Mobile Sports Report

Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium gets new DAS for 2017

October 5, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

DAS antennas seen on flagpoles at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. Credit: Gary Turner / CWS (click on any photo for a larger image)

Fans at the University of Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium should finally have cellular connectivity this season, thanks to a new neutral-host DAS installed by Connectivity Wireless Solutions over the past offseason.

Though we don’t have any stats or speed test reports yet, Connectivity Wireless said the DAS was scheduled to begin operation at the start of the season, with fine-tuning taking place during the first few home games. Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular were active on the DAS at the start, according to Connectivity Wireless, with AT&T in testing at the season’s start.

Steven Morris, director of engineering for Connectivity Wireless, said the new DAS is using Corning One gear at the core, and has a mainly fiber infrastructure with coax used only in the “final 30 to 40 feet” for connection to edge gear and antennas. Connectivity Wireless also installed a new DAS at the school’s basketball stadium, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which should also be ready for the upcoming season. According to news reports, the DAS contract for Kinnick is $6 million, while the cost for the network at Carver-Hawkeye is $3 million.

The DAS for the 70,000-seat historic Kinnick Stadium, Morris said, has 13 sectors, and according to news reports, uses approximately 200 antennas. Like many older open-bowl stadiums, deployment at Kinnick was a challenge simply due to its design as well as to the fact the building has historical aesthetic elements, making antenna placement a job with multiple approvals necessary.

Overhead view of the bowl shape of Kinnick Stadium. Credit: University of Iowa

Overcoming aesthetic and design challenges

“There was no real place for antennas,” said Morris, who said Connectivity Wireless found a way to bring coverage to the main bowl seating partially through a strategy of replacing existing flagpoles mounted around the stadium’s edges with new custom-designed poles that had conduit and antenna mounts built in.

“It was a big challenge for us, with lots of approvals to go through,” said Morris. Connectivity Wireless also had to trench fiber from the stadium to the campus’ network head-end, which is located in one of the school’s hospitals about a mile away from Kinnick. All this work needed to be done in the spring and summer, Morris said, since you can’t dig underground in Iowa where winter weather can regularly produce sub-zero temperatures.

With plenty of fiber capacity now in place, Morris said Kinnick Stadium could also eventually install a Wi-Fi network, though it would most likely mean some kind of under-seat AP deployment with its associated coring costs. However, there still may be some legal entanglements regarding any future network deployments, as Iowa is still involved in a lawsuit with American Tower, which it had originally contracted with to build the Kinnick DAS. That 2013 deal, however, was terminated by the university in 2015, and the matter is still being adjucated under a lawsuit filed by American Tower. American Tower would not comment on the status of the lawsuit.

More flagpole-mounted DAS at Kinnick Stadium; Credit both photos: Gary Turner / CWS

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, NCAA Football, Verizon Wireless Tagged With: 4G LTE, AT&T, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Connectivity Wireless Solutions, DAS, Kinnick Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, NCAA, Paul Kapustka, U.S. Cellular, University of Iowa, Verizon Wireless

New Colorado State stadium has winning Wi-Fi network

October 3, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

Colorado State University has a new on-campus football stadium. Credit all photos: Paul Kapustka, MSR (click on any photo for a larger image)

Even though it’s not completely finished, the Wi-Fi network at Colorado State University’s new football stadium has already shown strong signs of promise, signaling a future with great connectivity for Rams fans at their new on-campus venue.

Being built by integrator 5 Bars, the network is in its final phases of completion, with enough of it turned on to get some positive results in the first two home games for Colorado State this season.

On Aug. 26, during Colorado State’s 58-27 win over visiting Oregon State, a sellout crowd of 37,583 crammed into the new on-campus venue for the Fort Collins, Colo., school. During the inaugural event, the not-yet-finished Wi-Fi network nevertheless saw 5,891 unique connections during the day with a peak concurrent number of 3,680 users at 3 p.m. local time, according to 5 Bars. Even with most of the under-seat Wi-Fi connections not yet online (5 Bars said the network was about at 35 percent capacity), the network still saw 2.7 terabytes of data used, an average of 458 MB per connected user.

