The Giants’ Bill Schlough in front of some hard-working wireless network hardware. Credit: John Britton, AT&T.
FIRST UPDATE: Thanks to Jeff Baumgartner over at Light Reading, we have proof that Philadelphia and Citizens Bank Park can be added to the “has Wi-Fi” list, thanks to some work by hometown provider Comcast and equipment partner Cisco. Check out the great slideshow Jeff put together.
SECOND UPDATE: Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, has Wi-Fi. More on this soon, but we have it from the horse’s mouth so we are moving the Friendly Confines to the “yes” list.
THIRD UPDATE: Maybe we shouldn’t count Dodgers Stadium yet, since the Wi-Fi service has yet to be launched according to this report from the LA Daily News. Will the lack of Wi-Fi keep the Dodgers from getting All-Star votes?
For the record, here are the 12 teams with networks that we can verify, some of which (like the Dodgers) are coming online for the first time in the 2013 season: San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox. The two “maybes” are the Seattle Mariners and the New York Mets, which are supposed to have networks but as of this writing we can’t confirm services are available.
Why do we have “maybes,” you ask? Since this research was done completely online and on the weekend, we haven’t had a chance to contact teams directly for confirmation of services. And it’s pretty apparent to us that MLB and the teams do a good job of obfuscating whether or not there is Wi-Fi at the park — some of the teams that have networks don’t list the service anywhere on their MLB-approved team home page. In the weeks between now and the start of the season, we’ll try to figure out our maybes, and maybe add a few more teams in case deals get done before Opening Day. Anyone with definitive knowledge that differs from our totals, please feel free to contribute with a comment or a tweet to me, @paulkaps, with a verifiable link. Any fixes or adds, we’ll salute with a retweet and a hearty well done.
WHY WI-FI DEALS AREN’T PUBLICIZED
As an outlet that humbly boasts having stadium Wi-Fi news and analysis that is the equal of anyone else’s out there, we’re not that surprised that even some teams with networks are keeping things under wraps a bit. Some of that has to do with the secrecy that sometimes surrounds the contracts behind the deals; cellular service providers, for example, might not want to overly publicize the fact that they are subsidizing Wi-Fi at one stadium, since then others will want the same sweet deal. The Dodgers’ planned network, for example, is touted as being built by the Dodgers and MLB’s Advanced Media division — hiding from view whoever the service provider and equipment partners are (we suspect Time-Warner Cable and Cisco, but can’t verify).
The other reason why teams might not want to shout out loud about their Wi-Fi? In case they are worried about performance is one reason. Since these networks are notoriously hard to deploy and operate, if you are new to the Wi-Fi game you might not want to advertise it too heavily. But we expect that will change in the near future as more fans demand connectivity, and as Major League Baseball pushes its teams to all install networks so that MLBAM can sell more of its single, league-approved mobile app.
But on to the stats! Among the gems we uncovered was that among service providers backing networks AT&T had the most with four (San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago Cubs and Arizona) while Verizon has one (San Diego), along with Time-Warner Cable (Houston), Boingo (Chicago) and CenturyLink (Minnesota). Among equipment providers with announced deals we have Cisco at two and Meru Networks at two (Washington and Boston), though we suspect Cisco is behind more deals (like LA’s) as a silent partner. Interestingly, Cisco also has already partnered with AT&T to do StadiumVision video deals in Yankee Stadium and Kansas City, so don’t be surprised to see Wi-Fi networks from the same partners in those facilities sometime soon.
Below is our list of stadiums with yes/no on Wi-Fi fan networks, and some news links we’ve scoured. Again, this is a working post so please — especially if you are with a team, provider or vendor — send us a message if you see an error. Remember, errors are part of baseball! And enjoy your Wi-Fi at the game this season.
MOBILE SPORTS REPORT MLB STADIUM WI-FI ROSTER, 2013 SEASON
NL WEST
YES:
San Franisco Giants, AT&T Park
The Giants, namesake sponsor AT&T and team tech wizard Bill Schlough are recognized widely as the Wi-Fi and in-stadium network leaders not just in baseball, but probably in all of sports and stadiums. Here’s our profile of the Giants from last year.
Los Angeles Dodgers, Dodger Stadium
As part of the team’s $100 million stadium renovation, Dodgers fans get Wi-Fi this season.
UPDATE: According to the Long Beach Press-Telegraph, the Wi-Fi and cell improvements won’t be live on opening day. Too bad.
San Diego Padres, Petco Park
This one was news to us — but it looks like fans in San Diego will finally get Wi-Fi in their park, thanks to Verizon’s first baseball play.
Arizona Diamondbacks, Chase Field
Another AT&T network, Chase Field has had Wi-Fi for some time now. They even have one of the better apps pages.
NO:
Colorado Rockies, Coors Field
NL CENTRAL
YES
Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field
AT&T has helped the Cubs build Wi-Fi in Wrigley. More on the details soon.
NO:
St. Louis Cardinals, Busch Stadium
Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Park
Pittsburgh Pirates, PNC Park
Cincinnati Reds, Great American Ball Park
NL EAST
YES:
Atlanta Braves, Turner Field
Another AT&T network.
Washington Nationals, Nationals Park
Reportedly, this was one of the first 802.11n networks, thanks to gear from startup Meru Networks. However, we can’t find an official link on the Nationals home page, making us wonder if this service still exists. Natitude fans, what say you?
UPDATE 2: Nats are getting a Wi-Fi upgrade, thanks to Comcast. No word if Meru is still the AP vendor.
Philadelphia Phillies, Citizens Bank Park
See Light Reading’s excellent slide show cataloging Comcast’s Wi-Fi plans at its hometown park.
MAYBE:
New York Mets, Citi Field
Does it or doesn’t it? No answer on the Mets’ website, but the new place was supposed to have a Wi-Fi network… of course that was before its supplier, Nortel Networks, went out of business.
NO:
Miami Marlins, Marlins Park
No Wi-Fi, though Marlins Park does have a new DAS install which helps cellular reception.
AL WEST
YES:
Houston Astros, Minute Maid Park
The refugees from the NL are the only park that we can tell has tried to charge for services — wondering if this info about a $3.95 cost for four hours airtime still exists. Houstonites? Yea or nay? This is a Time-Warner Cable/Cisco deal.
MAYBE:
Seattle Mariners, Safeco Field
All we could find were some references to Seattle’s Nintendo having sponsored a Wi-Fi network for gaming. No sign that it still exists or has been replaced. Hello Microsoft? No network for the home of Windows Phones? For shame.
NO:
Oakland A’s, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Texas Rangers, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Angel Stadium
AL CENTRAL
YES:
Minnesota Twins, Target Field
Good writeup from our friends at SportTechie.
Chicago White Sox, U.S. Cellular Field
This one courtesy of the folks from Boingo.
NO:
Detroit Tigers, Comerica Park
No fan network, though we like this picture showing SSIDs and passwords for the media networks. Hope those settings have been changed.
Cleveland Indians, Progressive Field
No stadium-wide network, but the Indians at least have a social media suite with Wi-Fi. What, only a few people in Cleveland use social media?
AL EAST
YES:
Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park
Here’s our profile of the Meru win at historic Fenway.
NO:
New York Yankees, Yankee Stadium
Do they still ban iPads?
Toronto Blue Jays, Rogers Centre
A bit embarrassing, since Rogers is Canada’s AT&T-like telco
Tampa Bay Rays, Tropicana Field
Baltimore Orioles, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
