“VITEC is very valuable for the Hawks and State Farm Arena as it gives all of our global partners flexible creative opportunities with their media assets, and an ability to dynamically showcase their brand throughout the concourse, club levels and beyond.”
— Michael Drake
Senior Vice President,
Global Partnerships
“Everything that we have established with VITEC has given us a foundation to continually connect with our fans throughout their time at State Farm Arena. We are excited by the opportunity for us to grow with VITEC.”
— Joe Abercombie,
Senior Vice President,
Live Experience & Production
Enhancing Game Day: How VITEC's Innovative IPTV Solution Transforms Fan Experience for Atlanta Hawks
The VITEC IPTV and Digital Signage Platform has been instrumental in enhancing fan engagement and streamlining staff communication for the Atlanta Hawks at the State Farm Arena and the Emory Practice Facility. The platform, featuring over 350 displays at the arena and more than 90 at the practice facility, allows centralized control and displays both signage and IPTV content across these locations. Key benefits include low latency, high-quality streaming, and dynamic advertising opportunities, greatly enhancing the live experience for fans and providing a scalable solution that supports both venues from a single server system. This integration facilitates seamless operation and content management, significantly boosting the operational efficiency and fan experience during events.
Background
State Farm Arena is a multi-purpose venue in the heart of downtown Atlanta, next to Centennial Olympic Park and is home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. The 21,000-seat arena – which also previously hosted the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers and the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream – opened in 1999. The arena received an extensive $192.5 million renovation in 2017-2018 season to maintain its position as a premier entertainment venue for sports, concerts, and shows in the Southeastern United States.
During the arena renovation, the Hawks moved training and operations to a brand new, $50 million Practice Facility at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex. The renovation included plans for an IPTV system that could be deployed across both sites, with live game feeds and digital signage a priority. The arena hosts more than 350 displays, and the Practice Facility features more than 90 displays – and the requirement included the ability for each facility to be connected to a single IPTV platform.
The challenge
The Hawks began looking for an IPTV solution to be installed in its new, dedicated training and Practice Facility, located eight miles away from the State Farm Arena itself.
They sought a flexible IPTV solution that would provide centralized control and the ability to display both signage and IPTV, with local sources via cable and satellite TV providers.
The solution
VITEC was awarded the initial tender for the first phase deployment at Emory Sports Medicine Complex. The main VITEC server was installed at State Farm Arena during the venue’s renovation period in this same timeframe.
“This was a very beneficial step in the process as the Practice Facility was one quarter the size of the system that would be installed at the arena, allowing us to adapt to the new system on a smaller level before scaling up to deploy in the full venue,” says David Collier, Sr. Manager AV Systems & Operations, Atlanta Hawks. “Both facilities are run from the same server at State Farm Arena, which has enabled us to have a very simple ease of operation between both locations.”
The second phase of works – also awarded to VITEC – saw a continued rollout of the IPTV platform, this time at the State Farm Arena. The system runs from one head-end controlling the two sites, and VITEC end-points power all displays throughout.
There are 350+ end-points at State Farm Arena, with a separate Comcast and local source system. The end-points at the arena are deployed along the concourse, which features an array of concession stands. Displays are in VIP suites, premier club spaces, the the owners’ lounge and the Delta Sky360° Club. The Practice Facility has 90+ VITEC end-points, including a theater and dual deployments in the head coach’s office with local sources via Comcast and DirecTV.
These displays are available throughout the facility from common areas to locker rooms, with digital signage for player communication on practice schedules and information.
The Result
The IPTV system ensures consistency across both sites, which simplifies operations because the IT team manages one system that can support both facilities. It provides a low latency, highquality solution over the existing network.
A key benefit of the VITEC system is the flexibility and ease of controlling end-points. It has enabled the Hawks to offer an enhanced fan experience, showing live streams of the game around the concourse to ensure fans never miss the action, as well as providing customized graphical overlays, with greater opportunities for sponsorship and advertising, including analytics.
