Extreme Networks announced the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans will use its solutions as it upgrades its stadium to Wi-Fi 6, which will provide tens of thousands of fans with faster speeds and higher-performance connectivity on game day, the firm said in a statement.
“Wi-Fi 6 is making a lot of headlines, but it’s about more than just speed,” said Bob Flynn, VP of facilities and game day operations for the Tennessee Titans. “For us, adopting Wi-Fi 6 is a business imperative, because if our network can’t provide a highly reliable, seamless experience throughout the game, our fans will stay home. Our strong five-year partnership with Extreme Networks made the decision a no-brainer to enlist their help for a full network upgrade to Wi-Fi 6 technology.”
Previously announced Extreme Wi-Fi 6 deployments include Leeds Beckett University, West Texas A&M University’s Buffalo Stadium, and BBVA Stadium, home to Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo and the Houston Dash of the National Women’s Soccer League.
Extreme Wireless said that the ExtremeWireless Wi-Fi 6 access points and ExtremeSwitching technology enable professional sports teams and universities to have greater flexibility and increased bandwidth to support more devices, including IoT devices, and advanced immersive applications. ExtremeWireless Wi-Fi 6 access points ensure secure Wi-Fi connectivity at stadiums that is up to 40% faster than the previous Wi-Fi 5 standard, and stronger connections for real-time social media sharing, video streaming, and mobile app usage, including point of sale applications and mobile ticketing.
Extreme Networks had initially deployed its Wi-Fi solutions at the Tennessee Titans’ Nissan Stadium in 2014.
The company also highlighted that the BBVA Stadium is the first professional soccer stadium to deploy Wi-Fi 6 technology, bringing next-generation Wi-Fi to its 22,000 fans. Home to MLS’ Houston Dynamo and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Houston Dash, BBVA Stadium’s new Wi-Fi 6 network will improve the game day experience and stadium operations, including mobile ticketing and the opportunity to implement wireless food and merchandise ordering, as well as potential future innovations such as augmented and virtual reality, the company said.
Also, Leeds Beckett University is deploying more than 2,000 ExtremeWireless Wi-Fi 6 access points across its two main campuses to provide high-performance connectivity to 85 buildings, as well as its sports facilities including Carnegie Stadium and Pavilion and The Arena, Leeds Beckett. The new Wi-Fi 6 solutions will run over the University’s existing Extreme campus network, where Extreme Fabric Connect will enable automatic configuration of the new access points. The Extreme Management Center application will provide single pane of glass management across the two networks.
Extreme Networks also noted that the West Texas A&M is among the first universities in the nation to deploy Wi-Fi 6 in its football stadium. With Extreme’s Wi-Fi 6 solutions, the university is able to streamline game day operations at its new 8,500-seat stadium, and offer digital fan experiences, such as social sign-in, mobile ticketing, access to real-time stats, and video streaming. The university has also added ExtremeWireless Wi-Fi 6 access points to improve the fan experience in its 5,000-seat basketball arena, the First United Bank Center.
John Brams, director for hospitality, sports and entertainment at Extreme Networks, said: “We are at an inflection point, as Wi-Fi has never been more powerful than it is today. With the official rollout of Wi-Fi 6, you see professional sports teams and universities on the cutting edge of this new technology as they are hungry to bring more personalized, immersive, forward-looking experiences to their fans.”