Extreme Networks, a cloud-driven networking company, announced it is the official Wi-Fi analytics provider of Super Bowl LVI, which will take place on February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. This marks Extreme’s ninth consecutive Super Bowl as an official provider of Wi-Fi analytics.
ExtremeAnalytics is deployed at 29 of 30 NFL stadiums and enables the NFL to drive better decisions around both business and venue operations.
SoFi is one of nine NFL stadiums using Extreme Venue Analytics 2.0, a custom solution designed for the NFL, which offers richer data sets and insights around app performance and usage, dwell time and location-based services. Operations teams use this data for more efficient venue management such as identifying stadium bottlenecks, potential safety and security issues and visibility into popular concessions and fan gathering areas. Executive and event management teams can use these insights into fan activity to better customize experiences and pinpoint sponsorship opportunities.
SoFi Stadium plans to host more than 70,000 fans for this year’s Super Bowl. Last year’s Super Bowl in Tampa Bay was the first 100 percent cash-free and mobile-ticketed NFL game. Extreme identified a take rate of 80 percent of fans connected inside the venue, compared to 71 percent at Super Bowl LIV in Miami in 2020 – signifying the increasing reliance on mobile devices throughout the event.
The networking technology will enable the likes of real-time customized views and interactive charts of Wi-Fi usage across the venue, real-time analysis of sports betting activity and apps within the stadium, as well as a single view into applications such as biometrics, occupancy management, mobile payments, among others.
Based on Extreme insights, NFL teams, on average, saw a 22 percent increase in peak throughput of data and a 31 percent increase in transfer speed of data during games this season in comparison to the 2019 season – meaning fans continue to increase their consumption of wireless data while in the stadium and the speed of those connections are dramatically improved.
ExtremeWireless access points are currently deployed at 12 NFL stadiums, including recent Wi-Fi 6 deployments with the Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans. Wi-Fi 6 delivers faster wireless speeds and lower latency than previous generations of Wi-Fi, giving fans the highest quality connection to share their experiences from the stadium, while improving fan-facing technology including apps, mobile payments and ticketing.
Michelle McKenna, chief information officer at the National Football League said:
“Planning and executing the Super Bowl is one of the most significant undertakings each year, and Extreme continues to play an important role in making this event a success. We lean on Extreme to provide the operational insights and intelligence we need to improve things like foot traffic flow, concessions and health and safety protocols – while ensuring we have optimal connectivity and bandwidth for fans to share their experiences and operate in a mobile-first environment. Real-time visibility into network performance offers a substantial advantage to understand what is working, how fans are using data and how to customize in-stadium experiences in ways that will keep fans coming back for more.”
