UPDATE: IBM: Sorry! No IPTV deal yet for new Atlanta NFL stadium

Artist's overhead view of new Atlanta NFL stadium

Artist’s overhead view of new Atlanta NFL stadium

Update, 7/9/15, 5 p.m. PT: Sports app developer YinzCam has apparently not yet won the deal to provide IPTV technology for the new NFL stadium being built for the Atlanta Falcons, two days after an IBM exec said that they had.

According to Jim Rushton, global leader and partner in IBM’s sports and entertainment practice, he made some “factually incorrect” statements during a panel presentation Tuesday at the Association of Luxury Suite Directors (ALSD) conference in San Francisco. During his talk Rushton provided some high-level details of IBM’s plans to provide wireless networks and other technologies inside the 71,000-seat, $1.4 billion stadium that is scheduled to open in 2017, and both in his talk and presentation said that app developer YinzCam would be the IPTV technology provider for the new stadium.

However, in a subsequent phone call Thursday evening, Rushton said his statements about YinzCam were “factually incorrect,” and that in fact no contract has yet been awarded for the IPTV technology to be used at the Atlanta stadium. Hence this update to a previous version of the story which led with the YinzCam news, which was mainly new to us since Rushton didn’t name any other potential subcontractors, including the vendors who will be supplying gear for the passive optical network (PON) at the heart of the network or the provider of the Wi-Fi and/or DAS gear that will provide the stadium’s planned wireless connectivity.

However, we will stick with our original speculation, which pegs the leading candidates for optical gear and Wi-Fi equipment as likely Corning and Aruba Networks, who respectively supplied those same technologies for the IBM-led network deployment at Texas A&M University’s Kyle Field, where YinzCam also provided IPTV technology as well as technology for the stadium app. (Daktronics has already been announced as the supplier of the new planned Halo Screen video board.) So if YinzCam hasn’t actually inked a deal for IPTV in Atlanta yet, we will still keep them at the “most likely to win the contract” status.

During his talk Rushton said that network technologies still hadn’t been picked for Atlanta, with “proof of concept” testing still taking place in labs on site at the already-active construction zone. He also would not say whether YinzCam would also be part of the Atlanta Stadium app. YinzCam CEO Priya Narasimhan did not respond to email inquiries about the Atlanta deal (and maybe now we know why). On the Wi-Fi side it will be interesting to see if IBM still chooses to work with Aruba now that Aruba is part of HP after a $3 billion acquisition earlier this year.

Like at Texas A&M, IBM came late to the Atlanta stadium development process, but is claiming that its plan to build an internal fiber backbone for both Wi-Fi and DAS deployments has already saved space, time and money. Rushton said that in Atlanta the DAS headend will be located off the stadium site, a switch that opened up 10,000 square feet of stadium space.

Stadium Tech Report: Nebraska adds Cisco-powered Wi-Fi, IPTV to Memorial Stadium

Memorial Stadium, University of Nebraska. Credit all photos: University of Nebraska.

Memorial Stadium, University of Nebraska. Credit all photos: University of Nebraska.

The state of Nebraska might not have a professional football team, but University of Nebraska fans now have a pro-style wireless experience at home games thanks to a high-density Wi-Fi network and IPTV features recently installed by the school at the 85,000-plus seat Memorial Stadium.

Combined with a new mobile app that delivers multiple live video streams and replay options, the loyal Cornhusker fans — who’ve come to Lincoln, Neb., and filled Memorial Stadium to the brim every game day since the 1960s — now have a wireless fan in-game experience among the best anywhere, collegiate or pro. Installed for use this season by CDW, the new network features Cisco Wi-Fi gear and Cisco’s StadiumVision and StadiumVision Mobile systems, as well as a new app developed by NeuLion and additional video-streaming capabilities from EVS.

“We have the most loyal fans in the country,” said Kelly Mosier, director of digital communications for the University of Nebraska athletic department. Part of putting in a high-definition wireless network, Mosier said, was to meet growing fan connectivity needs and to “stay ahead of the curve” in stadium experiences. “We wanted to reward the fans for being so loyal, and give them a new experience to brag about,” Mosier said.

