On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! 5G and U.S. Super Bowl!

One thing I learned from my grandfather, “tires win races.” Attending NASCAR and Formula One races and seeing tire blowouts, I saw he was right. Speed and distance come a mere second and third; except when it comes to Football, 5G and Space.

On the subject of Space Policy & Commerce, “Our adversaries are using 3 or 4 year timelines…as we were able to do” reported Mike Griffin, Defense Under Secretary for Research & Engineering.

As countermeasures, Griffin points to surveillance, persistency, and timely global response.  Yet, he acknowledges “their speed is so great that you have to spot it far away…see it coming …using radars position defense…”  In the Space Race, pilots count not only on Mechanics, Engineers and game plans but on advanced aircraft and precision weapons.

Race car driver depends on expertise of a pit crew. A Quarterback relies on his Offensive Line.

CISCO, Where are ALL the Sport Fans?

Kansas City Chiefs has successfully made the cut to play the Florida Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Football’s Super Bowl Game. As a Patriots fan, I’m happy to watch the game on the tube even if my team, The New England Patriots, is not playing.

U.S. Super Bowl 2021 is expecting 13-15 thousand fans compared to reportedly 70,000 from past stats. Players will be forced to “play for pay” – taking added risks in the face of COVID-19.

In the summer of 2019, a special broadcast on CSPAN was held on development of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G networks. Mary Brown, Senior Director, Technology & Spectrum Policy at CISCO shared with audience:

“Cisco is an enterprise company… One of our biggest customers is in the stadium space…that use Cisco infrastructure and are transitioning to Wi-Fi 5 and soon to be transitioning to Wi-Fi 6… How does it change your experience as a consumer when you go to an event in stadiums?”

Six months later, the pandemic hit. CISCO may have been the most surprised to see consumer’s “whole experience” changed not by Wi-Fi 6 and 5G networks but by viral networks.

Mary, it appears it’s not business as usual at the ticket office and loss of revenue for vendors. Clearly the Pandemic has changed the consumer experience with stadium events. But the real question is, Will new social policies counter a Wi-Fi stadium in the future?

Brown proposed that with “A fully deployed Wi-Fi stadium today, you would start off walking in with mobile ticketing, you put your phone down and walk in. Once you get there you could upgrade your seat off your phone. You will have an app from either the team or the league that will allow you to look at stats of the team, team players or the opposing team players. You’ll be able to watch instant replays on that app.”  Wow, looks like no need for ticket offices, game boards, ushers, or announcers!

CISCO, how about a fully deployed Wi-Fi airport? This way I not only can book, schedule flights, reserve seats, order meals and movies, but compare stats of the airlines record of plane crashes and customer service. And as an investor instantly get alerts as to lawsuits as well as stock options.

Wait, it gets better! Tired of those long food lines or waiting for the sports memorabilia you ordered online? Brown says, “You’ll be able to order food from your seat and pay when it’s ready so you don’t have to stand in line. You’re going to order whatever swag or gear you want and cheer your team on. You’ll be able to that from your seat. It just changes the whole experience for the consumer and gets them more engaged in the game.” But, I can just as easily watch the game on a large screen at home and using my phone order sports gear and food and have it delivered.

It seemed there was something about Mary’s enthusiasm when she said, “we keep track of a lot of data at Cisco…the more power we have in the devices that we’re holding and the more powerful the networks, whether it’s 5G or Wi-Fi 6, the more we’re all going to consume…It’s been happening for more than 10 years.” Yes fans, it’s all been about you and your data.

Still, the game must go on for fans, association, and for advertisers, for that’s where the money is.

“Show Me the Money!”

Players fight for the big payday, best exemplified by the actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. on the film Jerry McGuire, where he tells his sport agent, “Show me the money!

It’s not about the games of sports but the business of sports. In 2012, a former NBA Commissioner brought attention to “star players” saying it’s about winning. The fans “came to watch star players.” Perhaps the Commissioner wanted to set an example for the rest of the league. “Having no star players meant lost revenue.”  

Like the victor in a match to the death, a star gladiator was not content as he knew another fight awaited him. Similarly, a star player whose team wins at the Super Bowl will wonder if another fight awaits him. Because in these times, by playing, all players are literally “taking one for the team.”

It seems it all comes down to $$$ for the association and players. So stop with the sappy stories of brain concussions as you and your memories of “glory days” wither away with you and your money. However immoral or unethical some may see the business of sports, especially in a pandemic, others will simply respond that they’re not breaking any laws. Sure. Just don’t break a leg, as the game must go on.

Tell us players, do you ever stop to think that the association “crossed the line.” Maybe there are times when you need to just not do it. A recent episode of “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” gives an excellent account of the realities of the business of sports seen through the eyes of athletes.

Roma’s Super Colosseum

Marching into the Roman Colosseum takes me back to a time when man fought against man and beast. I can almost hear weapons clashing and the moaning of men as they lay defeated. Letting out a yell I hear the sound of my own voice resonant upwards towards the stadium seats.

Standing in the ancient arena I can almost see the ghosts of past gladiators. At the center of the arena stood the Star Gladiator triumphant as spectators cheered from around the stadium. I imagine seeing him and he seeing me through a 21st century helmut where our only weapons are our hands.

Century after century this work of art has withstood weather and war. Emperors came and went and in the end so to fell the Empire of Romans.

In 2021, Italians in Roma will hear a new sound, but the clashing of metal will not be that of swords but the grinding sound of drills and jackhammers. Engineers will be contracted for plans to re-engineer the centuries engineering feat allowing pathways for tourists.

It appears that the wretched fate befallen upon Athens in Greece, ransacked and pilfered after the last crisis, is now being faced by Roma where for some Tourism is but one of a few options, for that’s where the money is.

Scoreboard: US 0.5, Israel 11, India 21, Iran 31, Russia 41, China 51

Standing in the New York MetLife Stadium seeing the empty seats, I see the irony of a New York Insurance Company’s name across an arena asking myself how many players insure their life.

Future for players? I cannot help but see them discarded. Discarded, a word synonymous with that of a management company that pays the Golf industry a sponsorship fee to put their name on tournaments. Whose money will Golf or the NFL take next, a cemetery or prison?      

As U.S. focused on playing ball and building stadiums of the past, they lost the 5G, Space and Cyberspace race of the future. No matter how much “smart” technology advances, some still get paid to literally use their heads to score in the Sports Arena, win or lose.

Boys, as your former Commander in Chief stated as he left the Political Arena, we will be watching and listening. Hut! Go Buccaneers! Go Brady!