Sandy Park X The Women’s Rugby World Cup

Focus Group scores big, delivering a strategic upgrade for Sandy Park’s network infrastructure across the worldwide Women’s Rugby World Cup.

About Sandy Park Stadium & Conference Centre

Sandy Park is the home of Exeter Chiefs and a premier conference and events venue in the South West. With a 5-star, in-house planning and operational team, Sandy Park helps shape successful events for all of their customers, ensuring its spaces are tailored to every individual need. That includes one of the biggest sporting events of the year, the Women’s Rugby World Cup!

The challenge

Ahead of hosting fixtures for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, Sandy Park needed robust connectivity that could stand up to the tournament’s global broadcast demands, intense press activity, and hospitality needs.

Being selected as a tournament venue with matches attracting international audiences and worldwide media is no easy feat. In fact, their connectivity services would need:

Guaranteed bandwidth and resilience for live TV broadcasting to multiple territories
High-capacity Wi-Fi for press operations with hundreds of concurrent devices
Secure connectivity for tournament control rooms, TMO operations, and the central review bunker
Dependable access for team analytics
Consistent connectivity for hospitality, digital signage, and behind-the-scenes operations
Rapid on-site support and real-time monitoring across match days

On top of that, the mobile signal and network had to shoulder critical connectivity, with a focus on event-critical areas.

Needless to say, to tackle this large operation, the Focus Group team needed to scrum down and come up with something incredible.

The solution

First, we carried out a full audit, working closely with the tournament technical team. From there, our IT experts designed and delivered a resilient, secure network built for broadcast-grade performance.

Thanks to our plentiful and strong relationships, partner selection was based on proven performance in hospitality and stadium environments, competitive pricing, and the ability to meet Tier 1 broadcast requirements.

Based on our expertise, we decided HP Aruba would form the Wi-Fi and switching platform, with PXC providing resilient connectivity and DDoS protection, and SonicWall delivering premier security.

In total, the project included:

Core network and Wi-Fi

Replacement of core switching with dual-stacked HP Aruba switching to provide a highly available and fully redundant backbone for connectivity
Capacity for 1,500 wired connections for stadium and event operations
Targeted high-density Wi-Fi across the conference centre, press suite, broadcast compound, training pitch, and hospitality areas for over 2,000 users
Capacity engineered for up to 700 simultaneous connections in the press suite alone
New fibre and CAT6 cabling, including pitch side and changing room outlets for media and operations

Internet access and security

Two diversely routed 10Gb circuits delivered by PXC from different local exchanges
DDoS protection from PXC to safeguard live streams and critical services from unwanted malicious attacks
Active bandwidth monitoring during events to validate circuit size and capacity

Event operations

Segmented networks and assured paths for TMO operations with two-way comms to central review
Reliable connectivity for team performance systems and player safety analytics, including data from G sensor mouthguards for player welfare
Support for digital signage and venue-wide media needs

Assurance and support

A full-time engineer on site during the tournament for immediate response
Continuous cloud monitoring by Focus Group throughout every match window
Alignment with Brighton & Hove Albion Stadium delivery, who were also hosting WRWC games, to mirror best practice across venues

The results

Here’s a rundown of everything our work brought to Sandy Park Stadium and the Women’s Rugby World Cup coverage:

Zero incidents at the venue

Sandy Park reported no technical incidents across tournament fixtures, while other venues experienced issues. Broadcast, TMO, and analytics services ran smoothly from start to finish.

Cyber secure and tournament ready

The venue passed an independent cybersecurity assessment, validating the strength of the upgraded design and controls.

Broadcast-grade performance

Live global broadcasting, press workflows, and team analytics were supported without interruption, with connectivity scaled precisely to match-day demand.

Targeted coverage, clear expectations

Event critical areas received high-capacity Wi-Fi without creating stadium-wide fan expectations, aligning delivery to real operational needs.

Future-ready investment

The infrastructure positions Sandy Park to attract more major events, conferences, and concerts, with a modern platform that is easier to scale and support. The approach and learnings were also applied to Brighton Stadium to underpin wider tournament delivery.

Ultimately, Focus Group delivered a strategic upgrade for Sandy Park’s network infrastructure, showcasing the reliability and scale needed for high-profile events.

Our amazing team worked hand in hand with venue stakeholders and technology partners to deliver a resilient, secure, and high-performance network that helped the venue shine on a global stage.

Additionally, this story sits alongside our ongoing support for Exeter Chiefs and the on-site Marriott Courtyard hotel, demonstrating our ability to connect complex venues and keep critical events running seamlessly.

"Focus Group has been a long-term partner of Exeter Chiefs and Sandy Park, so they were the natural choice when we were looking to upgrade our IT infrastructure ahead of the Women's Rugby World Cup. We hosted the most games of any of the eight tournament venues, welcoming nearly 60,000 supporters through our gates, plus press and broadcast media from across the world. All their communications and IT needs were met without any disruption or delay to ensure our tournament delivery met the excellent standards expected of us."

Natasha Pavis

COO

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