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SBC Park Plans A Giant 802.11 Hotspot
Numeric writes "Baseball games won't be as boring at SBC Park, home of the San Fransico Giants, because they are offering "one of the largest hotspots", according to this Yahoo article.
SBC Communications provides DSL and wireless connectivity to business and consumers. I wonder if Minute Maid Park will offer free orange juice or even better Citizen Ball Park could offer free money! Its nice to see the staduim sponsor offering more than just the name sake of their business."
LostCluster writes "The San Jose Business Journal adds the details that the WiFi access will be called SBC's Freedom Link, and and be based on 121 access points spread across the park. Access will be free during the 2004 season, but will cost $7.95 per day or $19.95 per month starting next year."
The only way I could be arsed to go watch a baseball game live would be to give me wireless access and to let me bring a laptop in. Of course, I'm sure this isn't the purpose they have in mind. Although, providing wireless access within sporting venues might be quite an interesting way to bring in more fans to games especially in the case of Major League Baseball, who over the course of the past ten years have seen an abysmal drop in attendance.
get a few mates with webcams and laptops and set up a multiangle freeview of the game ;-)
I obviously don't attend many live sporting events (price of tickets + parking + beer not justified), but don't they limit what can be taken into these events? Wouldn't they worry about someone streaming the events content to the web, bypassing revenue generation.
On the other hand, people would probably spend more time updating their fantasy league rosters.
Has anyone considered how this will affect (or even effect) the ease of gambling at sporting events. This could allow for betting on individual free throws in basketball, whether a play will be overturned in football, individual innings in baseball (you can even change your bet real time, double down etc).
If it's anything like Shea or Yankee stadium (disclaimer: I'm a Mets fan before you start jumping all over me for being a New Yorker -- I think the Yankees are evil too ;) it'll cost you $60-$100 per person for the ticket (unless it's nosebleed -- then figure $30-$70), the food, the drink and the booze. Who the hell is going to drop a hundred dollar bill on a baseball game and then sit there on their laptop? It might be a novelty during batting practice but who the hell is going to pay for it?
If I wanted to sit on my laptop and surf the internet while watching baseball I'd stay at home. If I wanted to pay to surf the internet while watching baseball I'd get a long-distance dial-up account.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
It would mean more up-to-the-minute online recaps of games in progress. MLB will shut them down.
I wonder why the SF Giants chose not to go one (two at most) phased array panel(s)?
Seastead this.
Some gambling sites already use WAP, and next gen smartphones apps could easily do this sort of gambling functionality.
Why bet on a play being overturned... bet on the yardage of EACH and EVERY play. Use a betting exchange to co-ordinate across the people in the stadium and watching on TV... hey presto.
This isn't future stuff... this is now stuff. Most betting exchanges, if they just allowed WAP or created a smartphone app, or if you could use Opera on your P900, can do this today.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
Wonder if they will leave it turned on after games are completed? As someone else pointed out: 24db directional antenna + apartment near the stadium == profit. Now I finally have a place to download the Microsoft source code from! Think MS will cancel MLB's WMP contract and they'll go back to Real?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Baseball isn't basketball or hockey, where the downtime is kept to a minimum. I've been to many baseball games where I'm simply bored out of my skull waiting for something to happen. That's not to say I dislike the game, I played for several years while I was younger. And rarely have I cheered like when the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in the World Series a few years back.
Some people hit on the desire for real-time stats during the game, whether for the game they're watching or the rest of the MLB. That's great. One could argue that statistics are half the sport.
They generally don't post stats on the board as to how Pujols has fared against Schilling in the past - that's generally the interesting fare for the TV audience.
If they do charge in 2005, I would hope that they provide some other value-add, such as streaming instant replays, customizable stats pages, etc.
"We've created one of the largest, if not the largest, hot spot in the world," says Larry Baer, Giants executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Don't think so Larry Baer. You're in a one-block stadium. Case Western Reserve (in my hometown Cleveland) has what I believe is the largest public WiFi network. It covers university square and most surrounding areas.
Betting on every play... cool! (I don't gamble though.) Multiple camera angels (long overdue) is a great idea!
Do or do not. There is no try. --Yoda
Wireless is shared bandwidth so if there are a lot of people using it, performance becomes absolutely miserable. Even if people flock to the statium to use wireless networking, as opposed to watching the sports, I don't think this is worth the bother. Sure, before the game starts some people might want to use their wireless PDAs to check up on stocks, etc, this isn't going to be used very much. I think the heaviest users are going to be living line of sight to the stadium with Pringles cans pointed that way.
This wi-fi stats service should be included in the price of the tickets.
How much different is this than broadcasting 20 different data only low power FM or AM signals at the park with different data feeds?
Hmmmm....morse code AM signals...receivable for free with anyone with a capable data terminal....rent terminals for $5 each....hmmmmmm
...and the $20/month option is a hell of a lot cheaper than DSL. You can bet your ass I'll be getting an omni-directional antenna and hooking it up to my wifi link to see if I can see this hotspot and what the quality is like. I've always felt that wireless was the way to go rather than rolling DSL out to everyone. I'll be paranoid and use SSL-enabled e-mail and then I should be good to go.
It looks like SBC Park might already be covered by an SFLAN node. Anyone tried it from inside the stadium?