Timeline
Why It Matters
The Sports Bowl Project is one of the most ambitious wireless networking deployments in CMC's history. A 77-acre sports complex demands ubiquitous Wi-Fi for large crowds, robust support for live athletic streaming, and PlaySight AI camera integration.
Every spectator, athlete, coach, and broadcaster needs seamless connectivity simultaneously. Enterprise-grade access points designed for 500+ concurrent users per zone and Wi-Fi 6/6E technology carry the load across the home and guest stands and the open site. Rather than install a Distributed Antenna System, ITS is deploying cellular over Wi-Fi on an as-needed basis, so voice calling rides the same network the rest of the site already depends on.
Phase 1 opened for the fall 2026 season and the first home events ran without a technology issue. The design is deliberately flexible and built for expandability — capacity headroom and spare pathways were built in so that the remaining venues can be brought on as site development continues.
Network Architecture
A fiber-to-the-edge backbone supports the entire 77-acre complex with redundant pathways and high-capacity wireless at every zone:
- Dedicated fiber optic runs throughout the sports complex with multiple redundant routes
- High-capacity wireless access points at strategic locations — fields, courts, locker rooms, concourses, and both the home and guest stands
- Wi-Fi 6/6E with band steering — automatic optimization between 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz
- Seamless roaming handoff between access points for users moving through the venue
- Segmented guest and operational networks with separate authentication
- Spare pathways throughout — the network is built for expandability and ready for the next phases of site development
- A 40 Gb backbone with headroom to 100 Gb where demand justifies it, rather than over-building the whole site up front
- Network ports in the press boxes for live streaming and statistics
- Play-site servers housed in the campus data center with their networks extended to the venue — there is no separate control room on site to keep running
Emergency Command Center
The campus Emergency Command Center is housed in the Sports Bowl parking structure, which raises the bar for what this network has to survive. Backup power for the command racks was installed and load-tested, and redundant paths and failover were validated so command traffic holds up during a campus incident. Built with Campus Safety, who also hold access to the site's camera coverage.
Cellular over Wi-Fi
There is no Distributed Antenna System at the Sports Bowl. Instead, ITS plans to deploy cellular over Wi-Fi on an as-needed basis, using the wireless network already in place rather than a second parallel system.
- Carrier cellular coverage is adequate today in open spaces and buildings across the complex
- Signal strength is attenuated in underground areas — cellular over Wi-Fi is the remedy where it is needed
- Signal strength measurement continues as the site fills out; results guide where coverage is added rather than blanketing the complex in advance
PlaySight & Venue Systems
- AI-powered cameras for automated capture and analysis of athletic performance
- Real-time streaming — live broadcast to coaches, athletes, and remote viewers
- Statistical tracking — real-time player and team statistics during events
- Instant video replay for coaching and officiating support
- Surveillance cameras online and recording, with access held by Campus Safety
- Arena-grade audio, large-format scoreboards, digital signage, and content management
What Is Still to Come
Phase 1 is in service. Baseball, softball, the remaining press box spaces, and the east-side service yard are being brought on as construction completes, with coverage added where signal measurement shows it is needed rather than everywhere by default. This work is tracked in the 2026.12 release.
If your group has an event or a need at the complex that is not covered here, talk to your ITS consultant — the earlier we know, the more we can do.