- The nearly 50-year-old Caesars Superdome in New Orleans underwent some long-needed renovations
- The new distributed antenna system (DAS) at the Caesars Superdome incorporates MatSing’s spherical lens antennas
- The network includes 30 multibeam lens antennas, ensuring coverage for all those selfies and merch purchases
Move over, Swifties. The football season is almost here and a lot of sports fans will be firing up their phones at stadiums across the country.
At Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, fans of the Saints will get a chance to experience upgrades to the wireless network during the team’s preseason home opener this weekend. It’s part of a broader $560 million project to update the Superdome, which also happens to be hosting the next Super Bowl in February 2025.
All three of the biggest national wireless carriers are reaping the benefits of the wireless upgrades, which include a neutral host/distributed antenna system (DAS) network that was spearheaded by AT&T, according to antenna vendor MatSing. Long-time NFL partner Verizon is in the mix, as well as T-Mobile.
MatSing’s installation, which involved 30 multibeam lens antennas, started earlier this year and was operational in time for the July 4 Essence Festival of Culture, said MatSing Head of Marketing Manish Matta.
These are not your everyday flat-panel antennas, which traditionally are built on phased array technology. They're spherical antennas that are attached to the ceiling.
“It works kind of like your eye,” but instead of light waves, the antenna captures radio frequency waves, said MatSing EVP and co-founder Leo Matytsine. “Just like your eye can send and receive light from multiple directions, you can send and receive radio frequency waves at the same time and from multiple directions.”
One lens antenna can replace dozens of flat panel antennas, so the venue can get the benefits of additional capacity – to serve all those selfies and game highlights streaming on social media – while taking up less space. MatSing’s approach also is an alternative to putting small antennas underneath the seats of a stadium, which can be costly. (Plus, not everyone wants to sit on top of an antenna.)
“It’s a very different technology from all the other antenna companies,” Matytsine said.
MatSing also provided more than 200 single-beam lens antennas that were strategically installed throughout the stadium, providing multi-band and multi-carrier connectivity for the up to 83,000-seat facility. The MatSing antennas cover low- and mid-band spectrum – up to 3.98 GHz, Matta said. They are not providing millimeter wave coverage, which is handled separately.
According to the Saints website, fans use their smartphones not only to make and receive phone calls and send and receive texts and email, but to use mobile ticketing, check scores and live statistics, view replays and more. The team also gave a shoutout to its wireless partner, Verizon. They’re promising best-in-class speeds throughout the stadium, whether it’s via Wi-Fi or cellular.
Onward and upward
MatSing’s antennas are in about 15 of the NFL stadiums; some others haven’t been announced yet but they’re aiming to some day be in all of them. (In case you’re wondering, MatSing is not featured in the famous Sphere concert venue in Las Vegas, which would be the ultimate place for its spherical hardware, but there’s always hope.)
While traditionally the sports teams and stadium owners spearheaded network upgrades, Matytsine said he’s getting a sense that it’s shifting to more of a third-party situation, where a neutral host company – someone like Boldyn Networks, Extenet or a tower company – oversees the network installation. In some cases, like the one at the Superdome, a wireless carrier takes the lead.
Of course, the wireless carriers always have a lot to say about how the network is constructed.
“At the end of the day, it’s their spectrum. It’s their customers,” Matta said.
Before football fans gear up for the next Super Bowl at Caesars Superdome, another big act will test the wireless connectivity. Taylor Swift performs three shows at the venue in late October, so it better be ready for whatever hits the rafters.