Stadium Networking

Introduction

In sports like hockey, football, baseball, and basketball, technology is used everywhere. From the time you purchase the tickets to the time you are watching the game, you are surrounded with a variety of different programs. When you purchase tickets, you interact with a program such as TicketMaster or AXS. Each of these companies provides an easy way for spectators to purchase tickets and for venues to get people into the stadium quickly.

Entry process

When spectators first enter the stadium, they will typically have their tickets scanned. With new technology, this entire process can be completed in less than 60 seconds. Approximately five years ago, fans had to wait in long lines to enter the stadium, which degraded the experience for visitors. Two factors play into the expired entry: security screening and mobile entry.

One of the factors of expired entry into the stadium is the ticket scanning process. There are three challenges that must be addressed to create a smooth experience: the spectator must be able to present the app with no issues, the network must be stable for both the spectator and the person scanning the ticket, and the ticket scanner app must be able to quickly validate the ticket to ensure that it is not a screenshot and not scanned twice. If any of these aspects of the ticket scanning process fail, it will create an unpleasant experience for guests and staff.

First, the spectator's phone must be able to accurately display the tickets without any issues. Both TicketMaster and AXS use methods to prevent the tickets from being cloned and illegally resold. TicketMaster uses NFC and a rotating barcode. With NFC tickets, the spectator taps their phone on a reader, instantly validating the ticket. AXS only uses a rotating barcode. Similar to NFC, the rotating barcode can be used offline, which reduces the load of the venue's Wi-Fi network.

Second, to validate the ticket, it must quickly look it up in a database to find the ticket information and verify that it was not scanned twice. Validating the ticket is not as simple as executing an SQL statement.

Networking

To accommodate these advanced features, a fast and highly reliable wireless network must be created. In a stadium, two types of wireless networks are used: Wi-Fi and cellular. When a user enters the stadium, they must decide if they want to connect to Wi-Fi or continue to use cellular. If the spectator has an unlimited data plan, they will typically will not connect to Wi-Fi. However, due to the high costs of unlimited data plans, some individuals may elect to use the stadium's network over cellular.

During the Timberwolves game that took place on January 18th, 2025, periodic speed tests were conducted throughout the game. A total of nineteen data points were gathered throughout the game, which was scheduled to start at 8:00 PM. All the information was gathered from section 235, row P, and seat nine. The tests analyzed the speed of both cellular and Wi-Fi. To analyze the speed of the network, the Speedtest app was used on an iPhone 16 Pro.

Cellular Speed Measurements

The data gathered from the cellular speed tests is quite interesting. Before the game started, the network connection was the fastest since there were not many people in the stadium. Surprisingly, the upload speed throughout the game was very slow. During most of the game, the upload speed was around 1 Mbps. Throughout the entire game, the download speed was very fast and reliable. During the first speed test, it peaked at 2663 Mbps. This is significantly faster than most standard cell towers.

During pre-game, the network speed was the fastest. As more people entered the stadium, the speed steadily decreased. Whenever there was a timeout or commercial break, more people utilized their phone, which resulted in a decrease of network speed. As soon as the game-play resumed, the number of users on their phones decreased, and the network speed increased.

Wi-Fi Speed Measurements

Unlike cellular, the Wi-Fi speeds remained fairly consistent throughout the entire game. Similar to cellular, as it got closer to the start of the game, the speed gradually decreased. The speed reduction during commercial breaks was also noticeable but not as drastic. However, the upload speed was much faster than cellular throughout the entire game, which is great for sharing pictures with friends or streaming live video.

During pre-game, the Timberwovles utilized software that allows fans to stream a live video from the fans' phones to the screen. To achieve this, they used software called FanSee!, which was designed by CUE Audio. Their software even allow the staff to select videos that have the best video feed. For best results at Timberwolves games, fans must connect to Wi-Fi since the upload speed is higher and more stable than cellular.