Buffalo Bills Bring Wi-Fi to 70,000 Fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium

Carousel Industries outfits 42-year-old concrete building with connectivity for loyal members of Bills Mafia.

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The Buffalo Bills are welcoming the Super Bowl XLIX champion New England Patriots to town this weekend for a game that’s being called by many the most highly anticipated in Ralph Wilson Stadium in decades.

Perhaps because it’s a chance for the upstart Bills to show their longtime AFC East rivals they might not cruise to the division title this year? Or could it be because they expect new head coach Rex Ryan has something special planned for his nemeses from Foxboro, Mass.? Maybe, but consider for a moment another possibility.

Carousel Industries recently announced it finished “a comprehensive wireless integration” at the stadium “that enables fans to stay connected online while enjoying a live fan experience.” Carousel officials say the integration is “unprecedented in size,” and follows a $130 million infrastructure overhaul last year.

“We want coming to Ralph Wilson Stadium to be an attractive choice for people to experience live football and other events,” said Buffalo Bills chief administrative officer Dave Wheat in the Carousel announcement. “In order to deliver this within the existing location, which has become an important part of the community, the next logical step was to put Wi-Fi in place for all of our fans.

“Carousel did a very good job of recognizing the scope of what had to get done in a very short period of time and applied all the necessary resources to make that a reality,” he said.

Photos: Buffalo Bills’ Stadium Goes Wireless

The new wireless network was put to the test during the Bills’ season opener Sept. 6 vs. the Indianapolis Colts, with more than 70,000 people in the stands. During that win, the wireless system registered more than 24,000 unique visitors, meaning three out of every eight fans (more than 37 percent) used the new network.

“Our primary driver was to ensure that fans would be able to use their mobile devices with Wi-Fi performance similar to their experience at home, whether they are connecting to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, reviewing game stats or just texting and emailing their friends and family,” said Wheat.

Carousel worked closely with its partner, Extreme Networks, on the Ralph Wilson Stadium overhaul, said James Marsh, chief revenue officer for Carousel.

“Through our work with large sports venues, we’ve seen the crucial role reliable Wi-Fi plays in how people watch a live game,” said John Brams, director of sports and entertainment at Extreme Networks. “Whether they’re trying to find the latest stats on a favorite player or sharing a video of the game-winning touchdown, Extreme’s priority is ensuring Bills fans have the support they need to completely immerse themselves in their game-day experience.”

Fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium are now able to experience a full range of powerful wireless connectivity and the Bills can connect with those fans in new ways, including through the team app, which has new features that couldn’t be used in the past.

More on sports stadium tech upgrades.

“We are working on a system that will help identify wait times at the different gates, so fans can plan their stadium arrival more efficiently,” said Wheat. “We are planning on rolling out many other things, such as in-stadium discounts and other promotions available through the app.”

Music fans also benefit from the new Wi-Fi experience, said Wheat. In fact, the stadium hosted concerts by the Rolling Stones and One Direction this summer that utilized the upgraded WiFi. To achieve full connectivity for all 70,000 fans at a typical Bills game, Carousel required its system be able to handle two active connections per person on an invisible network that blended seamlessly in a 42-year-old concrete structure with more than 1,000 access points, 2,000 antennas, 500 switches and 315,000 feet of cable.

In the lower seating bowl, constructed almost entirely of concrete, installing each access point meant removing the seats, cutting the concrete, pulling the cables, resealing them and replacing the seats. Two different types of Extreme outdoor APs were deployed, both designed to handle mission critical applications and withstand the harsh Buffalo winters. In four weeks, the team sawed and water-sealed approximately 5,000 feet of concrete in 43 of the lower sections.

Now, if only Bills officials could come up with a plan to help the team’s defense control native son Rob Gronkowski. Something tells us Ryan’s plan to enlist King Kong to cover him might not materialize. The only question that remains is how Patriots coach Bill Belichick and his staff will use the new WiFi network to his team’s advantage.

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