High-density wireless is essential to sports franchises looking to give their live audiences a compelling reason to come sit in the stands, especially NFL teams that are competing with the view from an HD TV with rich replay and commentary features, not to mention all the comforts of home on a winter day.

The IT team for Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots in Foxboro, Mass., noticed three years ago that fans were bringing in more smartphones and mobile devices to games, where they uploaded photos to Facebook, and tweeted about their experience in real-time.

But mobile carrier networks couldn't keep up in a demanding, hyper-dense area, and the Patriots worried the lack of connectivity could degrade the fan experience, said Fred Kirsch, publisher and vice president of content at Kraft Sports Productions and the New England Patriots.

"Smartphones are now a part of sports fans' lives," he said. "We wondered what we could do to make the experience the best it can be and meet the expectations of fans that want to be connected everywhere they go."

After evaluating several networking vendors, the Patriots selected and installed a