There’s lots of shared belief out there that fans want to use mobile devices while they are attending sporting events. What we like even more here at Mobile Sports Report are hard numbers that tell us just how much fans are using mobile devices while they are in stadiums and arenas. Though sometimes hard to get, such statistics are great signposts for those who are planning to build their own stadium networks sometime soon, because it gives them a target to shoot for.
Courtesy of our friends over at AT&T, here are some traffic statistics gleaned from AT&T’s distributed antenna system (DAS) deployments in major professional and college football stadiums during last weekend’s games. According to AT&T, the average amount of cellular data used at a pro venue home opener in 2014 was 361 gigabytes, up 59 percent from season-opening games last year. The stats, remember, are only from AT&T DAS networks at the 16 NFL stadiums where AT&T has a DAS network presence.
The top stadium in terms of AT&T DAS traffic was Miami’s Sun Life Stadium with 1,035 GB (or 1.035 TB), followed by AT&T Stadium in Dallas with 889 GB and Atlanta’s Georgia Dome with 696 GB. It will be interesting to see whether or not any of those totals are surpassed by the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium, which hosts its first regular-season home game this Sunday.
On the collegiate side, the average opening-day traffic number was 288 GB, which is huge compared to the 2013 season average of 186 GB per game. The stats are an average taken from 25 Division 1 schools where AT&T has a DAS presence. And in case you were wondering where college football is king, the stats for schools in the South was an average of 343 GB, with the rest of the country checking in at 186 GB. The top three schools in terms of home-opener DAS traffic were Oklahoma with 866 GB, Georgia with 688, and the new stadium at Baylor with 686 GB.
More AT&T DAS stats follow. Remember, this is just a fraction of the actual traffic since many of these venues also have other carriers on DAS networks, as well as Wi-Fi networks in place. Other carriers and stadiums — send us your stats!
AT&T STADIUM DAS STATS
Year-over-Year Professional Mobile Data Increase
o 2014 home opener – 361GB average per venue
o 2013 season average – 227GB average per venue
· 2013 season average to 2014 season opener is a year-over-year increase of more than 59 percent
· 2013 season opener to 2014 season opener is a year-over-year increase of more than 58 percent
Opening Weekend Mobile Data Usage Professional vs. Collegiate
o 2014 professional season opener – 361GB average per venue
o 2014 collegiate season opener – 288GB average per venue
Top 5 Opening Weekend Professional Venues by Total Mobile Data
o Miami, FL – 1035GB
· Equivalent to more than 2.9 million social media post with photos
· Peak hour – 1-2pm ET – 146GB
o Dallas, TX – 889GB
· Equivalent to more than 2.5 million social media post with photos
· Peak hour – 2-3pm CT – 158GB
o Atlanta, GA – 696GB
· Equivalent to nearly 2 million social media post with photos
· Peak hour – 2-3pm ET – 159GB
o Chicago, IL – 452GB
· Equivalent to nearly 1.3 million social media post with photos
· Peak hour – 1-2pm CT – 107GB
o Pittsburgh, PA – 385GB
· Equivalent to more than 1.1 million social media post with photos
· Peak hour – 2-3pm ET – 83GB
Caveats:
· All figures include only data traffic seen on AT&T’s venue-specific mobile network.
· All data metrics come from only venues with a DAS where AT&T’s mobile network is on-air. These metrics are not comprehensive of every game played during the opening weekend for professional or college football.
· This data is compiled from 16 professional football stadiums and 25 division one college football stadiums that had opening week home games where AT&T is on-air on a DAS.
· All 2013 season average data is compiled from only venues with a DAS where AT&T’s mobile network was on-air and games where data was tracked and available.
ADDITIONAL AT&T COLLEGIATE DAS STATS
Regional Breakdown by Mobile Data Usage
o South – 343GB average per venue
o Rest of the US – 186GB average per venue
· Year-over-Year Mobile Data Increase
o 2014 home opener – 288GB average per venue
o 2013 season average – 155GB average per venue
· Top 5 Opening Weekend College Venues by Total Mobile Data
· Norman, OK – 866GB
o Equivalent to more than 2.4 million social media post with photos
· Athens, GA – 688GB
o Equivalent to more than 1.9 million social media post with photos
· Waco, TX – 686GB
o Equivalent to more than 1.9 million social media post with photos
· Auburn, AL – 506GB
o Equivalent to more than 1.4 million social media post with photos
· Los Angeles, CA – 469GB
o Equivalent to more than 1.3 million social media post with photos
Caveats:
· All figures include only data traffic seen on AT&T’s venue-specific mobile network.
· All data metrics come from only venues with a DAS where AT&T’s mobile network is on-air. These metrics are not comprehensive of every game played during the opening weekend for college football.
· This data is compiled from 25 division one college football stadiums that had opening week home games where AT&T is on-air on a DAS.
· All 2013 season average data is compiled from only venues with a DAS where AT&T’s mobile network was on-air and games where data was tracked and available.
· The “South” region is based off how it is qualified by the U.S. Census. It includes the following states: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
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