Some under-seat Wi-Fi APs needed conduit cored through the concrete steps

A couple weeks later, Mobile Sports Report was in the house for CSU’s second home game, a 38-10 victory over Abilene Christian. With 27,038 fans in attendance, many wearing bright orange to celebrate CSU’s “Ag Day” heritage (the official school colors are green and gold), the network saw 4,548 unique users and 1.8 TB of traffic, according to 5 Bars.

Under-seat coverage impressive

Editor’s note: This profile is an excerpt from our latest STADIUM TECH REPORT, our Fall 2017 issue that has in-depth profiles of network deployments at Notre Dame Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the Los Angeles Coliseum. DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY of the report today!

If there is a design tactic that seems to have paid off, it’s 5 Bars decision to go under-seat with Wi-Fi APs in most of the lower seating bowl. With 250 in-bowl APs out of the estimated 419 total APs used in the venue, many are in under-seat enclosures, both in premium areas with seats with backs, as well as in seating areas with metal benches.

And while building a stadium from scratch with Wi-Fi in mind usually means under-seat deployment can be easier, 5 Bars found that in the end it needed to place some APs in different spots, leading to some on-site construction that included coring holes in concrete steps to thread conduit across some aisles. The end result, however, is impressive, with MSR speed tests hitting the mid-50 Mbps and into the 60-Mbps marks for both download and upload speeds in most of the lower bowl seating, with tests taken before the game in an empty stadium.

The on-campus proximity of the new stadium is a welcome change for CSU fans

But even later, with orange-clad CSU fans filling the seats, the working Wi-Fi network still performed admirably, with a 63.58 down and 48.35 up reading in the middle of the student section on the stadium’s east side during the first quarter. Closer to the end of the first quarter, we got a 24.33 / 9.96 reading in the lower section of the west side, the most tightly packed area in the stadium that day.

Light standards and beer gardens

While under-seat placements may be the workhorses at CSU’s new stadium, there are also plenty of overhead APs to fill in the gaps, such as at the top of the lower-bowl sections, mounted underneath the overhang. There are also Wi-Fi APs as well as DAS antennas on the large light standards that top the east stands. Though we didn’t test the DAS network, 5 Bars has a neutral host deployment that currently has Verizon Wireless online, with AT&T and T-Mobile to follow soon. Sprint is scheduled to be added next year, with support for Sprint’s 2.5 GHz spectrum, 5 Bars said.

One thing that makes the new CSU stadium unique is the New Belgium Brewing beer garden that fills the north end zone of the stadium. With several rows of long, stand-up tabletops where fans can sip a beer while watching the game, as well as a bar area behind, the beer garden was already a popular place to hang out, as evidenced by the big line that formed shortly after the stadium opened.

And thanks to the structures over the bar area, the beer garden was well covered by Wi-Fi APs mounted above the taps. Even down in one of the stand-up rows close to the field we were still able to get a Wi-Fi reading of 55.69 down and 24.11 up. We also taste-tested New Belgium’s “Old Aggie Lager,” a brew made specifically by the local company for CSU. It’s crisp and refreshing, especially on a sunny Saturday afternoon. And it goes perfectly with good Wi-Fi.

Fans are able to share social media posts via the new big screen video board

A look at the west stands from the back of the student section

An overhead look at the north end zone beer garden, with a view to the mountains just west of the venue

The beer garden standing area provides an up-close look at the action

As always, Mobile Sports Report tests, tests and tests again

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Cisco, DAS, NCAA Football, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, 5 Bars, Cisco, Colorado State, DAS, Mobile Sports Report, NCAA, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

Niners: No more in-seat merchandise sales or express pickup at Levi’s Stadium

September 28, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

We finally have an official statement from the San Francisco 49ers talking about the team’s decision this season to eliminate in-seat food delivery for the entire stadium and instead offer the service only to those holding club-level seats, news reported first by Mobile Sports Report.

A statement provided to us from Al Guido, president of the Niners, says:

Levi’s Stadium was the first stadium of its size to offer in-seat food and beverage delivery throughout the building, a service no other venue has attempted to date. After conducting a comprehensive offseason review, including analysis of the sections where people took the greatest advantage of the offering and surveys on what matters most to fans sitting in different areas of the venue, we are focusing our in-seat food and beverage ordering service exclusively to non-inclusive Club seating sections for the current season. This change is being done to improve the overall concession service in the venue while allowing us to continue to enhance how this feature can best benefit our fans.

