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Sports fans come to stadiums to see their favorite teams and players live and in-person, surrounded by other fans that are just as invested as they are. Unlike a game behind a computer or a television screen, fans can experience the excitement of the game all around them.
On first glance, it might seem like technology has nothing to do with a live sports experience. Sports is about the game, the player, the coaches, the wins and the losses. However, attendees want live stats at real time. They want to see the play by play exactly after it happens. Fans want to record the game, tell their friends about the game, tweet about the game, and overall connect with others over their excitement and disappointment about what’s happening.
Michael Roura is among the many fans that like to attend sports games live.
“[I’m] on the phone more than you would think mainly using Snapchat and texting and checking fantasy football as well as scores in other games or other sports even,” said Roura.
Roura has attended different stadiums for different sports.
“At MetLife cell service wasn’t that bad, but when I go to Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium for example, it can be extremely spotty,” he said.
Behind the scenes, Wi-Fi connection is extremely important to a good fan experience. Millennials like Roura are highly engaged in social media, and having wireless connection at the stadium itself will enhance the overall experience for young fans.
Stadiums across the U.S. realize that fans want to use cell phones during games to make calls, tweet, Instagram, Snapchat, and just to overall share their experience in real time. That is why stadiums are making sure that their coverage and capacity will support thousands of fans.
Wireless innovators have turned to other kinds of technology to provide a wireless network, rather than just relying on cell towers. Instead, stadiums all across America are using a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) or small cell technology in order to provide as much coverage and capacity as possible to sustain the wireless network for the thousands of people vying for internet connection.
A DAS is comprised of multiple antennas that are connected to a main source, and are used by stadiums for wireless internet coverage and capacity.
One stadium with DAS is U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis–the one that will host the upcoming Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018. The stadium fits 66,2000 but can extend to fit more–up to 70,000 people.
A video from the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) highlights how DAS systems were incorporated into the U.S. Bank Stadium in preparation for the super bowl. Antennas are strategically mounted in stadiums in zones
This is one way that stadiums have brought greater capacity for internet use to accommodate fans. Another is small cells, which are devices that carrier its own source.
Aaron Friedman, director of operations at Connected Real Estate, a magazine that focuses on bringing information about the wireless industry to commercial real estate professionals, broke down the difference between these two technologies how they benefit a stadium.
“DAS is [primarily used to correct a] coverage issue,” Friedman said. “Small cells [are used] when you’re talking about capacity…stadiums definitely use both of them. The reason that you would do a small cell over a DAS comes down to how many people [can fit in the stadium].”
DAS and small cell have been used by stadiums for years now. Rich Berliner, the publisher and founder of Connected Real Estate Magazine, was also the former CEO of Berliner Communications Inc., a wireless telecommunications company, gives some insight into how stadiums first operated with a wireless network.
“The early stuff was they would cover the luxury boxes with Wi-Fi, they would put a couple of macro antenna, instead of DAS or small cell, so there would be signal in the stadium, but there wouldn’t be enough capacity when there were 80,000 people in the stadium,” Berliner said. “There was always sort of coverage, and if you were lucky you could make a call in or out but once everyone started snapping pictures and sending those pictures out, everything would just back up and nothing would go.”
Berliner believes that the race for wireless internet service has to do directly with social media and other online sharing sites that encourage picture sharing.
“It’s a more recent innovation that they’ve started covering these channels with much greater capacity,” he said. “So at least a good portion of the photos that attendees are trying to send are getting through.”
There are several reasons why people might be looking their phones during a game. Maybe they want to check on their fantasy football stats to see how their players are performing. Maybe a fan wants to use Snapchat to show friends the view her or she has. Maybe they want to tweet about the upsetting play that will be talked about in the news days afterward.
In order to do all of this, fans need to have internet access. When you have 70,000 people squeezed into an outdoor area, having the coverage and capacity for all that internet usage has not always been possible. Wireless expects, however, have been working to solve the problem by setting up different zones throughout the stadium and imputing devices that will allow for stable coverage and maintain the network for fans.
Berliner predicts that one trend that will continue is this need for a greater internet capacity.
“You’ve got 80,000 people in one room,” he said. “You’ve got everyone trying to send pictures. So I think what you’re going to see [in the short term], you’re going to see an expansion of capacity. A continued expansion of capacity.”
Another piece of technology that Berliner predicts will make a big impact on sports stadiums and fan experience in the future is Internet of Things (IoT) technology. An example of this future technology, given by Berliner, is that fans may be able to see on their cell phones how long a line is for the bathroom, or for food.
“IOT is an opportunity in stadiums,” said Berliner.
Taking pictures and using social media takes a large toll capacity, and when capacity is limited, speed is slower. Pictures take longer to send, and sometimes wouldn’t make it through the congested network. It is becoming more and more commonplace in our society to use internet on our cell phones, and stadiums are taking the necessary steps to ensure that fans will get the best digital experience possible, along with the greatest live experience possible.