Georgia Shows Football and Data Goes Together Like Tailgates and Touchdowns

Now almost a quarter of the way through the season, professional and college football games revealed that as the season marches on, so does the data demand for the mobile network from the gridiron. Below are the top performing venues from the past week as well as a few interesting trends we’ve noticed.

Two big games over the Sept. 20-22 weekend in Atlanta and Athens yielded some very big numbers – with football fans in Athens ranking fourth among collegiate venues in terms of data usage, logging an incredible 405GB of data – or the equivalent of 1.1 million social media posts with photos. Fans in Atlanta the very next day topped that mark, ranking third among professional sports venues with 471GB of data – or the equivalent of 1.3 million social media posts with photos.

Two games yielding the equivalent of almost 2.5 million social media posts/pictures – both ranking Atlanta and Athens among the top 5 venues in the nation. That’s a whole lotta selfies, football fans!

Regional Separation

• During week 4 of the college football season and week 3 of the pro season some geographic differences came to light.
  • In college, four of the five venues carrying the most traffic for the week were located east of the Mississippi River or in the Southeastern US.
  • Pro football was no different, with all five of the top venues located east of the Mississippi River and all five coming from only two of pro football’s eight divisions.
  • On average this week, pro and college venues located east of the Mississippi River did approximately 25% more data than their western counterparts.

Top 5 Collegiate Venues by Total Mobile Data (9/18-9/20)

• Fayetteville, AR – 669GB
  • Equivalent to more than 1.9 million social media posts with photos
• Tuscaloosa, AL – 591GB
  • Equivalent to nearly 1.7 million social media posts with photos
• Morgantown, WV – 460GB
  • Equivalent to more than 1.3 million social media posts with photos
• Athens, GA – 405GB
  • Equivalent to more than 1.1 million social media posts with photos
• Baton Rouge, LA – 376GB
  • Equivalent to more than 1.1 million social media posts with photos

Top 5 Professional Venues by Total Mobile Data (9/18-9/22)

• Miami – 1086GB
  • Equivalent to more than 3.1 million social media post with photos
• New Orleans – 576GB
  • Equivalent to more than 1.6 million social media post with photos
• Atlanta – 471GB
  • Equivalent to more than 1.3 million social media post with photos
• Buffalo – 386GB
  • Equivalent to more than 1.1 million social media post with photos
• New York – 379GB
  • Equivalent to more than 1.1 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 this past weekend for professional or college football.
• This data is compiled from only football stadiums that had home games during this selected timeframe where AT&T is on-air on a DAS.