NFL Stadium Tech Reviews — AFC East

Editor’s note: The following team-by-team capsule reports of NFL stadium technology deployments are an excerpt from our most recent Stadium Tech Report, THE PRO FOOTBALL 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.

AFC EAST

Reporting by Paul Kapustka

Screen shot 2015-11-06 at 1.02.38 PMBuffalo Bills
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Seating Capacity: 71,757
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Add the Buffalo Bills to the list of teams that installed Wi-Fi into their stadiums this offseason, as the Bills tapped NFL favorite Extreme Networks for a deployment at Ralph Wilson Stadium that was live for the regular-season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, a game the Bills won 27-14. The team picked Carousel Industries, Extreme Networks and Frey Electric for the deployment, which began in May this year. The Bills said the network went through beta-type testing this summer, at concerts for the Rolling Stones and One Direction, and during the Bills’ preseason schedule.

By our count, this is the ninth NFL stadium to use Extreme gear for its fan-facing Wi-Fi, a signal that Extreme’s preferred-supplier deal with the league is working well for all concerned. So far this season the Baltimore Ravens and the Green Bay Packers have announced Wi-Fi deployments from Extreme.

Last year Ralph Wilson Stadium had a DAS upgrade that has no doubt been upgraded again recently, so for all types of wireless communications the Buffalo fans should be well served this season as they enjoy the Rex Ryan ride.

New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium
Seating Capacity: 68,756
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

The defending Super Bowl champs the New England Patriots continue to make wireless connectivity a priority in Gillette Stadium, with Wi-Fi outfitted by Extreme Networks, and a team-centric Game Day Live mobile app. Unlike most stadiums, the Patriots also have RedZone channel access for mobile users, a real treat for fantasy football fans.

Miami Dolphins
Sun Life Stadium
Seating Capacity: 75,540
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

With more than 1,000 Wi-Fi access points, Sun Life Stadium has always been near or at the top of venues with the most Wi-Fi and DAS traffic generated. A $400+ million renovation this offseason added a host of new amenities, including field-level suites and more concessions. Sounds like it’s still great to be taking your talents to a game in Miami.

New York Jets
MetLife Stadium
Seating Capacity: 82,500
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

There are lots of benefits to hosting a Super Bowl – including the improved connectivity of your stadium. After AT&T and Verizon spent over a year outfitting MetLife Stadium with their own DAS deployments before Super Bowl XLVIII, the stadium saw a 60 percent increase in wireless data from the previous Super Bowl. With more than 850 Wi-Fi APs, MetLife is covered when it comes to wireless.

Levi’s Stadium, AT&T Stadium see lots of Wi-Fi for Seahawks visits

Seahawks vs. Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, Nov. 1. Photo: Dallas Cowboys

Seahawks vs. Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, Nov. 1. Photo: Dallas Cowboys

So far this NFL season we’ve seen something that we call the Patriots effect, where games featuring the defending Super Bowl champs as visitors produce big numbers on the stadium Wi-Fi networks. There appears to be a similar trend following the Seattle Seahawks around, especially when they’re playing NFC rivals like the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, as both those teams’ stadiums saw big Wi-Fi days during recent Seahawks visits.

The Niners were first to get a Seahawks effect, carding 2.2 terabytes of Wi-Fi network usage during Seattle’s 20-3 victory over San Francisco at Levi’s Stadium on Oct. 22. According to figures provided by Roger Hacker, senior manager of corporate communications for the Niners, out of the 70,799 in attendance for the Thursday-night game there 16,299 unique users on the Wi-Fi network at Levi’s Stadium, with a maximum concurrent user number of 10,306.

Screen Shot 2015-11-03 at 10.16.54 PM

Last Sunday at AT&T Stadium, the Seahawks escaped with a narrow 13-12 win in front of 91,486 fans. According to figures provided by Dallas Cowboys chief information officer John Winborn, there were 36,388 unique users on the Wi-Fi network, with a peak of 24,667 concurrent users. The total tonnage used Sunday at AT&T Stadium was 4.12 TB, perhaps proving once again that 4+ TB is becoming the “new normal” for high-fidelity networks in the largest stadiums.

