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 equipment at Super Bowl venues in as many years, following cellular upgrades at Allegiant Stadium for Super Bowl LVIII and at State Farm Stadium for Super Bowl LVII.
According to the Saints, the MatSing antennas were part of a large wireless overhaul this offseason, done primarily “to satisfy fans’ desires for wireless consumption and bandwidth,” an important thing with Super Bowl LIX coming to the venue on Feb. 9, 2025. Each year, the NFL’s big game regularly sets records for wireless data consumption, with a steady upward progression ever since wireless networks were first put into stadiums.
Regular Stadium Tech Report readers are well versed in the technical attributes of the innovative MatSing Lens antennas, which are very different in shape, size and performance when compared to traditional flat-panel antennas. For many stadiums lately, MatSing’s big, round antenna balls — which can contain up to 48 separate antennas — have become an extremely effective way of providing expanded cellular coverage to hard-to-reach places, like stadium floors or seating with no close-by overhangs.
In New Orleans, the Saints said they added 30 of MatSing’s larger multi-beam antennas, along with another 200 of MatSing’s smaller single-beam antennas as part of a permanent distributed antenna system (DAS) upgrade. Like in other domed antennas the large MatSing devices were hoisted up to the roof structure, where they can point straight down to provide coverage for field-level suites and on-field media members, including other areas, while staying well out of the view of fans.
The new wireless network, which went live this summer, helped Verizon see its customers use 5.1 terabytes of wireless data for the Saints’ regular season opener last weekend, a 92 percent increase from last year’s home opener, according to Verizon. AT&T, which operates the neutral-host DAS in the stadium, said it will provide more details on the overall upgrade to the DAS closer to the Super Bowl date. The Saints said their network upgrade also included 2,500 new Wi-Fi APs. Stadium Tech Report will have a full report on all new technology upgrades ahead of the Super Bowl in February.
While we are still digging for more information, our reporting shows that MatSing lens antennas were in use at five of the last seven Super Bowls held. In all of the cases we know about, the games were in domed stadiums, which lend themselves more naturally to MatSing placements. In addition to Allegiant Stadium last year (where the Las Vegas Raiders added more MatSings to those used when the stadium opened) and State Farm Stadium the year before, there were also MatSing antennas at SoFi Stadium for Super Bowl LVI, Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Super Bowl LIII and at U.S. Bank Stadium for Super Bowl LII.
