Record Wi-Fi usage at Super Bowl LIV
February 7, 2020
Signalling technology’s massive presence in sports, a record 26.42 terabytes of data was transferred within the stadium during Super Bowl LIV in Miami on February 2nd – an increase of 9.9 per cent from last year’s NFL championship game, despite being held at a smaller-capacity stadium with nearly 10,000 fewer fans
Extreme Networks, the official Wi-Fi solutions provider of the NFL and of Super Bowl LIV, provided all of the Wi-Fi infrastructure for the event and analysed the record-breaking increase in fan engagement, as well as trends in user behaviour, throughout the game. The results show Instagram was the top driver of Wi-Fi usage, and each user consumed an average of 595.6 megabytes of data – an increase of 21 per cent per user over last year’s Super Bowl LIII.
Super Bowl LIV by the Numbers:
- Data Transferred: 26.42 TB
○ Before Kick-off: 11.1 TB
○ After Kick-off: 15.32 TB
- Network Spikes
o Peak Concurrent Users: 24,837 (pre-game)
o Peak Network Utilisation: 10.4 Gbps (pre-game)
- Game Attendance: 62,417
- Fan Engagement
○ Number of Users: 44,358
○ Adoption Rate: 71%
○ Average Usage Per Device: 595.6 MB
- Most Popular Apps
○ Most Used Streaming Apps
■ iTunes
■ Apple Streaming
■ YouTube
■ Spotify
■ Netflix
○ Most Used Social Apps
■ Snapchat
■ Bitmoji
○ Most Used Sporting Apps
■ ESPN
■ NFL
■ NFL OnePass
■ CBS Sports
■ ESPN Go
John Brams, Director, Hospitality, Sports and Entertainment at Extreme Networks, said: “This is the seventh consecutive year we’ve provided data and analytics for the Super Bowl, and once again we’ve seen record-breaking Wi-Fi usage. With years of these reports in hand now, it’s clear the metrics signaling fans’ insatiable data demands are not anomalous, but part of a longer-term trend that’s here to stay. And as NFL teams start to embrace Wi-Fi 6 moving forward, stadiums will be able to provide even more compelling, cutting-edge experiences to fans across the league – further cementing the NFL as a technology pioneer.”
Aaron Amendolia, VP of IT Services at NFL, added: “The Super Bowl is the biggest day of the year for the NFL, and it takes a deep bench of innovative and collaborative technology partners to make it a success. Year after year, Extreme provides industry-leading technology and expertise that help us ensure the best possible gameday. In addition to providing Wi-Fi connectivity, Extreme’s analytics software provides granular insights that we can use to optimise the in-stadium experience in real time. The data generated on fan behavior also informs our long-term strategy, guiding us to new areas we should invest in to continue to improve the fan experience.”