A look at video options in the Husker app

A look at video options in the Husker app (click picture for bigger view)

One of the first collegiate programs to install big TV screens in its stadium, Nebraska now has a Wi-Fi network with more than 800 access points, both inside Memorial’s seating bowl as well as outside, at entrance and parking areas. In addition to synchronized IPTV broadcasts on stadium flat-panel screens, Nebraska fans also have access to a wide range of live video and video replays of game-day action, thanks to the new game-day app.

According to Dan Floyd, director of information technology for Nebraska athletics, the new network is already a hit, with a peak of 25,000 simultaneous users during the second game this fall. And even though Floyd and Mosier are aware of some problem areas, as Floyd said there has already been “a lot of positive feedback” from the technology upgrades.

Better sound, better connectivity

The network deployment was part of a recent $12.3 million upgrade to the football facility, which has been the home of the Huskers since 1923. Included in the total spend was also a revamp of the public-address and sound systems, but according to Mosier “the biggest chunk” of the spending went to cover the Wi-Fi deployment.

The need for better connectivity became apparent a few years back, Mosier said, and it set in motion a “very long process” of a couple years in length in which Nebraska officials looked at other existing stadium deployments and technology choices before making their decisions. One of the easier picks was selecting Cisco as the main Wi-Fi gear supplier, since Mosier said that most of the rest of the school’s campus was already wired with Cisco networking gear. And a recent deployment of Cisco stadium Wi-Fi at Pinnacle Bank Arena in downtown Lincoln, Neb., where the Husker basketball team plays, helped further push the football decision toward using Cisco.

“We wanted to provide a seamless experience for fans between multiple venues, and to play well with the rest of the campus,” Mosier said. “It was just a no-brainer to use a Cisco [Wi-Fi] product.”

Also in Cisco’s favor was its StadiumVision digital display system and its StadiumVision Mobile product, which both bring advanced IPTV features to static stadium screens as well as to mobile apps. StadiumVision allows for synchronization of programming across a wide array of networked displays, while StadiumVision Mobile supports several live broadcast channels that can be used to provide live content to mobile apps. The Brooklyn Nets use StadiumVision Mobile to bring live action channels to fans who visit the Barclays Center for games.

“We wanted to not just provide the networking infrastructure, but on top of that provide something extra,” Mosier said. “Our fans are pretty savvy, and they are looking for things beyond what the casual fan might be looking for. StadiumVision and StadiumVision Mobile makes sense for our fan base. The ‘extra screen’ approach really lets them control their own video experience.”

Some additional replay options in the Husker app

Some additional replay options in the Husker app

On the Huskers’ game day app, Mosier said, fans at the start of the season could choose between three StadiumVision Mobile-powered “channels” that showed the big-screen broadcast, an alternate angle view, and an “all-22” camera that is like what coaches view to see the players across the entire field. A “phase II” of the app live video, which had not yet launched at the time of our interview, will include further user-controlled selections for more camera angles and replays. According to Mosier, the Phase II capabilities are supported by the C-Cast system from EVS. The entire new app, he said, was built by developer NeuLion.

Though Mosier said the live video production for the app was “definitely a growing process” that will require further tuning and learning, he said the system already has impressive performance, with delays between live action and app action at “a second to a second and a half.” Mosier said that Nebraska also plans to bring more live action to the mobile app for basketball season, with multiple camera angles including a “slam cam” based near the rims.

Handrails and fan interference of Wi-Fi signals

While the 800 Wi-Fi APs give Nebraska pretty good coverage throughout the facility, Floyd said the IT team knew it would have connectivity challenges in the north and south end zone stands, since neither of those sides have any structural overhangs.

“Since the north and south sides [of the stadium] don’t have overhangs we knew they would be problematic,” Floyd said. One option used in venues including AT&T Park and Levi’s Stadium, the under-the-seat access point, wasn’t an option at Memorial Stadium, Floyd said, because the seats there aren’t high enough to meet safety requirements for keeping bodies away from the antennas.

