FOOTBALL STADIUMS
OF THE FUTURE
TH E TECH - E N HAN CE D E XP E R I E N CE
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
The Next Generation .............................................................................................................2
High-Tech Refurbishment ....................................................................................................4
Luring the Stay-at-Home Fan .............................................................................................6
Sharing Stadium Knowledge..............................................................................................7
Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................8
Imagine the next generation of football stadiums as some in the sports industry do, among them John
Penhollow, director of new stadium partnerships for the Minnesota Vikings. These structures offer every
imaginable form of entertainment and convenience, supported by backup systems designed to troubleshoot any crisis, ranging from power outages to emergency evacuations. Endless screens guarantee you’ll
never lose sight of the event wherever you may be on the premises and provide coverage of the action and
scores for other games (other sports, even) around the world along with constant stats and commentary.
And if all 65,400 in the Vikings stadium want to be on social media simultaneously, no problem. A
formidable Wi-Fi network will guarantee that nobody has to wait for a signal, whether it’s to locate a
friend, transmit selfies of yourself tailgating before the game or order food to be delivered to your seat.
Given all of this, no wonder there’s a gleam in the eyes of those who are designing and building these
new stadiums and refurbishing others.
These enthusiasts include David Scott, president of Comcast-Spectacor, a sports and entertainment
company and Comcast subsidiary. He sees a quadruple business opportunity stemming from the
construction of new stadiums along with convention centers, arenas and the like, as well as in the updating of any number of such event spaces—a process that essentially means the installation of massive
amounts of Wi-Fi-enabling fiber optics. “We operate four kinds of companies: facility management, food
services, ticketing and our front-row marketing arm. We’ve been trying to bundle these products and
services together. We can bring a lot more value to our clients by bundling everything we do,” says Scott.
“We’re focusing now on the infrastructure side because we know we’ve got to have the best Wi-Fi, we’ve
got to have the connectivity, we have to have the speed.” Comcast-Spectacor will need to test all these
innovations, says Scott. “We definitely will have some focus groups with the fans after a trial period so we
can see what they like.” But he’s sure there’ll be a lot to like. “The fact is, once you have the infrastructure
in place, the apps are unlimited. Mobile has changed everything.” The ubiquitous nature of smartphones,
in fact, means that among other things Comcast-Spectacor and everybody else involved in new stadiums
are eyeing how to set up sufficient charging stations throughout every location, a convenience once
offered exclusively to those in suites or more expensive seats.
2 | FOOTBALL STADIUMS OF THE FUTURE
Scott acknowledges that “we’re in the real early innings” in respect to the technology that will
make future-stadium visions possible. Robert Jordan, senior vice president of Van Wagner Sports and
Entertainment and technology consultant to the Vikings, goes further. “The sports industry got left
behind in its ability to use IT and data, certainly compared with finance or retailing,” he says. The good
news: “IT in sports is now moving on a pretty phenomenal trajectory, probably much faster than nonsports businesses. We’re getting caught up very quickly.”
This adds to the thrill of coming up from behind for those in the stadium business, a rush any sports
fan would recognize. For football stadiums, construction hit a peak between 1995 and 2003, when 17
opened, and then lost speed. The next eight years saw only four new buildings. Rising prices doubtless
played a part in the slowdown. The MetLife Stadium, which opened in 2010 as the new home for the
New York Jets and Giants, cost a reported $1.6 billion and the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas (2009), $1.2
billion. Next to kick off: the San Francisco 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings. The former’s Levi Field
in Santa Clara is scheduled to open in 2014 at an estimated cost of $1.3 billion and counting, and the
Vikings’ still-unnamed new Minneapolis home in 2016, for $1 billion.
For some time now new stadiums have also been hobbled by their dated design. Eric Grubman, the
National Football League’s executive vice president of ventures and business operations, argues that
stadiums that opened even 15 years ago already reflected decades-old thinking about what was needed.
“THE
SPORTS INDUSTRY GOT LEFT BEHIND IN ITS ABILITY TO USE
CERTAINLY COMPARED WITH FINANCE OR RETAILING...”
IT AND
DATA,
— Robert Jordan Senior Vice President, Wagner Sports and Entertainment
COPYRIGHT © 2014 FORBES INSIGHTS | 3
The Wells Fargo Center, home to the Comcast-Spectacor-owned Philadelphia Flyers, a National Hockey
League team, as well as the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball League, is still relatively new
(opened in 1996).Yet Comcast-Spectacor is deep into upgrading the facility as a way to keep it consistently busy with all kinds of other entertainment and events. “So it’s not just having hockey fans able to
stay on top of their sports and their games. Historically, if you were a suite holder, you’d get a playlist of
the band that’s going to be opening. Now we’re thinking, with the new apps we want to get content to
people before, during and after a concert. I think that’s going to be the key and really keep it alive and
exciting. Keeping the fan (of hockey, football or U2) engaged is a big potential payoff of social media, says
Scott. “It’s what song do you think they’ll play next, and afterward you can download the show or a song,
download a video. It’s keeping the engagement going, not just you bought a ticket, you went to the show,
you went home, and it’s over. We’re looking at the whole thing, what you can do in an arena or stadium,
plus how do you take it back to your home and then view it and listen to it.”
