TMC Coordinates Technology Design for U.S. Bank Stadium Alongside HKS

The Challenge

Every large stadium project has to reconcile the interests of an owner, an architect, and a general contractor. U.S. Bank Stadium added several more layers to that list: politicians, NFL executives, the architectural team, the MEP team, owner representatives, broadcasters, major network television stations, the CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, MSP Airport IT and police, and City staff all had requirements that touched the stadium's technology systems in some way.

For HKS, the challenge was making sure the technology scope of the project – work that would cover data networking, Wi-Fi, video distribution, telephony, and distributed antenna coverage – was designed with the same rigor as the building's architectural and MEP systems. That scope needed to be coordinated across every one of those stakeholders without slowing down the design and construction schedule.

The Solution

TMC's consultants worked as an extension of the design team throughout the project, coordinating directly with HKS's architects and the MEP engineers so the stadium's technology systems were represented in the drawing set from the start rather than added in after major architectural decisions were made. That coordination covered the full scope of the stadium's technology and AV systems, including:

• Data center and telecommunications room layouts, elevations, and LAN design
• A converged IP data network, including routers, firewalls, switches, and servers, built to support approximately 10,000 IP-enabled devices 
• Cisco's Digital Network Connected Stadium Wi-Fi system with high-density coverage throughout the venue
• A facility-wide IPTV system feeding more than 2,000 4K HD monitors across public and team areas
• An IP telephony system integrated with the stadium's broader network design
• A new distributed antenna system with 1,200 antennas across 16 locations, extending coverage to nearby hotels, the Mall of America, arenas, and convention centers
• MatSing multi-beam antenna installations providing additional ground-level cellular coverage
• Full specification development, bidder analysis, and negotiation support during the vendor selection process

Beyond the technical design work, TMC also led a full risk assessment covering FEMA designations, crowd control, and the operational overlap between the FBI, City Police, private security, and the press, along with recommendations for redundancy levels and equipment placement to support the stadium's survivability requirements. That assessment gave the ownership group and design team a vendor-neutral basis for comparing platforms and making final decisions.

The Results

With TMC embedded in the design process from the start, HKS didn't have to manage the stadium's technology scope as a separate, disconnected workstream.

TMC's architectural technology consultants helped develop T-layer drawings for the data center layouts, network infrastructure, Wi-Fi, DAS, IPTV, and telephony alongside the architectural and MEP drawings, which meant HKS could work from a single, coordinated design package rather than reconciling conflicting requirements late in the process. The TMC team also coordinated directly with NFL executives, broadcasters, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, MSP Airport IT and Police, and City staff, which let HKS stay focused on the stadium's architectural and structural design.

U.S. Bank Stadium has since hosted Super Bowl LII and the 2019 NCAA Men's Final Four, and continues to serve as the Minnesota Vikings' home venue, all supported by the technology systems TMC helped design and coordinate alongside HKS.