Borussia Dortmund nets operational gains with Wi-Fi 6E

As the leading German football team celebrates 50 years at its Westfalenstadion home, renamed the Signal Iduna Park in December 2005, Borussia Dortmund has announced it will modernise experiences throughout team facilities at the stadium, and create a foundation for future technology such as in-seat concessions ordering and in-stadium artificial reality/virtual reality (AR/VR).

When in standing mode for domestic league games, the Signal Iduna Park has a capacity of up to 81,365 spectators, the largest in German club football. In addition to Borussia Dortmund’s matches, the stadium also hosts international events, including six matches in the upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 championship. No standing room is permitted for international fixtures, reducing the overall capacity to 66,099.

The new flexible, scalable, secure wireless and fabric Wi-Fi 6E-ready network from Extreme Networks – deployed in partnership with Bell Computer-Netzwerke – is intended to drive modernised in-stadium amenities, a better fan experience and improved operational efficiencies.

Among the network’s key benefits will be to provide both fans and stadium operations staff with reliable wireless connectivity, delivering better experiences for training team members and administrative staff, enabling fans to participate in real-time sports betting and supporting use cases such as faster mobile ticket scanning.

Because the network will be Wi-Fi 6E-ready, Extreme said Dortmund will be prepared to embrace the next generation of Wi-Fi and can maximise the return on its network investment as it will be prepared for 6 GHz devices and future potential use cases. It adds that operations teams will benefit from reliable, increased bandwidth that can support everything from smart security cameras to cashless transactions and digital signage.

Automated, secure, scalable operations are said to be possible through Extreme Fabric Connect, enabling the Borussia Dortmund IT team to automatically provision and configure Wi-Fi Access Points in offices and team training rooms, as well as indoor and outdoor locations throughout the stadium. Additionally, because Fabric networks support hyper-segmentation, Dortmund can construct its infrastructure so that its operational network is entirely separated from the more accessible fan-facing Wi-Fi network, providing an additional layer of security and preventing a lateral attack from interrupting operations or stalling a match.

Real-time network insights and improved data-driven strategies can offer the club intelligence into activity, users, devices and applications on the Wi-Fi network. As it taps into network analytics, the club can make decisions around stadium staffing based on fan foot traffic, identify potential sponsorship opportunities based on what applications fans are using and make better decisions when determining how to evolve services in the stadium to keep fans engaged during every match.

Borussia Dortmund managing director Carsten Cramer said: “We want to offer our fans, as well as employees and players, the greatest possible connectivity – both for an impressive fan experience, but also for smooth processes behind the scenes.

“Our new Wi-Fi 6E-ready network will enable us to find new opportunities for sponsorships and monetisation, lean into new fan experiences like real-time sports betting, and ensure we are ready for future use cases that we may not be aware of today. We now feel that we are prepared to increase our goals for technology usage throughout our offices and team operations, and we’re excited to offer fans more modern experiences when they return to matches next season.”

Extreme has already delivered network services for football stadiums across Europe, including Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC, the Olympiastadion Berlin and Manchester United’s Old Trafford.

“The network is fundamental to almost all areas of a company’s business, including stadiums and other venues,” said Thomas Mehrfort, head of sports and venues for EMEA at Extreme Networks. “First-class connectivity is necessary, not only for outstanding fan experiences, but also to ensure new innovative digital offerings and services are fully supported.

“Borussia Dortmund’s new network will enable it to optimise matchday operations throughout its stadium and lay the foundation so they can build toward a digitally driven future for the club.”