Los ANgeles Angeles of Anaheim

New third-party wireless infrastructure company buys 5 Bars’ stadium business

July 11, 2017 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

NRG Stadium during Super Bowl LI. Credit: AP / Morry Gash/ Patriots.com

Neutral Connect Networks (NCN), a newly formed third-party operator of wireless systems for sports and entertainment venues, has purchased the stadium business part of 5 Bars as part of its inception, a transaction publicly announced last week.

As part of its rollup NCN also acquired DAS Communications, a third-party infrastructure provider with deployments in Boston and New York. The new company also received a $30 million funding round from M/C Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm.

Though 5 Bars recently basked in the successful glow of its biggest stadium project — building the Wi-Fi network at Houston’s NRG Stadium, home of the recent Super Bowl LI — the firm had faced challenges winning deals due to its smaller size, according to Paul McGinn, the CEO of NCN. With more personnel resources along with the $30 million war chest, McGinn said the 5 Bars sports business has a better chance to compete.

“We’re going to put tens of millions into 5 Bars,” said McGinn in a phone interview. “We’re looking forward to growing that business quickly.”

In addition to NRG Stadium, 5 Bars had built third-party networks at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Angels Stadium, and is constructing DAS and Wi-Fi networks at the new football stadium at Colorado State University, which is scheduled to be completed in time for this fall’s season.

McGinn, who was most recently at Vertical Bridge as director of business development, leads a team that includes Brian Porter, a former vice president of in-building operations at telecom gear provider Ericsson. Porter will be NCN’s senior vice president of sales and operations. Bruce Banigan, II, vice president of business development for 5 Bars’ sports operations, will continue in that role at NCN.

John Clarey, 5 Bars’ former CEO, who will continue as an investor in NCN, said in a prepared statement that “the financial commitment from NCN and M/C Partners provides 5 Bars the needed resources to continue to build and operate the large projects it has in its pipeline.” The terms of the all-cash deal for buying 5 Bars’ sports business were not revealed. UPDATE: 5 Bars said its other main business line, a nascent operation looking to provide third-party wireless infrastructure for cities and communities, will continue to operate under the name XG Communities.

Though some recent comments by telco executives seem to be signaling a change in their companies’ willingness to participate in third-party DAS and Wi-Fi deployments may be waning, NCN’s McGinn said his new company will approach third-party deals with a different mindset, mainly one that looks longer into the future.

“We’re not going to be looking to recoup 100 percent of the cost of the system in one to three years,” said McGinn. Instead, McGinn said the new NCN/5 Bars approach will be one of looking for smaller cash contributions over a longer time frame.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, Los ANgeles Angeles of Anaheim, Major League Baseball Tagged With: 4G LTE, 5 Bars, Angels Stadium, AT&T, DAS, MLB, Mobile Sports Report, Neutral Connect Networks, NFL, NRG Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi

MLB Stadium Tech Reports — AL West

July 10, 2015 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

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, THE BASEBALL (And Soccer!) 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.

AL West

Reporting by Paul Kapustka

The iconic sign outside the “Big A,” aka Angels Stadium of Anaheim. Credit Terry Sweeney, MSR

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Seating Capacity: 45,050
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Angel Stadium is now fully wired for Wi-Fi and DAS, courtesy of integrator 5 Bars, which used Wi-Fi gear from Ruckus Wireless and DAS gear from JMA Wireless.

Houston Astros
Minute Maid Park
Seating Capacity: 40,963
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

The Houston Astros were one of the beneficiaries of MLB’s program to bring updated Wi-Fi to all stadiums. The new network was scheduled to be live for the 2015 season.

Seattle Mariners
Safeco Field
Seating Capacity: 47,476
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Finally, geeks of all stripes in Seattle can stay connected while at Safeco, thanks to a new Wi-Fi network with 560 access points that is scheduled to be live for the 2015 season. New LED lighting for the field should make it easier to watch games through the rain and mist.

Oakland A’s
O.co Coliseum
Seating Capacity: 35,067
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

With Wi-Fi already in place the Oakland A’s spent $10 million in the offseason to upgrade the video boards in aging O.co Coliseum. The two new HD Daktronics screens, 36 feet high and 145 feet wide, were joined by new ribbon LED boards to bring more info to fans.

