Stadium Tech Report talks to Randy George, vice president of technology operations for the Boston Red Sox, about the new Wi-Fi 6 network deployed at Fenway Park.
As the oldest stadium in major league baseball, the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park is a beloved icon, especially for its architectural quirks like the “Green Monster” wall in left field. While endearing and intriguing, those same construction elements — some dating back to the park’s opening in 1912 — also make it extremely challenging to deploy modern wireless technology.
Recently we talked to Randy George, vice president of technology operations for the Boston Red Sox, about how the team overcame those construction and aesthetic challenges to provide fans with a cutting-edge Wi-Fi 6 network using gear from Extreme Networks that enables the connectivity experience fans now expect everywhere they go.
While Boston’s beloved ballpark has actually been a proponent of in-stadium Wi-Fi for a long time — according to George, some of the initial network deployments started as early as 2004 — for multiple reasons the stadium has never been able to deploy a true state-of-the-art, full-ballpark coverage network, until now.
Finally, after technical innovations and some internal arm-twisting, George and his team now have a network they can be proud of, both now and into the foreseeable future.
“I’m happy that for our customers and employees, Wi-Fi is not a pain point anymore,” George said. “It’s been a long time since we were able to actively promote it.”
Listen in to our podcast conversation! And read the full profile of the new network in our recent Stadium Tech Report Fall 2022 issue!
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