According to the Niners, “non-inclusive” means all club seats where fans don’t have access to the everything-paid-for clubs like the BNY Mellon Clubs on either side of the lower 50-yard-line seats. So to have access to the app-based ordering and delivery, you need to be in a club seat somewhere in the 100 or 200 levels of the stadiums, without a paid-for food and drink plan. The Niners did not provide any numbers about how many or what percentage of Levi’s Stadium fans would continue to have the ability to order concession deliveries.

Also discontinued is the Levi’s Stadium express pickup option, a service the team said was actually stopped last season. The express pickup option allowed fans to order and pay for food and drink ahead of time, and then pick it up at a nearby stand. The Niners also said they are discontinuing the ability for fans to order merchandise and have it delivered to their seats, an option that debuted back in 2014.

Filed Under: Apps, Levi's Stadium, NFL, VenueNext Tagged With: Apps, Levi's Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, Paul Kapustka, San Francisco 49ers, VenueNext

Little Caesars Arena picks Venuetize for stadium, district app

September 27, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

The new Little Caesars Arena app from Venuetize will also support the District Detroit area surrounding the new stadium.

The newly opened Little Caesars Arena in Detroit picked Venuetize to develop its stadium app, which also includes functionality to support activities in the surrounding “District Detroit” area, according to the arena.

Mobile technology provider Venuetize, which also built an integrated app for the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, has included a long list of features in the app for Little Caesars Arena, the new home for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and the NBA’s Detroit Pistons. The District Detroit is a 50-block revitalization project surrounding the new arena, with shopping, restaurants and entertainment designed to keep fans in the area for more than just sporting events.

Digital ticketing support is at the top of the new app’s features, along with express ordering, which allows fans to order and purchase concessions via the app for fast pickup.

According to the arena and Venuetize, fans will also be able to use the app to find the best directions to the arena or to other places in the district, as well as inside the arena for in-building wayfinding. Future features planned for the app include a virtual assistant that will answer live questions. The app is available now, for iPhone and Android devices.

Filed Under: Apps, NBA, NHL Tagged With: Apps, Detroit Pistons, Detroit Red Wings, District Detroit, Little Caesars Arena, Mobile Sports Report, NBA, NHL, Paul Kapustka, stadium apps, Venuetize

Notre Dame’s new Wi-Fi, Mercedes-Benz Stadium first look — all in our new Stadium Tech Report!

September 25, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

We always get excited here at Mobile Sports Report when we have a new quarterly report out, but the stories, profiles and analysis in our Fall 2017 issue just may be our best-ever effort. With a detailed look at the new Wi-Fi network at Notre Dame Stadium, and a first look at the Atlanta Falcons’ new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, our Fall 2017 issue starts off with a doubleheader of deep information profiles and it doesn’t stop there!

In addition to Notre Dame and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, this issue also has a detailed look at the new football stadium at Colorado State University, which also has high-performing Wi-Fi and a neutral-host DAS deployment. We also take a look at the Wi-Fi renovation taking place at the Denver Broncos’ Sports Authority Field at Mile High, a network upgrade that should lift the Broncos’ home to the top of the list of NFL stadium networks. And we’re still not done!

Also in this issue is a well timed, deeply informed essay from Chuck Lukaszewski about unlicensed LTE and what it means to venues. Chuck, the top wireless guru at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, digs into this developing cellular/Wi-Fi issue and delivers some heads-up knowledge that all venue tech professionals should absorb. We also have one more profle in the issue, a look at a temporary Wi-Fi network being installed at the Los Angeles Coliseum. That’s a lot of reading, so get started by downloading your free copy today!

Part of the reason we’re able to bring you so much good content is the support we get from our industry sponsors. In this issue we also have a record number of sponsors, including Mobilitie, Crown Castle, CommScope, JMA Wireless, Corning, Huber+Suhner, American Tower, Extreme Networks, Oberon, Cox Business, 5 Bars, Boingo Wireless and Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. The support of our sponsors allows Mobile Sports Report to not only do all the work necessary to bring you these great stories, but it also allows us to offer our reports to readers free of charge! We’d also like to welcome new readers from the Inside Towers community, who may have found their way here via our new partnership with the excellent publication Inside Towers.

