Episode 3 of the STADIUM TECH REPORT PODCAST is live, in which hosts Phil Harvey and Paul Kapustka discuss the NFL’s Thursday Night Football streaming deal with Twitter, and what that deal means for both team stadium apps in particular and for mobile video use in general. Take a listen and let us know what you think!
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Screen shot of DirecTV Sunday Ticket app for iPad
Today, AT&T announced that all subscribers to the DirecTV Sunday Ticket plan “will be able to stream Sunday afternoon out-of-market football games to almost any device” when action kicks off this fall. Previously, Sunday Ticket subscribers had to shell out about an extra hundred bucks to get the Sunday Ticket Max package, which offered streaming. Last year, the basic Sunday Ticket package was about $250; so far we can’t find a price for this season (and we don’t want to hunt through all the splash screens trying to get us to sign up for DirecTV services). Suffice to say it will still be a premium product, but one that many NFL fans can’t live without.
According to AT&T, live streaming via the Sunday Ticket plan was up 35 percent last year, a figure that doesn’t surprise us at all. We’ve been tracking Verizon Wireless and its NFL Mobile package of live-streamed games (which varies but usually includes Monday, Thursday and any weekend games, as well as Sunday out-of-market games) for some time now, and posts about NFL Mobile typically draw the highest traffic to our site. Verizon has never released subscriber numbers for NFL Mobile, but if you guessed it was among the most popular sports apps out there, you would probably be right. Even at $1 billion for four years, the rights fees seem a bargain for Verizon.
DirecTV pays the NFL more (about $1.5 billion a year, according to reports) but it gets more; NFL Mobile is exclusive to cell phone devices, meaning you can’t use it on tablets or PCs. And now thrown into the mobile mix is Twitter, whose reported $10 million deal with the NFL for Thursday-night games also includes the rights to stream to cell phones and any other device. Anyone else out there want to play?
Why is NFL action so popular on mobile devices? Mainly, I think, because of several factors, including fantasy betting and the fact that the screens have gotten so big and sharp, you can actually watch a game on a phone and it’s not painful. As many of us mobile-NFL freaks know, the best part of the deals isn’t necessarily the games themselves, but instead it’s access to the NFL’s RedZone channel, which keeps you up to date on action all across the league (and despite its name, it offers way more than just plays “in the red zone.” They try to keep live action going at all times, and NO COMMMERCIALS makes it a football junkie’s dream).
Plus, on the West coast, RedZone will often just show all of later games since there are fewer contests to jump in between. I don’t know how many people will sit every Sunday through several games on the couch, but if you can watch a few minutes or a final drive while you’re somewhere else it’s pretty addictive.
No news yet this year from Verizon on what the NFL Mobile package of games might look like, but stay tuned: This battle is just getting started. Good news is, more competition means more access and lower prices for fans. That’s something we can all cheer, no matter which teams we root for.
White DAS antennas visible on the overhangs at Churchill Downs. Photo: Mobilitie (click on any photo for a larger image).
For sure, operators of the wireless infrastructure at the track aren’t going to left behind for lack of trying — according to neutral-host DAS provider Mobilitie and DAS design partner AT&T, there will be approximately a 50 percent increase in AT&T’s cellular capacity at Churchill Downs this year, with double coverage in the 1900 MHz band compared to last year, according to AT&T.
Mobilitie president Christos Karmis said in a phone interview this week that “every year, the amount of data used has doubled,” at least since Mobilitie put in the first part of the DAS at the track for the 2013 event. Since then, Karmis said the DAS antenna count has grown from 253 to 290, and the network now has 55 sectors, in and around the track and seating areas as well as in the parking lots. In addition to AT&T, the DAS also carries traffic for Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, neither of which have reported traffic totals from the event.
Where all the Kentucky Derby race-day social media posts go to find the Internet (aka the head end at the Churchill Downs DAS). Photo: Mobilitie
According to Karmis, the fans are mainly shooting video and taking pictures during the races, and then posting those images to social media networks during the breaks in between. And then there’s the betting, which can be done on premises via the twinspires app, which drives additional traffic. And then there’s the hats and fashion, which are worth lots of pictures themselves, especially if you see any celebrities during the red-carpet parade.
