GREEN BAY, Wis. – At a time when sports teams are stumbling over themselves to speed up the Wi-Fi signals in their stadiums – lending tablet computers to well-heeled fans and creating apps so that fans can order hot dogs on their smartphones – there is something refreshingly quaint about the radios the Packers are giving to some of their fans.
The radios, half-dollar-size radio receivers that mount on one’s ear, can be used only on game days and only within or near Lambeau Field, the Packers’ stadium. The receivers pick up only three channels: WTMJ, the team’s official radio station, based in Milwaukee; the audio from the television network broadcasting the game; and the audio from NFL RedZone, a cable channel that shows highlights from around the league. Yet the radio receivers, which are given to season-ticket holders with premium seats and are sold in the team pro shop at the stadium for $19. 95, serve a utilitarian purpose: to keep fans informed. For all the information available in stadiums these days, fans still crave nuggets that are not announced or posted on scoreboards. Justin Pretasky, a season-ticket holder from La Crosse, Wis., has heard such a nugget. Because his receiver was tuned to WTMJ, he was the first fan in his vicinity to learn that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had broken his collarbone during a game against the Bears last season. “It’s the biggest thing when someone gets injured,”he said from his seat near the end zone at a recent game against the Vikings. “As long as one of us has a receiver, that’s good.” The Packers are not the first team to use radio receivers. The New Orleans Saints have given them to suite holders so that they can listen to the team’s radio broadcast in the Superdome. The N. F. L. provides them at the draft, the Super Bowl and the scouting combine. Several hockey teams have used them. The radios are also made available at some college football games, major tennis and golf tournaments, and thoroughbred races. But the Packers are the first to include access to the NFL RedZone channel, and the team now gives receivers to 16,000 season-ticket holders, more than twice the number of last season. The Packers spent about $10,000 to install antennas and transmitters in the stadium and bought the receivers for $7. 50 each from Live Sports Radio, which received a license from the Federal Communications Commission. During commercial breaks, the television feeds that fans listen to with their receivers go silent. The lithium battery in the receiver is designed to last a full season. Jason McDonough, the manager of premium seating sales and service for the Packers, said the radios were “a low-tech solution to enhancing the guest experience.” Teams across the league have been installing equipment to increase the strength of Wi-Fi signals so that fans can upload photos to Instagram accounts, check Twitter feeds and fantasy teams. But Lambeau Field, which opened in 1957, has fewer places to install that equipment than newer stadiums. At the same time, fans revel in the history of the team and the stadium, and they understand its limitations. “It ties into Green Bay, a small town,”said Bill Sutton, a sports marketing consultant. “We keep talking about technology, but sometimes this old stuff is good.” Sutton pointed to the pipe organ that the Tampa Bay Lightning installed in their arena as another example of a team relying on proven technology. The Packers do not have figures on how many fans use the radio receivers, but those sitting in indoor club areas tend not to use them because televisions are nearby, McDonough said. In the outdoor seats, many of the fans who were seen using the receivers were men, and they tended to be older. McDonough said that “our fans want everything and anything Packers,”a big reason that about 70 percent of those who used receivers preferred to listen to the local radio announcers. “I like our radio broadcast and I’m a homer,”said Terry Abler, a fan from Plymouth, Wis., who has had season tickets for 35 years. “When you listen to the radio, you are one up on everyone in the crowd.” Abler said he used to bring a transistor radio to games, but the receivers have much better audio quality. He does not listen to the two television broadcasts because there is a delay. Jim Knapp, the president of Live Sports Radio, said the television audio signal was delayed so it aligned with the video on the television screens in the stadium. “Radio is meant to paint a detailed picture for someone who can’t watch,”Knapp said. “But when you listen to television, the action speaks for itself. Fans are accustomed to watching a video feed.” A growing number of fans, though, are also accustomed to using their smartphones to check out-of-town scores and statistics, and read email during the game. As a result, the radio receivers will remain a niche product, though one with appeal. “My guess is the younger crowd will still want Wi-Fi because they’re checking things that have nothing to do with the game,”said Chris Bigelow, a stadium concession consultant. But, he added, “the throwback stuff is great because some fans have never seen it before.” Source link