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How stadiums are meeting the ever-growing demand for data and connectivity

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Stade Orange Vélodrome in Marselle being prepared for 2024 Six Nations opening match between France and Ireland in February

Of all the rapidly changing trends witnessed by sports – and in particular their fans – over the past decade, one of the most significant is what has become of sports stadiums. Indeed, it could be argued that the term ‘modern sports stadium’ is somewhat old fashioned as the homes of sports teams have evolved into multi-use events facilities.

Any stadium that is being constructed from new or being upgraded is done so with the clear message that the end result won’t be what passed before to satisfy fans. The new or enhanced stadium is now a true communications hub, capable of meeting the connectivity demands of those who visit them: that is of the transmission of masses of video content to and from not just fans but also broadcasters, and not just content from sports fans but also those going to music events.

For all sports stadiums, providing a modern, high-quality communications network is very much a team game, principally involving a leading comms operator that not only understands current demands but can demonstrate how to manage the inevitable data explosion. Few countries’ sports arenas have had to deal with this issue more than those in France. And – as exemplified with its work for the last Rugby World cup and Olympic Games, as well as routine Ligue 1 games – few companies have provided solutions to meet this demand more than Orange.

Calling growth in data at today’s sports arenas ‘robust’ would be very much an understatement. A 2024 study from Ericsson calculated that arena venues had seen a 67% growth in data usage compared with a year previously, noting specifically that fans in stadiums now demand high-performance, robust and reliable mobile coverage to share, interact with and stream content. The next survey will almost certainly see this figure surpassed considerably. At the Stade Orange Vélodrome in Marseilles, this will be a certainty.

The home of Olympique de Marseille (OM) – traditionally seen as France’s second team behind the enriched Paris Saint-Germain – is unique in that not only does it have naming rights sponsorship from a leading global comms operator, it is also the home of a test bed for mobile and fixed communications technology and services. Orange’s relationship with OM really began in earnest in the 4G days of June 2016 as part of a grand strategy to create a totally renovated connected stadium in time for that year’s Euros tournament.

Recalling the connectivity demands of the time, Guillaume Chabas, head of innovation at Orange Business and head of the 5G Lab at Orange Vélodrome, said the first step was to create something significant with the wireless connection and create and purpose some applications for new usage. In 2016, 4G was the mobile standard but on its own it was not enough. WiFi connectivity had to be implemented to upgrade network capacity because 4G was not enough to meet anticipated network loads.

Six years later – just months away from a Rugby World Cup that would see Orange Vélodrome act as a key host stadium – 5G had very much entered the room and not just metaphorically. The end of the 2021/22 football season saw fans in the hospitality boxes and premium seats able to make use of the Orange 5G network to see the first use cases that the next-generation mobile infrastructure could support. Indeed, Orange Vélodrome was also France’s first 5G-equipped stadium, taking advantage of a non-standalone core network that comprised a 3.5GHz mid-band network complemented by experimental mmWave 5G in the 26GHz range. There was also AWS Edge Capacity connected to an experimental 5G area and to a cloud/hybrid edge.

Initial supported technologies and services included virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), video analytics based on artificial intelligence (AI), and real-time monitoring of stadium resources. One of the most impressive and interesting of these was the Augmented Match service, a mixed-reality mobile app developed jointly by Orange and Immersiv.io that allowed fans to access real-time technical and statistical information about the players on the field. This gave the option of data on the players – such as distance ran, goals scored, general pedigree etc – transposed upon the official TV feed of the game for those watching on a smartphone. The players’ positions were displayed in real time along with other data, such as shots, dribbles, passes and defence.

The app ran over the experimental 26GHz 5G network along with edge computing, using Computer Vision to detect player position, with 5G ensuring a very high-speed connection, necessary to provide the lowest possible latency to avoid any lag between the actions on the field, AR data and even digital twins of the players.

It’s no surprise to discover that Chabas and his team were also actively involved in the 2024 Paris Olympics for which select maritime events were hosted in the nearby marina in Marseilles. In terms of challenges, and indeed environment, the Marseilles nautical events brought about unique conditions for network broadcast. The company leant in on the established Stade Orange fibre network that routinely sees use in transporting high-quality broadcast video during OM home fixtures. A key part of the broadcast service was based on using specially optimised Samsung S24 smartphones as TV cameras directly on boats, supported by an Orange private 5G network.

