New York-based NFL American football teams the Jets and Giants have enhanced connectivity at MetLife Stadium and their respective practice facilities through a partnership with software-driven solutions company Extreme Networks.
The 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium serves as the home of both teams and hosts a range of sports and entertainment events throughout the year.
The stadium has been fitted with ExtremeSwitching products to connect video screens, enable electrical lighting systems, support stadium security efforts and power retail and concessions stands at the venue. The network also supports the stadium’s Wi-Fi system.
ExtremeManagement technology has also been deployed to provide IT teams with centralised visibility and control of stadium network resources to identify and troubleshoot issues as they arise. The technology provides the Jets and Giants with insights that enable the teams to provide more personalised offers and application features to fans.
ExtremeSwitching and ExtremeManagement platforms are also used at the teams’ training facilities to support business and football operations, including, in the Giants’ case, video surveillance.
Tom Murphy, vice-president of information technology for the Jets, said: “A great in-stadium experience is reliant on seamless connectivity – which Extreme Networks has made possible for our fans. We know we can rely on Extreme’s network to deliver not only at the stadium, but throughout our business operations at our facility.”
Justin Warren, vice-president of information technology for the Giants, added: “We were impressed by Extreme’s extensive portfolio and experience delivering large-scale implementations at other NFL stadiums. With their solutions in place, we’re able to provide an enhanced game-day experience for fans while supporting the business and operational needs of our team and venue.”
John Brams, director of hospitality, sports and entertainment at Extreme Networks, said: “As the official Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi analytics provider of the NFL, we understand that delivering a compelling fan experience is priority number one. It’s a major advantage to the IT teams at the Jets, Giants and MetLife that all three facilities are powered by Extreme solutions, which simplifies operations and management, and frees the teams to focus on surprising and delighting fans with an engaging digital experience.”
Meanwhile, MetLife Stadium will feature neutral end zones this weekend as the Jets and Giants play home games less than 21 hours apart. The Jets host the Houston Texans on Saturday at 4:30pm local time, before the Giants face the Tennessee Titans at 1pm on Sunday.
End zones are normally branded in the colours and name of the home team but this weekend a neutral zone will feature green turf with nine diagonal slash marks. It will mark only the second time neutral end zones have been used for an NFL game at MetLife Stadium since it opened in 2010. They were first used on December 17-18, 2016.
The stadium operations team will have approximately 12 hours to complete the building changeover between the two games this weekend.
Image: Anthony Quintano
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