Swamp gets a $6.3M upgrade to Wi-Fi

Those wanting to share their game day experience in the Swamp soon will not have to wait seemingly forever for photos or videos to upload.

The school announced Wednesday has begun $6.3 million in upgrades to the stadium’s Wi-Fi system to be fully completed by the 2019 season.

The school’s University Athletic Association has made previous upgrades, but the new system will be state of the art.

“This will truly be a game-changing experience for our fans,” UF athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement. “We are making a significant commitment so that fans will be able to enjoy the game and stay connected with their friends and share all of the great experiences that come with being at The Swamp on a Saturday.”

The UAA has considered a total re-do of its wireless network for at least five years to combat sagging attendance numbers at the Swamp and throughout college football.

In 2017, the SEC led the nation in attendance with an average of 75,074 fans.

But this was down from the 2008 peak of 76,844 fans

UF reported an average of 86,715 fans, good for 11th nationally, but down from 90,544 in 2008.

The Gators’ struggles on the field and improved quality of high-definition TV likely has more to do with the declining numbers than struggling Wi-Fi.

But UF coach Dan Mullen wants to fill the Gators' student section every game. Upgraded Wi-Fi should help.

Younger fans would rather stay home than continually lose a Wi-Fi connection to their mobile devices for at least four hours.

UF officials long has said they did not want to make the investment until they were confident the new WiFi system would not become quickly outdated.

Extreme Networks and Verizon Business Markets are in charge of the upgrades. Extreme is the Official Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Analytics Provider of the NFL.

According to UF’s release, 11 NFL venues using the company’s stadium WiFi technology and an additional 17 NFL teams using their Wi-Fi analytics

technology.