iQ MAGAZINE

Football fans now can experience a game in new ways at the Arizona Cardinals new stadium. Wireless network access from every seat lets attendees play fantasy football and reach the Internet on their laptops and PDAs.

And in the stadium's luxury lofts, spectators can use Cisco Unified IP Phones with touch-screen displays for fantasy football or to order food and beverages, buy tickets for future games, shop at the Cardinals' online store, and access football statistics.

"The network is designed to maximize and enhance the experience for fans, players, management, vendors, ticket takers, and essentially everyone who has business at the stadium," says Mark Feller, Cardinals technology director. He anticipates more stadiums following suit. "We've had representatives from other NFL teams visit us; they're very interested in what we're doing."

For the stadium's owners, the network helps expand opportunities beyond football. "No matter what event we host, there is ample wired, voice, data, video, and Wi-Fi access everywhere for everyone," Feller says.

Training Day

Insight deployed the first part of the network at the Cardinals' headquarters and training center in Tempe. The IP-based Cisco Unified Communications system includes call-management and call-center software to handle all phone functions for office operations and ticket sales.

The systems at the headquarters and stadium are fully integrated and redundant. Executives and staff videoconference and send data, game film, and marketing materials back and forth. Players can participate in real-time training sessions from both the stadium and training facility simultaneously.

The training center network facilitates remote and mobile connections when the team is at training camp and on the road. In addition to accessing team databases remotely, team administrators can retrieve and store voice mail, e-mail, and other data from a single program on their laptops.

"The team is on the road more than half the season and moves frequently between facilities on a weekly basis," says Ron Lopez, Insight senior network consultant. "The network ensures a good deal of consistency in the face of all this mobility."

"Hurry Up" Offense

The converged network was a late addition to the stadium design. Feller spoke with organizations including NFL Films, which uses a Cisco IP network for digital video operations. He concluded a converged IP network was the best investment for the team and the Phoenix region.

Insight was picked as technology partner, Feller says, "because it laid out a complete solution. And while Insight provided all the hardware and software for the stadium and training center, what mattered most was its role as a total solutions provider to the Cardinals."

The Cardinals had three network priorities:

• Security
• Flexibility
• Expandability

Security: High security is crucial because the stadium houses six companies. And outside companies will also use the network on a temporary basis at stadium events. Insight followed the Cisco approach of layered, system-based protection.

Flexibility: With its $455 million price tag, the stadium can't turn a profit on eight football games a year. Thus the venue is designed for fast reconfigurations for different events. The stadium quickly booked several dozen events in 2007, as well as the annual Fiesta Bowl college football game and Super Bowl XLII in 2008.

The stadium uses a common antenna infrastructure to collect signals on different frequencies to support police and first-aid radios, cellular phones, and the stadium's Wi-Fi network. The system routes signals through the IP network.

Expandability: Traditional cabling requires prepurchasing and preinstalling "dark fiber" to be turned on as capacity dictates. Instead, Insight deployed the a fiber-optic solution from Sumitomo Electric Lightwave, allowing new fiber to be quickly blown in as needed.

For connections and data ports, Insight used Category 6 cabling, allowing multiple devices to run on the same cable without losing bandwidth capacity. "It sounds mundane, but we have thousands of device connections," Feller says.

Peak Performance

Insight raced the clock from the moment it signed on in January 2005. Operations had to be in place for the first preseason game in August 2006. Insight worked closely with Cisco engineers. "Cisco packaged components for us and accelerated delivery to make sure we had the components needed to meet time lines," says Steve Kedzior, Insight senior vice president.

Feller believes that without the converged networking environment, "it would take 40% to 50% more people just to keep other networks operating."

Best of all, the Cardinals organization believes the stadium will score points with fans, players, coaches, employees, and others. "This is a facility that will define the Phoenix region for years to come," Feller says.

About the Author

Eric J. Adams likes to play football in his backyard. No benchwarmer, he stays busy covering business trends for numerous publications.

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iQ Magazine, Third Quarter 2006