Once again, the NFL’s big game did not disappoint when it comes to setting Wi-Fi usage records, with 31.2 terabytes of Wi-Fi data used at SoFi Stadium during Super Bowl LVI, according to statistics released by Extreme Networks.
The new “official” high-water mark tops the previous biggest number we’ve ever seen, the 26.42 TB seen at Super Bowl 54 on Feb 2, 2020. That the NFL’s biggest event set a new record at the Inglewood, Calif.-located SoFi Stadium was not a surprise, as the well-connected venue has seen Super Bowl-like Wi-Fi usage numbers this past fall and winter, including one “unofficial” reading of 32-plus TB at a concert.
Super Bowl LVI also set a record for the highest percentage of unique device connections with 57,618, which out of the 70,048 in attendance made for a “take rate” of 82 percent. Previous high “take rates” seen include 71.5 percent at Ohio State’s Ohio Stadium on Oct. 5, 2019 (where overall Wi-Fi data used was 25.6 TB) and 71 percent at Super Bowl 54.
One area where this year’s Super Bowl did not show an increase in Wi-Fi usage was the average data used, which this year was 541 megabytes per connected device. Super Bowl LIV in Miami still holds the top mark for that measurement, with 595.6 MB per device. Even at last year’s big game, Super Bowl LV in Tampa, had a higher per-device number, 587.8 MB, even though overall Wi-Fi numbers last year were down due to the reduced capacity due to Covid restrictions. Though we have no official confirmation from any source, it’s possible that the 5G blitz by wireless carriers at SoFi Stadium that produced record cellular numbers from the game might have taken away from the Wi-Fi usage.
The peak concurrent connections at Super Bowl LVI were 34,337, a 49 percent concurrent take rate, again besting the Ohio State day (45,200 peak concurrent connections, a 43 percent concurrent take rate) and Super Bowl LIV (24,837 devices, a 40 percent concurrent take rate). This year’s game also set a new high mark for peak throughput, at 20.7 Gbps, almost double the peak throughput of 10.4 Gbps seen at Super Bowl LIV.
Led by Skarpi Hedinsson, Chief Technology Officer, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, and Master Technology Integrator, AmpThink, the SoFi Stadium Wi-Fi network is the biggest stadium Wi-Fi network AmpThink has built with 2,521 APs. The Cisco-supplied Wi-Fi 6 network uses an under-seat deployment in the main bowl, with traditional overhead antennas in other locations. Official Super Bowl Wi-Fi usage numbers are supplied by Extreme Networks, under Extreme’s deal with the NFL as its Official Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi analytics provider.
