Stadiums race to digitize: How sports teams are scrambling to keep Millennials coming to games

Younger fans are leaving stadiums when they can't get connected, so sports teams are finally embracing technology as a way to improve the fan experience and increase the team's bottom line.
Imagine walking into a stadium and your smartphone immediately pings you that a $30 premium seat upgrade is available for purchase on your mobile device. As soon as you settle in to enjoy that awesome view of the game, you use your smartphone to order a pulled pork sandwich and imported beer delivered right to your seat. Then, when your favorite player scores a touchdown, you use the team's app to watch an instant replay at multiple angles and a stadium-exclusive video feed of the players on the sideline. Later on, when nature calls, the app directs you to the closest restroom with no wait time.

This isn't a far-fetched futuristic stadium experience. It's already available at some venues, and others are rushing as fast as they can to add next generation digital systems that will make attending a game in person an immersive, connected experience.

There are three reasons that stadiums are pushing to improve connectivity:

1. Changing demographics
2. Luring fans away from their big-screen TV at home
3. Boosting revenues

Whether by building from scratch or retrofitting existing facilities, stadiums are in a fierce competition with each other to add the latest technologies.
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Super Bowl 50 smashes data records with 10.1TB flying across Wi-Fi

Super Bowl 50 set records, as predicted, and not just of the Peyton Manning variety. It was a record-breaking day because 10.1 terabytes of data was transferred over the Wi-Fi network at Levi's Stadium on game day, according to the NFL. That's the equivalent of 6,000-plus hours of HD video or almost 1.2 million 2MB images.

This was a 63% increase compared to the 6.23 terabytes of data usage at last year's Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz., as previously reported in TechRepublic's article, Super Bowl 50 to showcase tons of new tech, shatter bandwidth records.

By halftime, the showdown between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. had already surpassed the previous record for data transferred at any sporting event. As a result, this means that Super Bowl 50 achieved levels of network performance and data usage never seen before at a single sports and entertainment event, according to the NFL. The data figures were compiled from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific Time on February 7.

"The performance of Levi's Stadium's connectivity was nothing short of amazing," said Michelle McKenna-Doyle, CIO for the NFL, in a press release. "It blew away all our previous records and provided strong consistent connectivity for our fans to share their memories. We were very pleased."

The high tech stadium opened in July 2014 and features 400 miles of data cable, more than 12,000 physical network ports, more than 1,200 Wi-Fi access points, approximately 1,200 Bluetooth beacons, and a backbone of 40 Gbps of available internet bandwidth.

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