POLL - Would you purchase in-stadium WiFi?

[The Peeper]

Ole Miss has Rebel Wi-Fi, had it over 11 years now

Ole Miss, C Spire to Debut New Wi-Fi Network at Football Games - Ole Miss Athletics - Hotty Toddy

Aug. 20, 2014 OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss football team has gotten better each year under head coach Hugh Freeze, and in 2014 the Rebel fan experience will ...

olemisssports.com

They spent a big part of the summer here several years ago upgrading their network and putting in new boxes in the ground all over the place but I don't remember any offers for game day set up. I'm definitely not going to pay CeaseFire for internet connectivity while paying AT&T for it 365 days a year too. I left CeaseFire because their coverage had gone to sh-it about 12 years ago, not going back because of a few hours on a few Saturdays a year.

 

[Chesusdog]

My drunk posts to SPS eventually get through. Also, 90% of the people I would talk about that game with are with me at the game already or dead.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I’d certainly pay for it. I like to watch other games and gamble.

For youngsters, connectivity is a must, we can complain, but if we want the next generation of fans to come to the stadium, we need to invest in wi-fi.

 

[RocketDawg]

It’s not that important to me. I’m there watching game. My friends/family are watching on tube. Don’t care about any other game during ours. Don’t need to be able to call 911 since there are a plethora of medical people already there. 17 it

Agree. Plus, scores of other games are shown on the ribbon boards, and sometimes even games themselves are shown on the video board prior to us taking the field (that was the case last time we went about 5 years ago, and I assume nothing's changed).

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

Might be a good marketing opportunity for CSPIRE

Cspire sets up really good WiFi in stadium
If you have cspire it’s free
If you don’t it’s $7.99 for game or $39.99 for season

Is this available thru home wifi, or phone???

 

[paindonthurt]

Is this available thru home wifi, or phone???

Um, i'm making a suggestion of something Cspire might could do to make a little money and get good marketing while helping msu and fans.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

Um, i'm making a suggestion of something Cspire might could do to make a little money and get good marketing while helping msu and fans.

Thats why I'm asking. I have both. But, do you have to do anything extra....

 

[paindonthurt]

Thats why I'm asking. I have both. But, do you have to do anything extra....

There isn't currently an option for wifi at the stadium.

I'm saying a good idea might be for Cspire to offer such. Just brainstorming.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

There isn't currently an option for wifi at the stadium.

I'm saying a good idea might be for Cspire to offer such. Just brainstorming.

Ok.... got it.

 

[NTDawg]

I’m old and can’t do two things at once. Watch the game and scroll twitter or whatever. I watch most games at home and I can’t get on SPS during a game.

Also I’m cheap on a lot of things. There are exceptions to my cheapness, like whiskey and food.

 

[HotMop]

If you voted no - why wouldn’t you? I like being able to text my groups.

I've always had service with Verizon? Is this a C-Spire issue?

 

[Wesson Bulldog]

It’s not that important to me. I’m there watching game. My friends/family are watching on tube. Don’t care about any other game during ours. Don’t need to be able to call 911 since there are a plethora of medical people already there. 17 it

(Slow clap)

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I've always had service with Verizon? Is this a C-Spire issue?

Yes, Cease Fire has very little coverage in the stadium (when crowded like Saturday). It got better in the second half and I was able to put on the OU/Mich game.

 

[patdog]

No. If I’m at the game, I’m not on my phone. So I really don’t care.

 

[HotMop]

Yes, Cease Fire has very little coverage in the stadium (when crowded like Saturday). It got better in the second half and I was able to put on the OU/Mich game.

Sounds like peeps need to drop that shiity provider.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

Sounds like peeps need to drop that shiity provider.

Concur, they get worse and worse. I'm waiting until starlink gets going with their service.

 

[OopsICroomedmypants]

I don’t need to text, tweet, or use any form of social media to validate my experience at a game bad enough to pay. I’m there to watch every second.

 

[MSUDOG24]

I'm honestly surprised at the number of fellow "no, I'm there to watch the game" responses. Thought I might be alone with that take. I don't take my phone to games so coverage is an N/A for me.

 

[8dog]

Holding steady at 30%. 45k actual
Attendance average * 30%* $5 * 7 is $472k annually. For whatever that’s worth.

 

[dawgstudent]

I'm honestly surprised at the number of fellow "no, I'm there to watch the game" responses. Thought I might be alone with that take. I don't take my phone to games so coverage is an N/A for me.

I'm with you. I'm there to watch the game. But there's a lot of downtime in football games.

 

[Anon1749038494]

I went to Tempe last year and they had free WiFi stadium wide, it was awesome.

 

[DeeEE!]

It’s coming, like it or not.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

would i get free chat?

 

[AttalaDawg72]

If you voted no - why wouldn’t you? I like being able to text my groups.

I usually have just enough service to send off a basic text and get the ESPN app to load to see the other SEC scores. So no.