Fast forward to 2025 and the Orange Vélodrome is upping the connectivity ante to stay relevant for today’s fans. “From the way athletes train to how fans experience the game, technology is transforming sports at every level. While unlocking new business opportunities, it creates immersive entertainment and democratises sports, making them more interactive and inclusive,” says Chabas.

Orange has now deployed four key applications to boost broadcasting and ultimately the fan experience, namely an evolved Immersiv.io app that brings AR overlays and live stats and replays directly into the stadium; Touch2See which is designed to enable visually impaired fans to ‘feel’ the game through tactile tablets; 5G+ for Camera, said to offer “seamless” media production; and Team Connect, based on a private 5G network that is said to enable private 5G media production. Specifically, the app is designed to allow real-time, high-performance interference-free live broadcasting and critical event communications during events using dedicated frequencies and cloud services to streamline operations.

Going forward, Chabas see more innovation from the connectivity set up. Key projects being investigated include potential advanced monetisation opportunities from video feeds by which AI could recognise key brands’ sports equipment. Prioritised electronic payment services are regarded as another key area. But essentially, the key will be delivering an advanced comms infrastructure to make these potentials real, with AI very much at the forefront in the new immersive world of sports broadcast.

“As 5G, AI, and immersive technologies evolve, the future of sport is not just something you watch; it’s something you live,” Chabas concludes.





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Week Ahead: Monday, Jan. 12 to Sunday, Jan. 18

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January 12, 2026

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By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — Here’s a look at the week ahead (Jan. 12-18) for the Bridgewater State University athletics teams:

WEDNESDAY

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, at Anna Maria College, 5:00 PM: The Bears travel to Paxton, Mass., for a game against the AMCATS.

Anna Maria is a new member of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference after moving from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

The AMCATS are 4-7 overall and dropped their lone conference game to Salem State, 71-67.

BSU, after a 1-9 start in non-conference games, are 2-0 in the MASCAC with wins over Fitchburg State and Salem State.

MEN’S BASKETBALL, at Anna Maria College, 7:00 PM: BSU takes on a MASCAC newcomer on the road.

The teams played non-conference games the past two seasons with the Bears winning both. They opened the 2023-24 season with a 119-110 overtime win on the road and defeated Anna Maria, 89-64, in a game played at Wheaton College last season.

The AMCATS are 4-8 overall and 1-1 in the conference with a loss to Salem State and a win over the Mass. College of Liberal Arts.

BSU is 3-10 overall and is 1-1 in the MASCAC, defeating Fitchburg State and losing to Salem State.

FRIDAY

MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at the Bates Invitational & Multi, 10:00 AM: Ryker King and Drew Alves will compete in the heptathlon at the two-day meet held at Bates College’s Merrill Gymnasium.

The University of New Hampshire finished first last season while Bates was second in the seven-team field.

SATURDAY

MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational, 10:00 AM: The Bears will take part in the meet held at Tufts University.

Last season, BSU was third in the six-team field with Kevin McBirney winning the 1,000-meter run, breaking the school record with a time of 2:29.42.

MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at the Bates Invitational & Multi, 10:00 AM: King and Alves will wrap up their two-day stay at the Bates College meet in Lewiston, Maine.

WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational, 10:00 AM: The Bears compete in the meet at Tufts University.

Kiara Abrantes led BSU by winning two events last season, setting a school record of 25.26 seconds in the 200 and placing first in the 60.

Serenity Sands was also first for BSU in the high jump, helping the Bears wind up third overall.

WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING, at home, Brandeis and Keene State, Noon: The Bears have their first competition since Dec. 6 when they host a tri-meet against the Judges and the Owls.

BSU lost to both Keene State, 166-133, and Brandeis, 165-121, in a tri-meet in New Hampshire last year.

MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING, at home, Brandeis and Keene State, Noon: The Bears return to the pool for the first time since hosting the BSU Invitational on Dec. 6.

In a tri-meet a year ago in New Hampshire, BSU split a pair, defeating Keene State, 145-112, and losing to Brandeis, 184-77.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, at home, Mass. College of Liberal Arts, Noon: The Bears close out January with four of five games at the Tinsley Center, beginning with a matchup with the Trailblazers.