Texas Rangers
Global Life Park in Arlington
Seating Capacity: 48,114
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

The team isn’t talking about it publicly yet, but according to MLBAM there is now a working Wi- Fi network and a DAS at Global Life Park in Arlington, one of the latest beneficiaries of the MLB program to bring Wi-Fi to all MLB parks.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Baseball, Cisco, DAS, Los ANgeles Angeles of Anaheim, Major League Baseball, Texas Rangers, Wi-Fi Tagged With: AL West, Anaheim Stadium, DAS, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, MLB, MLBAM, Mobile Sports Report, Oakland A's, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

5 Bars helps Angel Stadium get Wi-Fi and DAS to full strength for playoffs

October 2, 2014 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

In addition to a packed house and a top-performing team, the Angel Stadium of Anaheim will have a fully functional Wi-Fi network and a full-strength DAS on hand when the American League divisional playoffs begin there Thursday.

Just as the Los Angeles Angels oF Anaheim built their American League West division-winning record all summer, networking infrastructure provider 5 Bars brought the connectivity in the team’s stadium to the top this season as well, completing the neutral-host DAS in June and finishing the Wi-Fi network in time for the last regular-season homestand, according to the company. As the Angels get set to host the Kansas City Royals on Oct. 2, the 400-plus antenna DAS and the 300-plus Wi-Fi access point network should be able to handle the expected crush of selfies, Vines and other fan-based wireless communications that will course the airwaves during game time at the 45,050-seat facility.

While we hope there’s still time this season to get down to Anaheim for a live visit and test, for now we’ll let some quotes from the prepared press release let you know how the team feels about having better-than-average connectivity for its fans:

“We want to bring the best possible Major League Baseball experience to fans attending our games, and we’re confident this new, high-performance Wi-Fi network will fully meet those expectations when our fans come to Angel Stadium,” said John Carpino, President of the Angels, in a prepared statement.

Though the 5 Bars name is a new one in the stadium technology deployment marketplace (earlier this year the company was calling itself “5 Bars Inside,” but the inside is now dropped from the name), its leadership team claims “more than two decades of practical experience in developing and managing DAS networks for wireless service providers,” according to the press release announcing the Angel Stadium networks. For its neutral-host DAS 5 Bars is using the Teko DAS platform of products from JMA Wireless; according to 5 Bars both AT&T and Verizon will be active on the DAS on Oct. 2. On the Wi-Fi side, 5 Bars used gear from Wi-Fi supplier Ruckus Wireless. The Wi-Fi network will be free to all fans at the stadium.

UPDATE: The folks at Ruckus have an well detailed press release about the Angel Stadium deployment that is worth reading through.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Baseball, DAS, Los ANgeles Angeles of Anaheim, Major League Baseball, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, 5 Bars, Angels Stadium, Angels Stadium of Anaheim, AT&T, DAS, JMA Wireless, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, MLB, MLBAM, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, Ruckus Wireless, Stadium Wi-Fi, Teko, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi

Stadium Tech Report: MLB stadium technology reports — AL West

August 11, 2014 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

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 WEST

REPORTING BY CHRIS GALLO

Houston Astros
Minute Maid Park
Seating Capacity: 40,963
Wi-Fi: Yes
DAS:Yes
Beaconing: Yes

One of the first professional organizations to charge for Wi-Fi, the Houston Astros allowed four hours of service for $3.95 in years past. Those days are long gone, and now the refugees from the NL deliver free AT&T Wi-Fi throughout Minute Maid Park. Like other parks around the league, the Astros are also testing the iBeacon technology in the park this year.

Seattle Mariners
Safeco Field
Seating Capacity: 47,476
Wi-Fi: No
DAS:Yes
Beaconing: Yes

Owned by Nintendo of America and the home of Microsoft, it’s baffling the Seattle Mariners do not yet offer free Wi-Fi at Safeco Field. The ballpark has experienced several upgrades over the past year including a new wine bar on the main concourse and baseball’s biggest video board, yet no public Wi-Fi.

However, Safeco Field is participating with MLB and has iBeacons installed. Fans can receive text updates when new seats are available and upgrade tickets with the MLB At the Ballpark app.

