Addressing its need to create a high-capacity local network that enables it to grow new business opportunities both at and beyond its ballpark, Parsons Sports Ranch in Texas has installed connectivity based on the Taara Lightbridge laser broadband system.
Based south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro region in rural Texas, Parsons Sports Ranch hosts championship baseball and softball tournaments. It has four fully turfed fields, a 10,000ft2 air-conditioned suite, and offers what it calls “small-town Texas hospitality” for teams and families. Its regular tournament weekends draw 34 teams and more than 3,000 attendees.
Its four convertible competition fields – soon to be eight – already have batting cages for baseball and softball, with configurations for soccer and flag football. The multisports facility is now expanding to host volleyball, indoor soccer, basketball and other sports.
Connecting with sport
More recently, Parsons Sports Ranch reached an agreement to introduce WIN Reality’s SmartPark technology, with planned capabilities including automated ball-strike calling and detailed ball-flight data for broadcasts and player development.
According to the sports events and tourism association, Sports ETA, sports tourism has evolved into a $274.5bn industry in the US. Participatory sports tourism, driven primarily by youth and amateur events such as those hosted at Parsons Sports Ranch, generates over $60bn in direct spending and $149bn in total economic impact. As a result, connectivity is a key enabler.
However, US comms regulator the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) puts rural availability of high-speed wired connectivity (100Mbps download/20Mbps upload) at 75%, compared with 99% in urban areas. And availability does not equal connection, so the actual number of sites connected to high-speed wired connectivity remains even lower. This uneven access to connectivity can limit the ability of remote venues such as Parsons Sports Ranch to compete for tournaments, reach broader audiences and build new revenue streams.
Another key issue is that the distance to existing infrastructure can determine which services rural businesses can offer and how quickly they can grow. Extending fibre broadband to such locations can involve miles of construction, rights-of-way negotiations, and a wait of months or even years.
Alongside the demands of visitors and vendors, the Parsons Sports Ranch venue needed enough upload capacity to stream games to families watching from elsewhere. An initial fibre proposal to connect the venue put construction costs at $300,000-$500,000, with a lead time exceeding 12 months – a situation not acceptable to the company.
A bright idea
As an alternative, Texas-based communications infrastructure specialist Rountree proposed the deployment of the Taara Lightbridge comms system between the ranch and a tower approximately seven miles away, supplying a 10Gbps symmetrical connection within a single day, without digging or trenching.
An offshoot of X and Google’s Moonshot Factory, Taara’s technology uses light beams to extend high-speed internet to places where traditional infrastructure is difficult to deploy.
Taara Lightbridge, its first system, uses beams of light operating in the unlicensed optical spectrum to deliver high-speed, secure connectivity across long-range and challenging terrain, helping networks reach farther. It is claimed to be constructed to deliver bi-directional communication at speeds of up to 20Gbps and securely transmit data across distances up to 20km while keeping connections “strong and consistent” all the time, “using the energy of a lightbulb” without digging, spectrum licensing or right-of-way permitting.
Rountree installed the optical backbone and integrated the network serving the venue. Separate network segments support staff, broadcast and guest traffic, helping manage the demands of a busy tournament weekend.
The challenge was getting serious capacity to a location where the conventional construction schedule didn’t quite match our ambitious schedule. Taara gave us a way to bridge the connectivity gaps quickly, allowing us to build the network around what the ranch needed to operate, broadcast and expand Mike Rountree, Rountree
“The challenge was getting serious capacity to a location where the conventional construction schedule didn’t quite match our ambitious schedule,” explained Rountree CEO Mike Rountree. “Taara gave us a way to bridge the connectivity gaps quickly, allowing us to build the network around what the ranch needed to operate, broadcast and expand.”
Expanding rural opportunities
With its new backbone capacity, Parsons Sports Ranch has expanded its business. The sports complex now provides guest Wi-Fi, security cameras, point-of-sale transactions and live game broadcasts.
“We wanted families to come here and enjoy a great day of sports, and for relatives who couldn’t make the trip to still watch the games,” said Stuart Parsons, owner of Parsons Sports Ranch. “Once we had the connectivity, we could do more with the venue. Now we’re adding fields and exploring technology that gives players, coaches and visitors far more from every game.”
The capacity also extends connectivity to several other connection points in the local community, including a local event venue, marina, restaurant, and lakeside ranch. Construction is already underway to expand the complex from four competition fields to eight, while plans for advanced sports tracking will place further demands on the network.
Taara believes the Parsons Sports Ranch project, among the first of its kind in this sector, may signal a new path forward for America’s sports and entertainment infrastructure, which often includes remote venues away from urban centres. “For high-capacity rural destinations, the deployment has set a precedent for the sports and entertainment sector,” noted CEO and founder Mahesh Krishnaswamy.
Looking to the future, the ranch has also contracted a direct fibre build to add a second connectivity path. The optical deployment allowed it to begin offering connected services while surrounding infrastructure developed.
Rountree is currently in discussions to bring high-speed, high-capacity connectivity with Taara Lightbridge to additional sports complexes, youth camps, datacentre construction sites, oil and gas companies, and other internet service providers serving remote sites in Texas.
