There’s a two-million square foot new car smell permeating from the middle of downtown Atlanta.
When the sun hits Mercedes-Benz Stadium and its trademark Falcon statue just right, it’s shinier than any luxury C-Class.
“We were shooting for the stars from the very beginning — not just to be the next best, but to redefine the benchmark,” said CEO Steve Cannon, who joined the Falcons’ parent company after selling billions of dollars worth of cars for Mercedes-Benz.
After nine years of planning and construction, fans are ready to kick the tires of their new $1.5 billion NFL and MLS home.
If professional sports venues were cars, Atlanta’s new stadium would be 2017’s best seller: it’s got innovative video signage, architecture, and beefy wireless internet.
But what happens next year when a new stadium steals the spotlight with even newer state-of-the-art technology? Will Mercedes-Benz one day feel like a 24-year-old Georgia Dome antique?
Under the hood, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is fueled by flexibility, which its executives think is the key to developing, fostering, and growing the best fan experience.
From the moment fans enter the gates, they’ll be interacting with Mercedes-Benz’ all-fiber optic network. From digital ticket turn-styles, to wifi, security cameras, concession stand registers, and gigantic video screens, nearly 4,000 miles of fiber connect the stadium’s digital infrastructure.
Integrated by IBM, Mercedes-Benz’ leaders call it the first of its kind in stadium design. They’re betting it will be the piece of the puzzle that makes any stadium upgrade more manageable.
“‘Future-proof’ does not exist in the world of technology. We can only try to project what is going to happen in three, maybe four years time,” said Jared Miller, Chief Digital Officer. “What we do know is the bandwidth demands that our fans have when they come into the stadium are continuing to grow at truly exponential rates.”
Miller said the initial stadium design called for 1,000 wireless access points, but after studying fans’ mobile data usage at the Georgia Dome, the number was boosted to 1,800 in order to ensure optimal connectivity both in the seating bowl and concourse areas. 150,000 cubic yards of concrete and 27,000 tons of structural steel didn’t help the signal strength.
He says dual-40-gig circuits is enough bandwidth for all 71,000 fans to stream video concurrently.
“If we have a guest coming into the stadium that wants to be on their phone constantly, we’re going to support them in that,” Miller said. “The technology is there to build upon that experience, not replace it.”
Loge suites will support wireless charging of fans’ mobile devices.
The 1000-foot-long, 360-degree Halo video board is the stadium’s crown. Its infrastructure also relies on fiber and a newly-emerging IP-based workflow in live video production.
The control room is buried in a windowless bunker at field level with hundreds of small screens. Directors and operators will communicate with producers in an auxiliary control room perched at press level for a bird’s eye view of the entire experience. The KVM system means that the operation of many computers can be performed from either position without ever disconnecting a wire.
Ross Video switchers enable the Halo board to transform from seamless overwhelming 360-degree graphics to slices of camera shots, game-in-progress statistics, and out-of-town scores — all at a single button press.
For late afternoon games, the board will split into pieces to display live feeds of games from around the league, just like a sports bar.
The entire production will feature more than 20 cameras and 4K pinch-and-zoom replay from an Evertz Dreamcatcher. Mercedes-Benz will employ Chyron Paint for spot-shadows and telestration, and become the first venue in the league to run their own virtual first down marker.
If it’s starting to sound more like Monday Night Football than a scoreboard, that’s on purpose.
“Our competition is not the next stadium down the street or in the next city over, it’s the living room, and the ubiquitous 80-inch flat screen television with the refrigerator right nearby, so that’s the experience we’re ultimately competing with,” CEO Cannon said.
Then, there are parts of the show that may feel more like a rock concert. The stadium has hung more than 400 full-RGB LED lights.
After a Falcons touchdown or Atlanta United FC goal, “Everybody inside and outside the building will know that something magical just happened,” said Mike Gomes, who runs the fan experience — and used to hold a similar position at Disney.
The abundance of video signage isn’t just for spectacle. It enables a wealth of sponsorship opportunities, especially when the stadium transforms from NFL to MLS games, or hosts college bowl games or the Super Bowl in 2019 and the Final Four in 2020.
Mercedes-Benz is far from the first venue with an accompanying mobile app, but Gomes called it the best MLS app and one of the best NFL apps — even before its release.
Gomes is adamant that the app experience must be seamless and engaging both during the week and when fans attend games in-person.
“When you’re a fan of a team — you’re a fan of the team,” Gomes said. “Not you’re a fan on Sundays, you’re a fan 365 days a year.”
The app will continue to feature an “Ask Arthur Blank” chatbot powered by Satisfi, which builds on a library of questions collected during trials at the Georgia Dome. The most commonly asked questions concerned gate entrance and bag policy.
And of course, the app will attempt to leverage and connect all of AMB’s properties. Cannon noted that there’s only a four-percent overlap in the season ticket holder base for the Falcons and Atlanta United FC.