University of Washington Scores Big with Industry Leading Advanced Hybrid Video Solution from Comcast

Business Wire 4-Apr-2019 9:00 AM

The New State-of-the-Art Video Technology at Intercollegiate Athletics Campus Gives Fans, Coaches and Staff Premium Video Experience, Boosts IT Team Efficiency

Today, University of Washington Intercollegiate Athletics (UW-ICA) and Comcast Washington announced a customized, hybrid high-speed video integration resulting in one of the most technically advanced video solutions for a collegiate athletic campus in the country. This state-of-the-art integration enhances the entire UW Athletics Village's video experience, creating a better game day for fans, and empowering coaches, staff and players with the latest video technology from Comcast.

Comcast is enabling better video capabilities across the entire UW-ICA campus, including to Husky Stadium, Alaska Airlines Arena, the Husky Ballpark and five other buildings. Further, Husky Stadium is now the only college stadium on the West Coast offering a tailored video solution to fans during a game using a customized hybrid Internet Protocol television (IPTV) integration.

"Comcast has been a key partner in supporting the digital transformation of our video technologies. Video is a critical component of the Husky fan's game day experience and Comcast has enhanced our video programming and in-game service delivery for our fans and stakeholders," said Erik Jones, Chief Information Officer & Associate Athletic Director, University of Washington ICA. "Comcast's technology has helped us to become more nimble and innovative in how we create, standardize, and distribute video content across our fiber network at Husky Stadium."

A Better Game Day Experience for UW Football in Husky Stadium

Prior to the Comcast solution, roughly 70 percent of UW-ICA's IT support on game day was dedicated to managing and trouble-shooting video related issues, which was a friction point in the delivery of video content and services across its stadium television network. The Comcast integration simplified technical video management and freed up IT resources for other critical game day tasks and projects.

As a result, the UW-ICA IT team can more evenly disperse support across other important systems, such as Husky Stadium's on-premise and cloud-based intelligent platforms, the network monitoring of thousands of edge devices and dedicated support of point-of-sale and ticketing technology. Through this more streamlined and simplified UW-ICA video support model, fans get an optimal experience in premium areas – including suites and luxury boxes.

"The Comcast X1 platform has streamlined our entire game day video programming operation. We have gone from a high-touch to a low-touch environment, satisfying even our most demanding customers," said Sean Rawlins, Director of Systems Operations, University of Washington ICA.

"Any number of small technical issues can occur during a game. Thanks to Comcast, we are now able to have more time and resources to troubleshoot other technical issues across the stadium," said Elise Groves, IT Director, University of Washington ICA. "This has also had a tremendous impact on our team too. When we can automate key tasks, it makes everybody's job easier and less stressful."

Powering the Rest of the Sports Campus

Comcast also delivers this video solution to Alaska Airlines Arena on campus, eliminating the need for weekly third-party vendor support and improving the fan experience during University of Washington Men's Basketball and Women's Basketball seasons. Fans attending the game enjoy a better video experience in key arena hotspots, like the concourse areas, The Backcourt Club and the Founder's Club.

Available in every coach's office, locker room, and student athlete lounge across the athletics village, Comcast also supplies the UW-ICA with hundreds of xFi X1 TV boxes, X1 and Xi5 Cable Boxes while providing the UW Athletics Village with enough video broadband resources to support an urban metropolis. This same X1 service, previously available to residential customers only, is now also available for all businesses across the State of Washington. Click here to view the announcement issued last month.

"Beyond the stadium and arena enhancements, Comcast streamlines how we distribute IPTV video to coaches and student athletes across other key ICA buildings. These individuals dedicate hours of extra work to their respective sports, and this integration helps improve how they use video to scout and analyze their competition and enriches the limited downtime they have during a busy week," Jones added. "Comcast has been deeply engaged and supportive throughout this transformational process and has provided the content expertise to provide a highly technical video solution to our day-to-day business problems."

"Comcast is proud to partner with one of the great academic institutions in our region and support their athletics department with premier video services," said Amy Lynch, Regional Senior Vice President, Comcast Washington. "University of Washington Athletics' office of the CIO can now offer fans, coaches and players the best possible video experience, while simultaneously creating greater efficiencies for their entire campus."

Comcast is an official provider and partner for nearly a dozen professional stadiums and athletic facilities across the country, including SunTrust Park in Atlanta; Citizens Bank Park and Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia; Everbank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.; NGR Stadium in Houston; Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.; and American Airlines Arena in Miami.

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States' largest high-speed internet, video, and phone providers to residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and security and automation services to residential customers under the Xfinity brand. NBCUniversal is global and operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and Resorts. Sky is one of Europe's leading media and entertainment companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content through its pay television services. It also provides communications services, including residential high-speed internet, phone, and wireless services. Sky operates the Sky News broadcast network and sports and entertainment networks, produces original content, and has exclusive content rights. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

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