Stadium Tech Report: Top tech and connectivity trends at stadiums and facilities
College Sports Information Directors of America
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This story is part of our 360 package for December 2022, to view more stories, click here.
Stadium Tech Report
Top tech trends at stadiums and facilities ready for sharing.
by Paul Kapustka – Stadium Tech Report, Editor
Stadium Tech Report is the go-to publication and social platform for stadium technology, covering topics in digital display, stadium Wi-Fi/cellular, stadium entry/security/safety systems for professional and college and university sports venues, and more. Earlier this year, CSC members were invited to participate in STR’s annual Stadium Connectivity Survey, and Kapustka summarizes the survey results, below. He offers insights for CSC members on the current state of a venue’s connectivity, and where the venues, teams and schools would prioritize investments and strategies. Before a lengthy career in the technology publishing industry, Kapustka was a sportswriter for the Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera.
Since technology sits at the core of almost every sports communications program, it only makes sense for teams, schools and venues to download the results and white-paper analysis from our recent Stadium Connectivity Survey, which are available now: https://stadiumtechreport.com/reports/2022-stadium-connectivity-survey-white-paper-and-full-survey-results/
If you're not familiar with Stadium Tech Report, your school's stadium tech team most likely is. We've been covering the world of stadium technology advancements and deployments for the past 10 years, and have built a wealth of knowledge and connections that give us a 50-yard-line seat on who's doing what when it comes to putting technology into stadiums.
For the second year in a row, we tapped the knowledge of our core readers — IT professionals and those in communications and marketing who work for teams, schools and stadiums — asking a wide range of questions about the current state of a venue’s connectivity, and where the venues, teams and schools would prioritize investments and strategies. Their answers are now available for you to read, in both a survey results format and an accompanying white paper that summarizes the data.
Thanks to those College Sports Communicators members who did participate in this year's survey, through our requests for information shared this past fall.
In addition to staffing replacing COVID as the top concern, some key takeaways from this year's survey include:
- Venues are looking to add more wireless connectivity, for fans and for back of house
- Cashier-less concessions and walk-through security technologies are being deployed rapidly
- Private 5G cellular is a target for supporting important back of house innovation
- Even as venues feel good about their digital transformation journey, security remains a growing concern
The details of these topics and others are delved into in both the full results as well as the white paper analysis of the replies. How can this information help communications teams as well as the overall program? Here's a few ways:
- The survey results and white paper should definitely be shared with the school's athletics information technology team, since the subject material is targeted at that audience. The greater goal of sharing the information this year is to get those same teams to participate in the survey next year, so that the results can be even better with more information.
- Communications teams themselves would be well-served by learning more about the trends and strategies of stadiums across the country, since that could inform and help them develop strategies of their own for current or future use. If more stadiums are putting in more Wi-Fi and cellular communications, how could a similar deployment at your school aid in keeping fans better connected to team messaging?
- How does your school's stadium technology compare to others? Though it's not a real competition, knowing how your own operations stack up against the cumulative experiences of others is a good thing to know, and can inform overall messaging about a program (or help internal plans to accelerate technology deployment programs).
Download the survey results and white paper today!
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Calendar
Important Dates
- 06/23/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W At-Large Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
- 06/30/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
- 07/07/26 / 12:00 P.M. W At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
- 07/08/26 / 12:00 P.M. M At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
- 07/14/26 / 12:00 P.M. M Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
- 06/07/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
- 06/08/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
- 06/09/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
- 06/09/26 / 11:59 P.M. Baseball Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
- 06/10/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
- 06/16/26 / 12:00 P.M. Softball Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
- 06/16/26 / 12:00 P.M. M/W At-Large Academic All-District Released; National Voting Begins (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
- 06/16/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America Nomination Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
- 06/23/26 / 12:00 P.M. M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-District Released; National Voting Begins (NCAA, NAIA)
- 06/23/26 / 12:00 P.M. Baseball Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
- 06/23/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W At-Large Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
- 06/30/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
- 07/07/26 / 12:00 P.M. W At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
- 07/08/26 / 12:00 P.M. M At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
- 07/14/26 / 12:00 P.M. M Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
- 06/07/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
- 06/08/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
- 06/09/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
- 06/09/26 / 11:59 P.M. Baseball Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
- 06/10/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas