No industry is exempt from digital disruption, including pro sports. Innovative networking technologies, applications, and media platforms are radically changing the game as we know it.

Many of the NFL teams have grown their fan base to include an audience of millions of people from all over the world. But with digital transformation revolutionizing the way spectator sports are disseminated and consumed, the one of the organization’s IT management team needed a single—and utterly reliable—network provider.

By choosing Technology Source, the NFL Team was hoping to consolidate its infrastructure and wide area network (WAN) under a single contract, both enhancing the team’s competitiveness and more wholeheartedly engaging its fans in the spirit of the game.

“The challenges that we were trying to resolve were that we had many networks spread throughout the world,” said the network administrator at the NFL team's headquarters. Managing vendors in varied locations created unnecessary complexities and delays. Not to mention, these disparate legacy network systems weren’t always reliable when communicating with fans, players, and employees.

The players themselves were affected by network problems. Both players and coaches at the training facility relied heavily on digital playbooks and other apps that they accessed via wifi. With mushrooming bandwidth requirements, the team needed a consolidated network solution that could support both sudden, on-demand needs as well scheduled bursts of data requirements. For example, on game days, the network had to support 70,000 fans who would be logging onto the stadium’s wifi to receive game tweets, text alerts, play analyses—or perhaps just to check their email. The team had to be sure not to disappoint.