Hamilton’s Ivor Wynne Stadium will be among the first sporting stadiums in North America to provide free Wi-Fi access to its attendees during games.
It comes with the launch of Vex Canada, and the details of its new advertising model, to provide free Wi-Fi to Canadians through partnerships between HotSpot providers and other selected advertisers.
Vex Canada, the Canadian arm of Vex Corporation, says the program brings together a single HotSpot provider, such as a coffee shop franchise or sporting venue, with a like-minded advertiser looking to reach a similar demographic: the advertiser will fund the Wi-Fi service through online ads, but will also receive in-store branding at the HotSpot location.
Among the first examples, the new partnership with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, one of eight teams in the CFL, to bring Wi-Fi to their fans during games.
“This is definitely an innovative and interesting approach to extending the availability of free Wi-Fi through an advertising-supported model,” said Mark Evans, Principal with ME Consulting. “It’s exciting to see new advertising vehicles and strategies emerge, and I look forward to seeing Vex Canada make Wi-Fi access easier and more available across Canada.”
After running pilot programs in a variety of locations across Canada, the Ti-Cats partnership will allow stadium attendees, including fans watching Tiger-Cats games, to access free Wi-Fi through a stadium-wide HotSpot facilitated by Vex Canada. This will enable attendees to access the Internet using smart phones and laptops without incurring data charges.
“We are excited about the Hamilton Tiger-Cats announcement as it so greatly exemplifies our mission in Canada—to bring free Wi-Fi to unexpected locations,” said Asif R. Khan, Country Manager, Vex Canada. “Canadians have an appetite for free Wi-Fi access. As more and more Canadians shift their usage away from laptops and towards Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices, they’re hit even harder with data charges, which are very costly in this country. We see this as a great opportunity for advertisers to sponsor Wi-Fi and bring their message to consumers.”
Following the HotSpot installation, Ivor Wynne Stadium will be among the first sporting stadiums in North America to provide free Wi-Fi access to its attendees during games.
“This is a technology touchdown for the Tiger-Cats, as well as for the fans in Hamilton,” said David Lachapelle, Director of Technology, Hamilton Tiger Cats. “We recognized a desire for this kind of Wi-Fi access from our attendees, and anticipate a great response.”
Vex Canada is a division of Vex Corporation, founded in 2002, and based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Vex is partnered with the largest telecommunications and Internet service providers on the globe and operates over eight thousand hotspots in more than 35 countries, at universities, shopping malls, airports, hotels, municipalities, convention centers and franchise restaurants including McDonalds and Starbucks.