The Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears aren’t the only ones preparing for Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4th. Wireless providers and security personel have been hard at work the last six months. Some 100,000 people are expected to converge onto an area the size of a few city blocks around Dolphin Stadium in Miami.
AT&T’s wireless unit is using its entire South Florida 70 megahertz spectrum in the area. Typically, most carriers only use a portion of their spectrum in geographical areas. The company’s network team has also set up two cell sites on wheels, or “COWs”, in the stadium parking lot; added dozens of voice channels to its two cell sites located inside the stadium; and upgraded area service to HSDPA 3G.
Dolphin Stadium is equipped with four 103-inch plasma displays and the world’s largest 720p HDTV (at 1750 inches), in addition to over 1,500 TV monitors. They include a LED ribbon board for text feeds.
BelAir Networks provides WiFi access in the stadium, dining areas, Executive Suites and parking areas. BelAir partner A2000 Network Solutions deployed the wireless network which covers over 300,000 square feet. The stadium plans to use its newly installed wireless network to allow fans to order food and drinks from their seats. The stadium boasts the largest wireless point of sale system under one roof in the world. Some 29 environmentally protected nodes are fixed to the concrete around the stadium.
It’s the biggest television broadcast of the year, and CBS is pulling out all the stops, reports TV Technology. This will be the first Super Bowl aired on CBS since the Janet Jackson incident three years earlier, in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
CBS estimates it will use about 50 cameras for game coverage (not including the network’s “NFL Today” pregame show). The NFL also has about 10 foreign rights holders have contracted an HD feed.
Six of Sony’s HDC3300 3x high-resolution slo-mo cameras will be used (see NFL Takes Slo-mo Hi Def).
CBS will also add two different high-speed cameras and an upgraded suspension system from Cablecam, a Los Angeles-based developer of rigging systems with a suspended Sony HDC-950. Last year’s Super Bowl used wireless HD transmitters for the handhelds.
CBS officially kicked off its high-speed “SuperVision” camera footage on Jan. 7 during the playoff game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. Two models will be used at the Super Bowl: the Phantom V10, manufactured by Vision Research and supplied by Image Cam and Inertia Unlimited, and NAC Image Technology’s Memrecam Hi-Motion, supplied by Fletcher.
CBS will use the NAC Memrecam Hi-Motion camera to provide high-speed HD coverage of Super Bowl action. Two handheld Memrecams with 22x lenses in the field, and one Phantom V10 with a 100x lens sitting in the CBS announcer booth above the 50-yard line will be used. Phantom claims to shoot 500 frames per second compared to 300 fps for the Memrecam. Both are set to shoot 300 fps.
Princeton Video Image and Sportvision developed the superimposed yellow line on the field that shows how far each team has to go for a first down. CBS uses Vizrt for a suite of 3D graphics programs that run on PC hardware. The Viz|Trio software suite features a non-linear editing plugin for Avid and Pinnacle editing systems for time-sensitive sequences like halftime highlights. New Century Productions provides some of the trucks for this year’s Super Bowl.
We cannot have a blimp after 4:30 over the stadium–it’s considered a Level One security situation since 9/11″, said Ken Aagaard, CBS Sports vice president of operations and production.
The CBS Eyevision system (video), providing 360 degree “Matrix” effects, with dozens of cameras surrounding the field, is a no-show this year. It hasn’t yet made the transistion to HD. Perhaps WiFi cameras like Nikon’s S7c could eventually “stop the bullet” more affordably using Microsoft’s Photosynth.
No doubt Vyvx will supply fiber links to the satellite uplink. Loea Communications used the 71-76 GHz band in a 2.7 mile gigabit data link to move raw HDTV footage at the 2003 Super Bowl. Loea is a pioneer in millimeter-wave imaging and led the nation to commercially operate in the 71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz range.
NFL Network HD will broadcast 60 hours of special High-Definition coverage of the 2007 Super Bowl. It’s available on EchoStar, Verizon and select Comcast and Cox systems. DIRECTV has also agreed to carry the network’s Super Bowl HD coverage on its channel 95.
The Super Bowl is TV’s biggest event. CBS expects it will draw nearly 100 million viewers. CBS is getting $2.6 million for a 30 second spot, an all-time high, surpassing last year’s average of $2.5 million on ABC.
Superbowl advertisers include Anheuser-Busch, FedEx and Pepsi, which is also the halftime show sponsor. General Motors, Honda and Toyota Tundra are also big sponsors. Pre-game ad fare includes Alka Seltzer and Pizza Hut.
Some companies blow nearly their entire ad budget on the Superbowl. In 2005, Diamond of California bought a spot for $2.4 million to promote its fledgling Emerald Nuts, representing a quarter of their annual ad budget. But it worked. Sales rose 56 percent that year. Diamond Foods is back, featuring singer/entertainer Robert Goulet.
Verizon’s V-Cast, Sprint PowerVision and Cingular Video may have some clips from various suppliers. Sprint TV Live is unique in that their channels can show live TV. MobiTV surpassed 1 million subscribers last year. Cingular Video works only on Cingular’s 3G phones while Verizon’s GetItNow Service has no live channels.
Cingular has spent millions upgrading the region with HSDPA service. Thousands of “live” cellphones could soon be transmitting live images. What that may mean for “franchises” like the NFL has yet to be determined.
Miami-Dade County and their Office of Emergency Management has also been preparing. Bus and train service and the Miami Airport will be operating at capacity while the Port of Miami will likely be on high alert.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Police will be using the county’s 22,000-square-foot emergency operations center center equipped with digital, analog, satellite and 800 MHz radios, five status boards and 15, 42-inch monitors.
More than 70 government agencies struck alliances. Among them are the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), the Miami-Dade Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEM/HS) and the Super Bowl XLI Host Committee. MDPD is the lead agency for security at the Super Bowl.
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The Goodyear Blimp is used for many Super Bowls and one of many Airship companies based in Florida. SkySentry, headquartered in Longboat Key, Florida, would be one candidate for a security platform above Miami.
Related DailyWireless articles include; World Cup 2006, City Clouds: Becoming The World Cup, Microsoft’s Amazing Virtual Earth, Geovector: Advertising Walks the Talk, Antennas In Space, The Semantic Web, HDTV from Aircraft, Boeing Secures Borders, Paint-On Antenna, Border Surveillence, and Big Brother Blimp.
[...] * Devin Hester was watching himself and the people behind him when scoring the 92 yard touchdown on the kick return. * Muhsin Muhammad was not actually being boo’ed * The CableCam for all it’s expense and hype, was foiled by simple rain. * Spending $82,500 per second for advertising should net a lot better commercials. * It would take 6 DVD’s to store the HDTV feed of the game. (~25gbs for the game). * More people watch the game then vote. * Lots of technology went into this. [...]
Left by Big Game Thoughts » EricByers.com on February 5th, 2007