New York Yankees Choose Lumen to Power Game-Day Connectivity, Data Resilience, and the Fan Experience
Programmable network links Yankee Stadium to a new Tampa data center, scaling on demand from Opening Day to the postseason
The New York Yankees selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) to run the network behind one of the most recognized brands in sports, connecting Yankee Stadium and the team's facilities in Tampa, Florida, and carrying everything from security and game video to fan internet traffic. As part of the move, the Yankees relocated their primary data center out of Yankee Stadium into a new, purpose-built Tampa facility engineered to withstand 200 mph sustained winds, stronger than any hurricane on record in the Atlantic Basin.
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New York Yankees choose Lumen to power game-day connectivity, data resilience, and the fan experience
"Live sports are one of the clearest examples of how real-time demand is reshaping industries," said Ryan Asdourian, chief strategy and marketing officer of Lumen Technologies. "The Yankees understand that success today depends not just on what happens on the field, but on the systems behind every decision, every play, and every fan interaction. We're proud to give them a network that holds up under pressure and scales with their ambition."
Lumen connects the Tampa data center to Yankee Stadium over two separate 100-gigabit fiber paths, one routed through New York and one through New Jersey, both terminating in Tampa. One path carries live traffic; the second stays on standby and takes over automatically without data loss if the first is disrupted. Because the two paths are independent, the Yankees can always remain connected between New York and Tampa.
"With automatic failover, we can lose our entire central office and still maintain connectivity to the Tampa data center," said Erron Pettry, senior manager of data center facilities operations for the New York Yankees. "The Yankees cannot go offline, and having Lumen’s infrastructure safeguards our operations."
The network also flexes with demand. Rather than paying year-round for a peak data-rate the team hits only a few times a season, Lumen’s Network-as-a-Service enables the Yankees to add or shed capacity as needed by the event and pay only for what they use, freeing budget for other priorities.
At a glance:
- Two diverse 100-gigabit paths out of Yankee Stadium, with automatic failover
- Designed for 100% uptime across four connected sites in New York and Tampa
- 50,000+ fans supported on a sold-out game day
- A 200-mph wind-rated Tampa data center, built for cloud and AI growth
The pressure peaks in the moments fans remember. On a sold-out night, roughly 50,000 fans and staff may join the stadium Wi-Fi at once, and a single play can spike traffic instantly.
"When the Yankees stars hit a home run, thousands of fans instantly capture it, text it, and share it." Pettry said. "That creates a significant surge in bandwidth, and we trust Lumen to help keep that connectivity moving out of the stadium — which is why this partnership is so important."
The same flexibility supports the press. An early regular season game might host 40 to 50 media members; a postseason game can bring hundreds, all pushing video and photos out at once. For the people who run the network, the goal is that no one notices it at all.
"If my team is doing their job and the network’s doing its job and everything’s working, nobody notices anything," said Scott Swist, senior director of IT for the New York Yankees. "The goal of my team is to be invisible."
"AI is a new and exciting frontier, and our new Tampa facility provides us with room to grow into emerging cloud and AI services," said Mike Lane, senior vice president of technology and broadcasting and chief information officer for the New York Yankees. "We partnered with Lumen to feel secure that our network can keep an immense volume of data moving whenever and wherever the organization needs it to go. The partnership between the Yankees and Lumen has been transformative for us."
Additional Resources
- For more on why the Yankees chose Lumen to help power game-day connectivity, watch the video featuring Yankees technology executives: https://www.lumen.com/en-us/resources/customer-stories/new-york-yankees.html
- Read the blog: www.lumen.com/blog/en-us/powering-the-pinstripes-how-the-new-york-yankees-scale-connectivity-on-demand
- Learn more about Lumen’s Network-as-a-Service solutions, On-Demand Network Services | NaaS | Lumen Technologies
About Lumen Technologies
Lumen is unleashing the world's AI potential. As the trusted network for AI, we ignite business growth by connecting people, data, and applications — quickly, securely, and effortlessly. Lumen’s physical infrastructure, programmable network, and connected ecosystem give enterprises a simpler way to move data from virtually anywhere, to anywhere in real-time to support their AI needs. Together, Lumen’s owned fiber backbone and cloud-native control plane provide a differentiated platform for connecting, securing, and operating modern enterprise environments at global scale. From metro connectivity and long-haul data transport to cloud networking, security services, digital platform capabilities, and connectivity orchestration, Lumen meets customers’ needs today and as they build for tomorrow. Lumen and Lumen Technologies are registered trademarks of Lumen Technologies, Inc. in the United States.
Forward-Looking Statement
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Media Contact:
Stephanie Meisse
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