When the Intuit Dome opens for business next year, the Los Angeles Clippers’ new home will feature checkout-free concession stands using technology from startup AiFi, according to a recent press release. Scheduled to “top out” this week, the Steve Ballmer-built Intuit Dome is currently scheduled to be open for the 2024 NBA season. At that […]| Stadium Tech Report
Checkout-free store technology provider Zippin announced a new low-cost concept design that adds the company’s fast-checkout systems to existing stadium concession stands, eliminating the need for costly renovations. According to Zippin its new “Zippin Walk-Up” design will put a checkout-free front end on existing concessions stands that also allows venues to use “your existing appliances, […]| Stadium Tech Report
Checkout-free concession stands continue to proliferate at stadiums, with Amazon placing one of its Just Walk Out stores in Denver’s Coors Field and another pair at Marvel Stadium in Australia. The trend of the fast-serve stands took off in 2022, and has not showed any signs of slowing down in 2023. For fans, the stores […]| Stadium Tech Report
Even before they traded for star quarterback Russell Wilson this offseason, the Denver Broncos have been taking care of their fans at Empower Field at Mile High, especially when it comes to concessions operations. By addressing years-old concessions problems with new technologies and new ideas of how to get food and drink into fans’ hands […]| Stadium Tech Report
Facial-authentication technology provider Wicket announced that deployments of its technology for stadium ticketing and entry applications have passed the 1 million successful entries mark, a sign that the method is starting to gain real traction among stadium and venue operators. Following early adoptions of Wicket’s technology by the Columbus Crew, the Cleveland Browns, the Atlanta […]| Stadium Tech Report
Facial authentication technology may be the next new thing to start multiplying soon at stadiums, as initial deployments are drawing rave reviews from both fans and venues for their ability to speed up identification-based transactions. For uses including stadium entry, security checks and concessions-based age verification, facial authentication systems at stadiums like First Energy Stadium […]| Stadium Tech Report
Whenever a new stadium opens, the team running the venue knows that an unexpected test of its systems is going to come — you just don’t know when. For the Columbus Crew, there was one big test of its bleeding-edge stadium-entry technology package during the fifth regular-season game ever at the new Lower.com Field. And […]| Stadium Tech Report
One of the world’s busiest arenas, London’s O2, is adding an Amazon “Just Walk Out” checkout-free concession stand later this summer, according to releases from the venue and from Amazon. From the rendering provided by the arena, the new stand appears to be of the single-lane variety, built into a previous space on the concourse. […]| Stadium Tech Report
The Cleveland Browns, along with caterers Aramark Sports + Entertainment, are officially launching a new beer-purchasing process at First Energy Stadium that will use facial authentication technology to speed up the age-verification and transaction process. Called “Cleveland Cold Ones,” the offering is an extension of the Browns’ Express Access facial authentication program, which has been […]| Stadium Tech Report
Facial authentication technology, which the Cleveland Browns are using heavily for fan ticketing and concessions operations, is also an effective back of house tool, as the Browns are using it for office security as well as on-field credentialing. Using software from a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup called Wicket, the Browns now have facial-authentication systems set up […]| Stadium Tech Report
BOULDER, Colo. — IDmission is on a mission. A mission to help bring faster and more secure ID and age verification and payments verification to stadium concession operations. To be clear, it’s not the company’s only mission. In fact, it’s currently only a very small part of IDmission’s overall business, in which it serves more […]| Stadium Tech Report
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STADIUM TECHNOLOGY NEWS Orlando Magic, Levy Roll Out 43 VisioLab Self-Checkout Units at Kia Center The Orlando Magic and their concessionaire Levy have introduced 43 VisioLab self-checkout kiosks across 12 food markets inside the Kia Center, marking one of the largest deployments of the AI-based ordering platform in a North American arena. Read more here. […] The post STR Digest – Week Ending 10/17/25 appeared first on Stadium Tech Report.| Stadium Tech Report
Stadium technologists are expected to be all things to all people, all the time. The result is predictable: swollen stacks of proprietary apps and vendor lock-ins held together by the few people who “understand IT.” If we bring the same habits into the age of AI, we’ll recreate the same mess, only in natural language […]| Stadium Tech Report
A new use of an old wireless technology is creating a revolution in the stadium merchandise-store world, as self-checkout systems using radio frequency ID (RFID) sensors from a company called EXO Checkout are being installed at numerous large U.S. sports venues in rapid fashion. With a seemingly simple product — a sort of sink-looking bin […]| Stadium Tech Report
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In venues where every square foot is asked to earn its keep, one underperforming asset is hiding in plain sight. Digital menu boards touch nearly every paying fan, exist by the hundreds, and sit at the seam between operations and merchandising. When they work, they shave seconds off lines, nudge orders toward higher-margin items, and […] The post Digital Menu Boards – The Next Frontier of Screen ROI appeared first on Stadium Tech Report.| Stadium Tech Report