Oakland A’s
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Seating Capacity: 35,067
Wi-Fi: Yes
DAS:Yes
Beaconing: Yes

After reaching the playoffs in 2012, it became obvious the Oakland Athletics needed a stronger Internet connection to support four times the amount of media members covering the team. A year later, Comcast delivered free Wi-Fi to Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

One of the oldest stadiums and lowest salary totals in all of baseball does not mean the gameday experience is antiquated. With iBeacons installed throughout the Coliseum, A’s fans can upgrade seats with one tap of their fingers by using the MLB At the Ballpark app.

Texas Rangers
Global Life Park in Arlington
Seating Capacity: 48,114
Wi-Fi: No
DAS: No
Beaconing: Yes

The Texas Rangers are one of 20 teams experimenting with iBeacons in Global Life Park in Arlington. Unfortunately, other than beaconing-specific apps, connectivity will likely still be difficult without free Wi-Fi or DAS in the stadium. What comes first – free Wi-Fi in the ballpark or a Yu Darvish no-hitter? (editor’s note: Bet on Darvish!)

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Seating Capacity: 45,050
Wi-Fi: Yes
DAS:Yes
Beaconing: No

Angel Stadium received free public Wi-Fi just in time for the start of the 2014 season. Courtesy of integrator firm 5Bars Inside, fans of the Angels are promised to experience faster load times and easier communication through their devices. No iBeacons yet, but the Angels expect to continue to improve the network in the coming years.

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.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Baseball, DAS, Los ANgeles Angeles of Anaheim, Major League Baseball, Wi-Fi Tagged With: AL West, Houston Astros, interviews and analysis, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, MLB, Mobile Sports Report, Oakland A's, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Paul Kapustka, Safeco Field, Seattle Mariners, Stadium Wi-Fi, Texas Rangers

Stadium Tech Report: Read why we think MLB is the sports digital experience leader

June 30, 2014 by Paul Kapustka 1 Comment

Is there any doubt that when it comes to the digital fan experience, Major League Baseball is in first place? That’s the way we see things, and research we did for our second quarterly long-form STADIUM TECH REPORT issue bears that opinion out. Thanks to a far-sighted strategy that kept league control over all Internet content, and some innovative, forward-thinking technology leaders at several MLB teams, baseball is ahead of all other U.S. sports when it comes to delivering a consistent, enriched fan experience through technology. But will the lead last?

You can find some of the answers to that question in the second issue in our STADIUM TECH REPORT series which you can download for free right here. If you’ve already registered with us, all you need is a username and password; if you’re new to MSR, we just need an email address and title and you’re on your way to the best long-form compilation of research and analysis, as well as in-depth interviews with industry experts in the stadium technology marketplace. We’d also like to thank our Stadium Tech Report sponsors, which for this issue inlcude Crown Castle, SOLiD, Corning, ExteNet Systems and TE Connectivity — without their support, we couldn’t make all this excellent content free for readers.

AT&T senior executive vice president John Donovan

MLB tech profiles, interview with AT&T’s John Donovan

What’s in our issue #2 of STR? Glad you asked! Inside the report our editorial coverage includes:

— MLB stadium tech research: This editorial research provides a technology update on stadiums used by all 30 MLB teams, gauging the level of deployment of Wi-Fi, DAS and beaconing technologies.

— MLB tech deployment profiles: These mini-case studies will take an in-depth look at technology deployments at MLB facilities including AT&T Park in San Francisco, Target Field in Minneapolis, and Miami’s Marlins Park. This issue also includes an in-depth interview with AT&T senior executive vice president John Donovan, the man behind AT&T’s successful DAS deployment strategy.

— MSR exclusive stadium tech analysis: The report also includes MLB stadium tech analysis from MSR editor in chief Paul Kapustka, as well as a bonus mini-case study of DAS deployment at historic Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.

White box at bottom is one of the under-the-seat Wi-Fi access points at AT&T Park.

