Soccer fans in Austin, Texas, finally have a place to call home for their Major League Soccer franchise with the opening of Q2 Stadium last month. And while the brand-new venue doesn’t yet have any cellular carriers providing service on the stadium’s distributed antenna system (DAS), it does have a working Wi-Fi 6 network that Austin FC execs say is being enthusiastically embraced by the fans packing the new house.
“We have more than 60 percent of our visitors using the public Wi-Fi, which is a great start,” said Austin FC president Andy Loughnane in a phone interview. “Our Wi-Fi 6 network is best in class, with fast connections that support all the mobile needs.”
According to stadium networking supplier Boingo, the Wi-Fi network uses Wi-Fi 6 gear from Cisco. Kimberly Stokes, senior director for operations at Boingo, said in a phone interview that the lack of carriers on the DAS for opening day is a fairly common occurrence at new-build venues, especially smaller stadiums like the 20,500-seat Q2 Stadium.
“At a new venue you build the DAS ahead of time without an anchor tenant, because it’s cheaper and easier to build while the building is under construction,” said Stokes. According to Stokes the DAS network was built using JMA’s Teko gear, and is ready to go once carriers come aboard.
“It’s not a surprise [that the carriers haven’t joined the DAS yet], and we are talking to all the carriers to come in,” Stokes said.
While historically some number of fans at any venue might not ever even try to connect to Wi-Fi, Austin FC’s Loughnane said that’s not the case in tech-savvy Austin. According to Loughnane fans have been using the stadium Wi-Fi for all kinds of game-day interactions, including digital ticketing and contactless concession purchases, including an order-ahead and pickup option supported by the team’s new stadium app.
“It [the Wi-Fi coverage and usage] is a very successful aspect of our launch,” Loughnane said.