MetLife Stadium, home of both the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Giants and one of the busiest large venues anywhere, has chosen Extreme Networks to supply a new Wi-Fi 6E network for the stadium, a process already underway. Kevin Wittnebert, Extreme’s senior director for public venues, sports and entertainment, said the deployment is […]| Stadium Tech Report
Corning, a company that once supplied gear to some of the largest in-stadium distributed antenna system (DAS) deployments, is getting out of the DAS business completely with the sale of its wireless product division to Airspan, a deal announced today. According to the Boca Raton, Fla.-based Airspan, it will be acquiring Corning’s 6000 and 6200 […]| Stadium Tech Report
As it turns out, the lopsided score on the football field at Super Bowl 59 on Feb. 9 wasn’t the only blowout that took place in Caesars Superdome that night. In the wireless community, the competition at the NFL’s championship game was between the fan-facing cellular and Wi-Fi networks. In surprising fashion it wasn’t even […]| Stadium Tech Report
In July of 2024, CommScope announced the $2.1 billion sale of its Outdoor Wireless Networks (OWN) segment and Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) business to Amphenol. The sale represented a $550 million write down of its 2007 acquisition of the Andrew Corporation. On Feb. 3, Amphenol confirmed that the transaction closed with Amphenol announcing that the […]| Stadium Tech Report
Cisco announced that it has signed six new sponsorship deals with NFL teams, adding to the networking giant’s considerable presence across the league for its enterprise networking and cybersecurity products. The Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins are the new additions to Cisco’s NFL partners list, joining […] The post Cisco signs six NFL teams to new sponsor deals appeared first on Stadium Tech Report.| Stadium Tech Report
Checkout-free concession stands that combine new technology with existing counter space are gaining in popularity, with technology providers AiFi and Zippin both announcing multiple-store openings that use the ‘walk-up’ or ‘belly-up’ formats. The Burlingame, Calif.-based AiFi has the most new stores announced recently, with eight new stands at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., […] The post ‘Walk-up’ checkout-free stands starting to proliferate as AiFi, Zippin announce ne...| Stadium Tech Report
Earlier this month, in the scenic heart of Napa Valley, Stadium Tech Report hosted the inaugural Converge Summit, an exclusive retreat for C-level decision-makers from across the professional sports venue industry. Special thanks to our friends at Cisco and Ampthink for helping bring this program to life. With a focus on technology, revenue, and operations, […]| Stadium Tech Report
What is probably the biggest in-building distributed antenna system (DAS) got even bigger this year, when AT&T Stadium added 14 more MatSing Lens Antennas to cover the newly available cellular C-band spectrum. In a press release from MatSing, Dallas Cowboys CIO Matt Messick said that the stadium’s choice to go with a main strategy of […]| Stadium Tech Report
One of the hallmarks of the stadium technology user community is its willingness to quickly embrace technology that has been proven to work in another venue. That trait has fueled the recent success of the MatSing lens antennas, which in the past few years have gone from a curiousity to a rapidly accepted technology that […]| Stadium Tech Report
Another Super Bowl, another MatSing cellular antenna deployment. Caesars Superdome, home of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, has deployed a large number of cellular antennas from MatSing as part of an effort to increase wireless network capacity ahead of the upcoming Super Bowl LIX in February, 2025. It is the third such deployment of MatSing […]| Stadium Tech Report
The Super Bowl this year once again allowed cellular carriers to see record data usage by fans at the game, with Verizon reporting that it saw its customers use 52.34 terabytes of data “in and around” Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday, besting the mark of 47.8 TB used at last year’s big game. […]| Stadium Tech Report
The Wi-Fi network data usage at this year’s Super Bowl LVII just barely set a new high-water mark for the big game, with 31.5 terabytes used just topping last year’s total of 31.2 TB, according to statistics released by Extreme Networks. And while the event did see a new record in the per-fan usage of […]| Stadium Tech Report
Ohio Stadium, home of the Ohio State Football team and one of the largest public venues anywhere, is now the unofficial leader in single-day Wi-Fi data used, with 34.8 terabytes used at the venue on Nov. 26, 2022, during Ohio State’s rivalry matchup with Michigan, according to statistics provided by the school. With sellout crowds […]| Stadium Tech Report
If you’re a Raiders fan, you are probably ecstatic about the new place your team – the Las Vegas Raiders – can finally call home. And among all the amenities stuffed into Allegiant Stadium, a solid fan-facing Wi-Fi network stands out, delivering positive results from the first set of full-attendance events. Though it’s been officially […]| Stadium Tech Report
