Stadium Tech Report: MLB stadium technology reports — AL Central

Editor’s note: The following team-by-team capsule reports of MLB stadium technology deployments are an excerpt from our most recent Stadium Tech Report for Q2 2014, which focuses on Major League Baseball. 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.

AL CENTRAL

Reporting by Chris Gallo

Minnesota Twins
Target Field
Seating Capacity: 39,50
Wi-Fi: Yes
DAS:Yes
Beaconing: Yes

Target Field, the downtown home of the Minnesota Twins. Credit: Minnesota Twins

Target Field, the downtown home of the Minnesota Twins. Credit: Minnesota Twins

Host of the 2014 All-Star Game, the Minnesota Twins are making necessary upgrades this season to accommodate fans and media for the midsummer classic. Target Field is outfitted with stadium-wide Wi-Fi, as well as a DAS from InSite Wireless and TE Connectivity.

Because Target Field is in downtown Minneapolis, the Twins are forced to be creative in how they deliver new DAS antennas in the stadium. The stadium has gone through a series of reconfigurations to put DAS gear in the right place. A ballpark that is just 4 years old, the Twins’ upgrades are proof that organizations must continually improve their stadium networks to bring the best experience to fans.

Chicago White Sox
U.S. Cellular Field
Seating Capacity: 40,615
Wi-Fi: Yes
DAS:Yes
Beaconing: Yes

With a name like U.S. Cellular Field, it’s no mistake fans are well connected at White Sox games. In 2012, the Chicago White Sox partnered with Boingo Wireless to bring free Wi-Fi to the stadium.

A couple years later, the White Sox have capitalized on a deal with Comcast to bring the XFinity Zone to U.S. Cellular Field. This 2,220 square foot area is the perfect place to grab food, drink, and stay connected with an interactive social media wall.

Detroit Tigers
Comerica Park
Seating Capacity: 41,681
Wi-Fi: No
DAS: No
Beaconing: No

The Detroit Tigers have more than a few screenshots floating around the internet with SSIDs and passwords for their media networks. Unfortunately, it’s hard for Tigers fans to share their tweets the next time Miguel Cabrera drives in a run. That’s because there is still no public Wi-Fi or a DAS for Tigers fans.

Cleveland Indians
Progressive Field
Seating Capacity: 43,545
Wi-Fi: Yes
DAS:Yes
Beaconing: Yes

Recognized as one of baseball’s most Twitter-friendly teams, the Cleveland Indians have featured a social media suite at Progressive Field. But rather than limiting to one area at the ballpark, the Indians have brought Wi-Fi and DAS to all of Progressive Field this season.

The Indians teamed up with Verizon Wireless to deliver DAS antennas and Wi-Fi. And now with iBeacons installed in the stadium, Indians’ fans receive exclusive deals when walking through Progressive Field.

Kansas City Royals
Kauffman Stadium
Seating Capacity: 37,903
Wi-Fi: No
DAS:Yes
Beaconing: Yes

Kansas City is home to one of the fastest internet connections in the world with Google Fiber now available in some neighborhoods. However, the Royals still do not deliver free Wi-Fi to fans. There are the famous outfield fountains, which deliver fun shows at every game. Still, it’s hard to send out a selfie of yourself dancing in the fountains without Wi-Fi.

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.

Giants Fans at AT&T Park Sent Lots of Texts During World Series, But Also Watched the Game

Our friends over at AT&T sent us some interesting wireless network stats from last week’s first two games of this year’s World Series, which were played in the San Francisco Giants’ well-wired home, AT&T Park. With the stadium’s state-of-the-art wireless infrastructure, it’s perhaps no surprise that fans consumed multiple gigabits of data, both sending and receiving.

We’ll include all the raw stats below — including some fun ones like the 53,000 SMS text messsages sent in the 6 p.m. hour of Game 1, the time span during which eventual Series MVP Pablo Sandoval hit his second and third home runs of the game — but what jumped out at us was the fact that voice calls peaked before the games started and data traffic peaked within the first hour. To us, that meant what happened was what we’ve believed all along: That fans do like to send a picture or a photo of themselves at big games, or call friends who aren’t there, but then once the games start they’re watching what’s happening on the field.

So even in Tweet-happy and iPhone-crazy San Francisco, the great fears of fans only looking at their phones and forgetting to cheer isn’t something that’s going to happen anytime soon. If nothing else, the players on the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals can tell you that fans at AT&T Park were certainly paying attention and directing all their attention to the field, quite loudly at times. It might be some time before others believe cell phones and sporting events can co-exist, but we’re here to tell you it’s already happening now.