“VITEC is very valuable for the Hawks and State Farm Arena as it gives all of our global partners flexible creative opportunities with their media assets, and an ability to dynamically showcase their brand throughout the concourse, club levels and beyond,” says Michael Drake, Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships.
A further benefit to the system is enhanced automation to help streamline operations. The on-site team makes use of VITEC’s scheduling system to automate day-to-day event setups, while keeping equipment running for as long as possible. There is a command scheduled to run daily at 2am that turns off end-points to reduce power consumption and preserve the lifecycle of devices, including displays. This command can be easily turned on and off. Further commands include blackouts for concerts to turn off TVs to reduce light and maximize the show’s impact. An Active Data Solution is being implemented, which will change menu information building-wide in just a few clicks, further reducing workload.
“Everything that we have established with VITEC has given us a foundation to continually connect with our fans throughout their time at State Farm Arena,” says Joe Abercombie, Senior Vice President, Live Experience & Production. “We are excited by the opportunity for us to grow with VITEC. VITEC is a platform and technology that help us evolve and enhance our overall guest experience through traditional concourse displays, concourse LED displays and concession menu boards. As we continue to deploy more digital displays at our venue, VITEC is going to be our backbone for creating enhanced communication and a visual experience with our customers.”
Related VITEC Success Stories
VITEC’s World-Class IPTV and Digital Signage Platform Powers New Content…
VITEC’s World-Class IPTV and Digital Signage Platform Powers New Content Experience Across State-of-the-Art NFL Training Facility
Powering New Content Experiences
VITEC's IPTV and Digital Signage Platform has enabled us to connect every layer of our organization - from our staff, administrators, coaches, players, and fans - with leading-class technology that allows every stream of content to be reliably delivered with low latency, high quality, and create an amazing user experience at each screen.
— John Penhollow
Vice President, Corporate & Technology Partnership
New Warner Stand creates an enhanced spectator experience for Members and guests…
New Warner Stand creates an enhanced spectator experience for Members and guests at Lord’s with VITEC IP video and digital signage
Lord's Cricket Ground
"One of the main reasons we chose Exterity was that we could get the entire solution from a single vendor. Exterity products are plug-and-play, easy to install, incredibly robust and centrally managed through a single panel of glass. I have also been very impressed by the level of service and support I have received from both RTS and Exterity and look forward to a ground-wide IPTV expansion in the future."
Mike MacDonald,
Technical Operations Manager at MCC
Reliable, High-Quality, Low-Latency Streams and Digital Signage Creation Tools…
Reliable, High-Quality, Low-Latency Streams and Digital Signage Creation Tools for Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
“The K is one of baseball’s most beloved ballparks. Hardware instability and restricted campaign creativity were limiting an otherwise extraordinary fan experience. We selected VITEC’s EZ TV IPTV and Digital Signage Solution because it delivered incredibly reliable, high-quality, low-latency streams and digital signage creation tools that can support our goal of making all aspects of coming to a game at The K unforgettable. We’re able to really use our screens to add value and a new dynamic that we didn’t have before.”
— Brian Himstedt
Senior Director – Information Systems
Kansas City Royals
VITEC’s EZ TV IPTV & Digital Signage Solution Delivers Best in the Field…
VITEC’s EZ TV IPTV & Digital Signage Solution Delivers Best in the Field Game-Day Coverage and Advertising Opportunity for Minnesota’s Allianz Field
Minnesota United Allianz Field
We wanted to deliver the very best experience to our fans as well as our operators and advertising staff who need to be able to quickly, easily, and reliably distribute not only the game-day feed to every screen but ensure that we are successfully deploying attention-grabbing content to every screen. It’s a complex job, but VITEC’s IPTV EZ TV and Digital Signage Platform integrates all these capabilities into one program. It exceeded our operational and technological vision. With the power of VITEC, Allianz Field is one the best, most technologically advanced soccer stadiums in the world.
— Cole Mayer
Production Engineer, Minnesota United