“We’ve created one of the largest, if not the largest, hot spot in the world,” says Larry Baer, San Francisco Giants’ executive vice president and chief operating officer. The Giants claim SBC Park is “the first stadium with wireless Internet access”, although many others claim that distinction.
Starting April 12 with its home opener, Giants fans will be able to access statistics, fill in an electronic scorecard and access the Internet on PDAs, laptops and tablet PCs free of charge for the entire 2004 season.
SBC’s FreedomLink wi-fi service is operating the system in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard and Intel Corp. Kosmo Studios of Orlando, Fla., is providing the sign-on page, dubbed “Giants Dugout” that will provide such services as electronic games, real-time game statistics, scores and other sports news.
Hewlett-Packard will be providing computers in all 68 Giants suites that will be wi-fi compatible.
SBC expects about 1,000 or so fans to take advantage of the service initially. There will be 121 access points located around the ballpark with the capability to handle about 15-20 users each, says John Winborn, director of the Giants information systems.
No decision has been made as to whether there will be free Wi-Fi access next year, said SBC spokesman Fletcher Cook. One of the reasons it’s being offered for the upcoming season is to let people experience Wi-Fi technology outside of a home or office environment, he said.
Other wireless stadiums include
- The Sacramento River Cats, an AAA baseball team.
- 3Com Park, home of the San Francisco 49ers, gave out “Web pads” to the media and fans in sky boxes in September, 2000. “Fans will be able to access stats from the 49ers game they are watching, as well as scores and stats from other NFL games. In addition, they will be able to send e-mail and instant messages to friends who are at the game or on the Internet”. An IR beaming station, developed by WideRay was also used to deliver information on games.
- The Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the largest soccer arena in the world, has had WiFi since April, 2001. Enterasys RoamAbout provides wireless connectivity between the stadiums 160 ticket offices scattered throughout the arena. It also connects to the central administration department, delivering real-time information about ticket sales.
- NHL hockey fans got video highlights at the 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs using Virage video content on IEEE 802.11b allowing users to search and stream video clips in real-time using handheld PDAs.
- The Seattle Times describes how computer tablets are being tested in luxury suites at Seattle’s Safeco Field (right) to watch replays, buy food or merchandise. Cursivecode hopes to sell their tablet-based system to other stadiums.
- At the 9th World Championships in Athletics in Paris, 500,000 spectators were able to send text messages of encouragement to their favorite athletes, which were alternately displayed on two giants screen in the stadium.
- A sports stadium with 802.11b is just one of the projects billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is currently pursuing.
- Verizon’s Get It Now service lets fans play their own version of the-game-before-the-game by downloading games from JAMDAT or FOXSports directly onto their wireless handset. FOXSports.com uses iVAST’s MPEG-4 encoding. Cellular operators like AT&T Wireless, Sprint and others are cutting deals for (live) sports packages, too. One billion served.
Related stories in Daily Wireless include: Unwiring 6 Stadiums in 6 Weeks, Morphing Sports to Games - Live, Stadium Objects to Free Wi-Fi, Golf Unwired, Webcasting Wimbledon, Tour de Multi-Media, Video Blogging, Indy 500 Network, Broadcast Sports Video, Tracking Runners in Real-time, Superbowl XXXVII , and Wireless Parks.
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