event.
With 101,763 finally in their seats the event was the fifth-largest crowd inside AT&T Stadium, and as such most likely produced a large Wi-Fi and DAS traffic number once things finally got underway. We will update this post and have another when we get the wireless traffic stats from the stadium.
Our latest report provides an in-depth look at the new Wi-Fi 6 network deployed at Coors Field, ahead of the All-Star Game. READ THE ISSUE NOW
