The Ricketts Family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, have enlisted DAS Group Professionals (DGP) to assist with developing a winning strategy for meeting fans’ tech demands while maintaining the integrity of the historic stadium. DGP is best known for its design, installation and ongoing monitoring and maintenance of the system at the 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium. That network was engineered to support the Silicon Valley’s tech-intensive, data-hungry fan base.

DGP also maintains and manages systems for the 104-mile Bay Area Rapid Transit system. Its deployments include projects in New York, Las Vegas and Chicago.

“The venue-owned DAS solution that DGP offers is a business model we like,” says Andrew McIntyre, senior director of information technology for the Cubs. “As a privately owned venue, it perfectly aligns with our strategy of being closer to the fan base, for baseball games as well as the other world class events we host at Wrigley Field.”

The Cubs are not alone in undertaking a communications overhaul: As sports fans set new records for the amount of data sent during events, many venues are taking the opportunity to address their communications infrastructure in the context of expansions or new builds. The ever-increasing data demands of a single user with one or more smart devices, multiplied by tens of thousands of fans concentrated in a very small area, can wreak havoc on traditional systems, overloading infrastructure and frustrating fans. Add the signal-blocking nature of encircled venues and subterranean facilities and transmissions can come to a standstill.

“When we’re done working with the Cubs, this legendary facility will be among the best in communications technology – but it will be thoughtfully integrated in an effort to be largely invisible to the typical fan,” says DGP Chief Operations Officer Vince Gamick.

To learn more about DGP, visit dasgroupprofessionals.com. Learn more about the Wrigley Field restoration, also known as The 1060 Project, here.