SunTrust Park

Our End-to-End Expertise

Your End-to-End Solution

The Atlanta Braves needed

cabling and connectivity to

provide its new ballpark and

The Battery Atlanta mixed-use

development with the best

wireless experience of any North

American venue.

SunTrust Park

With its 20-year lease on Turner Field set

to expire, the Atlanta Braves were ready

to establish a new home in Cobb County,

Georgia. Instead of spending hundreds

of millions of dollars on renovations and

upgrades to the existing ballpark, the

franchise wanted to invest in a new, state-

of-the-art venue that would provide fans

with a one-of-a-kind digital experience

starting before they even entered the

ballpark.

As plans for the 41,500-seat SunTrust Park

were born, the ballpark became part of a

bigger project also conceived by the Atlanta

Braves: a 1.5-million-square-foot mixed-use

development known as The Battery Atlanta.

This entertainment district would surround

the ballpark and feature retail, restaurants,

apartments, bars, a luxury hotel, a theater

and ofces leading to the ballpark. The goal

was to create a year-round destination that

fans would visit even on non-game days.

In addition to being the oldest continuously

run baseball franchise, completion of The

Battery Atlanta would make the Atlanta

Braves the only sports franchise that also

serves as the landlord of a large-scale,

mixed-use development with hundreds of

tenants.

Customer

Challenge

The Atlanta Braves wanted to deliver the best wireless

experience of any North American venue, providing all

the bandwidth their fans desired without any restrictions

or delays. Knowing that fans would want to constantly

upload streaming video and photos to social media,

bandwidth and reliability were top of mind. But with an

IT team of only 18 people, the ballpark also needed the

wireless infrastructure to streamline operations and be

simple to manage.

For this reason, a “one-network” concept was explored.

Almost every third-party vendor and building system,

from the sprinklers and HVAC systems to elevators

and LED lighting, would be connected to a single

network vs. having many disparate networks operating

separately.

To pull this off, the ballpark needed a reliable cabling

infrastructure that could support tens of thousands of

devices, emerging applications and new technologies

– including a distributed antenna system (DAS); 30

LED scoreboards; 1,250+ wireless access points; and

1,350+ screens – without delays or downtime.

The ballpark’s $12 million investment in technology was

expected to generate recurring revenue not only by

supporting mobile purchases from fans on game days,

but also by selling sponsorships and ad placements

that can be displayed on the venue-wide video system,

interactive kiosks and digital signage.

Discovery

After talking to employees at other stadiums and ballparks built

recently across the United States, the Atlanta Braves’ IT team

discovered that bad infrastructure decisions could make or

break a project of this magnitude.

Knowing how critical the cabling infrastructure would be to

achieve the connectivity goals of SunTrust Park and The Battery

Atlanta, construction managers JLL and American Builders

recommended that Belden join the project team.

Due to a long-term working relationship, JLL was familiar with

Belden’s cost-saving methodologies, ballpark experience and

product portfolio. They also knew that Belden could help keep

the project on track, ensuring that cables and connectivity were

installed on time so network connections could be tested and

devices could be congured well before opening day.

After meeting with key Atlanta Braves stakeholders, contractors

and owner’s representatives, the project owner voiced support

for using Belden cable and connectivity throughout the ballpark

and surrounding mixed-use development, knowing that Belden’s

solutions and services would provide ample connectivity for

everything they wanted to accomplish.

The Atlanta

Braves knew

that Belden could help keep

the SunTrust Park project on

track, ensuring that cables and

connectivity were installed on time

so network connections could

be tested and devices could be

congured well before

opening day.

From racks and cabinets to copper and ber solutions,

all of the cabling and connectivity inside SunTrust Park

and The Battery Atlanta is from Belden.

More than 250 miles of ber optic cable and 500 miles

of 10GXS Category 6A cable, along with ber and

copper connectivity, are installed throughout the ballpark

to support:

• 200GB of internet bandwidth

• A 5G cellular network

• 10,000 ports and 800+ hotspots

• Advanced Wi-Fi design with 1,250+ wireless access

points for connectivity anywhere in the ballpark and

The Battery Atlanta

• Radar technology that captures player data, such as

spin rate, foot speed and bat angle

• Display monitors, interactive signage, digital kiosks

and scoreboards

• POS systems at concession stands

• Connectivity to the Ballpark app, which provides

access to digital ticketing and parking, mobile entry

and check-in, interactive maps and directories,

Waze integration and seat and experience upgrades

• Suite control systems and displays

After determining that traditional eld-mount plugs

wouldn’t t inside the housings being installed on the

ballpark’s outdoor monitors, wireless access points and

security cameras, the Atlanta Braves opted to switch

to Belden’s REVConnect Field-Mountable Plugs, which

t into the housings, support up to 100W of power

and shorten termination time. One reliable, easy and

versatile termination process is all that was required,

regardless of the device being installed.

Solution

For AV applications throughout the ballpark, Belden’s

4K Ultra-HD Media Cable was used. Designed to

deliver 4K content over 100 m in a unique, small and

sleek design, the cable provides 100% shielding from

noise interference for optimal 4K performance.

Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, is bringing live

production capabilities to SunTrust Park. Grass Valley

LDX 86 WorldCam cameras feature traditional HD/3G

acquisition, as well as the ability to upgrade directly

to 4K UHD and/or XtremeSpeed (3x in 1080p or 6x in

1080i) functionality. The cameras deliver instant time-

to-air with no internal storage requirement.

The Atlanta Braves opted to switch to Belden’s

REVConnect Field-Mountable Plugs. One reliable, easy

and versatile termination process is all that was required,

regardless of the device being installed.

Belden Technical Support 1.800.BELDEN.1 www.belden.com7

SunTrust Park | CS00038 | ECOS_BDC_0419_A_AG

Instead of third parties running their own separate

networks inside the ballpark, every device and service

provider now utilizes a singular network that streamlines

operations and enhances security for the 18-person IT

team.

With Belden’s cabling and connectivity infrastructure

working behind the scenes to support increased

network capacity, the Atlanta Braves’ wireless network

enables everything that happens at the ballpark

and The Battery Atlanta, from fan-facing services to

business transactions.

During its April 2017 opener, SunTrust Park was able

to connect 10,708 devices that engaged in 23,831

sessions and consumed 3,362GB of data. The Atlanta

Braves reached its goal of delivering the best wireless

experience of any North American venue, allowing the

tens of thousands of people who walk through the

gates for every game to be on the network at the same

time without any issues.

Results

With Belden’s cabling

and connectivity

infrastructure working

behind the scenes,

the Atlanta Braves’

wireless network enables

everything that happens

at the ballpark and The

Battery Atlanta, from

fan-facing services to

business transactions.