Real Madrid unveil new signing, Cisco, a playmaker with the ability to pull the strings, bring others into play and a strong communicator on the park who could be set to become a fans favourite.
(I’ve read more than my fair share of football journalism and the above headline was FAR too enjoyable to write!) Cisco, without any prior knowledge, could be the name of Spanish footballer and if you play Football Manager long enough (speaking from experience sadly!) there is every chance a regen/newgen could have this very surname!
However, this new signing for Real Madrid is in fact a deal with Cisco, a worldwide leader in IT, cybersecurity and Networking solutions.
What are the aims of this collaboration?
Real Madrid have been upgrading the capacity of the Bernabéu (their stadium) to 85,000 during recent years. This explains why during the 2020/21 La Liga Season they played all their games at their training complex (benefitting from all games being behind closed doors and not worrying about not allowing all fans in).
Through Cisco, they will host the largest Wi-Fi 6 stadium network in Europe.
Cisco have stated they will outfit the Bernabéu with an end-to-end technology deployment built on a single, converged network.
There will be more than 1,200 Wi-Fi 6 access points in the stadium will deliver faster speeds for what the duo described as “more immersive experience applications”, as well as more bandwidth and higher reliability than the previous Wi-Fi standard used at the Bernabéu.
Cisco will also provide high-definition video delivery with state-of-the art digital signage across the 1,000+ screens to be installed at the stadium.
With Real Madrid being one of the major European sides, they will rightfully want to be best in class and raise the standards of what a technological advanced sporting venue should be.
Why should non Bernabéu attending fans care?
Should this lead to an improved matchday experience for all parties, this could be the standard for other sporting stadia to attain in a bid for clubs to stay at the forefront of technological advancement.
It gives the club the chance to send people in the ground promotional e-mails or alerts about club shop merchandise offers during the game and the ability for people to order food from their seats, meaning Real Madrid could see an increase in the average spend of each customer during matchday.
With many clubs exploring virtual matchday experiences, this could lead to a potentially extremely lucrative revenue stream for clubs with global fanbases to exploit. Yes, I can sense the seethe of the football purists at the thought of watching a football match via VR with your pals all with your own avatars!
If this leads to a smoother and more reliable method of fans accessing the internet during games then this could be beneficial for many fans.
The litmus test will be if up to 85,000 individuals can reliably access the internet throughout the match, whilst coping with the deans of reliably streaming the game via their in-house broadcasting companies.
Should this be a resounding a success it would give football fans across the globe that attend any of the 200+ stadiums with over 30,000 capacity the hope (and potentially expectancy) that in the future they can look forward to benefitting from a similar stadium network.
I’m sure those working within the football industry will also be keen to explore the increased bandwidth and higher reliability!
Commentators, club’s in-house content creators and match reporters would benefit from strong internet connections to meet deadlines and produce content before, during and after the match as part of the matchday experience.
This would also make the Bernabéu a lucrative option for hosting finals of major club and international competitions (for a range of sports) as it may make life easier for major broadcasters, particularly when the majority of football income comes from TV broadcasting deals.
For other major European sides, they will not want to be left behind and continue to be at the forefront of technology within football stadia. Thankfully Financial Fair Play (FFP) cannot be used as an excuse to not invest upgrade stadium infrastructure, as this is exempt, meaning clubs can spend as much as they like without sanctions like being ineligible to participate in the Champions League.
From an ordinary football punters opinion, there are two distinct trains of thought with regards to the increasing involvement of technology in the stadium.
A stadium purists would be proud of!
1. The purists outlook , you come to the ground to watch the 22 players on the park and the stadium facilities and standard of internet connection are unimportant. You shouldn’t be on your phone during the match – let alone filming the name to upload it a social media platform of your choosing. A quick glance on social media will find people pausing the TV to take a picture of people in the crowd taking pictures/videos of the game or a certain player instead of living in the moment, to an echo chamber of likeminded comments piling abuse on the individuals doing so. Norwich vs Manchester United at Carrow Road in December 2021 ended 1-0 to Manchester United, however what attracted attention were the number of Norwich fans videoing Ronaldo celebrate, prompting much debate on social media.
What the Madrid fans enjoy every other week!
2. Non purists (modern day fans?). Many people like to check the results of other teams, either for the sake of a coupon or particularly towards the end of the season where one teams fate may rest on what is happening somewhere else in the country. Quickly checking your phone to check who has been booked/substituted or check if a referees decision is correct. For parents, this may be so their children can occupy themselves on their devices to help them through the 90 minutes of football. Also, a good internet connection is just a something that many of us just take for granted and feel lost without (if we are being honest with ourselves)! Personally, being able to reliable message people at a stadium is not essential but it can be very useful when receiving information about what route to take home to avoid traffic or to be aware if anything urgent has happened that I may need to leave early for. What side would you say you are on? Perhaps you find yourself agreeing with aspects of both the above opinions? That’s the joy of football – fans come from a wide range of backgrounds and have different priorities, which can bring people together but as we see on social media this can also lead to heated debate!
If you take anything from this blog!
A huge word of caution – public Wi-Fi is not something you should trust. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use it, but please be extremely mindful of what you login to when using (most probably) your mobile device. There are not the same safeguards put in place to when you access your Wi-Fi at home so extra precautions, such as using a VPN may be worth considering. In football terms, think of public WiFi as having a game in hand, nice to have but you can’t depend on it giving you the desired outcome.