Before soccer enthusiasts gather along Courthouse Square in Scranton to watch the World Cup on Saturday, crews from Comcast installed improved infrastructure to make watch parties possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal goes beyond connecting people to services they rely on every day,\u201d said Jennifer Bilotta, regional vice president of communications for Comcast. \u201cWe strive to be a trusted community partner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scranton was selected to host one of three official Pennsylvania World Cup Fan Zones, which will be set up at North Washington Avenue and Linden Street. In addition to match watch parties and musical performances Saturday and Sunday, the site will also welcome guests for similar festivities July 18-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe power connectivity for most of Northeast Pennsylvania, so we\u2019re really happy to be able to enable something that\u2019s going to create such a lasting impact,\u201d Bilotta said. \u201cWe\u2019re very excited to be part of such a great and memorable event that\u2019s going to be something people will talk about for years to come. We\u2019re all about delivering the connectivity and technology that brings people together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Comcast Business donated connectivity and live, multiscreen broadcasts as an in-kind contribution, valued in the thousands of dollars, to the city of Scranton and Lackawanna County to support vendors, event operations and live match coverage \u2014 including Spanish-language broadcasts, Bilotta said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom planning to deployment to execution of the event, all the way through, it certainly takes a really significant investment of time and money,\u201d Bilotta said.<\/p>\n
Specifically, Comcast installed a dedicated network solution powered by Comcast Business Internet and WiFi Pro \u2014 ensuring reliable connectivity for event operations and cashless vendor transactions when Courthouse Square is at full capacity, company officials added.<\/p>\n
While Comcast\u2019s infrastructure is already built up in Scranton \u2014 which provided workers with a head start \u2014 Bilotta noted it still took a lot of effort to prepare the technology for the festivities.<\/p>\n
\u201cPutting on live events that attract lots of people, all at the same time, is nothing new to us but that doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t still take a good amount of planning, preparation and work to get everything in place to make sure an event like this runs smoothly,\u201d she said. \u201cWe started doing walkouts, planning and initial phases of deployment weeks in advance.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of Thursday, crews were doing final preparations and testing, Bilotta added.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn event like this is purely reliant on technology so people can get in and out, and they can make purchases,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Comcast will also power the entertainment experience, distributing the matches on four screens around Courthouse Square, including Spanish-language coverage from Telemundo, officials said.<\/p>\n
Comcast employees worked closely with Scranton officials to make the spectacle in the city a reality, Bilotta said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvents like our Fan Zone are only possible when great community partners come together,\u201d Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said in a news release. \u201cWe appreciate Comcast Business\u2019s support of our celebration on Courthouse Square to deliver a great fan experience during the event.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you go<\/p>\n
Scranton Fan Zone schedule and hours of operation<\/p>\n
(Note: Start times reflect when gates open and live entertainment begins. All events are free and do not require tickets.)<\/p>\n
July 4, Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
11 a.m.: Cruel Summer, a live Taylor Swift tribute band<\/p>\n
1 p.m.: Round of 16 knockout match, Canada vs. Morocco, NRG Stadium, Houston<\/p>\n
3: DJ HERSH<\/p>\n
5: Round of 16 knockout match, Paraguay vs. France, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia<\/p>\n
7: DJ HERSH<\/p>\n
July 5, Sunday, 2 to 11 p.m.<\/p>\n
2 p.m.: Eco Del Sur, performing music from across Latin America<\/p>\n
4: Round of 16 knockout match, Brazil vs. Norway, East Rutherford, New Jersey<\/p>\n
6: The Wankers, a \u201cBritpop\u201d tribute act<\/p>\n
8: Round of 16 knockout match, Mexico vs. England, Mexico City<\/p>\n
July 18, Saturday, 3 to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
3 p.m.: Hanson<\/p>\n
5: World Cup Bronze Final (third-place match)<\/p>\n
July 19, Sunday, 1 to 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
1 p.m.: Tonic<\/p>\n
3: FIFA World Cup Final<\/p>\n
Traffic\/parking<\/p>\n
The 200 block of North Washington Avenue, the site of a large main stage viewing screen, will remain closed through Sunday. It will close again July 17, remaining closed through July 19. The 200 block of Adams Avenue and the 500 blocks of Biden and Linden streets will be closed from Friday afternoon through Sunday. Those blocks also will close at different times July 18 and reopen late July 19, after the final Fan Zone festivities conclude.<\/p>\n
Parts of adjacent blocks also will be closed, but motorists will be able to access nearby parking garages. Parking restrictions will be in place on blocks in the immediate vicinity of the square.<\/p>\n
Parking will be available in all downtown garages, including the garage at the Marketplace at Steamtown during mall hours. The University of Scranton and Lackawanna College are also making parking available to Fan Zone attendees, though there will not be a shuttle service.<\/p>\n
Activities<\/p>\n
\u2022 An Onvo Kids Zone on Adams Avenue, featuring an inflatable soccer game and target, obstacle course and slide.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Skills & Drills clinics hosted by local soccer clubs in designated areas throughout the event.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 An interactive LED soccer simulator.<\/p>\n
Do\u2019s and don\u2019ts<\/p>\n
Prohibited items include\u00a0backpacks, weapons, coolers, facial coverings, laser pointers, illegal substances, pets (only service animals are allowed), umbrellas, outside food and beverages, and fireworks\/flares. Smoking and\/or vaping is also not allowed.<\/p>\n
Guests may bring a foldable chair and a small personal bag or purse (subject to check at entry).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before soccer enthusiasts gather along Courthouse Square in Scranton to watch the World Cup on Saturday, crews from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,28,178,180,179,11868,726,289,181,2237],"class_list":["post-234204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories-stt","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}