When Scott Chan wants the undivided attention of his staff, he asks them to put away their smart phones.
But the Aloha Stadium manager also knows that fans coming to the Halawa facility for events don’t always want to focus entirely on what’s in front of them — even those on hand for University of Hawaii football games.
"Technology has broadened the scope," Chan said.
It seems paradoxical, but in order to remain connected these days, it helps to allow for diversions. That especially includes patrons using electronic devices, such as Internet-equipped phones, tablets and even laptops.
People want to do other things while at football games, whether it be texting or sending photos to friends, keeping up with what’s going on at other venues or organizing a postgame gathering or ride home.
WITH THAT IN MIND, the stadium is looking into making Wi-Fi available to every seat in the 50,000-capacity stadium, as well as the parking lot.
It would be an expensive investment; Michigan State paid $2 million to make its 75,005-seat Spartan Stadium compatible to the Internet.
Currently, just a few areas of Aloha Stadium have Wi-Fi, including the press box and offices. Stadium deputy manager Lois Manin said it’s possible the entire stadium could be web friendly in time for the 2014 football season.
"It would have to go out to bid, and specs would have to be developed," she said, adding that providers normally want leases of 20 to 30 years.
For this fall, the stadium is adding a service called Cellular On Wheels (COW). Three antennas can be moved to various parts of the stadium to improve cellular phone connectivity.
"This provides a service people expect," said Chan, who acknowledged cell phones haven’t worked consistently in the stadium, especially when it’s crowded.
Chan said it will also facilitate better staff communication, improving security and other customer service aspects. As an added bonus, the stadium will get paid by the provider to use the system, he said.
STADIUMS COMPETE now with couches and sports bars, from which fans can watch not just their favorite team on an HD flat screen, but track all of college football via the Internet.
Competition with other games is not as big an issue in Hawaii as other states because of the time difference, but it’s not unusual for fans to arrive late or even skip a UH game to watch a West Coast night game on TV.
UH students asked for and received more bus service so they don’t have to spend the entire game at the stadium.
Attendance is down even in the powerful SEC, especially among younger fans who don’t remember a pre-Internet world. According to an Orlando Sentinel article, only 6,000 students attended each of Alabama’s final two home games last year, out of a 17,000-ticket allotment.
Here, UH football is indeed the only college game in town. But these days, interest goes way beyond just what’s in town.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.