As Scott explains it, Comcast-Spectacor’s vision for the Wells Fargo Center is to make it nothing less
than the ultimate showcase for technology. Here’s what the company has done and is doing to achieve
that goal: r$PNDBTU4QFDUBDPSJOTUBMMFEBOFX%BUB"OUFOOB4ZTUFNDPNQSJTJOHBMBSHFOVNCFSPGSFMBUJWFMZMPX
power, short-range cellular antennas throughout the facility, thereby improving cellular network coverage. r"TQBSUPGQBSFOUDPNQBOZ$PNDBTUTPWFSBMMTUSBUFHZUPDSFBUFUIF
largest and fastest Wi-Fi network in the nation (8 million hot spots),
the Wells Fargo Center today has over 100 Xfinity hot spots to
provide a great in-game or in-concert experience and plans to triple
that number by January. The objective, says Scott, is to create the bestperforming arena Wi-Fi experience, one that is capable of supporting
new video and amenity services to fans and visitors via their mobile
devices. More fans and concert goers are using their mobile devices to
do more high-bandwidth activities like sharing high-resolution
photos and HD videos as well as updating their social media pages.
Because smartphones and apps have put more information, such as
scores and instant replays, at their users’ fingertips, there’s more demand
on the wireless network. As a result, Comcast-Spectacor is expanding its
Wi-Fi footprint inside the Wells Fargo Center to create an even better
fan experience.
4 | FOOTBALL STADIUMS OF THE FUTURE
r$PNDBTU4QFDUBDPS JT VTJOH êCFSCBTFE &UIFSOFU QSPWJEFE CZ $PNDBTU #VTJOFTT JUT DPSQPSBUF
sibling, to create a gigabyte connection to the Wells Fargo Center that will enable its Wi-Fi network to
become even larger as demand grows.
r5IF DPNQBOZ JT JOWFTUJOH JO OFX NPCJMF BOE MPDBUJPOCBTFE TFSWJDFT *U JT BMTP FOIBODJOH
existing apps and investing in new ones with location-based services that use Bluetooth
beacons to expand on the visitor experience. For example, the Philadelphia Flyers mobile app is being
upgraded for this coming hockey season to give fans a variety of new experiences, among them upto-the-minute information on the game they are attending. One example: five things to know about
tonight’s game. Other apps will enable fans to check into various exclusive Flyers content, such as the
Hat Trick Display (a collection of headwear thrown onto the ice along with a notation of the player
who scored the hat trick), the Flyers Hall of Fame and Flyers Experience concourse displays of team
souvenirs. The new apps will also offer various loyalty offers for Flyers merchandise and connect fans
with the range of products, including free samples, offered by the team’s partners.
“Comcast-Spectacor provides services to more than 750 venues throughout North America, including
arenas, convention centers, colleges and other public assembly facilities,” says Scott. “As we look to
expand innovative technologies at the Wells Fargo Center, we’ll build on these initiatives and look to
apply them toward new ways to enhance the fan/visitor experience at these locations.”
“...WITH
THE NEW APPS WE WANT TO GET CONTENT TO PEOPLE BEFORE,
DURING AND AFTER A CONCERT.” — David Scott, President, Comcast-Spectacor
COPYRIGHT © 2014 FORBES INSIGHTS | 5
The technology catch-up that stadium builders and renovators have to play is exacerbated by the fact that
the changing demands of fans have been better met in recent years by broadcasters and cable companies.
The big hope is that the new and refurbished stadiums, designed for the future and rich with forwardlooking technology, can attract the stay-at-home fan.With any number of HD TVs and handheld devices
at home, he or she can watch multiple games, listen to any commentator, check out all the camera angles
of specific plays, and call up replays as desired. He can do so, moreover, within easy reach of his own
commissary (okay, his kitchen) and steps from his personal bathroom.
Much of this involves the instant gratification that watching sports events at home provides so amply.
“Everybody wants information immediately,” says Scott, “whether it’s what the trades are, what the stats
are, what’s happening on the field or on the ice. They want to know now. That’s what you’re seeing these
days.That’s the big difference. Before, fans would go home after the game and read the story the next day.”
