Yankees team up with Cisco. New Yankee Stadium will have cutting-edge technology

Be ready for a whole new ballpark experience next year. The New York Yankees and Cisco have teamed up to bring you the most up to date, cutting-edge technology out there. The technology int he new ballpark will blow you away. New York Yankees Press Release: NEW YORK ? Cisco today announced that the new Yankee Stadium, set to open April 2009, has been outfitted with state-of the art Cisco? technologies, giving New York Yankees fans the most wired, connected and video-enabled stadium in all of baseball. A new Cisco technology called Cisco StadiumVisionTM will be central to the fan experience at the ballpark, providing fans with the most technologically advanced game-day experience in baseball, while maximizing the great historical tradition of the Yankees organization. Building on its legacy of innovation, the New York Yankees will integrate video, voice, data and wireless services into one seamless next-generation network that transcends sports operations, connecting the team to its fans in entirely new ways. Fans will be able to view sports news and scores, weather and traffic while never missing a moment of game action on the field. "We chose Cisco as the network provider for the new Yankee Stadium because they understand our business needs, our future goals and our vision for creating a unique experience that caters to our fans," said Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn A. Trost. "Cisco will help us capitalize on industry trends and transitions, such as the current migration from standard-definition to high-definition video in venues and at home, to give our fans the most state-of-the-art game-day experience in all of baseball for years to come." Immersive High-Definition Experience for All Fans Cisco will work with the New York Yankees to enhance the way fans enjoy Yankees games and other events by making the experience more interactive, personalized and immersive. StadiumVision will allow the Yankees to cost-effectively deliver live game video and customized content to each video monitor, addressing the unique needs of each stadium location at each game or event. All monitors will be capable of delivering content in HD video. Some of the key new amenities that Cisco and the Yankees are bringing to Yankees fans in the new stadium include: Yankees Fan Amenities: For all Yankees fans who don't want to miss a moment of on-field action, Cisco will provide the live game broadcast on HD video monitors displayed throughout the stadium, including concession areas, the Great Hall, the Yankees Museum and other in-stadium restaurant and bar locations. Along with the live game broadcast, monitors will be capable of simultaneously providing up-to-date sports scores, Yankees trivia, news and weather from a single viewing screen. At the conclusions of games, these monitors will allow the Yankees the ability to direct patrons to the nearest exits and provide up-to-the-moment traffic information. In the event of an emergency, all stadium monitors can be immediately and uniformly mobilized to display evacuation instructions. On non-game days, these same monitors can be used to display customized content and information for special events such as conferences, weddings and other group activities. Premium Luxury Fan: Premium luxury suites will be outfitted with touch-screen Internet Protocol (IP) phones that will allow fans to order concessions and Yankees merchandise for delivery to the suite. Fans of the Future: Cisco and the New York Yankees have also kept an eye toward the future to ensure that the stadium remains state-of-the-art for years to come. For example, the new stadium is equipped to support future fan use of mobile devices for ordering concessions from their seat, viewing instant replays or chatting in real time with friends inside and outside the stadium. In addition, the stadium has the capability to allow fans to communicate with players before or after the game using interactive video-based technology. "This stadium will come to define the American sporting experience, and we are thrilled the new stadium for the New York Yankees will implement technologies from Cisco to bring fans closer to the action and help the team transform the way it operates the venue," said John T. Chambers, Cisco chairman and chief executive officer. "This is an opportunity for Cisco to demonstrate the power of the network while establishing a lasting legacy at baseball's new grand cathedral." About Cisco Systems Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. From Peter Abraham (The LoHud Yankees Blog): Baseball: Hal Steinbrenner said that there have not yet been negotiations with Andy Pettitte. But he expects that there will be. ? Hal said the organization will be ready for the start of free agency on Friday. He would not reveal any details about payroll. "We're going to do what we've always done and that's field a team that can compete for the championship," he said. ? I asked him about getting personally involved with free agents and he said that he planned to, after stressing that Brian Cashman's job is to negotiate the deal. But Steinbrenner expressed an interest in getting to know the key agents. Steinbrenner that as far as incorporating young players from the farm system goes, "the goal is balance." You sort of get the impression with Hal that he would rather he someplace else. He clearly doesn't enjoy the media give-and-take or being the public face of ownership. But he understands his duty to his father and he's doing his best to carry it out. He met with Cashman yesterday and will again today. Hal is clearing the guy shouldering the responsibilities. The new Stadium: The team will start to move into their offices in mid January, the 16th or 23rd. Lonn Trost said that the Stadium is 12.5 days ahead of schedule and is now now built beyond the point of bad weather being a factor. In other words, everything now is being done inside. The last part of the field to get done is the mound, which will be built this weekend. ? The Metro North Station is expected to be done by the third homestand. ? The Yankees have seven suites they haven't sold yet, which is a result of the slumping economy.