Protective DNS for stadium operations, ticketing and fan WiFi
On matchday your stadium runs turnstiles, ticket scanners, kiosks, media networks and WiFi for thousands of fans in one bowl. Shield answers each DNS lookup and blocks phishing, malware and command-and-control callbacks before a connection starts. Operational networks get threat-first rules. In the bowl, blocking ads and trackers cuts DNS queries by up to 62%, which frees bandwidth for fans when the network is busiest.
Ads, trackers and bloatware load on every page
Ads and trackers stripped before they load
What is at stake
Matchday is when the network cannot fail
Turnstiles and ticket scanners
Scanners and turnstiles that stall at the gates leave fans queuing at kick-off. Keep them on a locked-down policy that reaches only what they need.A packed bowl on one network
Thousands of fans share the same access points. Ads, trackers and autoplay video take capacity before a fan loads the team sheet.Phishing around big fixtures
Fake ticket resale and hospitality offers target staff and fans alike. Shield blocks known and newly registered phishing domains at the lookup.
How Shield fits
A policy for fans, staff, media and systems
- Fan WiFiFamily-safe categories, Safe Search and ad blocking to free bandwidth in the bowl. Nothing to install on fan devices.
- Ticketing and turnstilesLocked to the domains each system needs, with C2 callbacks blocked and a relay to show internal IPs.
- Concessions and kiosksePOS and card terminals on their own VLAN, with threat-first rules that help you meet PCI DSS.
- Media and pressThreat defence on its own SSID, with lighter content rules so press and broadcast crews can file.
- Staff and head officeThreat defence firstOffice LAN and staff WiFi, by directory group
- Guest WiFiStrict, family-safeVisitors and customers, nothing to installGuest network tiersFree WiFiAd blocking on, streaming limited at busy timesPaid WiFiIts own rules, separate from the free tier
- IoT and branchesLocked downTills, cameras and sensors behind a relay
Schedule, per site
Proof
More bandwidth for fans when the bowl is full
- 62%
- maximum reduction in DNS queries once ads and trackers are blocked
- 500%
- faster page loads, in Purple's own measurements
- 20-40%
- less web traffic across the network with ads and trackers blocked
- Friendly WiFistandard met by Shield's family-safe filtering on fan networks
FAQ
Questions we hear from teams like yours
Will filtering slow fan WiFi in a full stadium?
No. Blocking ads and trackers removes requests, so in Purple's own measurements pages load up to 500% faster, with up to 62% fewer DNS queries and 20 to 40% less web traffic. That capacity goes back to fans at the moments they all reach for their phones.
What happens if Shield has an outage during a match?
Shield runs on a dual anycast DNS network, so if one node or network fails, the next one answers. It fails closed, so an outage never leaves fan, ticketing or staff networks unfiltered. Your firewall stays in place, with Shield as a layer behind it.
Can we run different rules on event and non-event days?
Yes. Policies change by time of day and day of week, and each SSID, VLAN or venue carries its own. Conference days, concerts and matchdays can each run their own rules on the same network.
Do we need new hardware in the stadium?
No. Point your router, firewall or DHCP at Shield. Add a relay where turnstile, CCTV or kiosk VLANs need each device's internal IP in the reports. Fans and visiting media install nothing on their devices.
Does it work with our SIEM and single sign-on?
Yes. Your team signs in through Okta, Microsoft Entra ID or OIDC. Logs stream to Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Elastic, IBM QRadar, CrowdStrike, Amazon S3 or syslog, so matchday lookups sit alongside the rest of your security data.
Other industries
Country and golf clubs
Threat defence for clubhouse ePOS and tee-sheet systems, with family-safe WiFi for members.Outdoor spaces
Threat defence for council and BID networks, with family-safe public WiFi in parks and town centres.Caravan parks
Threat defence for reception and park systems, with family-safe, faster WiFi for holiday guests.
Decide what your network reaches, free for 30 days
Tell us which networks and sites you run and who is on them. We map a policy to each one: staff, guests, students, residents and IoT. Then point one network at Shield and see what it stops for 30 days, before you pay anything. Running change control? We plan a pilot on one site with your team instead. No hardware to install.
- We map your networksA Purple expert maps your networks, your venues and the people on each, and answers your questions on bypass, outages, data handling and integrations.
- You get a policy for each oneStaff, guests, students, residents, IoT and paid tiers, each with the policy it needs.
- You prove it, then get your tailored quote30 days free on one network, or a pilot on one site planned with your team, then Shield priced standalone or as an add-on to your Access plan.
Your policy map
Tell us your networks. We map a policy to each one.
A Purple expert comes back with a policy for every network and group you run, from the team that has run content filtering since 2012 and runs WiFi for 80,000+ venues in 90 countries.