In January, Sport Techie reported on the opportunities of stadium WiFi and digital engagement to revolutionise the fan experience, and to provide the firm technical foundation to drive new revenues. Naturally, we couldn’t agree more.

As the publication suggested, however, the biggest hurdle facing Stadium Owners looking to ‘modernise to monetise’, in so far as their digital infrastructure is concerned, is the high cost of kitting out a stadium with WiFi and managing that network. Not to mention the drive to make money from it. Understandably then, venue owners want to see proven results before signing off the cost.

LOOKING ACROSS THE POND FOR INSPIRATION

Admittedly, the UK has so far provided few successful examples of stadium WiFi connectivity married to an effective commercial model, so venue owners would be forgiven for erring on the side of caution and allocating their financial resources to more pressing concerns – new players, for example.

Across the Atlantic, however, it’s an entirely different story. From seamless in-stadium connectivity with social media, news, stats and video replays, to pushing offers on food, drink, merchandise and more through team mobile applications – it’s clear the USA ‘gets’ stadium WiFi and digital fan engagement.

And let’s be honest: where the USA goes, the world follows.

Even if the fact that over 70% of teams across ALL the Major and National sports leagues in the states now have stadium WiFi (an astonishing 89% of NFL, NBA, NHL and MLS teams also have an official mobile app)* isn’t enough to convince UK stadium owners it’s time to get on the bandwagon, the digital stats from the recent sporting cataclysm that was Super Bowl 2016 certainly should.

SUPER BOWL 2016: A COMPELLING CASE IN POINT

Levi’s Stadium – the Santa Clara, California, venue that hosted the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos on Sunday – has previously been given the title of the world’s most ‘high-tech stadium’ by Time magazine, with WiFi and 4G infrastructure allowing 70,000+ fans to connect during game-time to their smartphones.

10TB was passed over the stadium network during the Super Bowl – that’s enough for 50m photos or 114m tweets, by the way ¬– ensuring Levi’s Stadium became the first sporting venue ever to see such a sizeable data transfer.

Unsurprisingly, social media activity accounted for the largest share of the data during the action. The streaming of video was also extensive, however, demonstrating the widespread view that the facilitation of video over stadium WiFi networks will be key to the kingdom when it comes to reaching and engaging sports fans digitally.

Crucial to the story of the Super Bowl’s digital performance is the fact that the 10TB usage** seen on game-day was a 65% increase on the data passed across the stadium network during the event in last year.

While 6.2TB over the Super Bowl 2015 network at the University of Phoenix Stadium was impressive, the surge in 2016 reflects the sheer growth in demand for connectivity during the action (the capacity of Levi’s Stadium is only 8% more than the University of Phoenix Stadium).

Needless to say, the positive commercial impact for brands associated with such a large-scale digital activation is massive. All of a sudden, the reported $5m it cost for 30 seconds of game-time advertising doesn’t seem so foolhardy!

THE SALES PITCH: BUT IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK

As such a huge demand for stadium connectivity was seen at one of the pinnacle events in the world’s sporting calendar, UK stadium owners cannot afford to ignore the fan engagement and commercial prizes of emulating their brothers in arms across the pond.

But the costs of installing and managing the infrastructure required are still too prohibitive for most, right? Actually, no, they’re not. Not when you’re looking at a provider that approaches things innovatively.

* Source – Sports Mobile Summit 2015
** Super Bowl 2016 usage data statistics provided by San Francisco 49ers front office

intechnologyWiFi is truly breaking the mould for the delivery of stadium connectivity and mobile content to clubs, with a WiFi technical solution installed and managed end-to end, allied to world-class, branded mobile apps, with content curated by experts around the clock to keep fans engaged 24/7 and drive long-term, sustainable revenues.

intechnologyWiFi is the only provider with the in-house assets and resources (including its own WiFi hardware manufacturer), as well as the financial capability, to deliver such a package at no cost or risk to its customers, or their users.