By developing some innovation for the “secondary” part of venue security screening, longtime metal-detector vendor Garrett thinks it has found a way to speed up security processing while retaining a high level of threat detection. With the introduction of its new SecureFlow Kiosk, the Garland, Texas-based Garrett can now provide security staff with a faster […]| Stadium Tech Report
With the recent explosion of stadiums deploying new technology in just about every phase of venue operations, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that technology alone can help solve multiple game-day pain points. But one thing struck me as I visited several stadiums this year, watching closely how fans interact with new […]| Stadium Tech Report
If you are a stadium technology professional, you should be taking our yearly Stadium Connectivity Outlook survey, which is available right here to take right now. TAKE THE SURVEY! I know everyone is busy, and nobody likes the constant asks to take surveys, which have become an AI-driven nag with almost every interaction we have […]| Stadium Tech Report
It’s that time of the year again, when we ask all our stadium technology professionals to share their insights by taking our annual Stadium Connectivity Outlook survey! If you are one of our readers who is directly involved with the selection, deployment or approval of in-venue technology deployments (and this can be an in-house or […]| Stadium Tech Report
Cisco is doubling down on its recent antenna innovations by expanding the capability of its ‘Marlin’ 9104 hyper-directional stadium antenna, with a new version that adds support for Wi-Fi 7, some extra radios and the ability to easily switch between indoor and outdoor modes. The new CW9179F, announced June 10 at the Cisco Live conference […]| Stadium Tech Report
By Paul Kapustka The market for distributed antenna systems (DAS) is going through a seismic shift, as changes in the DAS ecosystem point to a future premised on emerging business models. Equipment manufacturers, mobile network operators (“MNOs” or wireless carriers), integrators, third-party operators (“3POs”), and importantly, teams, venues, and venue operators will be negotiating a […]| Stadium Tech Report
After more than a decade of trying to fit fan-facing wireless antennas into stadiums with varying levels of success, teams and venue owners have a powerful new tool to assist them in their quest to build networks that are both high performing and economically sound: The “long reach” or “hyper-directional” wireless antenna. Available in forms […]| Stadium Tech Report
ExteNet Systems’ 670-sector design uses digital backbone from CommScope, MatSing Lens antennas to deliver a network for the future When the building now known as AT&T Stadium opened in 2009, it arguably changed the way the world thought about large entertainment venues. In many ways it pushed the envelope on what was possible to make […]| Stadium Tech Report
Fortinet, a global leader in cybersecurity and networking, announced in early May its acquisition of Everest Networks, a company once hailed as a pioneer in hyper-directional Wi-Fi antennas for large venues. The move signals Fortinet’s ambitions to expand beyond its core security business and make a play for the high-density wireless market in stadiums and […]| Stadium Tech Report
The hyper-directional wireless antenna market for stadiums is getting hyper-competitive, with news of a planned acquisition in the Wi-Fi space and a new competitor emerging in the cellular market. On the Wi-Fi product side, sources have told Stadium Tech Report that Fortinet, a leader in networked security, may have already agreed to acquire Everest Networks, […]| Stadium Tech Report
Take a bow, MatSing lens antennas! Why? because your inherent technology was no doubt the MVP of the cellular activity at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans, where Verizon and AT&T saw a combined 67.1 terabytes of data used Sunday in and around the Caesars Superdome. As part of a full rip-and-replace distributed antenna system […]| Stadium Tech Report
In what has to be a first for the NFL’s big game, Verizon is actively telling its customers who will be in New Orleans for this year’s Super Bowl to stay away from the stadium Wi-Fi, and use Verizon 5G cellular services instead. “It’s absolutely a performance thing,” said Joseph Russo, Verizon executive vice president […]| Stadium Tech Report
What’s one of the toughest tasks for any soccer stadium? It’s trying to figure out how to get food and drink in fans’ hands inside the narrow available windows before and during the matches. For any team, it’s a hard-to-balance puzzle, trying to match concessions performance with traditional fan behaviors, like tailgating right up until […]| Stadium Tech Report
To ensure that Allegiant Stadium’s robust fan-facing cellular networks are able to handle the additional demands of Super Bowl LVIII, the Las Vegas Raiders have expanded coverage both inside and outside the stadium, adding more coverage zones and support for new wireless spectrum in the process. “Network needs in big venues evolve quickly,” Pasco said. […]| Stadium Tech Report
Step aside, Taylor Swift. If you really want to test your full stadium Wi-Fi deployment, have Peyton Manning escort Dolly Parton out to midfield at a Georgia-Tennessee game at Neyland Stadium, in the heart of Rocky Top country. That’s exactly what happened last fall, and thanks to a full-stadium Wi-Fi 6 deployment using gear from […]| Stadium Tech Report
On and off the pitch, it was a successful debut season for Major League Soccer’s St. Louis City SC and their new home, CityPark. Listen in as we talk with chief experience officer Matt Sebek about how all the strategy and planning behind CityPark’s innovative technology and operations set the table for the amazing first […]| Stadium Tech Report
