The electronic media brought the latest generation of wireless TV equipment, running over their own telemetry frequencies and creating the potential for remote monitoring and control of cameras. "We can inject their signals into existing distributed antenna system, making it a seamless transition for them when they arrive to cover events here," Dornford says.

More important to the media at the moment, he says, is that Wi-Fi makes it much easier to send changes to game graphics back to their New York studios directly from their laptops and then they can insert the edited graphics into the signal stream. The media still uses mobile satellite trucks for the long-haul communications, but now they can move more of the control up to the booth, simplifying their operations.

Incidentally, it also provides cell phone service for paying attendees at the events in the stadium, although SMG does not promote that or offer any special services to the public over the network at this time.

The cellular carriers often make their decisions on whether or not to be included at the last minute, and a Super Bowl is a secure site. The combination often leaves little time for installation of the cellular part of the package before the NFL locks the site down, giving no time for repairs. As a result, the stadium needs to know that the system will work the first time.

It also needs a flexible system that can easily adjust to changing needs. For instance, for the Super Bowl, ALLTEL had six T1 lines connected to its wireless system. After the event, it was able to take out four, going back to its normal two T1s, without disrupting the network.