The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Football Manchester City O2

Manchester City FC to install Wi-Fi for fans at Etihad Stadium

By Angela Haggerty, Reporter

May 8, 2013 | 3 min read

Manchester City FC is set to follow the digital trend in football by installing Wi-Fi facilities for fans at its Etihad Stadium, delivered by the O2 network and Cisco.

Etihad: The Manchester City stadium seats 47,000 fans

Liverpool FC began rolling out Wi-Fi services last month at Anfield and Manchester City announced plans to follow suit with the facility going live around its 47,000 capacity stadium in the coming weeks.

Manchester City said it planned to bring StadiumVision Mobile to fans, which could deliver a replay channel, an alternative angle view and a dynamic data channel for stats and multi-player games straight to their mobile devices during games.

Tom Glick, chief commercial and operating officer at Manchester City FC, said: "Live games and concerts are highly enjoyable social events and we are delighted to be able to offer supporters a system that allows them to better utilise their own mobile devices when at the Stadium.

"With the ground and its immediate vicinity offering ubiquitous connectivity, we will soon be able to provide full talk and texting capabilities, while paving the way for exciting new mobile data applications and services – such as mobile video - that will ensure a visit to the Etihad Stadium continues to be one of the best sports experiences available anywhere in the world."

General manager of SMB at O2, Paul Lawton, added: "We are delighted to be working with Manchester City and Cisco to deliver a UK first in the form of High Density Wi-Fi at the Etihad.

"The underpinning ICT delivery is something we are really excited to be working on, and will result in the provision of high-speed connection anywhere in the stadium for fans, allowing them to capture and share their experience in a digital way – something we are passionate about as a business."

The deal with O2 is expected to significantly improve general mobile phone connectivity with installation of the required technology.

Football Manchester City O2

More from Football

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +