Comcast Business Dunks Atlanta Hawks Deal

Adding another sports venue to its service wins, Comcast Business said the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks has picked the unit to upgrade team’s data, voice and video services at Philips Arena, the team’s home court.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but Comcast said the Hawks is moving away from managing multiple vendors for different services and instead consolidating their data, voice and video services with Comcast Business.

On the broadband end, Comcast Business will equip the facility with a dedicated 100 Mbps Ethernet connection, while also providing PRI trunks over fiber and TV service.

“Internet connectivity impacts all aspects of our operation, from enabling the media to circulate their coverage, to supporting the coaching and front office team members with everything from scouting to ticket sales,” said Andrew Steinberg, executive vice president and chief revenue officer, Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena, in a statement.

"Most enterprise IT managers don't have to worry about thousands of people suddenly showing up at their office and riding on their network, but that is a near daily occurrence for the Atlanta Hawks’ IT team," added Cleve Lewis, VP of business services for Comcast. “In the business of professional sports, it is absolutely a given now that fans attending games, and the media covering them, expect fast, reliable service, which our advanced Ethernet delivers.” 

The deal with the Hawks follows other pro sports-oriented agreements Comcast Business has salted away with the Atlanta Braves, the Tennessee Titans, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, Boston Celtics, Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers.