Chicago Blackhawks

Notre Dame Stadium sees 4 TB of Wi-Fi used at NHL Winter Classic

January 2, 2019 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

It wasn’t a record-setting day for the Wi-Fi network at Notre Dame Stadium, but the 4 terabytes of data used by fans at Tuesday’s NHL Winter Classic continued a string of healthy wireless data use by attendees at the recently renovated venue.

With 76,126 in attendance to watch the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks in the latest of the NHL’s outdoor-arena games, some 17,000 unique devices connected to the stadium’s Wi-Fi network, according to statistics provided by the university. The peak concurrent Wi-Fi connections were 14,355, and peak throughput was 5.81 Gbps, according to the school. Given the winter weather and the fact that many fans were no doubt visiting Notre Dame for the first time, it’s no surprise that the data usage trailed all the other events at Notre Dame Stadium this fall and winter (see chart below). Still, a 4 TB day is still a big number, and again perhaps more impressive considering the conditions. Earlier this fall, Notre Dame Stadium saw 7.19 TB used for a game against Stanford.

The best of the best. #WinterClassic pic.twitter.com/tSgFq13OJc

— NHL (@NHL) January 2, 2019

According to some reports, including this story from CBS News, the second-largest ever Winter Classic crowd saw some issues arise on the concessions side, with some fans reporting that the stadium had run out of food and beer and that many concession lines were extremely long. Another report quoted a Notre Dame spokesperson as saying the reports of being out of food or beer were untrue.

More Wi-Fi stats from Notre Dame’s fall and winter events below. Thanks again to Notre Dame’s IT crew for providing the figures.

Filed Under: AmpThink, Cisco, NHL, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 2019 Winter Classic, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Cisco, Mobile Sports Report, NHL, Notre Dame Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

First round of NHL playoffs saw 8.6 TB of data used on AT&T networks

May 3, 2016 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

They’re smaller than football stadiums so hockey arenas aren’t going to generate wireless-data numbers as big as we’ve seen at events like the Super Bowl. But according to AT&T, wireless data use by NHL fans at playoff time took a big leap forward in the first round of the Stanley Cup action, with an average 41 percent increase in data use versus regular-season games at the same venues.

In total, AT&T said it saw more than 8.6 terabytes of wireless data used on its cellular networks at venues hosting first-round NHL playoff games, with an average of 191 GB used at each game. Winning the highest-average data contest was the Dallas Stars, whose fans used more than 379 GB per game during the first round games in American Airlines Center. In a statement that clearly needed a copy editor with sense and facts, AT&T said that the second-place Philadelphia Flyers, who play in a city that is “home of the country’s most passionate sports fans,” averaged 267 GB per game. In Chicago, where the defending Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks took their series to a Game 7, THE most passionate sports fans used an average of 270 GB per game.

Remember, these are only AT&T stats for users on AT&T networks. And anytime the Philly-loving AT&T folks want to talk about passionate sports fans, they know where to find me. We can watch tapes of the Blackhawks-Flyers Stanley Cup finals together while we converse.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, NHL, Stanley Cup Tagged With: AT&T, Chicago Blackhawks, DAS, NHL, Stanley Cup

AT&T: Hawks, Warriors fans are tops when it comes to DAS data use during championship series

June 23, 2015 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

Though we didn’t get a game-by-game breakdown, according to our friends at AT&T the fans for the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks and the NBA Finals Champion Golden State Warriors are also the respective “winners” in their sports for having finals-series games with the most DAS data use.

In a blog post outlining some stats for data usage on AT&T networks on distributed antenna systems (DAS) inside the championship venues, the Chicago fans filling United Center had the single highest DAS total for any game in either sport, with 386 gigabytes crossing the network during the Cup-clinching Game 6 on June 15. Warriors fans captured the highest AT&T DAS total for the NBA Finals with a 249 GB mark on June 7 at Oracle Arena, the Game 2 overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Remember, these totals are only for AT&T customers on AT&T networks at those arenas. (Any other carriers who want to report results, you know where to find us!)

We are working to get Wi-Fi totals as well since we know all four venues — Chicago’s United Center, Oakland’s Oracle Arena, Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and Tampa’s Amelie Arena all have Wi-Fi, courtesy of our recent HOOPS AND HOCKEY ISSUE. Now all we need are some final stats, so if the folks at each arena are done celebrating or weeping, send your finals Wi-Fi stats our way.

And… THREE! 🙂

(photos credit Chicago Blackhawks team site)

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Basketball, DAS, Golden State Warriors, NBA, NHL, Stanley Cup Tagged With: 4G LTE, AT&T, Chicago Blackhawks, DAS, Golden State Warriors, Mobile Sports Report, NBA, NBA Finals, NHL, Oracle Arena, Paul Kapustka, Stanley Cup Playoffs, United Center, Wi-Fi

NBC sets streaming records for Stanley Cup final

June 16, 2014 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

Call us biased, but we bet that the numbers would have been even better had the Chicago Blackhawks been in the Stanley Cup final instead of the Los Angeles Kings. Still, according to NBC, this year’s Stanley Cup Final recorded record online streaming numbers “for virtually every metric,” according to a press release out today.

Here are the figures from NBC: “Live streaming for the five-game 2014 Stanley Cup Final on NBC Sports Live Extra delivered 603,000 uniques and 37.14 million minutes, up 38% and 22%, respectively, vs. last year and made 2014 the most-consumed Stanley Cup Final ever.”

For the entire NHL playoffs, NBC said it had 1.52 million uniques and 201.50 million minutes watched, “the best-ever for an NHL post-season” and an increase of 180% in uniques and 183% in minutes as compared to last year.

One question we have for cable and broadcast execs: Do the authentication measures really help with cable subscriptions? Or are they just a kind of feel-good thing to make cable providers feel like people aren’t getting “free” content? I’d love to see some proof or stats that say the authentication measures are valuable — as opposed to the good will and free marketing you could reap by just making stuff free online. Because really, nothing is “free” online — if you want to watch sports online you still need broadband, which isn’t really free anywhere.

Off the soapbox now. And hoping that next year when the Blackhawks return to their rightful perch atop the league, the online numbers will double this year’s.

Filed Under: NBC Sports, NHL, Stanley Cup Tagged With: Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Mobile Sports Report, NBC, NBC Sports, NBC Sports Live Extra, New York Rangers, Paul Kapustka

Notre Dame Stadium sees 4 TB of Wi-Fi used at NHL Winter Classic

First round of NHL playoffs saw 8.6 TB of data used on AT&T networks

AT&T: Hawks, Warriors fans are tops when it comes to DAS data use during championship series

NBC sets streaming records for Stanley Cup final

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