Nortel is transforming the sports hospitality industry with innovative technologies and strategic services that enhance the fan experience, generate new revenues and improve operational efficiencies for stadium and arenas alike.

When the New York Mets set forth the goal of creating the ultimate fan experience at their new stadium, Citi Field, finding the right technology partners was critical to their success. The Mets understood that the right communication and application infrastructure would play a critical role in maximizing efficiencies throughout their organization. What was essential was a solutions partner that could provide the technologies and manage all aspects of the design through delivery of the solution.

Together with Nortel, we are advancing the state-of-the-art in ballpark design and technological innovation at Citi Field. More than just sharing our vision, Nortel has enhanced it...

In much the same way, the Vancouver Canucks wanted to upgrade their arena, General Motors Place, to enhance the fan experience. They, too, wanted a new network to lay the foundation for a complete unified communications solution to aid the staff and broadband wireless capabilities. In Nortel, both the Mets and the Vancouver Canucks found a technology partner.

Why Nortel?

At the heart of the modern stadium or arena is a communications system capable of supporting the innovative new services and applications that employees, customers and vendors are demanding a truly state-of-the-art stadium experience. Nortel's leadership in sports hospitality solutions is transforming the industry with innovative technologies and strategic services.

"Together with Nortel, we are advancing the state-of-the-art in ballpark design and technological innovation at Citi Field. More than just sharing our vision, Nortel has enhanced it, offering a solution that will seamlessly integrate technology into our business operations to help increase our productivity and service to fans." Dave Howard, Executive Vice President, Business Operations, New York Mets.

Canucks Sports & Entertainment is committed to delivering world-class entertainment and sporting events to our fans and partners throughout British Columbia. Nortel is the official converged network equipment supplier for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and has experience in outfitting sports arenas.

Both the Mets and the Canucks saw the value that Nortel has delivered to other sports franchises including the Phoenix Coyotes. Both teams knew that by working with Nortel they could readily develop and easily deploy new profit-driving applications related to ticketing, food and beverage, IPTV and more. Nortel has been the partner of choice for some of North America's best-known sports arenas and stadiums, including the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Jobing.com Arena in Phoenix and Bell Centre in Montreal.

"Canucks Sports & Entertainment is committed to delivering world-class entertainment and sporting events to our fans and partners throughout British Columbia. Nortel is the official converged network equipment supplier for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and has experience in outfitting sports arenas. That certainly helped us make the decision to choose Nortel as the provider for General Motors Place." Chris Zimmerman, president and chief executive officer, Canucks Sports & Entertainment.

What Are The Benefits?

As a result, the Mets and the Canucks will reap the benefits of a robust, secure Unified Communications solution that will enable their organizations to increase the pace of their business operations and fan services. The Nortel solution serves as the foundation for exciting future fan applications that could provide access to player statistics via wireless LAN, special IPTV replay viewings, and special multimedia based communications to various areas of Citi Field and General Motors Place. Integral to all this, Nortel will provide applications to facilitate ticket sales, concession sales, and incident response.

Nortel's breadth of expertise in TDM voice, VoIP and analog voice provides businesses with peace of mind. And, independent third-party tests by the Tolly Group* indicate that compared to Cisco, Nortel data networks** consume up to 40 percent less power. Tolly Group's latest test shows that operating a Cisco core switch can cost up to 64 percent more in energy costs during a five year period than a comparable Nortel solution. Again, just another reason why Nortel's green IT advantages complimented the Mets efforts to make Citi Field not only fan friendly but environmentally friendly as well.

When Citi Field opens in the Spring of 2009 and as General Motors Place completes their network upgrade, the new Unified Communications solutions will enable the Mets and the Canucks to deliver a whole new fan experience at their new respective home. With Nortel, both organizations will be able to reach the right person at the right time via the right device making stadium and corporate staff more efficient and effective. This speaks to the power of Unified Communications: the ability to determine if a person is available and the best way to reach them instantly, increasing the tempo of business operations and enabling a much more nimble enterprise.