Loudoun United FC is the highest-level professional soccer franchise in Loudoun County, VA. Loudoun County’s objective with the launch of a professional soccer team was to link their robust community with a strong youth soccer presence. With a team to call their own, it gave the community a local professional sports entertainment option and youth soccer players the opportunity to have role models in their backyard. Once the team was established, the next steps were to finish the stadium and to provide a positive fan experience. Loudoun United was looking for a telecom provider that had a vested interest in their community and had the capabilities to provide their front office connectivity and collaboration while providing WiFi to the stadium to enhance the fan experience – so they chose Segra.

“Without Segra our stadium would not have been ready to be opened. The Segra team and everyone involved was fantastic to work with. We appreciate the incredible support that helped to make the 2019 inaugural season a success and we’re looking forward to our partnership growing with Segra.”

– Garrett Scanlon, VP Partnerships & Development at D.C. United/Loudoun United FC

From the first meeting it was clear this was going to be an aggressive timeline, Loudoun United had less than 3 months before their first home game at the new stadium and they needed to have fiber built to the stadium, installation of a new phone system and plenty of wireless access points to enable stadium WiFi. While other providers shied away from the project because of the aggressive timeline, Segra stepped up and put the needs of the customer first.

As a partnership, both sides were extremely flexible and worked to come to a solution. One of the largest hurdles was being able to build the fiber to the stadium. Segra’s network delivery team worked diligently to push and get permits going on an accelerated schedule. Segra was able to complete the fiber build, install switches, routers, firewalls, and to deliver internet access. The WiFi system was partially installed by the first home game allowing stadium vendors access to the internet. In the following weeks all stadium WiFi was finalized and turned on by Segra. The fan experience during Loudoun United’s inaugural season significantly benefited from the access to Segra Field’s free high-speed WiFi throughout the stadium.

Looking forward, Loudoun United plans to introduce and utilize Segra’s GoZone platform, which will allow fans to receive discounts for in-stadium food and merchandise, as well as special offers from participating businesses when accessing Segra Field’s high-speed WiFi.

The Spiideo cameras and the high-speed WiFi allow the club to record every training session and game, capturing high-quality content the staff can analyze and utilize in real time. The content captured by Segra’s solutions enable the club’s video analyst team to breakdown photos and video clips to improve training sessions, as well as in-game coaching situations, enhancing player instruction and allowing for adjustments to elevate performance. Additionally, the Segra solutions in place encourage a deeper vertical integration and interplay among the D.C. United family of clubs (D.C. United, Loudoun United, D.C. United Academy).