NFL Stadium Tech Reviews — AFC North

Editor’s note: The following team-by-team capsule reports of NFL stadium technology deployments are an excerpt from our most recent Stadium Tech Report, THE PRO FOOTBALL 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.

AFC NORTH

Reporting by Paul Kapustka

M&T Bank Stadium. All photos: Baltimore Ravens (click on any photo for a larger image)

M&T Bank Stadium. All photos: Baltimore Ravens (click on any photo for a larger image)

Baltimore Ravens
M&T Bank Stadium
Seating Capacity: 71,008
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

Extreme Networks picked up another NFL win this offseason, being selected to provide the Wi-Fi network gear for the Baltimore Ravens M&T Bank Stadium.

According to press releases from the team and Extreme, Extreme will install approximately 800 Wi-Fi APs to provide wireless service to the seating and concourse areas of the stadium. The $6.5 million network will be designed and deployed by integrator PCM Inc. of El Segundo, Calif., and the team app will be developed by YinzCam. According to the Ravens M&T Bank Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,000 for football.

The Ravens are also unveiling a new 3-D video system called freeD that the team said shows replays from every possible angle, like the replays seen on newscasts that can circle around the field of view.

Cincinnati Bengals
Paul Brown Stadium
Seating Capacity: 65,515
Wi-Fi – Yes
DAS – Yes

After putting Wi-Fi from Extreme Networks into Paul Brown Stadium for last season, the Bengals announced an additional $20 million in improvements for 2015, including newer, larger video boards. A TE Connectivity DAS in already in place, and the Wi-Fi network went through some upgrades especially in the stadium’s canopy level.

Cleveland Browns
FirstEnergy Stadium
Seating Capacity: 73,200
Wi-Fi – No, planned for 2015
DAS – Yes

While the Cleveland Browns continue to add improvements to FirstEnergy Stadium, Wi-Fi is not yet installed; according to news reports it should be available by the end of the 2015 season.

Pittsburgh Steelers
Heinz Field
Seating Capacity: 65,500
Wi-Fi – Yes/limited (club and suite areas only)
DAS – Yes

With room for 3,000 more fans in Heinz Field this season thanks to some offseason construction work, more Steelers fans than ever will be able to cheer on the Black and Gold.

Wi-Fi access, however, remains limited, not available in the full bowl but only in the FedEx Great Hall and the West Main Concourse. Clubs and suites also have free Wi-Fi, and the team said customer service reps will be available to deal with issues.

Yahoo: 15.2 million viewers for online NFL game

Screen Shot 2015-10-26 at 10.43.42 AMThe early numbers are in, and according to Yahoo and the NFL there were 15.2 million unique viewers of Sunday’s first-ever online-only streaming of an NFL game, a 34-31 victory by the Jacksonville Jaguars over the Buffalo Bills from Wembley Stadium in London.

While there were some reports of problems with the stream — mainly fuzzy and pixelated pictures — according to the NFL and Yahoo the streaming saw “an average rebuffering ratio of less than 1%” during the 480 million total video minutes served up. The streaming broadcast also saw 33.6 million discrete streams, which meant that many of the unique viewers either clicked on and off, or restarted their streams (maybe after experiencing some of that “rebuffering”). While I don’t agree with Business Insider’s view that the event was a “disaster” the choppiness and possible drops might have been annoying to some who have never viewed live events online before. Maybe we’re immune because we watch so much sports online, but c’mon, you have to allow for the fact that this is live video transversing a best-effort network, which on one level is still pretty amazing. Now if they could just find something other than a weirdo Matthew McConaughey ad we’d be fine.

Interestingly, 33 percent of the streams were from international sources, meaning that such exercises could possibly help the NFL expand its live-action reach outside of its traditional U.S. broadcast boundaries. Since the game wasn’t on live TV (except for local markets) it’s not a surprise that it was most likely the highest-ever total audience for a streaming sports event; SB Nation has a good roundup of the numbers and media observers’ takes on the event.

Mobile Sports Report watched the stream for a bit, both online via a browser and on our phone, and we were part of that 1 percent that experienced fuzzy/pixelated views, mainly on the laptop. What was interesting was that Verizon’s NFL Mobile app also carried the game, in perfect sync with the browser view; the Yahoo page viewed via the phone, however, was about 11 seconds ahead of the regular web page view, which we found puzzling.

