Feature

NFL’s Bucs connect with Extreme Networks

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL American football team has opened up about a partnership with Extreme Networks that enabled the franchise to enhance the Wi-Fi capacity at its Raymond James Stadium home field.

Under the arrangement, Extreme Networks now provides solutions from within its Automated Campus and Smart OmniEdge product families, increasing Wi-Fi density for in-stadium technology by 400 per cent.

Prior to the 2017 NFL season, Extreme installed 1,262 ExtremeMobility Wireless Access Points inside the venue. Some 950 of these were placed under seats, along with software from ExtremeSwitching, ExtremeAnalytics, ExtremeManagement and ExtremeControl products stadium-wide.

Throughout the 2017 season, the franchise worked with Extreme Networks to fine-tune the technology ready for full roll-out ahead of the current campaign.

As a result of the enhanced Wi-Fi, fans at Raymond James Stadium can now check fantasy scores in real time, watch instant replays, and interact with social media.

Other benefits include the Bucs being able to integrate weather alerts into the team’s official mobile application, helping boost fan safety during thunderstorms.

The Wi-Fi upgrade formed part of a wider $160m (£122.3m/€137.5m) multi-year renovation project at the stadium.

Brian Ford, chief operating officer at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said: “Reliable Wi-Fi is essential to get the most out of our investment in instant replay cameras, mobile ticketing and our mobile app.

“Raymond James Stadium was one of the first NFL venues to provide Wi-Fi for fans and over the last few years, the use of our networks has increased exponentially. Extreme Networks helped us elevate our stadium to the next level and truly deliver a championship calibre experience to our fans.”

John Brams, director of hospitality, sports and entertainment at Extreme Networks, added: “With this deployment, we worked with the Buccaneers closely to understand their long-term goals for fan engagement and delivered an all-Extreme, edge-to-core solution set and advanced applications designed to help the team exceed those goals.”

Image: AHeneen