Though there is still a small amount of Wi-Fi in the main track buildings — at least there was a couple years ago when we did a profile on the new networks — the DAS is the workhorse at the venue, which spreads out far and wide and includes an infield area full of fans as well.
“It’s crazy to try to keep up” with the data demands, Karmis said.
With any luck on our side, we’ll be able to get Verizon and T-Mobile to send over their DAS stats after the event to see if the weekend of races can match the DAS total of 15.9 TB from Super Bowl 50. If the AT&T data alone has gone from 2 TB two years ago to 5.1 TB last year, what’s the total going to be for this year? Put your predictions in the comments below!
AT&T’s new “drum” antennas at Coachella. Photos: AT&T.
Last year AT&T rolled out something it called the cheese wheel antennas, basically big spheres with the tops and bottoms cut off, and a lot of antenna gear inside. With back-to-back 12 TB weekends, the cheese wheels as well as some drive-up cell towers on wheels (COWS) helped keep music fans connected at the concerts. This year, AT&T added to its antenna arsenal a beefier version of the cheese wheel it called the drum set, which helped record 18.6 TB of data the three days of the first weekend, and another 10.6 this past weekend, for a event total of 29.2 TB. For comparison, Super Bowl 50 back in February racked up a total of 26 TB of wireless traffic, with 10.1 TB on Wi-Fi and 15.9 TB on DAS.
Coachella’s AT&T data is all cellular, no Wi-Fi. In 2014, AT&T brought out its “big ball” antenna at Coachella, where AT&T has seen data usage grow by 20 times since 2011, through last year’s show. With this year’s total of 29.2 TB eclipsing last year’s 24 TB, there still seems to be no end in sight to the mobile-data usage at big events.
ParkHub CEO George Baker Sr. Photo: ParkHub Instagram page
Though the two companies didn’t announce any new stadium deals other than the ones they already have in place — at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — the validation of ParkHub’s combination of scanning hardware and information management software could result in some big-name deals via the partnership, as VenueNext increases its roster of teams and venues using its stadium-app software platform.
Right now, the main value of ParkHub’s PRIME mobile point-of-sale system (and specialized scanner equipment from Verifone) is that it allows parking-lot attendants to quickly accept and verify a wide range of payments — including cash, credit card or scans of printed tickets or digital-device graphics — to first speed up parking-lot entry, and to second provide detailed information to venue parking operators. At Super Bowl 50, ParkHub and Verifone said the system was used by more than 7,000 cars as well as several hundred buses and limos, at one point getting vehicles into the lots at a pace of one car every two seconds, a welcome improvement over the sometimes-crawling lines we’ve all been in at one point or another. As VenueNext signs up more stadium customers like its recent deal with the Minnesota Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium, it will be interesting to see how many times ParkHub can piggyback alongside.
Right now, ParkHub seems to be one of a couple companies with momentum in the still-nascent event-parking technology market, one that has been talked about a lot for the past few years without much real action where the rubber meets the asphalt lots. Another service, Parking Panda, has several partnership deals with sports teams for its find-and-reserve parking service as well as for a mobile POS system similar to ParkHub’s, according to ParkingPanda chief operating officer James Bain. In a phone interview Bain said Parking Panda provides game-day services for the New England Patriots, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Washington Nationals, as well as for the Los Angeles Convention Center. Other entrants, like StadiumPark, had similar ideas but haven’t yet announced paying customers.
While VenueNext’s fan-facing app has had some parking features like interactive maps directing fans to lots, the actual on-site transaction part of the equation hadn’t been solved until late last year, when ParkHub was brought in under a test relationship, which extended to the Super Bowl. Look for the Dallas-based ParkHub, which according to chief marketing officer Jarrod Fresquez was running parking operations at AT&T Stadium for the recent WrestleMania 32 and its associated WWE events, to be part of the VenueNext-based services available for Dallas Cowboys games this fall.
