Durham Bulls Knock it Out of the Park With Frontier Wi-Fi Network OVERVIEW In the world of minor league baseball, there’s a lot to consider beyond batting averages and opening lineups. Sure, some diehards come to watch the game and only The Business Challenge the game. But more common are friends and families getting out of the house and into The Durham Bulls wanted to bring the sunshine to enjoy time together. the home stadium Wi-Fi system into the 21st century, with the “It’s so much more than the game,” said Mike Birling, general manager of the Durham ability to handle the demands of Bulls. “That’s what separates minor league baseball from other sports–we’re all about record-breaking attendance and entertainment. We know there’s a ballgame going on but we also want to give all our the ever-evolving landscape of fans a genuinely fun experience.” sports technology. Today, part of that genuinely fun experience is a screaming-fast Wi-Fi network, and all the bells and whistles built on the back of that network. When the Bulls renovated The Solution the Durham stadium, senior staff members recognized an opportunity to swing for the Frontier installed a system fences, technically speaking. capable of serving thousands of simultaneous users, and did so with an emphasis on unparalleled The Needs and the Solutions customer service. “What Frontier did for us is create a great opportunity from a Wi-Fi standpoint,” said Birling. “To be one of the first teams in minor league baseball and professional sports The Benefit to have such a vast Wi-Fi system installed, it’s allowed us to do so many things.” The new Wi-Fi system by Frontier has allowed Bulls leadership to A key concern in the early stages of putting together the network plan with Frontier focus on raising the bar of fan was the huge capacity a stadium requires. “Two years ago we set an all-time experience. From simple but high- attendance record and we just missed that record this past year. So with those quality instant replays to testing numbers, we designed this system with the capacity to not just take care of us for the new cutting-edge technologies, next five years but to also be there for us for many years to come.” the sky is the limit in terms of what the Bulls can do–rather The question of capacity became especially important when Birling and other than constantly battling a cap on members of the Bulls leadership started looking at what they could do from a connectivity. Despite huge annual technical standpoint to enhance the fan experience. He said they’ve added things as paid attendance, the Bulls aren’t basic (yet important) as HD video instant replays, and started initial conversations even coming close to the network’s about such advanced tech as VR and location-based push notifications. With such a usage ceiling. span of ideas, the network’s technical limitations couldn’t be an impediment. Continued next page Case Study: Durham Bulls Frontier.com/businessedge 1 Finally, keeping the fan experience front of mind, Birling said the new network had to be fast. “Everyone wants to post the next Instagram or tweet,” he said. “Sports is an ever-changing world and it’s only going to get more complicated. We have to stay ahead of the curve and adapt. Those that don’t just don’t have record attendance.” The Results “We’re very much in the beginning stages of learning the true capacity of this network,” said Birling. “But that’s the beauty of it–we have this massive capacity Frontier gave us, so the sky is the limit in terms of what we can do for our fans.” The network Frontier installed is capable of handling between 7,000 and 8,000 simultaneous users. “With our annual paid attendance being close to 550,000 people, we’re not even coming close to that ceiling in terms of capacity,” said Birling. An added benefit of the system is what the Bulls can learn about fans. Based on information offered when logging onto the Wi-Fi and what fans share on social media, the organization gleans valuable insights into what features fans would like to see at games, what they like about the existing experience and what they think could be better. “The data we’re collecting from that is immeasurable,” Birling said. Data and the ability to entertain fans beyond the field are keys to answering a big question in sports–how to engage a young demographic that is used to high- definition sports on TV rather than in the stands. “I have two teenagers,” Birling said. “The first thing they do is hop on a Wi-Fi signal. This is helping us tailor our efforts to a new demographic, helping them get out of the house and experience how great baseball really is.” Finally, a key part of the Bulls’ relationship with Frontier was something that transcended upload and download speeds–something that can’t necessarily be measured. “I think Frontier’s edge is customer service,” he said. “That’s a big one–the personal relationships we have with them. In our business that’s what everything is about and I think what separates Frontier from other companies is they understand that.” Frontier customizes and provides communication solutions to all businesses—small, medium and enterprise. For more information regarding services and equipment available, visit business. frontier.com/solutions/wifi. Case Study: Durham Bulls Frontier.com/businessedge 2.