Behind-the-Scenes tour of Levi's Stadium shows off new high-tech features

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ByMatt Keller KGO logo
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
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49ers and Comcast hosted behind-the-scenes media tour of Levi's Stadium to show off its high-tech features.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- The San Francisco 49ers and Comcast hosted a behind-the-scenes media tour of the Levi Stadium on Wednesday. It's not to show off the trophies or the field, but rather to show what makes it so high-tech and possibly the most high-tech stadium in the league.

Niners staff says they've learned a lot about what the fans want during the preseason games, especially through their app. Some of the successes are the Wi-Fi connectivity, the app's food and beverage service and the self-service ticket entry. There are even "ninerds" who walk around the stadium to help fans with tech issues on game day.

Though Levi's Stadium is new, they 49ers have been testing technology being used at Levi's Stadium for years. "Of course we tested at Candlestick in small scales. Fifty users at a time, but when you have 10s, 20, 30 40 70 thousand folks at a time it certainly changes our processes. So, I think every game we'll just improve," explains Dan Williams, the 49ers VP of technology.

"How much of a pioneering effort the 49ers have brought to this in order to change the fan experience. And I think in that context they should be commended because you don't really see this level of technology detail extended that much to the consumers themselves," says tech analyst Tim Bajarin.

Wednesday's tour highlighted some of the technological infrastructure inside the stadium including showing off 400 miles of cabling and 1,200 access points for your devices distributed throughout the facility. Levi's Stadium already has four-times the Internet capacity of the NFL's standard for next year. It even has 1,200 low energy bluetooth beacons.

However, there have been some complaints about the Wi-Fi service losing strength in the parking lot. Bajarin says that should be expected because the Wi-Fi isn't designed for outside the stadium. Some of the big cellphone companies have put up repeaters in the stadium to help with connectivity outside.