Wintrust Arena at McCormick Place

The arena at McCormick Place needed a network that runs from the core switches out to the wireless access points, and cable to carry its broadcasts from the production head-ends to the courtside, camera and announcer positions.

We installed the Cisco core switching, the access switching and the wireless access points, and because all of it needs cabling to run on, we ran that cabling too, so one company answers for the whole network. We also installed security systems for the arena.

The broadcast cable is a mix of triax, RG-6 coax, shielded and unshielded Category cable and single-mode fiber, and it ends at custom broadcast plates, so the production crews plug straight in at each position. It joins the production and MATV head-ends to the game clock and scoreboard, the camera and announcer positions, the media areas, the locker rooms, the courtside positions, the concourses and the event-floor boxes.

The electricians on the job were IBEW Local 134 members, who worked to our written 56-page construction safety program and to a safety plan written for the arena.

• Cisco core switching
• Access switching
• Wireless access points
• Broadcast cabling
• Security systems

Pace’s crews did all of the work at the arena, so one company answers for the network and the cable it runs on.

• 8parts of the arena on our broadcast cable, from the game clock to the locker rooms