 

[StillTbonewannabe]

There is a point where trying to monetize off people there gets too much. If you want to entice people to come to games and watch it live then at some point you need to at least offer what everyone else is.

Atlanta Falcons dropped concession prices and actually increased attendance and revenue. If people are looking at the cost of attending games versus watching a great product on TV at home, you can't price out more people.

 

[aTotal360]

If we charged for Wifi, we would be turned into a laughing stock. It would personify the stereotypes of Starkville being in "the middle of the sticks".

 

[StillTbonewannabe]

I'm with you. I'm there to watch the game. But there's a lot of downtime in football games.

But the issue is people younger than 40. They are probably not ok with having no connectivity. Very shortsighted thinking. Us old folks aren't the future customer base.

Attendance is already an issue in general with college football. Don't make it more inconvenient for the younger generation.

 

[onewoof]

Here's an idea: go with our hands out asking for someone to donate $5M for the new Wi-Fi stadium system.

Because we are Mississippi State.

 

[mstateglfr]

No.

- its 2025 and public wi-fi on a college campus should be expected. It should be the floor, not the ceiling.
- carriers should contract to have enough tower coverage and/or DAS and repeaters to handle the game day population. This isnt some crazy idea- its common and should be expected.

Poor cell data connectivity in 2025 at a major stadium shouldnt exist. Simple as that.

 

[atomic dawg]

No, but Im hoping that enough of you do so it frees up the cell towers and I can use my phone without any problems.

 

[skip dog]

Voted no b/c if one thing I have found in my older years, as a single parent, there is a time and place to get the pic, and then there is most of the time when you should be present in the moment and enjoy it...........there is about a 1-2% chance that I will be in a stadium anywhere for a game I want to be at and have a situation that absolutely requires that I have wifi speed needs. Technology is a big part of my working life day to day, and I have grown to really appreciate placing my tech in another room, and doing w/o

That said, I totally get those that want to stream another game or keep up with scores and the such, the above is just how I enjoy it

 

[8dog]

I’m really surprised at how many people are fine watching a state game and not being able to watch or get real time scores from other games. I would never sit at the Alcorn game and miss the Georgia/TN ending or start of the other 3 big sec matchups.

 

[anon1768925248]

My phone works in the stadium somehow.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Like a flight.

I assume that cell coverage still sucks? I've not been in a bit. MSU not letting CSpire solve that problem years ago is just stupid.

 

[00Dawg]

As a Verizon guy, I was fine until halftime, when everything went to about a 10% success rate in connecting. I suspect that means their capacity is right on the cusp of what was needed, and it'll get worse the closer we are to capacity.
Part of me is in the boat with "it should be free to all", but due to recency bias and that underwhelming list of benefits they sent out to Bulldog Club members, I say you should add a free Wi-Fi service for us as one of the perks.

 

[Walkthedawg]

I remember asking Scott Stricklin about it just after Ole Miss signed the CSPIRE deal. Scott said he was not interested unless the Athletic Department could monetize it because Ole Miss was not making any revenue from it - they just allowed CSPIRE to do it.

That’s just stupid.

With more and more people staying home and watching on TV, you want to make the fan experience better in any way. If Cspire wants to install a stadium wi-fi system with enough horsepower to serve 60k people, you throw them the keys and say leave it under the mat when you are done.

You need to keep giving people reasons to come. Not to stay home. This is one of them.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

That’s just stupid.

With more and more people staying home and watching on TV, you want to make the fan experience better in any way. If Cspire wants to install a stadium wi-fi system with enough horsepower to serve 60k people, you throw them the keys and say leave it under the mat when you are done.

You need to keep giving people reasons to come. Not to stay home. This is one of them.

I absolutely agree with. I thought his comments to me were very short-sighted. My impression was that he wanted a % even small of the subscription charges. The whole conversation is mute though because I don't think CSPIRE made the same offer to MSU.

 

[ckDOG]

If it were reliable and fast, yes. If it's what you get on a plane, pass.

 

[DeeEE!]

I expect the stadium to get it sooner or later. These type deployments in stadiums use hundreds of WAPs (Wireless Access Points). They feed into an enterprise grade switch, typically using 1GB copper Ethernet. Those switches then uplink using Fiber that then go out over the campus fiber, the to the internet via fiber.

So long as the deployment is configured correctly, the solution works well.
Instead of competing with a single tower for your carrier, you have hundreds of WAPs located in the stadium with you that use 2.4/5/6 GHz using your devices WiFi chip. You connect to the one that’s nearby. This provides better experience since you connect to the one closest to you.

There’s a lot more that goes into it though. There’s several variables that make it good or bad, such as signal power, channel utilization, and interference. Stadium environments are some of the hardest to deploy.

You have a large user density and a lot of environmental challenges such as concrete and other materials that cause db loss.

WAPs now also have Bluetooth that can be utilized to perform fan engagement, and location tracking via Bluetooth beaconing. Theres a lot of data and user analytics as well. Typically games move 10s of TBs of data per game.

 

[L4Dawg]

No