Download the Fall 2017 Stadium Tech Report today!

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AmpThink, Aruba, AT&T, Cisco, DAS, Denver Broncos, Denver Broncos, Hewlett-Packard, MSR Guides, NCAA Football, NFL, Super Bowl, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, AmpThink, AT&T, Atlanta Falcons, Cisco, Colorado State University, Denver Broncos, Fighting Irish, Los Angeles Coliseum, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Mile High Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, NCAA, NFL, Notre Dame, Notre Dame Football, Notre Dame Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

Delivery of food and beverage to all seats off the menu at Levi’s Stadium

September 21, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

Screen shot from Levi’s Stadium app from 2015 showing active in-seat delivery option.

The ability for every fan in the house to order food delivery to their seat — one of the signature services of Levi’s Stadium since its opening — is now off the menu.

At Thursday night’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, in-seat delivery of mobile-app orders of food and drink was only available to club seat sections at the Niners’ home stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., according to several sources close to the team and the stadium.

Though there is no official statement yet from the team, it’s believed that the in-seat ordering and delivery service — which worked well except for one major early glitch — was mostly popular in premium seating areas at Levi’s, but not widely used otherwise.

While the Niners provided delivery-order statistics for the first year of operation of Levi’s Stadium, since then they’ve only reported orders in vague terms, last claiming average order totals of between 2,000 and 2,500 per game during the 2015 season. It’s also not clear if those numbers included both delivery orders as well as mobile-device orders for express pickup, where fans use the app to place and pay for an order, and then go pick it up at an express window.

The most likely reason for cutting off the service to the full stadium is that fans simply didn’t use it, and at some point it made no sense to keep staffing a service that wasn’t producing any income. What’s still unclear is whether the move is permanent, or whether it could be replaced in time, given that since Levi’s Stadium has opened, the Niners have routinely made changes to how the stadium app works and what services it offers. What was also unclear was how many club seats are still able to order deliveries, and whether or not the express pickup option is also still available.

For Super Bowl 50, the NFL nixed the food part of the delivery service at Levi’s, limiting it to just drinks. However, Super Bowl fans did give the drink delivery and the ability to order food and beverages for express pickup a good workout, with 3,284 total orders, 67 percent higher than the top order mark for a Niners’ regular-season game.

An ambitious experiment

Early on, there was much enthusiasm from the Niners for the in-seat delivery service, and their ambitious goal to make it work for every potential fan in the 68,500-seat venue. While almost every major professional and large collegiate sports venue has some kind of delivery service for premium seats or expanded sections, there is no other football-size venue that has attempted what the Niners have offered at Levi’s Stadium the past three seasons.

Why the full-stadium delivery option never caught on at Levi’s Stadium is most likely due to many reasons, beginning with the fact that it’s still not something most fans expect, unless they are in premium seating areas. There is also the question of how many fans actually download and use the stadium app while at the game, another statistic not regularly reported by teams.

While the service has always been available at Niners’ home games, other events at Levi’s Stadium, like Wrestlemania 31, have declined to have the service available while others, like the Grateful Dead, chose to keep the service in place. According to the Niners, the choice of having delivery available was always made by the event and not by the team.

It’s interesting to note that VenueNext, the app development company started in part by the 49ers, does not have another customer among its growing list of pro team clients that offers full-stadium delivery of app-ordered concessions. Mobile Sports Report has learned that one VenueNext team may start offering drink delivery to fans, but it’s not clear if that will be a full-stadium option.

Another stadium app startup with food-delivery services, TapIn2, has systems to deliver concessions ordered via app to the lower bowl at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Quicken Loans Arena, and for club-seat sections at the Cincinnati Bengals’ Paul Brown Stadium.

Filed Under: Apps, Levi's Stadium, NFL, Super Bowl, VenueNext Tagged With: app ordering, Apps, food delivery, in-seat delivery, Levi's Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, Paul Kapustka, Super Bowl, VenueNext