One creative way CDW and Nebraska brought Wi-Fi to the north and south stands is via Wi-Fi antennas inside railing enclosures, but those are not without their own challenges. Though the railing antennas get a signal close to fans, the long rows of seats at Memorial Stadium — up to 30 in between rows — means that the “waterbags,” or human bodies, can act as signal-blockers for fans in the middle of the rows.

“The first 10 or 12 people on either side get a pretty good signal,” said Floyd, but he added that the fans in the middle are still a challenge to reach. Both Mosier and Floyd said Nebraska will continue to seek ways to upgrade the Wi-Fi network, including possibly putting APs on top of towers or in other creative deployments.

“We knew it would need tuning, and some tuning is easier than others,” Mosier said. “We know we still have pockets of [connectivity] problems. We knew that when we put in a system like this, it wasn’t going to be perfect on day 1.”

Something to brag about

According to Floyd, Memorial Stadium has had a Verizon DAS in place for several years, which fulfilled most of the fans’ basic cellular connectivity needs since he said that “70 to 75 percent” of Cornhusker fans were Verizon customers. However, the new sound system, with its big speaker arrays, has also given room for AT&T and U.S. Cellular to add some DAS equipment of their own, with antennas mounted right inside the speaker enclosures.

Unlike other schools or teams, the Cornhuskers are not pressed to make money off their wireless network, given the stadium sellout streak that dates back to Nov. 3, 1962. But Mosier said that even the Huskers aren’t immune to the lure of the living room couch, with its comfort, HD screen and close-by food and drink.

“We definitely have a blessed situation [with the sellouts],” Mosier said, while allowing that some fans might still prefer sitting at home. “But you can’t match the experience of being at the venue,” he added. “If we can address the connectivity issues, plus add to the stadium experience [with technology], it’s a win-win for us.”

Using the app at Memorial Stadium

Using the app at Memorial Stadium

Stadium Tech Report: AT&T brings Wi-Fi and IPTV to Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium

Screen Shot 2014-08-12 at 12.36.29 PMThe University of Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium, a facility built before those things called telephones were in widespread use, is finally getting the technology it needs to let current-day mobile devices stay connected: A high-speed Wi-Fi network and a stadium-wide IPTV system, which will both be deployed by AT&T before the first kickoff this fall.

While few people probably had any kind of working telephone when Camp Randall was built in Madison, Wisc., in 1917, things are a lot different now, as most people own at least one mobile device. Prior to this season, visitors to the 80,321-seat Camp Randall experienced the frustration familiar to many who visit crowded public spaces: the dreaded “no signal” notice, or calls or texts that went nowhere.

“If you worked in the stadium, on game days it was hard to get online, or even send a text,” said Justin Doherty, Wisconsin’s associate athletic director for external relations, in a recent phone interview. According to Doherty, recent fan surveys showed that improving wireless service was a top request. After issuing an RFP, Wisconsin chose AT&T as its partner in the reported $6.2 million networking project, which will also include the deployment of 700 high-definition TV screens throughout the stadium. On the Wi-Fi side, AT&T will provide a 10 Gigabit backbone connection and will install approximately 750 Wi-Fi access points throughout the facility.

Wi-Fi access point at Camp Randall Stadium. Credit: University of Wisconsin

Wi-Fi access point at Camp Randall Stadium. Credit: University of Wisconsin

Combining Wi-Fi with DAS

Though AT&T executives have stated publicly that DAS can sometimes take care of all the connectivity needs in a stadium, the phone provider giant also said that installing DAS and Wi-Fi together can create “the optimal user experience” by allowing both technologies to do what they are best at. In the stadium network world, that usually means allowing DAS to handle simpler communications like phone calls and texts, while allowing Wi-Fi to handle heavier bandwidth loads, like streaming video.

In a somewhat interesting twist, AT&T — which has deployed numerous DAS systems in stadiums — does not run the DAS at Camp Randall Stadium. According to Doherty, the Camp Randall DAS is run by Crown Castle, with AT&T and Verizon as customers. The AT&T Wi-Fi installation, however, will significantly increase the amount of available wireless bandwidth, taking a lot of congestion away from the cellular network as a critical first task.

