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Zone coverage: Allegiant Stadium’s stateof
the-art DAS installation has created one of
the world’s most connected sports venues
As the complexity and cost of
distributed antenna systems
(DAS) in stadia continues to grow,
the collaboration between design
and construction teams on new
construction is more critical than ever.
As a result, ME Engineers – a MEP and
technology design firm based in Denver,
Colorado, and Mortenson-McCarthy Joint
Venture (MMcJV), the general contractor
building Allegiant Stadium, first engaged in
DAS design coordination sessions nearly two
years ago, along with JMA Wireless (the
system manufacturer).
“The collective goal was to design and
construct a state-of-the-art DAS that
integrates seamlessly with the venue
architecture, as well as the overall
construction schedule,” says Kevin Devore,
principal and wireless technology director at
ME Engineers.
Like most new venues, the DAS at
Allegiant Stadium consists of two systems –
a public safety DAS to support first responder
two-way radios and a separate cellular DAS
to support more than 65,000 fans who
expect wireless connectivity as part of the
overall fan experience. The cellular DAS,
designed for high capacity, involves
thousands of components (such as antennas,
remote radios, cabling and pathways) and
can cost as much as US$50m-100m in new
www.stadia-magazine.com June 2020
The Las Vegas Raiders will
boast a seamless DAS with the
ability to support over 65,000 fans
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46
NFL venues, which are primed to host events
ranging from concerts to Super Bowls.
For the Allegiant Stadium DAS team to
achieve their goal, all components had to be
carefully coordinated with a focus that
balanced optimal system performance with
constructability and minimized the overall
aesthetic impact. This process involved
design coordination sessions between ME
Engineers staff (in Denver and Kansas City)
with JMA engineers (in the US and Italy) and
members of the MMcJV DAS team. At various
intervals, the team then reviewed key design
elements with other stakeholders including
decision makers with the Las Vegas Raiders,
owner’s representative CAA ICON and the
stadium architect of record HNTB. Finally, DAS
construction drawings were produced to
clearly define installation requirements.
Design development
The initial RF design involved a hybrid
approach of both under-the-seat (UTS)
antennas and overhead antennas mounted
to structure to cover the seating bowl.
“This design included pathways and fiber
backbone to expand to a full UTS
deployment in the seating bowl. Located
throughout the stadium bowl, concourses,
clubs, suites, operational spaces and parking
lots were over 1500 antennas and more than
2000 radios alone as part of the original DAS
design, as well as infrastructure for 5G
coverage,” explains Devore.
Then, 12-months into the process, the
Raiders called an audible. Adding DAS Group
Professionals (DGP) to the team, the Raiders
and their DAS team weighed options to
abandon the UTS-hybrid design in favor of
an all overhead bowl design featuring an
emerging technology, Matsing lens antennas
powered by JMA radios. Due to early design
decisions that placed emphasis on future
flexibility, this late change was possible with
minimal disruption. Ultimately the decision
was made to move forward with the revised
design, reducing costs and providing flexibility
to expand system capacity in the future with
minimal physical rework or cost impact.
“In addition to building one of the world’s
most highly connected stadiums, it was
important to us that the DAS be well
integrated into the aesthetic design of the
building. Our DAS design and construction
teams were exceptional in working with us
through multiple technical design changes
to accomplish that goal,” says Matt Pasco, VP
of technology for the Las Vegas Raiders. n
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