“If you build it they will come” …. the famous line from Field of Dreams refers to a baseball stadium but it resonates throughout the sports world as more and more venues build distributed antenna systems (DAS).
Mobilitie, one of the nation’s largest neutral host DAS providers, has just announced a new system in Ohio’s Nationwide Arena, with AT&T as the primary tenant. Neutral host DAS providers often build to suit a primary carrier at the outset. Knowing that sports fans crave connectivity, the providers have faith that if they build it, the other carriers will come.
The fans will come too, and they will stay longer if they can stay connected. Mobilitie senior VP Dana Tardelli says that some college coaches are asking for DAS in their stadiums because students leave games at half-time if they can’t stay connected. And venue owners are learning that a faster, more reliable cellular network means they may have more opportunities to offer innovative services like food delivery or online shopping for team merchandise.
Professional sports team owners have come a long way in their view of distributed antenna systems, according to Tardelli. He says there was time when they wanted fans’ eyes on the field or on the ice, not on their smartphones. Now team owners have accepted the inevitable, he says, and they are looking at mobile broadband as a complement to the live experience rather than as competition.