US telco Verizon has extended its partnership with the New York Jets and New York Giants to provide major network upgrades at MetLife Stadium, while it has signed new deals with fellow NFL teams the Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans.
The upgrades at MetLife Stadium will allow the venue to accommodate the increase in data customers use during events. Verizon will also continue to serve as a cornerstone partner of the stadium, the Giants and the Jets.
The MetLife Stadium improvements will be anchored by Verizon’s new Distributed Antenna System (DAS), a wireless network of antennas through the stadium allowing for better performance and greater capacity to accommodate fans’ needs.
The new DAS will provide 4G LTE service and 5G Ultra Wideband service using Verizon’s C-band spectrum designed for high capacity and wide coverage in addition to the 5G service it already offers. The DAS will cover the field, bowl, concourse, clubs and suites, and ticketing areas.
As part of the new design, Verizon said its engineers are also adding a performance enhancement technology that divides crowds into sectors like “pieces of a pie”. Each sector can be adjusted individually to handle wireless traffic.
Lynn Cox, senior vice-president of access engineering and operations at Verizon, said: “As technology evolves, customers want to do more with their wireless technology at games, concerts and other events.
“When large crowds of people gather in a place like a football stadium, network resources can be strained. So we are very intentional about upgrading technology and infrastructure in places like MetLife Stadium to accommodate our customers’ needs.”
MetLife Stadium is having its busiest summer ever with over 1.2 million guests and a record 18 concerts. The Giants will host the Dallas Cowboys at the stadium on September 10 before the Jets host the Buffalo Bills the following night.
Meanwhile, Verizon has agreed deals to become the official 5G network of the Panthers, Browns and Titans to improve connectivity at their respective home stadiums.
Verizon will provide connectivity engineered to enhance the fan experience for the three teams. Verizon recently upgraded its 5G Ultra Wideband network inside the Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium and will continue with additional upgrades in 2024.
Verizon will also work with the Browns to launch new innovations leveraging its 5G network. The company’s partnership with the Titans will include the launch of Accelerated Access, which uses opt-in facial authentication technology to verify identities for access control and accelerated ticketing in near real time.
Starting this season, Verizon, which serves as the NFL’s official private wireless network for coach-to-coach communications, will deploy a managed private wireless solution at each of the 30 NFL stadiums.
