In the Heart of the Action: A Deep Dive into Fan Engagement During NFL Games
Published: September 12, 2023
For eleven seasons, Extreme Networks has proudly served as the Official Wi-Fi Solutions Provider and Wi-Fi Analytics Provider of the NFL, a partnership rooted in delivering an unparalleled gameday experience. Behind the scenes, stadium IT teams rely on Wi-Fi solutions and analytics to ensure seamless connectivity and uncover valuable insights into fan behavior and preferences.
A strong wireless network empowers fans to engage with social media and other mobile experiences seamlessly, enabling them to share unforgettable moments, access real-time game data, and enjoy expanded coverage throughout the stadium. Wi-Fi analytics provide insights to stadium staff that serve as the foundation for enhancing and personalizing the fan experience and optimizing venue operations, resulting in exceptional stadium visits.
Extreme's Wi-Fi has been a game-changer for teams across the league like Gillette Stadium in creating a digital fan experience. What started as a small deployment for just their club members in 2012 has expanded throughout the stadium and even into parking lots to ensure that fans are engaged from the moment their gameday experience begins. Today, fans at Gillette Stadium are able to connect when they arrive to ensure seamless mobile ticket entry, mobile payment and concession ordering, and even automated beer pouring!
Join us this season as we dive into the heart of fan engagement during the 2023-2024 NFL season! Each week, we will be analyzing stadium data to pinpoint the most digitally engaged moments. Every Thursday, you can participate in our LinkedIn and Twitter polls to guess what moment will draw the most Wi-Fi engagement that weekend and then you can tune in here on Tuesday to discover if you were right!
Top Fan Engagement Moment of Week 1
On September 10, Tom Brady, the GOAT, made his highly anticipated return to Gillette Stadium, the field he called home for twenty years. Donning a Patriots jersey as he came onto the field, Brady, a 7x Super Bowl champion, was met with thunderous cheers. During his halftime speech, Gillette Stadium experienced its largest bandwidth spike (17.1 Gbps) since raising the 2018 Super Bowl banner.
Top Fan Engagement Moment of Week 2
On September 17, country music icon Kenny Chesney attended the Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots match-up as the Patriots ‘Keeper of the Light.’ Minutes before the game, Kenny got things started by ringing the bell atop the new 22-story in-stadium lighthouse (the tallest lighthouse in America) at Gillette Stadium, a moment which saw the stadium’s largest bandwidth spike of the night (14 Gbps) with 18,463 peak devices connecting to the network.
Prepare to join the excitement through our weekly polls on LinkedIn and Twitter and stay tuned here for the weekly top moment!
Learn more about how Extreme Networks and the NFL are enhancing the game-day experience.