SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The videos, web searches, social media updates and more made by Verizon customers in the Bay Area on game day and throughout Super Bowl week added up to 68.6 terabytes (TB) of wireless data, or the equivalent of 45 million social media posts.
The golden anniversary Super Bowl now holds the unofficial record as the most connected and shared championship game in history.
This was possible thanks to a $70 million long-term investment by Verizon to more than triple its 4G LTE wireless data network capacity in the Bay Area.
Final SB50 total usage infographic
Super Bowl Sunday shatters record
Fans at Levi’s Stadium racked up more than 7 terabytes of data on the Verizon network alone on game day. In comparison, at the 2015 Super Bowl, Verizon customers in Phoenix used 4.1 terabytes of data and in 2014 fans in New Jersey used 1.9 terabytes. That marks a 268 percent or nearly three-fold increase in usage.
Data usage in San Francisco
For the days leading up to the Big Game, Verizon customers Tweeted, emailed, Facebooked, Googled, Snapchatted, navigated and more to the tune of more than 30 terabytes of data.
From Super Bowl City presented by Verizon to the 50th Mile to the NFL Experience driven by Hyundai, fans with Verizon service were covered thanks to the added 4G LTE capacity through a network of small cells, macro cell sites and mobile cell sites. That investment will benefit customers living in and traveling to northern California well into the future.
Preparation underway for next year
The football season may be over, but preparations have been underway for more than a year for Super Bowl LI in Houston, and after that in Minneapolis, to ensure the championship network experience continues.
Super Bowl 50 by the numbers:
Total network data used over 9 days
- 68 terabytes (TB) or 68,800 gigabytes (GB)
Levi’s Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday
- 7 TB of data or 7,000 GB
- 35,000+ estimated unique devices
- Speed test example from lower bowl seats clocked at 120 megabytes per second (Mbps) on the download
- Fans’ favorite social app: Facebook at 12% of total usage
- Speed test example from tailgate clocked at 57.92 Mbps on the download
Game Day traffic spikes
- 15% at first quarter when Denver recovered fumble for touchdown
- 24% at Halftime show
- 22% when Carolina pulled within six points
Football fan faves in percent of usage
- 82% Video
- 62% Web-browsing
- 67% Social media sharing
- 96% Cloud
- 29% Music
- 44% Messaging
- 37% Email
- .97% Navigation
- 86% Other
Super Bowl City presented by Verizon
- 7 TB of data used or 7,000 GB
- Highest day Friday with 2.2 TB of data
- Access Zone speed test example 36.36 Mbps on the download
- Most used data application Facebook, followed by YouTube
50th Mile and the NFL Experience driven by Hyundai
- 23 TB of data used or 23,000 GB
- Biggest day Friday with 2 TB of usage
- Speed test example of 17.98 Mbps on the download, clocked while viewing Lombardi Trophy
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About Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) employs a diverse workforce of 177,700 and generated nearly $132 billion in 2015 revenues. Verizon operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with more than 112 million retail connections nationwide. Headquartered in New York, the company also provides communications and entertainment services over America’s most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide.
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