Of course, nothing beats the adrenaline rush of being at a game. But the new stadiums’ need to outdo
what the fan can get at home “is a unique challenge for us,” admits Penhollow. His short solution for
what’s needed? “As crazy as it sounds, a lot of it is fantasy sports driven.” To provide that fantasy, “we’re
going to build a robust Wi-Fi ecosystem,” he says. “It will allow all 65,400 people in our stadium to jump
on their phones or tablets simultaneously. Realistically, we know they’re not going to right now, but that’s
the way it’s trending, so we need to future-proof the building. We also know that when people jump
onto our Wi-Fi, they’re not necessarily looking at Vikings game content or even football. They may
be accessing soccer, hockey or basketball highlights. We’re the conduit, and we want to make their
experience great. We have some ambitious goals about how we’ll deliver content in the building and to
fans’ devices. We’ll have highlights and different camera angles from our game as well as highlights from
other games.” The design of the stadium guarantees enough screens in and around the building that
visitors will find it impossible to ever lose sight of the Vikings game in progress.
Penhollow also lays out a vision of how technology will take additional care of the fans on their way to
and from the games, a “driveway-to-driveway philosophy,” as he calls it. He says the plan is to redevelop
the existing Vikings personal device app to where it will help the fan find the best route to the game,
maybe direct him to a grocery store partner for tailgating supplies or locate an empty parking spot.
There’ll be help after the fan has parked his car, too, by way of helping him or her find a shortcut to the
right seats or, perhaps, the hot dog stand. “If we know you have two kids and you seem to buy nachos
every single game, based on historical data collection, well, we can tell you the nachos stand is 50 feet to
your right and the retail shop, if you still need your Vikings jersey, is three sections up on the left.”
“The whole idea is that we’re creating bandwidth,” says technology consultant Jordan. “We’ll be taking
fiber to every corner of the building.” The stadium will also have up to 7,000 data points, spots where
the Vikings can connect some of the many pieces of hardware such as screens and speakers, cash tills and
wireless access points.
6 | FOOTBALL STADIUMS OF THE FUTURE
“The other side of the sports issue is that you never get a second chance,” notes
Jordan. “Once that game’s over, you don’t get to do it again. It’s very, very, very
much like selling airplane seats. Everything we do has to be future-proof. And
everything has to be backed up.” Part of the backing up at the Vikings stadium
is a diesel-powered, 200,000-kilowatt generator that can power all the lights,
the elevators, the water distribution as well as the Wi-Fi system—and do so for
a number of days, because various events can run back to back. “All this means
fiber,” says Jordan. How much fiber? “Figure out how much you need when
you’re building a stadium, double it, because that’s how much you’ll need when
you open, and then double it again, because that’s how much you’ll need in
the first 10 years of operation,” he says. That adds up to hundreds of thousands
of feet.
The people who work in stadium design and construction are very much a community unto themselves and welcome representatives of other teams who stop by to see how a new stadium is taking shape.
Comcast-Spectacor’s Dave Scott, for one, is continuously on the road. “I go and visit as many of the new
facilities as I can. The next step is to find an architect and figure out the basics of making the fan experience better, and then we overlay the technology on top of that.” In general, he notes, “they get each new
stadium a little better. Every time one opens, everybody goes to see what they did and what they could
take back and bring to their own venues. You’re looking at what they have done that can enhance the
experience of our fans too.” It helps improve the stadium experience for the owner, the team and the fans.
“It’s a small group, because it’s very specialized,” says consultant Jordan of those involved in stadium
construction and refurbishment—and poaching of ideas. “There are a lot of unique things that have to
be done in stadiums and arenas that you just don’t pick up in a school.” Then, too, the stadiums aren’t in
direct competition with one another, as the NFL’s Grubman points out: “There’s no reason for secrecy
because if the Vikings build the best stadium on the planet, they’re not hurting any other NFL franchise.”
Right now, the 49ers’ Levi stadium is the further along of the two stadiums under construction and is
probably attracting more curious visitors. “The building itself is going to be beautiful,” says the Vikings’
Penhollow. “What they have planned for technology is definitely something we’re keeping a close eye on
because we have some of the same philosophies and beliefs.” But a close eye doesn’t necessarily mean the
Vikings will be copying what the 49ers do. For example, Penhollow says his team will keep a very close
watch on how the 49ers make out with their plans to let fans use their smartphones to order food and
drink so that it can be delivered to their seats. “We’ll learn from their operational setup to determine how
we’ll address that enhancement in our new stadium.”
Addressing those enhancements is, of course, the basic challenge facing the builders of new stadiums—
and a sturdy communications infrastructure with bandwidth to spare will be integral to meeting it.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 FORBES INSIGHTS | 7
Comcast Business and Forbes Insights would like to thank the following
executives and experts for sharing their time and expertise:
Eric Grubman, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF VENTURES AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS, NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Robert Jordan, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF VAN WAGNER SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
AND TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT TO THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS
John Penhollow, DIRECTOR OF NEW STADIUM PARTNERSHIPS, MINNESOTA VIKINGS
David Scott, PRESIDENT, COMCAST-SPECTACOR
8 | FOOTBALL STADIUMS OF THE FUTURE
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