MetLife Stadium Deploys Dante To Take Audio System Into the Future Other sports venues predating the IP era face infrastructure updates By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, October 24, 2019 - 10:51 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
When MetLife Stadium opened in 2010, it was billed as both the most expensive stadium ever built and the most technologically advanced sports venue in the world. It had the largest video screens seen in stadiums at the time - 40,000+ sq. ft. by Daktronics - and it boasted a JBL concert-level line-array sound system. Less than a decade later, the venue has undergone a significant update of its audio infrastructure, with the original CobraNet audio-routing system replaced by a Dante network.
The update underscores the fact that, even as the concrete is setting at major-league sports venues that routinely top the $1 billion mark, the AV technology within them is already evolving.
Not yet a decade old, MetLife Stadium has replaced its audio-routing system with Dante networking.
The $1.6 billion venue, originally named the Meadowlands Sports Complex before MetLife acquired naming rights in 2011 and home to both New York NFL teams, the Giants and the Jets, had undergone a number of tweaks to its systems since it opened, including AV routing and control updates. But the landscape has shifted considerably for audio distribution in that time, says Kevin Henneman, president, KMH Audio-Video Integration, which did much of that work in the past four years and integrated Dante audio networking last spring.
Twenty years ago, the lifespan of a typical router was 15 years, he says. Now you can expect to get five to seven years out of most equipment like that.
That's not an indictment of equipment quality but rather an acknowledgement of accelerated evolution in AV technology - first, as a result of the shift to digital and, more recently, with the migration to IP and networked modes. But faster product and technology cycles mean that venue operators and the integrators they work with need to make choices that may not be as permanent as they once might have seemed.
For instance, Henneman says that, after the venue commissioned KMH to do a technology evaluation of the existing audio-distribution system, it was clear that the CobraNet system, whose use has declined in the U.S., needed to be replaced. Several options, including the AVB protocol, were considered, and Dante was selected because of its ubiquity in the sports vertical.
KMH Audio-Video Integration's Kevin Henneman notes the speed of tech evolution: It's hard to know what it's going to look like 10 years from now.
We looked at [the stadium's] workflow and compared it to what we've seen being done elsewhere, Henneman says. We recommended that they centralize their control and management of signals and recommended the Dante system, in part because it moves them further into the ST 2110 world.
The venue's Cat 5e cabling was sufficient for its needs into the foreseeable future, so the Dante update focused mainly on replacing various key endpoints and hubs, such as the FOH console, wireless microphone systems, and various DSP processors. Several existing components -the Crown amplifiers, for example - were already Dante-compatible or could be updated to be. The end result, says Henneman, is better and more centralized control of the audio throughout the stadium, from a single, easier-to-use software-based GUI.
For instance, they can now do replays from the Evertz system to any screen in the stadium from the main control room, he says. And a single operator can control the entire system. Plus, they have a far more resilient system that can better survive failures.
Henneman says he's already in discussions with other venues about this: stadiums and arenas built in the past decade or so, just as the protocols and platforms for networked AV were being formulated and productized. They are the Gen X of venues, conceived at the end of the analog era and needing to be reschooled for the IP epoch.
The technology is moving very fast now, he says. You try to budget and plan, but you're doing so with a snapshot in time. It's hard to know what it's going to look like 10 years from now.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
06/05/2026
Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...
06/05/2026
A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...
06/05/2026
Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...
06/05/2026
Peacock is going all-in on the beautiful game - streaming all 104 FIFA World Cup...
06/05/2026
New pricing tiers for vocal/dialogue restoration tool
NoiseWorks Audio's AI-powered vocal and dialogue processing plug-in is now available in three diff...
06/05/2026
Popular mixing & routing software overhauled
Following a recent public beta test, RME have launched the final release version of the powerful mixing and rou...
06/05/2026
New SOS Video Feature
Focusrites ISA C8X is a milestone product that brings together the companys analogue heritage and their expertise in digital audio. Yo...
06/05/2026
Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Riedel Communications today announced the expansion of its leadership structure as part of a strategic initiative to strengthen both its operational management ...
06/05/2026
For nearly three decades, Veteran Production Sound Mixer and Five-time Emmy Award Winner Dirk Sciarrotta has helped define the sonic identity of the long-runnin...
06/05/2026
ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing
Brie Clayton May 6, 2026
0 Comments
ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a nove...
06/05/2026
Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Med...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Narrative Entertainment has partnered with Encompass to deliver high-quality subtitling of its Great! network content using the Altitude Intelligence AI assiste...
06/05/2026
SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, is proud to launch a dramatic new approach to AI content creati...
06/05/2026
When the broadband and media industry gathers at ANGA COM in Cologne from May 19 to 21, Big Blue Marble will be at the forefront. The international broadcast an...
06/05/2026
Cinegy GmbH, a leading developer of software-defined television technology, is proud to exhibit at MPTS for the first time. Visitors to the stand will discover ...
06/05/2026
Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award Jeanty, a composer, percussionist, and turntablist, is the fourth Berklee recipient of the prestigious award ...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin for RF failure in live broadcast. As Chi...
06/05/2026
Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026
ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...
06/05/2026
06 May 2026
VEON's Kyivstar Authorized to Resell Starlink for Businesses & ...
06/05/2026
UKTV has secured the exclusive rights to the early back catalogue of iconic Australian drama series Neighbours, following a landmark content deal with Fremantle...
06/05/2026
Wednesday 6 May 2026
Sky commissions feature documentary to mark 10th anniversa...
06/05/2026
Wednesday 6 May 2026
Sky and Formula 1 agree long-term partnership across UK, Ireland and Italy
Sky in the UK & Ireland to remain the home of Formula 1 until ...
06/05/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign launches nationwide, supported by new...
06/05/2026
Wuppertal May 6, 2026
Riedel Expands Leadership Structure, Appoints Marc Engro...
06/05/2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 6, 2026 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced its latest broadband innovations for ANGA COM 2026, highlighting its vision for a new e...
06/05/2026
Statement from Rupert Murdoch, Chairman Emeritus, Fox Corporation on Ted Turner&...
06/05/2026
Friday 8 May on RT One and RT Player
Meet the NSPCA team caring for and protecting animals in need in this six-part series
Fly on the wall, six-part series...
06/05/2026
The race to build the world's most powerful AI factories demands networking ...
06/05/2026
How changes to proteins can alter drug interactions for new precision therapies Scripps Research team maps how chemical modifications to proteins affect drug bi...
05/05/2026
Experts from the world of academia, tech, business, politics and media convened for a Thomson Talks at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit in April. It's th...
05/05/2026
Three phones were hardwired for power and transmission to the truck; camera feat...
05/05/2026
The creative studio behind campaigns for the NBA, Fanatics Sportsbook & Casino, ...
05/05/2026
Nielsen has announced results from a co-viewing pilot program covering February&...
05/05/2026
viztrick AiDi, an on-device AI solution developed by Nippon TV, delivered global...
05/05/2026
ARRI has announced Omnibar, a battery-powered, IP65-rated multi-color LED linear...
05/05/2026
Imagine Communications has announced that France T l visions is the first broadc...
05/05/2026
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Bell Media today announced a multiyear agreement to broadcast and stream WNBA games in Canada beginni...
MetLife Stadium Deploys Dante To Take Audio System Into the Future Other sports venues predating the IP era face infrastructure updates By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
