The Super Bowl has once again set new records for sports wagering. While the final figures are still being confirmed, the American Gaming Association projected an unprecedented $1.39 billion in legal bets on Super Bowl LIX. Sportsbook companies such as FanDuel have already reported a 19% increase in bets compared to the previous year, reaching a new peak of 16.6 million bets from nearly three million active users.
During this historic Super Bowl weekend, Continent 8 Technologies, the leading industry provider of managed global hosting, connectivity, cloud, and cybersecurity solutions, served as the crucial backbone of the Super Bowl’s betting network, enabling the majority of bets worldwide. In this blog, we explore the detailed planning and preparation that support our customers during premier sporting events.
Step 1: KYC – Know Your Customer
Preparation for the Super Bowl began well in advance of the event. In the last couple of years, we have invested heavily in strengthening our network relationships through our enhanced ‘Know Your Customer’ philosophy. This strategy includes launching and engaging in in-depth discussions at our Customer Advisory Board meetings, investing in executive sponsor programs and maintaining ongoing, insightful and strategic dialogues to address our customers’ current and future needs. This KYC approach ensures the creation of tailored, comprehensive road maps for each of our customers, enabling us to proactively anticipate and meet their needs through key support initiatives and activities, including the Super Bowl event
Step 2: Pre-game prep
With the Super Bowl scheduled for the second Sunday of February, we prepared for the anticipated surge in internet activity. Edward O’Connor, our Chief Technical Officer, shares the technical strategy leading up the event. “Our technical preparation began months prior to the Super Bowl. This centred around infrastructure and network upgrades and optimisation – including bandwidth increases in all key peering and IX locations, cloud infrastructure refreshes, among other changes – to ensure an interruption-free operation.”
As the event approached, the team developed a detailed preparation checklist concentrated around five key pillars. The checklist included:
- Customer communication: Keeping customers informed about planning and developments.
- Change freeze: Implementing a freeze on network activities during a designated period.
- Resource planning: Allocating dedicated resources across various teams to support key customer activities.
- Audits: Performing tests in key data centre sites and cloud environments.
- Vendor support: Collaborating with key vendors for real-time support availability, if required.
Step 3: Game day-ready
A typical Super Bowl game lasts about 3 hours and 37 minutes. However, our ‘live’ Super Bowl experience lasted over five days, from Thursday to Monday. Our dedicated team managed game-specific operations, while a company-wide communication channel was available for check-ins or service requests.
To enhance our efforts, additional staff and resources were deployed on game day, across multiple global security centres as well as on customer sites, monitoring and optimising network performance in real time.
Continent 8 teams monitoring network activity across our various ‘war rooms’.
Step 4: Post-game analysis
The Philadelphia Eagles’ victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, with a score of 40-22, ended without any network or connectivity issues, despite what Edward described as “record-breaking from an internet traffic perspective.”
Long after the players left the field, our team continued to oversee network activity to ensure ongoing stability of all customer operations. Our Major Incident Management ‘playbook’ was crucial, serving as both a guide and a reminder of the need for continuous process evaluation and improvement as we transition from one event to the next.
As the Super Bowl campaign wrapped up, Edward was pleased with the behind-the-scenes connectivity support we provided for our customers. He shared, “The entire Continent 8 team was instrumental in ensuring a flawless Super Bowl experience. This careful, meticulous planning underscored our commitment to delivering a reliable and unparalleled service to our customers, allowing millions of users to place their bets and engage with the event in real time.
“With Super Bowl LIX now concluded, next up for the US sporting market: NCAA March Madness!”
Your trusted infrastructure and cybersecurity partner
For over 25 years, we have been the leading provider of global managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and cybersecurity solutions for the regulated iGaming and online sports betting industry. To learn more about how our best-in-class managed and professional services can power and protect your gaming platforms and operations, contact sales@continent8.com.
