It’s the (relative) calm before the Super Bowl storm. At Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, golf carts buzz around carrying people and equipment. Workers water the lush field as the afternoon sun beams in. And broadcast crews run through rehearsals to make sure everything looks good on your TV come game day.
Earlier this week, I swung by Levi’s Stadium to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the tech powering the US’s biggest sporting event, which this year takes place on Sunday, Feb. 8, and pits the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots.
Cables galore.
Sony worked closely with NFL coaches to design custom headsets. These allow coaches to communicate more effectively over crowd noise. They’re also built to withstand both tantrums and harsh climates.
The Sony NFL headset was surprisingly comfortable to wear.
There are about 1,200 access points across the stadium, which allow devices to connect to the Wi-Fi network. A couple of hundred of these points were added in preparation for the Super Bowl.
“It’s one seamless adventure, the second you scan your tickets all the way out the gates,” said Anish Patel, the NFL’s director of stadium and wireless engineering. “As you walk through the fan events — between tailgate, merchandise, concessions — it’s all one large sort of wireless network that we extend for game day.”
Many teams work together to ensure safety throughout the stadium’s campus.
Maintaining security on and off the field
The Super Bowl is considered a SEAR 1 (or Special Event Assessment Rating) event, which, according to the US Department of Homeland Security, means it requires “extensive federal interagency support.” So it’s no surprise that security was such a big focus on one of my tours.
This is the Security Operations Center at Levi’s Stadium, where cybersecurity threats are monitored.
There’s also an NFL control room, in which feeds from hundreds of security cameras around the stadium are on display. The NFL and stadium personnel, along with local, state and federal agencies, can monitor any suspicious activity on the ground. Emergency responders will also be stationed in this room, ready to intervene if necessary. Crews can watch for bottlenecks, too, and make calls to divert foot traffic as people enter and exit the stadium.