MLB stadiums: Wi-Fi and DAS deployment is strong

Since last year, 8 more MLB teams have added fan-facing Wi-Fi to their ballparks, bringing the league total to a respectable 67 percent, with 20 out of 30 stadiums with Wi-Fi. On the distributed antenna system (DAS) front things are even better, with 25 out of 30 parks having enhanced cellular connectivity thanks to a DAS (our report currently erroneously shows that the Washington Nationals don’t have a DAS — we learned late this weekend that they do, so DAS is doing even better than we thought). Though the adoption rate is lower than that found in the NBA (where 26 of 29 stadiums have fan-facing Wi-Fi), baseball as a league does a much better visible job of promoting the service, which is more impressive when you consider that deploying Wi-Fi in an open-air arena is a considerably tougher task than in a building with a ceiling, like an NBA stadium.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the National League West Division leads the pack in MLB connectivity, with all 5 teams having both Wi-Fi and DAS deployments in their park. The adoption rate in that division may have something to do with other teams following what is perhaps the overall connected-stadium leader in any sport, AT&T Park in San Francisco. The first with Wi-Fi (since 2004), AT&T Park continues to lead in innovation and experimentation, as witnessed by their embrace of new tricks like under-the-seat Wi-Fi APs and the new iBeacon technology, which is being tested in 20 MLB parks this season.

All of this is explained in greater detail in our STADIUM TECH REPORT for Q2 2014 — so download your free copy today!

Filed Under: About MSR, All Star Game, AT&T, Baseball, DAS, Los ANgeles Angeles of Anaheim, Major League Baseball, Minnesota Twins, MSR Guides, San Francisco Giants, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: At Bat app, DAS, Major League Baseball, MLBAM, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Tech Report, Stadium Wi-Fi

Friday Grab Bag: ESPN adds more SEC programming for 2014

December 20, 2013 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

Not enough SEC Football? ESPN has you covered
ESPN’s top markets for its college football broadcasts are all in SEC football’s heartland and apparently the powers that be at the sports broadcasting giant believe that you can never have too much of a good thing. (Apparently they have never sat by an unwatched plate of fudge.)

So with the kickoff of next season’s NCAA football viewers can expect “SEC Nation” according to SI, a two-hour program that will run from 10 to noon EST as the main component in its SEC Network. It will cover other sports aside from football, which is news to the rest of us that SEC schools

Facebook buys SportsStream
A month ago we mentioned that Facebook was looking to increase its profile in the sports markets in part with a partnership with sports analytics company SportsStream. Well according to TechCrunch it likes SportsStream so much it purchased it.

The move I designed to help it fend off rival social media companies such as Twitter that are increasingly becoming to the go to sites for up to the second news and gossip. Terms of the deal were not revealed.

Are those Twitter numbers real?
Good news! If you have 61 followers on Twitter you are a median poster and if your number has reached 1,000 active users then you, my friend, are in the 96th percentile. Since it seems like there are millions on Twitter what exactly does this mean?

Well according to Oreilly.com it means that the huge percentage of activity is much smaller than it appears. One interesting outtake from the article is that fake posters and infrequent ones often have huge followings.

Will Android fragmentation continue?
Ever wonder how many types of Android operating systems and devices are out there? How about Apple iOS? Well A recent Forbes article points out that there are currently 4,700 different types of devices using the two operating systems.

Now you can probably list the Apple devices off the top of your head, but the dizzying array of Android has caused concern for developers for some time, and the article points out that as long as it stays heavily fragmented it will benefit Apple.

Worst Announcers in the NFL
Some poor soul at SportsonEarth charted announcers for a series of NFL games in order to find out which ones used the most, and the fewest, clichés, leaps of faiths and illogical statements during a broadcast.

I am assuming that author is not now committed and I think most will agree with the general results, although people always have their favorites to dislike-I know that I certainly do.

5 Bars Inside now inside Anaheim Stadium
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have announced that 5 Bars Inside is the official distributed Antennae system (DAS) and Wi-Fi provider for the team and that the stadium will get a makeover so that fans have solid connectivity.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, DAS, ESPN, Facebook, iOS, Los ANgeles Angeles of Anaheim, Monday Night Football, NCAA Football, NFL, SEC, Social Media Data, Sports Social Media, Sports Social Media Data, Twitter Tagged With: Android, Apple, ESPN, Facebook, iOS, NCAA, NFL, SEC, SportsonEarth, Twitter