Cisco : Augments the Home of the Braves

Back in the day, all you needed at the ballpark was a hot dog, a cold beer and maybe a program to tell the players apart. It was a universal truth that a day at the ballpark was slow and easy. After all, isn't one of the lyrics from 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame', 'Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks, I don't care if I never get back'?

Double-negatives aside, things have changed and the Atlanta Braves do care whether fans return to SunTrust Park. These days, the crowds definitely care whether they have more than just peanuts, crackerjacks and hot dogs. Today, fans want to Instagram their game day experience, check in from the park on Facebook and Tweet to their followers that they were there when Freddie Freeman hit his latest walk-off homerun.

To do all of that, it takes a robust wireless network infrastructure and so the Braves IT staff talked to Cisco. The organization told Cisco that they wanted nothing less than the most technological advanced sports venue in the world.

Braves Vice President of IT, Greg Gatti knew what was at stake, 'At the last four stadiums built in the US prior to ours, the head of IT was no longer at the company on our shortly after opening day.'

Gatti spoke to the former IT heads and the reasons why all were let go was because of bad infrastructure decisions.

'I was betting my job and my future on the technology partners I chose for this project,' he explained. 'And Cisco was an easy decision.'

Cisco infrastructure has been deployed not only throughout SunTrust Park, but throughout The Battery Atlanta, which is a 1.5-million-square-foot mixed-use development. The Battery is a multi-use space adjacent to the park, that is home to plenty of stores, bars, restaurants and other fun things to do. Gatti and his team will support the Battery Atlanta as well.

There are over 1250 Cisco Aironet 3800 Series Access Points installed in SunTrust Park and the Battery, allowing the ballpark and the surrounding areas to have the fastest Wi-Fi speed of any arena in North America. It can support simultaneous Wi-Fi sessions as well as support interactive digital kiosks.

With the increased speed of the park's Wi-Fi, Cisco has definitely made it easier-and more fun-for the Atlanta faithful to root, root, root for the home team at the new home of the Braves.

To learn more about SunTrust Park and The Battery Atlanta, click here.