The teams are meeting for the first time since Feb. 3, 2024.

WRESTLING, at home, Williams College, 12:30 PM: The Bears will host Senior Day at Kelly Gym as part of the final home match of the season.

BSU lost at home to Williams a year ago, 42-9.

Williams was No. 3 in the last New England Wrestling Association rankings.

MEN’S BASKETBALL, at home, Mass. College of Liberal Arts, 2:00 PM: After playing just two home games in the opening two months of the season, the Bears will be playing four of five games at the Tinsley Center to finish January.

BSU and Mass. College split two games last season, each winning at home.

The Trailblazers begin the week 3-8 with three straight losses and are 0-2 in the MASCAC.

SUNDAY

MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING, at Bentley University, 1:00 PM: The Bears will be in Waltham, Mass., to face the Division II Falcons.

Desmond Ng led BSU last season against the Falcons, winning the 100 breaststroke and placing second in the 200 freestyle. the Bears were defeated at home, 173-50.

WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING, at Bentley University, 1:00 PM: The Bears compete in the first of two straight road meets, traveling to Waltham, Mass., to take on the Division II Falcons.

BSU lost at home to Bentley, 189-99, a year ago.



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VOTE for the 2025 Las Cruces Sun-News Female Athlete of the Year

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January 12, 2026

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Updated Jan. 11, 2026, 1:02 p.m. MT

This post has been updated to correct a duplicate nominee.

Voting is now open for the 2025 Las Cruces Sun-News Female Athlete of the Year award.

100 nominees have been chosen by the Sun-News across Las Cruces-area schools, including Las Cruces, Mayfield, Organ Mountain, Centennial, Mesilla Valley Christian, Gadsden, Santa Teresa, Chaparral and Hatch Valley. They have been chosen from volleyball, basketball, softball, soccer, track and field, cross country, wrestling, golf and tennis teams from all nine of those schools.

The nominees represented themselves, their schools and their communities in the best possible way they could during their respective seasons. They each accomplished something notable and made their friends, family, coaches and loved ones proud. They were All-State players, All-District players, strong performers at state championships, or members of the Sun-News’ Super Teams.



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UNC Bears volleyball’s busy offseason

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January 12, 2026

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The UNC volleyball team’s fall season ended a little more than a month ago, and the Bears are already moving on toward 2026

In a rare occurrence, two freshmen will join UNC this month with the start of the spring semester. The program also said good-bye to associate head coach Pi’i Aiu, who announced his retirement in December.

Freshmen Gillian Walton and Riley Taylor were among six players to sign for 2026, the program announced in November. Walton and Taylor are expected to be on campus for the start of the spring semester Monday with both athletes opting to graduate a semester early from high school.

UNC has since announced the signing of three transfer students in setter Emily Bruss, middle blocker Summer Snead and outside hitter Kylie Cackovic.

Walton was an outside hitter, defensive specialist and opposite hitter at Overland Park High School in Overland Park, Kansas. Taylor was a right-side outside hitter at Green Level High School in Apex, North Carolina.

University of Northern Colorado head volleyball coach Lyndsey Oates, right, and associate head coach Pi'i Aiu walk off the court at Bank of Colorado Arena following a stoppage of play Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025 in Greeley. UNC defeated Montana State 3-0 for its first sweep of the season and to remain in a tie for second place in the conference standings. (Anne Delaney/Staff Reporter).
University of Northern Colorado head volleyball coach Lyndsey Oates, right, and associate head coach Pi’i Aiu walk off the court at Bank of Colorado Arena following a stoppage of play Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025 in Greeley. UNC defeated Montana State 3-0 for its first sweep of the season and to remain in a tie for second place in the conference standings. (Anne Delaney/Staff Reporter).

UNC, 17-16 overall in 2025, turned in one of its most successful seasons under head coach Lyndsey Oates.

After starting their nonconference season with a 3-9 record, the Bears turned things around during the Big Sky Conference season.

UNC won the conference tournament title on its home court, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. UNC then pushed nationally ranked Creighton to five sets in a first-round match on the Bluejays’ home floor in Omaha, Nebraska.

The match was the final one for Aiu, who’d been with Oates for seven years.