(Stats and figures below courtesy of AT&T, describing the stats their network folks compiled based on fans’ usage of our network during Games 1 and 2 of the World Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco.)

2012 World Series – games 1 & 2

· Fans still love the long ball – More than 15 percent more data was uploaded and nearly 20,000 more texts were shared on our network inside the park (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) during game one than game two of the 2012 World Series at AT&T Park.

· A text speaks 1,000 words – AT&T mobile users sent and received more than 350,000 texts across our network during the first two games of the World Series (between the hours of 4-9pm PST).

· Hush up, the game’s about to start – For both of the first two games of the 2012 World Series at AT&T Park (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) the most calls made on AT&T’s Network occurred during the hour directly preceding the game’s first pitch (4-5 pm PST).

· Fastest fingers – The hourly data upload and hourly total data peaks occurred in the first hour (5-6 pm PST) of both game one and two (between the hours of 4-9pm PST). Data uploaded as well as total data volumes decreased during each hour the game went on (between the hours of 4-9pm PST).

Additional Data

Game 1

· The hourly data upload peak of 16.2 GB (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) occurred in the hour in which Pablo Sandoval hit his first home run

· The peak point in hourly total data consumption (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) happened in the first hour of the game with a total volume of 35.3 GB passing through AT&T’s Network.

· AT&T subscribers downloaded the most data – 18.3 GB – during the 6 pm hour (between the hours of 4-9pm PST)

· AT&T mobile users sent and received the most texts (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) during the 6pm hour, the hour in which Pablo Sandoval hit his second and then his historic third home run, with more than 53,000 SMS texts sent and delivered across AT&T’s Network. That’s more than one text for every fan in the stadium. (Total attendance – 42,855)

· For the opening game of the 2012 World Series at AT&T Park (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) the most calls made on AT&T’s Network occurred during the hour directly preceding the game’s first pitch.

Game 2

· The hourly data upload peak of 13.8 GB (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) occurred in the hour in which the first pitch was thrown

· The peak point in hourly total data consumption (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) happened in the first hour of the game with a total volume of 33.1 GB passing through AT&T’s Network.

· AT&T subscribers downloaded the most data – 20.6 GB – during the 6 pm hour (between the hours of 4-9pm PST)

· AT&T mobile users sent and received the most texts (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) during the 7pm hour with more than 42,000 SMS texts sent and delivered across AT&T’s Network. That’s nearly one text for every fan in the stadium. (Total attendance – 42,982)

· For the second game of the 2012 World Series at AT&T Park (between the hours of 4-9pm PST) the most calls made on AT&T’s Network occurred during the hour directly preceding the game’s first pitch.

Giants Win, Twitter Explodes

It’s become pretty normal for Twitter to blow up after any big event now (just wait until the U.S. Presidential elections) but when the company’s hometown baseball team wins the World Series, the explosion of tweets is the Internet equivalent of the fireworks going off around us here in the Bay Area tonight. According to Topsy, the tweets hit 38,000 per minute right after Sergio Romo got Miguel Cabrera to watch strike three on that sick fastball:

38,000+ tweets per minute for the @ after winning the #worldseries! Go Giants! #sfgiants http://t.co/rK1bocEK

@Topsy

Topsy

In honor of the Giants and for Twitter, some choice post-game missives from the folks we follow. Any good ones you’ve seen, put them in the comments and I’ll add them later to the main post.

Second time today Romo’s clinched a game for the Giants.

@jimrome

Jim Rome

When a #WorldSeries is won on the road…almost as awkward as that Erin Andrews interview of Marco Scutaro.

@Matt_Ginella

Matt Ginella

my neighborhood is one #SFGiants party spot. Honking has begun in earnest.

@om

Om Malik

RT @: Dear God. Giants championship parade scheduled for Halloween. That is going to be a FREAKSHOW.

@jason_kint

Jason Kint

p.s. Thank you Melky for the All-Star victory 😉

@omid

Omid Ashtari

Giants win with pitching, defense..managers moves..timely hitting..sounds like simple formula..if it were everyone would do it..congrats SF

@karlravechespn

karl ravech

https://twitter.com/evanadrian/status/262764923556352002/photo/1

Across the street from me, how to watch the game in The City. (Also, faster than Twitter for news.) http://t.co/KB2TRbD9

@Rafe

Rafe Needleman

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