If you’re not one of those old-timey dudes filling in scorecards and listening to play-by-play on your radio Walkman, watching a game live can get a bit tedious and laborious. Especially with beer prices promoting your sobriety. So you break out the smartphone and start thumbing through e-mails and browsing the web until that too becomes a lost cause since your connection sucks. After all, 50,000 other people are trying to do the same and squeeze from the same network.
Cisco has a remedy for the problem, but it seems to be coming at a price. The company plans to introduce “Connected Stadium WiFi” into stadiums and ballparks around the country, targeting fewer seats with the same amount of connection speed due to better-placed antennas and access points. LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City, has already implemented the technology.
“This solution also helps monetize the delivery of personalized mobile services, demonstrating the fundamental role of the network to enable business transformation,” Cisco SVP David Holland said in a typically marketing speak-heavy press release. In other words, you’ll have to decide between paying up for drinks for WiFi at the next game or match.
