WMSA warns US mega-events are short of wireless mic spectrum

The Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance (WMSA) has published a statement on how much radio spectrum large U.S. events need and why the current supply falls short. It names Super Bowl 2026, the FIFA World Cup, the America 250 celebrations and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics as examples of events where global broadcasts, live performances and announcements all depend on wireless microphones.

Who is behind the alliance

WMSA was set up in 2025 and brings together equipment makers, audio engineers and broadcast professionals. Its goal is to make the FCC, Congress, the White House and the NTIA aware of the role of wireless microphones in live performance, broadcast and cultural events, and to protect spectrum for professional wireless use.

What a Super Bowl needs

According to the alliance, the Super Bowl uses more wireless equipment than any other single sporting event, and the demand keeps rising. It lists the main parts of the job:

• hundreds of wireless channels for talent, crew, referees and sideline staff;
• Game Day Coordinators who hand out frequencies by priority among operations, venue, teams and broadcasters;
• multiplexing, directional antennas and careful frequency planning to avoid clashes;
• high-end wireless systems, specialized software and distribution gear.

The shortage in numbers

WMSA says the spectrum left for wireless microphones in the 470-608 MHz band, where microphones share the airwaves with TV broadcasters, white space devices and public safety services, is not enough. Scans in several U.S. cities after the 2017 incentive auction and the loss of the 600 MHz band showed few or no free TV channels for microphones. As a result, organizers increasingly rely on FCC Special Temporary Authority grants, which the alliance calls unpredictable and burdensome and not a long-term fix. Without more spectrum, it says, medium and large events in many cities could become impossible to stage. It also cites data from the Paris 2024 Olympics, where 89 percent of audio links ran in the 470-694 MHz range.

The group reports meetings with the FCC and other bodies in Washington, D.C., and says it has secured access to additional spectrum through U.S. federal agencies. It notes that current plans for commercial 6G focus on bands above 2.5 GHz rather than TV-UHF, and says it will keep watching that this does not change.