Beyond providing pure bandwidth, Wisconsin doesn’t yet have solid plans on how it expects to use the Wi-Fi network. Doherty said that innovative ideas like instant replay and food-ordering apps being installed at some other venues are things Wisconsin will be looking to deploy in the near future.

“There’s a lot on the plate, but we want to walk before we run,” Doherty said. “We’re going to be in a little bit of a learning mode [early on], trying to understand how to run the network. By the seventh game [this season] we should be a lot better.” According to Wisconsin and AT&T, the network is expected to be ready by the time of the first home game this season, Sept. 6 vs. Western Illinois.

AT&T taps Cisco for Wi-Fi and video

IPTV install at Camp Randall Stadium. Credit: University of Wisconsin

IPTV install at Camp Randall Stadium. Credit: University of Wisconsin

Though it wasn’t spelled out in the press release, Doherty said that AT&T will be using Cisco Wi-Fi hardware, along with Cisco’s StadiumVision system to provide the video feeds to the in-house digital displays. One of the features of the StadiumVision system that is of great interest to Doherty is the ability for administrators to split the screen in different ways, such as including an L-shaped advertising border around the edges. Though in the future that might be used to sell advertising, Doherty said Wisconsin will most likely use the displays to promote other sports.

“You might see a game feed on the main part of the screen, and then in the L-wrap area we might promote ticket sales for hockey games,” Doherty said. “We also might use it for social media feeds. We’re going to be heavy on internal messaging this fall.”

According to Doherty, the Wisconsin IT team scouted some other school and pro facilities to get ideas of how to best implement wireless deployments. Among the venues visited were the Rodgers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays, and Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, home of the Denver Broncos.

“All those people we visited were very helpful,” Doherty said. “You have to pull little pieces from what they have done, and make it your own.”

And then, you have to let the fans know that it’s OK to try to use their phones in one of the nation’s oldest sporting facilities.

“We want people to know the network is there, and we’re going to actively promote it,” Doherty said. “We’ll have signage and we have a good greeting services staff who will be armed with the information on how to get on the network. We’re going to do everything we can to get people connected.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified Aruba Networks as the Wi-Fi gear provider for the Camp Randall Stadium project. MSR regrets the error.

Wi-Fi APs seen above the seating area. Credit: University of Wisconsin.

Wi-Fi APs seen above the seating area. Credit: University of Wisconsin.

AT&T scores Wi-Fi and IPTV deal at Wisconsin, DAS deal for Arkansas hoops

Camp Randall Stadium, University of Wisconsin. Credit: David Stluka/UW

Camp Randall Stadium, University of Wisconsin. Credit: David Stluka/UW

AT&T’s march into the college stadium marketplace continues apace, with announcements today of a Wi-Fi and IPTV deal for the University of Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium, and a DAS deployment at the University of Arkansas’s hoops home, the Bud Walton Arena.

While AT&T has been extremely active pushing primarily DAS deployments into college and pro stadiums, the IPTV deal for the 80,321-seat Camp Randall Stadium is an interesting twist (and one we’ll try to find out more about in an interview later on). For right now all we have to work with is this press release, which says AT&T will deploy an in-stadium video solution that brings “innovative video and digital content distribution solution on nearly 700 high definition screens.” To us this sounds like it might be a Cisco SportsVision deployment, but we’ll double-check since it’s the first time we’ve heard of a video deployment with an AT&T branding behind it.

On the Wi-Fi side, it seems AT&T is doing its usual job of high quality engineering, with 750 access points planned, according to the press release.

At Arkansas, where AT&T had previously deployed DAS in the football arena, it will now also do so in the 19,200-seat Bud Walton Arena. No word yet if this is a neutral host deployment that AT&T will allow other carriers onto, or if it is an AT&T-only deal.

More photos below!

Head end gear at the Bud Walton Arena. Credit: AT&T.

Head end gear at the Bud Walton Arena. Credit: AT&T.

Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas. Credit: University of Arkansas website.

Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas. Credit: University of Arkansas website.

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