The Los Angeles Dodgers Introduce New Stadium Innovations and Fan Experiences

Case study Cisco public

The customer summary

Customer name Los Angeles Dodgers Industry Sports and Entertainment Location Los Angeles, California Number of employees 550

Getting Back to the Ballpark The Los Angeles Dodgers introduce new stadium innovations and fan experiences

Challenge: Getting fans back in the stands including probabilities for pitch type and batter outcome. Those percentages and other statistics On June 15, 2021, the Los Angeles Dodgers are dynamically updated after every pitch. defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 following a Mookie Betts go-ahead home run in the seventh “It’s the game within the game,” says Esquibel. Challenges inning. And it all took place in front of 52,078 “As a fan, it’s neat to follow all of the data points • Deliver new stadium innovations fans, the largest crowd to attend a professional and probabilities and see what’s happening as and fan experiences sporting event in the United States since the start it happens.” of the COVID-19 pandemic.1 • Enable real-time marketing All digital systems within Dodger Stadium — from and staffing decisions The game was groundbreaking not only because ticketing and point-of-sale to digital media and • Streamline data center maintenance of the capacity crowd in attendance, but also IPTV streaming — now run on the Cisco HyperFlex and infrastructure patching because of the new technology-driven fan and Intel Optane technology infrastructure. And a experiences and stadium innovations that were host of Cisco Meraki™ smart cameras and Cisco unveiled for the first time. Wireless Access Points are helping the ballclub better understand and accommodate “We’ve had our new data center platform in fan preferences. place for more than a year now, but without a stadium full of fans, we hadn’t been able to put it to the test,” says Ralph Esquibel, vice president Solution of technology for the Dodgers, referencing the • High-performance hyperconverged team’s Cisco® HyperFlex™ infrastructure with “As a fan, it’s neat infrastructure with cloud-based management Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors and Intel® Optane™ SSDs. “June 15 was exciting, like to follow all of the getting a Ferrari on the road for the first time.” data points and Fresh off a World Series championship in 2020, the storied baseball franchise had used its new probabilities and see data center infrastructure to produce digital what’s happening Results models of Dodger Stadium, helping establish socially distanced seating areas and crowd • Introduced dynamic, real-time game as it happens.” management protocols during the pandemic. But statistics and probabilities on digital with restrictions now lifted, the ballclub is eager displays throughout the stadium to show off its new fan-centric capabilities. Ralph Esquibel • Improved operational responsiveness Vice President of Technology, via crowd analytics Digital screens in the Dodger Stadium sports bar and concourses now display a variety of Los Angeles Dodgers • Shifted IT focus from infrastructure real-time data analytics during each at bat, maintenance to innovative fan experiences

“We can measure ingress and egress counts, wait times, abandonment rates, and location-based engagement, all in real time,” Esquibel says. “That “When they said we could get this enables us to make informed marketing and staffing decisions on the fly.” type of performance with fewer If a gate is crowded, for example, the team can shift additional ticketing and security personnel — as well as “hawkers” wielding handheld devices with nodes and less storage, it was hard game day promotions — to minimize wait times. If lines for concession stands to believe. It’s amazing to have an or retail stores become too long, portable Dodger Dog or merchandise carts can be moved to reduce the congestion. eight-node array that serves all of “In the past, we would test certain things. Now we’re analyzing everything in our needs, can be easily scaled, real time and making decisions accordingly,” Esquibel says. “Data is such a critical component of how we interact with our fans.” and is managed collectively instead of piece by piece.” Streamlining technology operations

Cisco HyperFlex and Intel Optane SSDs have done more than supercharge Ralph Esquibel the Dodgers’ stadium analytics and fan experiences. The platform has also dramatically simplified the ballclub’s technology infrastructure and operations. Vice President of Technology, Los Angeles Dodgers “The size and complexity of a technology stack can get out of hand quickly,” says Esquibel. “We have a small operations team, and we used to have one person — a senior member of my staff — dedicated solely to patch management. It was a full-time job, but now it takes less than an hour to update the entire environment.”

Instead of managing 30 legacy nodes individually, the Dodgers are now using Cisco Intersight™ to manage eight nodes collectively.2 Two racks of physical gear have been consolidated down to half of a rack.2 More than 30 hypervisor hosts have been whittled down to six.2 And yet, the team has more computing power and memory performance than its IT leaders could previously imagine.

“When they said we could get this type of performance with fewer nodes and less storage, it was hard to believe. It didn’t make sense,” Esquibel says. “It’s amazing to have an eight-node array that serves all of our needs, can be easily scaled, and is managed collectively instead of piece by piece.”

No longer encumbered with infrastructure “We become more maintenance, the ballclub has shifted its focus reliant on technology to fan engagement and operational innovation — using its technology and data resources to Product links every year. We’re doing ensure Dodger Stadium delivers the best possible things with Cisco and experience for every attendee. • Cisco HyperFlex “We become more reliant on technology every • Intel Xeon Scalable processors Intel technologies that year,” says Esquibel. “We’re doing things with • Intel Optane SSDs Cisco and Intel technologies that didn’t seem didn’t seem possible a possible a few short years ago, and they’ve • Cisco Intersight few short years ago, changed our way of thinking and how we run • Cisco Meraki smart cameras our ballclub.” and they’ve changed • Cisco Wireless Access Points our way of thinking and how we run our ballclub.”

Ralph Esquibel Learn more about Cisco data Vice President of Technology, center computing and networking customer deployments. Los Angeles Dodgers

Cisco and Intel work together to optimize solutions from the edge, through the network, to the data center. Cisco’s innovative UCS servers and HyperFlex hyperconverged solutions, powered by Intel Xeon processors, Intel Optane technologies, and Intel Ethernet products, provide high performance with lower TCO, simplified operations, and a modern, more secure data center. Customers can benefit from joint, scalable solutions, designed to solve key market challenges in multiple industries. Together, Cisco and Intel create a trusted ecosystem for hardware, software, and services that bring intelligence and analytics to your business. 1 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/dodger-stadium-sellout-marks-america-s-largest-sports-crowd-pandemic-n1270998 2 Source: As reported by LA Dodgers from data and interviews provided in 2019 and 2021. Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark and MobileMark, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products. For more complete information visit www.intel.com/benchmarks. Your costs and results may vary. Intel does not control or audit third-party data. You should consult other sources to evaluate accuracy. Results have been estimated or simulated. No product can be absolutely secure. © 2021 Intel Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., and Los Angeles Dodgers LLC. Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)