Cowboys Stadium Techs Up for Super Bowl Close-Up
 

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2011/0...ories+2%29%29#



After several years in the making, the Dallas Cowboys’ $1.1 billion football stadium is finally ready for its worldwide close-up Sunday night, when the Green Bay Packers take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.

Pete Walsh, the Dallas Cowboys’ head of technology, gave Wired.com a sneak peek at the preparations and effort going into Sunday’s game, which will cater to more than 100,000 fans inside the stadium as well as hundreds of millions watching on TV around the world. To that end, Cowboys Stadium (which opened less than two years ago) has fashioned a 5,000-square-foot data center, built with the help of HP and the team’s IT staff.

“When we started this process back in 2004, we were able to meet with different vendors and see their road maps for where technology was going to be in five or more years,” Walsh told Wired.com, “so we were able to take advantage of where technology was going to be, rather than where it was.”

Walsh and his crew of 20 technicians can now keep tabs on every electronically controlled aspect of stadium operations, including concessions, merchandise, ticket scanning and the 3,000 IPTVs that broadcast throughout the stadium and the adjoining area, thanks to a thousand antennas on the grounds. Helping centralize that effort are about 500 HP servers tucked away in a massive server room 22 feet below land level still almost 30 feet above field level, a topographical consideration made to combat potential catastrophes like flooding. (And, of course, they’ve got multiple-redundancy protections in place in case that does happen.)

One of the largest pieces to fall into place was enhancing the stadium’s cell signals. Every major carrier, including AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and Metro PCS, is providing extra signal power so there’s no downtime for fans. Everyone in attendance will also have free Wi-Fi.

“Essentially, every event we’ve had here the last two years has been a dress rehearsal for the next event,” Walsh said. In addition to hosting Cowboys games, the stadium has been witness to large-scale concerts, college football bowl games and the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, which drew more than 108,713 fans. Officials expect Sunday’s Super Bowl to be the third-largest game in the stadium’s brief history, behind that All-Star Game and the inaugural Cowboys game from Opening Day 2009 — which drew 105,121.

And, of course, this being the first Super Bowl since the introduction of the iPad, fans can not only bring along their favorite Apple-made tablet — the NFL assured Wired.com there will be no restrictions on bringing the device into the stadium — but they can also use the NFL’s official Super Bowl app, which features virtual 3-D navigation of Cowboys Stadium, as well as a facilities guide that may prove useful for those not wanting to waste a nanosecond searching out the nearest beer stand.

they should make an app where you can order a beer from your seat and they'll have a beer dude deliver it...

that would be ****ing sweet

They have a similar app at Scottrade Center in STL where the Blues play.

You can order food/drink from your seat and have it delivered for a fee.

http://blues.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=66816

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/b...to_mangia.html

Sweet.

I'd GLADLY pay an 18% gratuity...

This should be available EVERYWHERE. They'd need a shit ton more workers but they'd sell SO MANY MORE concessions it would more than make up for it.

It's not quite that cool, but the one time I've sat in club level at the Pepsi Center (for an Avs game), their "waiters" come around and take your order, but the order itself was delivered by someone else. I ordered a beer, paid with a credit card, and less than two minutes later, it was in my hand. That was kind of cool, though I'm sure that's not all that uncommon these days.

Nice. I need to try that out on Friday when I've got box seats to the game vs the Oilers.