In a phone interview with Fresquez he described ParkHub’s deep DNA in the parking business, with founder and CEO George Baker being the son of the head of the Parking Company of America in Dallas, where George worked since he was apparently old enough to hold up a “park here” flag.
“I think George has been working in parking since he was 2 years old,” said Fresquez. After an initial foray into consumer parking, ParkHub pivoted into the business-to-business model of performing transactions and relaying information gained to venues and event operators. Fresquez said ParkHub’s strengths include its tight integration with TicketMaster systems, allowing for “real-time” validation of parking passes issued by the ticketing giant. The parking information gathered by the ParkHub system can also be sent to platforms like VenueNext’s, which can use it to gauge which lots are filling up and relay that information to fans.
More importantly for venues, digital parking systems also help eliminate potential losses of cash-based systems, aka the apron method. In addition to speeding up the parking process, digital systems like ParkHub’s also provide invaluable granular marketing information, about how many fans use credit cards or pre-purchased parking passes, for example. Those statistics and integration with other fan data are a big part of the VenueNext selling proposition for its app technology and management systems for venue owners and operators.
ParkHub, which also counts the American Airlines Center in Dallas and Amelie Arena in Tampa among its current clients, is also testing some automated-gate technology at American Airlines Center, according to Fresquez, part of its quest to “continue to innovate and improve” the venue parking experience. Here at Mobile Sports Report we often wonder why technology can’t also be applied to perhaps the biggest problem with event parking, namely the crush formed by fans leaving the lots after games, where mass confusion and Mad Max-type behavior often rules the day.
According to Fresquez, ParkHub is working on sensor technology which someday might allow fans to reserve specific spots in lots, like the ones closest to the exits to facilitate a quick departure. Until then, we’ll have to settle for assistance with paying and parking lot entry, which while not complete is still welcome.
Home screen for VenueNext app for Yankee Stadium. Photo: Paul Kapustka, MSR
Though the app isn’t part of the Major League Baseball official and approved game-day and stadium apps, it does offer most of the bells and whistles VenueNext developed for the Levi’s Stadium app, including digital ticketing, live wayfinding maps and public transit information. According to John Paul, the CEO of VenueNext, the food ordering option is now available to approximately 10,000 seats in the 54,251-seat Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees and also the home to Major League Soccer’s New York City Football Club, which also uses the new app.
The VenueNext app comes courtesy of a deal struck last year between Legends Hospitality and VenueNext, to use VenueNext app technology at Yankee Stadium and at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. The Yankee Stadium app from Legends is the third major-league sport to use VenueNext technology to support in-seat food and beverage delivery, following the Niners’ app at Levi’s Stadium and an app for the Orlando Magic at Amway Center that debuted during the present NBA season.
App page showing in-seat food ordering and delivery option
The emergence of a VenueNext app that delivers capabilities not found in the so-called Official Yankee Stadium App raises some questions about whether or not the Yankees are playing ball with Major League Baseball Advanced Media’s strategy of having one single app for every MLB ballpark. MLB’s Ballpark app, for example, at Yankee Stadium offers “mobile check-in, social media, offers, rewards and exclusive content,” according to MLB. That’s a little bit different than the version of At Bat offered for the San Francisco Giants, which offers mobile ticketing support, seat upgrade options, and mobile food ordering. Other versions of Ballpark, for example for the Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals, offer fewer options. But as far as we know, there are no other MLB teams with a companion app like the VenueNext app for Yankee Stadium.
For both the Yankees and the Giants and all other teams, the MLB’s At Bat app offers live MLB content for a fee.
Yankee Stadium stadium map in the app
Though MLBAM spent some $300 million last year to bring Wi-Fi and cellular DAS deployments to all MLB stadiums, Yankee Stadium was never confirmed to have had public Wi-Fi installed. Repeated requests to MLBAM asking about the Wi-Fi situation at Yankee Stadium have also not been returned.
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
