Given all of the major cellular carriers’ full-scale adoption of 5G network resources, it’s likely no surprise that data consumption totals during Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles set records for both Verizon and AT&T. Verizon invested $119 million on its network in the SoFi Stadium area, while AT&T expanded its fiber network.
Customers on Verizon’s cellular networks “in and around” the stadium utilized a total of 30.4 terabytes of data on Sunday, surpassing Verizon’s highest recorded record of 21.5 TB of data used at Super Bowl LIV in Miami in 2020. According to the operator, 60% of guests at the SoFi Stadium in California used its service during the game on February 13th, compared to 56% for the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami. Verizon added 169 small cells, four macro cell sites, and 24 in-building systems as part of this investment. According to Verizon, the highest surges in data consumption on Sunday were during the halftime performance and right before kickoff.
Customers on AT&T’s networks consumed 13 terabytes of data on Sunday, up from 10.2 terabytes at Super Bowl LIV in 2020. AT&T did note that its “5G+” services, which employ millimeter-wave spectrum, contributed 3 TB to the total. AT&T revealed that over half of their total data usage, 6.6 TB, was consumed prior to and during the first quarter.
This year, both Verizon and AT&T appear to be focusing on the “in and around” zone, which is made simpler by the fact that the Hollywood Park limits are clearly divided from the neighboring municipal streets of Inglewood. This year’s combined total consumption for the two carriers was 43.4 TB, a considerable increase over the previous year’s game in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, when the combined “in and around” the stadium total for Verizon and AT&T was 31.7 TB. Due to the Covid pandemic, data totals for all types of wireless connections were substantially lower at Super Bowl LV 2020 in Tampa.