Aiu came to UNC before the 2019 season after 12 years at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He was promoted to associate head coach in January 2020, and was really a right-hand man for Oates.

She said this week the search for a successor will soon begin. Oates was aware of Aiu’s plans to retire long before the end of the season. She said she heard from several people on her coaching connection with Aiu as news of his retirement became public.

“I don’t know that I took that for granted,” Oates said of Aiu as a coaching colleague. “It is maybe true how much success the two of us had together in the last seven years.”

Oates said she previously had the same camaraderie with assistants Jenny Glenn and Tom Hunter, both of whom spent close to a decade in the program.

Northern Colorado Bears head coach Lyndsey Oates talks to her players on the court during the Big Sky Conference Volleyball Tournament championship match against Idaho State at the Bank of Colorado Arena on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)
UNC Bears volleyball coach Lyndsey Oates talks to her players on the court during the 2025 Big Sky Conference Volleyball Tournament championship match against Idaho State on Nov. 26, 2025 at the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. UNC beat the Bengals in three sets to earn the Big Sky’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)

In the last seven years, UNC’s record is 150-64 with four Big Sky Conference Tournament titles leading to four NCAA Tournament appearances. In the same span, UNC also won a Big Sky Conference regular-season championship (2024). Also in 2024, UNC qualified for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship after a runner-up finish at the Big Sky tournament.

“It just shows you how valuable assistant coaches are,” Oates said. “I mean, they are doing a bulk of the recruiting and their training, and they create our culture as much as a head coach does.”



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WSU volleyball signs Audrey Hollis out of the transfer portal – The Daily Evergreen

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January 12, 2026

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Four weeks ago, it was made public that Jackie Carle and Italia Bernal were both hitting the transfer portal. At the time, this left the Cougars with Livia Ward as the only setter on the team.

On Wednesday, the Cougs fixed at least part of the setter shortage by signing setter Audrey Hollis. Hollis will be a true junior in the fall and is a transfer from the University of Hawai’i. Before playing in Hawaii, she played at UC San Diego in 2024.

As a sophomore at Hawai’i, she recorded 125 assists and 49 digs. However, she only played in 16 out of 29 matches and 38 total sets.

At UC San Diego, however, she produced. As a freshman, while playing both setter and opposite, she logged 921 assists, 8.86 assists per set (fifth-most in the Big West Conference in 2024), 188 digs, 48 blocks, 57 kills and 17 service aces. She played in 27 out of 30 matches, starting in 25 of them, and helped the Tritons achieve an overall record of 17–13, which allowed them to qualify for the Big West Championship in the team’s first year of eligibility.

For her freshman-year efforts, she made the Big West All-Freshman team.

Hollis even has championship-level DNA after she helped lead her club volleyball team to win the USA Volleyball 18s National Championship in the National Division in 2022.

Despite her statistically underwhelming season at Hawai’i this past year, head coach Korey Schroeder and company will look to tap into the upside she showed in her freshman year.

“Audrey brings a lot of [experience] and [success] for us at the setter position. Her freshman season she ran a 5-1 for a very successful UC-San Diego team while she was still 17 years old,” Schroeder said about her in a statement posted on the WSU Athletics website upon signing her.





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Lubbock-Cooper Liberty Campbell Beeler is top area volleyball player

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January 12, 2026

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Jan. 12, 2026, 4:05 a.m. CT

WOODROW — Like the rest of the Lubbock-Cooper freshmen three years ago, Campbell Beeler faced one of the first major decisions of her life.

Should she stay at her high school, or enter a new frontier as part of the first contingent to attend Lubbock-Cooper Liberty?

There were plenty of factors to consider, including the athletics landscape. What would sports at a new school look like?



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Here is the 2025 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal volleyball Super Team

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January 12, 2026

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Jan. 12, 2026, 4:09 a.m. CT

Here is the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s volleyball Super Team for the 2025 season. Players are listed in alphabetical order in their respective tiers.

Read about our player of the year, Lubbock-Cooper Liberty senior Campbell Beeler.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Emma Clawson, Sr., OH, Shallowater

Clawson, a New Mexico State signee, notched 511 kills (.303 hitting percentage), 157 digs, 36 aces, 13 blocks and eight assists. She was District 2-3A MVP and Texas Girls Coaches Association all-state.



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