Photo Credit: Lions Cricket
In a remarkable stride towards revolutionizing the world of sports and entertainment, The DP World Wanderers Stadium has proudly unveiled its latest feat – the transformation into a cutting-edge smart venue, poised to redefine the fan experience in South Africa and beyond. This monumental project also ushers in a new era of digitization, aligning itself with the vision of becoming South Africa’s premier smart stadium.
Lions Cricket CEO Jono Leaf-Wright says that the stadium embarked on a monumental journey;
“Spanning two months, we constructed a state-of-the-art, fully managed, and highly customizable Wi-Fi network. This network, supported by a bespoke fibre and copper infrastructure, blankets the entire stadium, facilitating the deployment of the fully managed Wi-Fi network. This transformation positions the stadium amongst the global leaders in the realm of smart venues dedicated to sports and entertainment.”
The project extends beyond the installation of Wi-Fi. The DP World Wanderers Stadium has made a resounding commitment to digitalization by investing in a state-of-the-art fully managed onsite IT Operations Centre (ITOC). The ITOC team not only oversees the stadium’s Wi-Fi network but also provides comprehensive end-user support to fans, suite-holders and tenants during match days, events and on a day to day basis. This dedicated centre ensures that the stadium remains at the forefront of digital innovation. By centralizing these functions within the dedicated ITOC, The DP World Wanderers Stadium can efficiently manage and enhance its digital capabilities, ensuring that fans and tenants enjoy a world-class digital experience, setting the stadium apart as a leader in the sports and entertainment industry.
But the stadium’s journey towards digitization doesn’t stop there. Over the coming months and future seasons, The DP World Wanderers Stadium plans to enhance on and introduce an array of exciting initiatives. These include but are not limited to in-suite and in-seat ordering through the stadium’s digital channels as well as enhancements to its existing QR-based seat and location finder which helps you precisely find your location and route within the stadium. This amazing tool that is currently deployed throughout the stadium is proudly designed and managed by Macrocomm who is one of the key strategic sponsors to The DP World Wanderers Stadium and a leading provider of Smart IoT solutions and services in Southern Africa . In addition, the stadium is busy finalizing a bespoke mobile application designed to further elevate fan and tenant engagement. The stadiums management team are working on rolling out smart resource monitoring tools to optimize operations and ensure seamless experiences. The stadium is also actively implementing and enhancing its smart alerting systems to ensure that no heartbeat of its digital infrastructure goes unnoticed.
This exciting venture has been made possible thanks to Telkom SA, a pivotal sponsor of The DP World Wanderers Stadium. They have seamlessly provided a scalable and redundant fully managed fiber internet breakout, which forms the backbone of the stadium’s connectivity requirements. Telkom SA’s world-class telecommunications network ensures that fans are always connected. Their commitment to The DP World Wanderers is evident through the recent completion of a successful 5G network rollout, positioning The DP World Wanderers as the first 5G stadium in the country.
Leaf-Wright concludes;
“As the premier home of cricket in the country, this stadium is proud to stand as a beacon of sports and entertainment excellence. The stadium’s unwavering focus on enhancing the fan experience drives its continued investment in digitalization, ensuring spectators can effortlessly connect to the free Wi-Fi network and enjoy uninterrupted connectivity during events.”
DP World Wanderers Stadium’s transformation into a smart venue marks a significant milestone not only for the stadium but also for the future of sports and entertainment in South Africa. With technology as its cornerstone, the stadium is poised to create unforgettable moments and memories for fans in years to come.
