Have you ever been to a big sporting event and tried to use your Smartphone and realized you barely have service? This happens to me every time I go to a Pittsburgh Pirate game at PNC Park. I love using Foursquare and checking in places, but if I don’t remember to check in before I walk in to the park, it won’t happen. A couple weeks ago I read an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette about teams spending millions to have Wi-Fi available to fans. Although this video is promoting a product, it really captures how people use their phones at a major sporting event.
The article said a team could spend as much as $10 million to install technology to have bandwidth to support cellular and Wi-Fi networks in a stadium. I got excited as a fan because along with checking in, I love uploading pictures from a big game and using Twitter to follow other team scores. After reading the article, it made me realize how much teams see the marketing value around having Wi-Fi available to fans. A buzz can be created around fans that are using their phones during the games. The article said NFL has instructed all 32 teams to install Wi-Fi in every part of their stadium by 2015.
Emerging Media 