Cowboys, Cisco Unveil High-Tech Features At Cowboys Stadium

Cisco Hopes Cowboys Stadium Will Be Most Advanced Sports, Entertainment Venue In World

The Cowboys and Cisco yesterday outlined an extensive series of high-end technological deployments for the new $1.2B Cowboys Stadium, including Cisco’s StadiumVision across nearly 3,000 high-definition TV monitors, luxury suite video customization and concession ordering via IP telephones, and a new platform for digital corporate signage. Both parties declined to specify the costs involved in Cisco’s build-out, or how it compares to the more than $15M spent for Cisco products at the new Yankee Stadium. But Cisco Chair & CEO John Chambers called the effort part of what has turned Cowboys Stadium into “the most advanced sports and entertainment venue in the world.” Chambers: “We have looked to build a model that not only works for today and for the next decade, but for many years beyond that. On one hand, yes, we’re moving around ones and zeroes. We’re in digital plumbing, and I’m honored to be a plumber. But what this is really about is transforming the entire fan experience.” Cisco Exec VP Dave Holland added, “Make no mistake -- we are in competition with the couch." On a broad level, the latest Cisco effort resembles other recent ventures it has performed at the new Yankee Stadium, Kauffman Stadium, Univ. of Phoenix Stadium, among other venues, particularly with regard to StadiumVision. But among the differentiating factors at Cowboys Stadium are the much larger physical size and scope of the 3-million-square-foot facility, a monitor installation nearly three times the size as the one for the Yankees, and the wide variety of events slated for the venue, requiring an enhanced ability to seamlessly switch and adapt digital signage and messaging. “This really has been inspirational for us,” said Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, who added there is no company he respects more than Cisco. “Our fans are going to have an additional sensory experience coming here.” The digital signage platform also will be a paramount consideration for the club with regard to sales. The team’s sales staffers are now pursuing a variety of corporate buys for the system, with at least several deals expected to be in hand in time for the start of the NFL season. “This is a big deal for us. For really the first time, we can take technology and actually make money from it instead of it being more of a cost center,” said Cowboys Dir of IT Pete Walsh (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal). 

Cowboys Using Technology To Improve  Upon Fan Interaction At New Stadium

WAVE OF THE FUTURE: Jones said of the stadium, "Architecturally, we wanted this stadium to represent technology. We really wanted it to represent and have an immediate image of media." Chambers added, "What Jerry has done here will be the model for all sporting venues of the future. It's skipped not just a generation, it really captures … our sensory capability." Chambers said the fan's experience "will change in terms of everything from concession interface to the sporting events to how you interface the players, and it is built upon an architecture that allows tremendous flexibility." Jones: "One of the things that the NFL can't become is a studio event. It's got to have all of the aura and the pageantry of a great event. We've got to have thousands here. We'll be able to have 100,000 people in this stadium. We'll be able to sell over 125,000 Super Bowl tickets … but we had to make the social aspect intertwine with the technology that we have available at home. We wanted to take that technology wherever we could … and we wanted to make that a part of the social experience of interacting with 100,000 people." Meanwhile, when asked if he considered purchasing naming rights to the stadium, Chambers said, "I would be honored to be a partner with Jerry in many ways, but I like it better when it's Jerry setting the pace in terms of the uniqueness of the architecture, and we're kind of behind the scenes" ("The Call," CNBC, 6/17).