New Half a Million-Square-Foot Venue Relies
Upon an Aruba ESP Network to Power Massive LED Video Systems,
Mobility-Driven Fan Experiences and Other Amenities
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE: HPE), today
announced that FC Cincinnati (FCC), the Cincinnati-based Major
League Soccer (MLS) franchise, has deployed an end-to-end Aruba ESP
(Edge Services Platform) network at its new 26,000-seat TQL Stadium
to power one of the most ambitious soccer-specific venues
worldwide, raising the bar for game day and special event
experiences.
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the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210915005267/en/
TQL Stadium, FC Cincinnati's new half a
million-square-foot venue, relies on Aruba ESP to drive
next-generation, mobility-driven fan experiences. (Photo: FC
Cincinnati)
To create its completely cashless, digitalized facility, FCC
deployed a combination of Aruba’s wired, wireless and security
solutions. Visitor-facing connectivity starts with SeatGeek mobile
ticketing and Fortress wireless scanners for fast, paperless entry.
For game and other visuals, two massive Daktronics and 14,370 feet
of SACO V-STICK S display live images, instant replays,
up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations inside the
stadium and across the building’s expansive eastern façade.
Operational connectivity includes approximately 200
point-of-sale devices controlled by cloud-enabled Appetize to
support the stadium’s 175 food and beverage vendors, enabling FCC
to process thousands of game day and special event transactions
within milliseconds. Other connected systems range from hundreds of
security cameras and door access devices to multiple business
applications such as Microsoft Office 365.
“We based every aspect of designing, building and maintaining
our stadium on creating next-generation fan experiences,” explained
Dan Lolli, vice president of Facilities and Stadium General Manager
for FC Cincinnati. “Working with our IT-as-a-Service partner Atomic
Data, we determined Aruba was the leader in stadium deployments
that provide fans with superior, high-performance, reliable, and
consistent experiences while being efficient and cost-effective to
manage.”
In collaboration with Atomic Data, FCC selected and deployed a
future-ready wireless network comprised of Aruba’s Wi-Fi 6 indoor
and outdoor access points (APs) and mobility controllers. For wired
networking, FCC implemented Aruba’s access switches at the edge for
IP audio and video along with the CX Series switches for access,
aggregation and in the data center.
Deploying high-performance Wi-Fi enabled FCC to offer fans the
latest in mobile amenities, such as the ability to deliver tickets
to guests with the touch of a screen. “Mobile ticketing is also
important from a business perspective as it eliminates much of the
counterfeit ticketing that is widespread throughout entertainment,”
said Lolli.
Once inside, guests enjoy contactless ordering of refreshments
and merchandise to ensure they see all the action. “On opening day,
our network processed more than 16,000 food and beverage
transactions over a few hours, with most completed in less than
half a second,” Lolli said. “Our network enables us to provide the
exceptional experiences that help us differentiate ourselves from
other sporting and non-sporting entertainment options.”
FCC is also relying on Aruba’s advanced network administration
tools like ClearPass, for policy-based network access control (NAC)
and NetEdit, for coordinating switch configuration, monitoring and
troubleshooting. “During stadium construction, Aruba’s robust tools
enabled Atomic Data to stage our entire network off-site and ship
it to our stadium,” said Lolli. “This streamlined deployment by
four to eight weeks versus the traditional on-site approach,
helping us meet our Opening Day deadlines. Since then, Aruba’s
software automation has ensured efficient network management on a
day-to-day basis.”
Moving forward, FCC expects to continue evaluating Aruba’s
cloud-based, AIOps-enabled networking innovations such as Aruba
Central for proactive network management, User Experience Insight
(UXI) for detecting Wi-Fi incidents that require immediate
attention, and Air Pass for seamless device handoffs between
cellular networks and Wi-Fi.
The team is also assessing Aruba’s Location Services for
supporting real-time crowd intelligence. “As soccer fans only leave
their seats during halftime, location services can help us with
analyzing and directing traffic flow,” Lolli said. “Clearly,
anything that assists with expanding opportunities for fans to have
great experiences is something we’ll consider.”
About TQL Stadium
TQL Stadium, FC Cincinnati’s home, is one of the most ambitious
soccer-specific stadiums in not only North America but the world.
Critically acclaimed global design firm, Populous, designed an
innovative and forward-thinking stadium that is one of the largest
soccer-specific facilities in Major League Soccer (MLS). The $250
million, privately funded stadium has a capacity of 26,000, with
the closest seats within 15 feet of the field. The design includes
53 traditional suites and 4,500 premium seats throughout four
premium club spaces. Additionally, the team’s famous supporters’
section, The Bailey, will grow to be more than 3,100 strong and
loom over opponents at a 34-degree angle at the stadium’s north
end. A 360-degree canopy roof covers every seat in the stadium, but
still allows sufficient sun in to grow a natural grass field. The
stadium has five team locker rooms, including a comprehensive team
suite for FC Cincinnati that features a dressing room, coaches
offices, lounge, equipment storage and the Mercy Health Center of
Excellence for the team’s medical and game day fitness needs. TQL
Stadium meets all current requirements to host CONCACAF and FIFA
events, featuring top national teams from around the world,
including the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams, as well as the
world’s top club teams for friendlies. More information about the
stadium is available at Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or visit
the stadium’s website: TQLStadium.com.
About Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, is the global
leader in secure, intelligent edge-to-cloud networking solutions
that use AI to automate the network, while harnessing data to drive
powerful business outcomes. With Aruba ESP (Edge Services Platform)
and as-a-service options, Aruba takes a cloud-native approach to
helping customers meet their connectivity, security, and financial
requirements across campus, branch, data center, and remote worker
environments, covering all aspects of wired, wireless LAN, and wide
area networking (WAN).
To learn more, visit Aruba at www.arubanetworks.com. For
real-time news updates, follow Aruba on Twitter and Facebook, and
for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba
products, visit the Airheads Community at
community.arubanetworks.com.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210915005267/en/
Kathleen Keith Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
+1-707-529-4507 kathleen.keith@hpe.com
Jennifer Miu Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company +1
650-236-9532 jennifer.miu@hpe.com
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