UPDATE: The companies announced the acquisition on Jan. 3. We will update the story as we get more information. DAS Group Professionals (DGP), a small firm that has led some of the biggest deployments of distributed antenna system (DAS) networks at sports stadiums, is in talks to be acquired by America Fujikura Ltd. (AFL), a […]| Stadium Tech Report
The acquisition of distributed antenna system (DAS) specialists DAS Group Professionals by fiber concern America Fujikura Ltd. (AFL) will help AFL with its expected growth in stadium DAS deployments, an AFL executive said. The Jan. 3 acquisition, first reported by Stadium Tech Report in December, will help AFL “really elevate our offering to venues,” said […]| Stadium Tech Report
Ten years after opening as the first-ever stadium built expressly with fan-facing technology in mind, the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium announced a list of technology improvements meant to keep the venue at the forefront of the connected- and intelligent-stadium world. One of the biggest parts of the project is a full network upgrade, with […]| Stadium Tech Report
The Las Vegas Raiders have entered into a partnership with identification-verification provider Clear, building on a relationship that had previously seen the Raiders use Clear services at Allegiant stadium for entry, concessions ordering and Covid vaccination checks. Announced in December 2022, the agreement names Clear as the “official fan experience and secure identity partner” for […]| Stadium Tech Report
The Intuit Dome, the new home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, opened Thursday with a Bruno Mars concert. While team officials are still keeping a tight information lid on the exact specifications of all the technical deployments, some more information about fan-facing technology was made public prior to the stadium-opening event. One feature that […]| Stadium Tech Report
The most affordable version of a checkout-free concession stand, one that uses existing concession stand layouts and infrastructure, continues to gain acceptance at stadiums, with the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs recently deploying new stands using technology from Zippin. According to a recent Zippin email, the Patriots this summer added a Zippin […]| Stadium Tech Report
In our third annual Stadium Connectivity Outlook survey, respondents pinpointed cashierless concession technology as their top initiative for the next 12 months, making it a tactical element in a broader strategy to increase revenues and decrease costs. Because the new types of cashierless stands often reduce the need for personnel to operate them, it’s possible […]| Stadium Tech Report
As the 2024 sports seasons get fully underway, the revolution of the checkout-free stadium concession stand is continuing to add to its earlier momentum. Joining us on the Stadium Tech Report podcast is Steve Carlin, CEO of checkout-free technology provider AiFi, a company he said is looking at what should be a very successful year. […]| Stadium Tech Report
When fans filter into T-Mobile Park in Seattle this year for Major League Baseball’s midsummer classic, they will have a chance to see the newest concessions All-Star — checkout-free stores — in action. Three new Amazon Just Walk Out markets join one that was launched last season. The home of the Mariners has joined dozens […]| Stadium Tech Report
Welcome to Stadium Tech Report’s Fall 2023 market numbers report on checkout-free concession stands — which we also call “the list that will be updated soon.” Those of you who are longtime Stadium Tech Report readers may remember our old “unofficial” lists of the top single-day Wi-Fi events at stadiums. While we’ve put those numbers […]| Stadium Tech Report
Fans at the Colorado Rockies’ Coors Field can use their palm to verify their age as well as pay for drinks at a couple stadium bars, thanks to a new program from Amazon and stadium caterer Aramark. Amazon’s Amazon One program, which allows customers to tie payment information to their palm, has been used before […]| Stadium Tech Report
For the Cleveland Browns, a test to see if facial authentication technology from a startup named Wicket could produce a faster way to get fans through ticketing gates has, in a few years, blossomed into a highly accepted solution. With 35,000 fans enrolled in their “Express Access” facial-authentication ticketing plan that regularly supports 15 percent […]| Stadium Tech Report
The use of checkout-free technology in stadium concession stands will get a huge boost later this summer when the Intuit Dome opens with more than 40 checkout-free concession stands using technology from AiFi, according to AiFi execs. While not a formal announcement, the news was revealed by AiFi during a presentation at the SEAT conference […]| Stadium Tech Report
With a helping push from their facial-authentication ticketing program, the Cleveland Browns and their concession partners have successfully developed a concept called “Express Beer” where fans use facial authentication technology to verify age and payment information to greatly speed up food and beverage purchases. Reaching a total of approximately 5,000 transactions for the entire 2023 […]| Stadium Tech Report
Contrary to what you might have read elsewhere on the internet this week, checkout-free shopping technology is alive and well and growing — at least in the stadium concession-stand segment of the marketplace. Since we did our big checkout-free market count back in October, the number of stadium-specific stores has grown from 141 stores to […]| Stadium Tech Report
