INDIANAPOLIS —
The throngs of fans who’ll descend on Lucas Oil Stadium for Sunday’s Super Bowl game may experience the most “connected” game in the event’s history, thanks to an estimated $100 million investment in technology infrastructure in and around the stadium.
Cellular carriers and Wi-Fi providers have spent months gearing up for the game, planning for an unprecedented level of demand for their air space.
On game day, thousands of smart-phone-wielding fans inside the stadium will be using their devices to download apps, take and transmit photos, send Twitter tweets, post on Facebook and even watch the game on their tiny phone screens while it’s unfolding live in front of them.
“It’s going to be such a data-intensive environment,” said Brian Courtney of Cellular Specialties, a New Hampshire-based technology company hired by the NFL to oversee the wireless infrastructure set up for this year’s Super Bowl.
Courtney’s goal is to keep smart-phone users in and near the stadium happy before, during and after the game.
He’s been getting daily reports from the major cellular and Wi-Fi providers in Indianapolis that have been beefing up their capacity in the days leading up to the game.
Those reports are making him optimistic, although there was a glitch this week, when the wireless Internet connection set up for the 5,000 credentialed media covering the Super Bowl went down temporarily.
“It’s technology. It’s equipment that needs some love,” Courtney said.
“There’s always going to be instances where things don’t work perfectly.”
But a lot is going in to make it work close to perfect. Courtney estimates that $100 million worth of temporary and permanent infrastructure has been put into place by cellular and wireless providers to accommodate a demand driven by both the NFL and the fans.
Almost every nook and cranny of Lucas Oil Stadium will have Wi-Fi coverage, Courtney said. It’s the second time the NFL has offered free wireless Internet connection at a Super Bowl venue, last year being the first.
The NFL is pushing ticket-holders to use a new mobile application and text communications platform offered by its official provider, Verizon, to get real-time information about the game and pregame events. Ticket-holders also can sign up to get game-day information from the NFL via text message, such as wait time at stadium entrances.
To make sure it all works, Verizon has set up a command center inside the stadium and will have a team of engineers walking around the stadium with small portable equipment testing its network during the game.
For the first time, the NFL is also streaming the Super Bowl online and to mobile phones.
Courtney said fans inside the stadium may find that particularly appealing since the live stream will offer a variety camera angles, game highlights, live stats and replays of Super Bowl TV ads.
Pushing all this, Courtney said, is the major shift in how people view the game and interact with technology. Football fans who once watched the game with a beer in one hand are now watching it with a beer in one hand and their smart phone in the other.
Advertisers have figured that out as well: Last week, the Coca-Cola Co. said its multi-media advertising campaign during the Super Bowl will include a smart-phone feature in which the iconic Coke polar bears will be live-streamed watching the game. One of the animated polar bears will be rooting for the New York Giants; the other is a New England Patriots’ fan.
Maureen Hayden is the Indiana Statehouse bureau chief for CNHI, the parent company of the Tribune-Star. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
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