20 August 2019

The home of Bristol City FC and Bristol Rugby Club, Ashton Gate Stadium is the paragon of successful inter-sport ground-sharing.

So, it was decided that every person who enjoys the game, whether they be in the stadium itself, restaurant, bar, or concourse, should have access to unlimited and free Wi-Fi, enhancing the match day experience.

Ashton Gate Stadium worked with a group of partners led by Bristol’s own Zeetta Networks courtesy of a UK Government grant via Innovate UK. Zeetta’s consortium includes Ruckus Wireless for Wi-Fi equipment, provided and installed by another local company, IP-Performance.

“We like to offer Ashton Gate as a live test lab for new technology and after £45 million in investment and three years of hard work, this is an impressive venue with lots of technology under the hood,” says  Paul Lipscombe, head of technology at Ashton Gate Stadium.

He said that during the project, technology that has been delivered includes 250 digital signage screens and an IPTV system, LED perimeter boards, the UK’s largest indoor video wall in a bar, access control turnstiles, 4k touchscreens in the changing rooms and one large external screen. The network now boasts 2,500 data ports. 

“On a match day we have anywhere up to 20 vendors we work with and being a premium hospitality experience we have three hours to get it right,” Lipscombe added. “We need to be able to fix any technological issues as soon as possible. We are very fortunate to be based in Bristol and be close to companies like Zeetta Networks.”