At well-known, big-time events these days, fans’ experiences are everything. Of course, the spectacle that the performers themselves put on display is key – from athletes and drivers to singers, dancers, you name it. Yet still, enhancing how fans take in and relish it all is massive when it comes to behind-the-scenes orchestration; measures to ensure what’s going on remains tremendously memorable for those taking it in, as these can also drum up further excitement a.) for whatever the next in-person event may look like, or b.) for those who access what’s happening online. (a.k.a. when accessibility is prioritized to the fullest extent, to widen the fun’s reach to even more spectators)
In this vein of big events, there’s SailGP.
I personally wasn’t familiar with SailGP until recently; here’s some quick context, to extend the benefit of the doubt to any who may be unfamiliar, as well:
SailGP is a huge international sailing competition featuring high-performance F50 foiling catamarans. Teams compete across multiple sailing grand prix; points are awarded for individual races and events, and they’re added up later to determine the ultimate three-boat line-up for the winner-takes-all Season Grand Final. Teams looking to clinch the title of SailGP Champion navigate what many fans call “the fastest boats and best sails the world over.”
And what better to pair with high-speed sailing…
… than high-speed data capabilities, enlivening and uniting fans’ experiences.
That’s what T-Mobile has been striving towards, as part of its team-up with SailGP.
Together, T-Mobile and SailGP made possible an electrifying 5G experience to fans at the latest Mubadala New York SailGP at Governors Island this past June 22-23.
T-Mobile’s 5G Advanced Network Solutions (ANS) powered the event, providing robust data transmission, boosted fan engagement and what T-Mobile itself described as “a whole new way of watching the thrill that is SailGP.”
The long-story-short of it? As SailGP’s exclusive U.S. 5G partner, T-Mobile deployed its 5G ANS (including networking slicing and both 5G private and hybrid networks), creating the ideal infrastructure for covering land and water activities alike; this ensured the secure and real-time transmission of mission-critical data.
With these capabilities, another compound goal was to minimize coverage gaps and up the data speed reliability ante so fans get more bang for their buck, in terms of dynamic race views and live broadcasts from the F50 catamarans, themselves. Moreover, fans enjoying the SailGP experience from home were set up to catch even more action than in previous years, courtesy of T-Mobile’s 5G ANS that also allowed broadcasters to deploy additional wireless high-def cameras.
“T-Mobile is always up for a challenge, so when SailGP offered us a chance to bring America’s fastest 5G network to one of the world’s fastest growing global sports leagues – and to enable it to work over the New York Harbor – we were all in,” said Callie Field, PresidentT-Mobile Business Group. “5G-powered cameras captured the action like never before – even from under the boats moving at breakneck speeds – before transferring that footage to a live broadcast. This is just our latest step in setting a new standard for how data and 5G can improve fan experiences and live event operations.”
“The maritime environment presents some of the most demanding engineering challenges on the planet. Add to that the intricate network topology of New York City, and the complexity increases exponentially,” said Warren Jones, SailGP’s Chief Technology Officer. “With each race, T-Mobile helps us raise the level. Testing new ideas under such challenging conditions fuels our creativity to help us give our fans, athletes, coaches and operational teams the best possible experience in any condition.”
Read more stories like this here.
Edited by
Alex Passett