Our other take on the event was mainly about how vanilla it was — the stream had none of the extras or features we’ve come to expect from online offerings, like a replay timeline, multiple camera angles, or choices on commentators, like the college football megacasts. We’re not sure if that was due to Yahoo’s desire to keep it simple to make the delivery easier, or if the NFL didn’t want frills, but by and large it felt like just another NFL game. Since we regularly watch NFL games digitally, either on the phone via NFL Mobile or online via ESPN or Fox or NBC it didn’t seem very revolutionary to us. Maybe next time the NFL can step up its game and use more of the medium. With the numbers and audience, it seems like a no-brainer to try.

Yahoo’s NFL streaming game: Where to turn for help

Screen Shot 2015-10-24 at 2.50.49 PMSunday’s groundbreaking live streaming of an NFL game — groundbreaking mainly because Yahoo is making it free to all types of viewers on basically any platform with an Internet connection — could be the biggest ever streamed sporting event ever, even though it’s just the Jaguars vs. the Bills.

HERE IS THE YAHOO INFO PAGE ON HOW TO CONNECT

But it’s also just as likely that there will be some issues with the delivery, so we asked Yahoo folks some questions about where fans can turn for help should they not be able to view the game.

Matt Edelman, a product manager at Yahoo, responded to our email questions with these answers:

MSR: Where can fans go (web, twitter, etc.) for technical support help if they have problems streaming the game?

Yahoo: Fans can tweet @YahooSports or @YahooCare for online help

MSR: Are there any browser or operating system requirements to view the game? Video player?

Yahoo: No – the game will be available across all digital devices (computers, phones, tablets and connected TVs) for free globally. You can also stream the game from our destination page.

MSR: What technical resources are in place to make sure the streaming isn’t overloaded?

Yahoo: At Yahoo, we’ve been laser focused on delivering the NFL’s premium content through a best-in class streaming experience, live, across devices. We’ve built a lot of tech and infrastructure in house to be able to deliver on the scale and quality of this event globally. We’re also working with a number of partners to bring this experience to our users.

MSR: Is there any guess as to how many people will stream the event?

Yahoo: We’re focused on making sure we bring an exceptional viewing experience to football fans around the world. This is the first time a live stream like this has ever been done with the NFL, and we’re excited. (editor’s note: Translation: We’re not giving you a number!)

Good luck out there all you digital watchers… any problems with the stream, let us know as well by tweeting @paulkaps.

Levi’s Stadium sees another 2+TB of Wi-Fi during Ravens vs. Niners

Levi's Stadium during Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens. Photos: Levi's Stadium

Levi’s Stadium during Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. Photos: Levi’s Stadium

Another Sunday, another 2+ terabytes of data used on the Levi’s Stadium Wi-Fi network, as fans at the Ravens vs. the Niners game this past week used 2.18 TB of Wi-Fi data, according to figures from the San Francisco 49ers.

As the team and its stadium are gearing up to host Super Bowl 50 later this season, it appears that the Levi’s Stadium Wi-Fi network is continuing to perform in fine fashion, handling 16,840 unique Wi-Fi users during Sunday’s 25-20 victory by the Niners over the visiting Ravens. Statistics provided by Roger Hacker, senior manager of corporate communications for the Niners, also show a maximum concurrent Wi-Fi user number of 10,848 and a peak Wi-Fi bandwidth of 1.543 Gbps.

We still don’t have any numbers, however, on how well the Levi’s Stadium app is performing this season, specifically when it comes to fan use of innovative services like ordering food and drink to be delivered to the seat or even to someone else’s seat, features that are unique to Levi’s Stadium and its namesake app. VenueNext, the developer of the app for Levi’s Stadium, has not released any performance numbers for the specific services, including parking ticket purchases, food ordering and instant replay, so far this season.

If any Niners fans are out there and can comment about using the send-a-beer-to-someone-else service, we’re all beers. Or ears. The Levi’s Stadium network will get another workout Thursday when the Niners host the Seattle Seahawks, a game sure to bring lots of network use.

Screen shot 2015-10-21 at 4.59.34 PM

Niners fans celebrate during Sunday's win over the Ravens

Niners fans celebrate during Sunday’s win over the Ravens