I'm guessing the NFL didn't get clearance from the FCC to use a dedicated wavelength within the stadium to isolate their systems from noise.
* http://blog.rfvenue.com/karl-voss/
"... at the Super Bowl we manage ... basically anything D/C to light that is allowed inside the NFL venues.
That view is reinforced here: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/patriots-bill-belichi...
"Microsoft's hardware isn't necessarily the culprit here, merely the victim. The NFL uses a lot of wireless hardware—communications headsets, public Wi-Fi networks, private networks for the tablets, networks for the press, and more."
if they had, would the surface tablets have been able to use it? I'm not aware of any licensed spectrum that standard wifi cards are capable of communicating on.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/09/12/coaches-say-...