Olympiastadion Berlin strikes gold with Wi-Fi 6 from Extreme

24 August 2021

The Olympic games may be over, but there’s still a lot to celebrate. Olympiastadion Berlin, one of the world's most prestigious venues for sporting and entertainment events, selected Extreme as its Official Wi-Fi Solutions Provider!

With around 300,000 visitors annually from all over the world, Olympiastadion Berlin, part of the Berlin Olympic Park, is one of the largest and most important venues for international sports events and entertainment acts in Europe.

In recent years, the stadium hosted the 18th FIFA World Cup 2006, the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics 2009, the opening game of the 6th FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 and the UEFA Champions League Final 2015. Since the early 1990s, it has also been used for concerts and festivals, lending the stage for such world-renowned acts like Metallica, Phil Collins, Ed Sheeran, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Madonna, and many more. In 2024 the Olympiastadion Berlin will host the UEFA EURO 2024.

Advancing digital fan experiences

Together with long-standing partner PKN Datenkommunikations GmbH, Extreme Networks, the only 'Game Changer' in Sports Innovation Lab Power Play Index, will deploy a high-performance Wi-Fi 6 network that meets the Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) stringent venue and networking infrastructure requirements.

Following the examples of MLB ballparks and NFL stadiums in the United States, this will be the first and largest public Wi-Fi 6 deployment in a European stadium, allowing the venue to meet the most demanding connectivity requirements of spectators, staff, and media attending football tournaments, concerts, and international sporting events for years to come. It will also support mission-critical operations and back-of-house systems, such as Wi-Fi enabled digital ticketing for venues.

A key requirement for state-of-the-art venues like ours is reliable, fast, and secure wireless network connectivity for tens of thousands of simultaneous users. Extreme has an outstanding pedigree when it comes to solutions and services that deliver safe, high-quality, connected in-venue experiences and they fully met our high expectations. With our new, high-density Wi-Fi 6 network, we can introduce new advanced technologies, such as touchless and cashless payment systems, and are set to continue welcoming some of the biggest names in sport and entertainment to our venue while offering visitors an incredible experience all around

Timo Rohwedder, CEO, Olympiastadion Berlin GmbH

The key benefits for Olympiastadion Berlin:

High-performance Wi-Fi for enhanced fan experience: With ExtremeSwitching and more than 1,000 ExtremeWireless access points deployed throughout the 74,475-seat stadium and surrounding area, Olympiastadion Berlin can ensure seamless, secure Wi-Fi connectivity and stronger connections for real-time social media sharing, video streaming, and mobile app usage, including point of sale applications and mobile ticketing.
Secure, scalable connectivity: Extreme Fabric Connect, a powerful and flexible solution to design, build, manage, and troubleshoot networks, provides a simple, agile way for IT to deploy new services. This includes the automatic configuration of new access points, and the ability to segment the network to secure the experience of business users and fans. ExtremeGuest onboarding and analytics software will provide spectators with seamless access to guest Wi-Fi services with a simple login process and built-in social media integrations.
Simplified network management & maintenance: Extreme on-premises management software will enable Olympiastadion Berlin to manage its infrastructure via a single pane of glass across virtualized and cloud environments, providing the IT team with full visibility of the network and simplifying the process to deploy, scale, and manage services, thereby delivering improved uptime.
Real-time insights and analytics: ExtremeAnalytics software will deliver granular visibility into how users, devices, and applications interact with the Wi-Fi network. Access to such vital visitor data will allow the Olympiastadion Berlin to gain valuable usage insights and optimize network capabilities to enhance experiences for spectators and staff.

Our networking solutions provide the foundation for incredible fan experiences in stadiums all around the world. Olympiastadion Berlin is an iconic venue and will benefit from a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi 6 network that enriches the fan experience while being simple to manage, operate, and scale. We are honored to have been chosen as Olympiastadion Berlin’s official Wi-Fi solutions provider and are excited to help the venue elevate the digital experience live entertainment and sporting events.

Ed Meyercord, President and Chief Executive Officer, Extreme Networks

UEFA EURO 2020 was magic. Read the story of Zenit Arena, one of the tournament’s stadiums powered by Extreme!

A stadium that is not afraid of Russian winter and Baltic winds

St. Petersburg is known all over the world for its cold Baltic winds, amazing architecture and beautiful views. In the cultural capital of Russia you can also find a unique football stadium which is home to Zenit – a team for which everyone cheer with passion here. Altho...