Super Bowl LIII: Fastest Network Results

Although Super Bowl 53 might not have been the highest-scoring game that we've seen, the same can't be said for the performance of the mobile network operators. Despite the 75,000 fans filling the Mercedes Benz stadium, and hundreds of thousands who flooded the city of Atlanta, all four operators managed to keep their heads above water. 

Verizon was the overall winner, delivering the fastest download speeds, both during the game itself, and over all of Super Bowl day. Verizon's average download speed during the game was 38.2 Mbps, which was actually slightly higher than the overall average for the 24 hours leading up to the event. During the game, AT&T was in second place for download speed, with an average of 18.6 Mbps. Sprint was in third, with 14.3 Mbps, while T-Mobile came in fourth place with an average download speed of 12.0 Mbps. 

Average download speed during Super Bowl game

Verizon AT&T Sprint T-Mobile
38.2 Mbps 18.6 Mbps 14.3 Mbps 12.0 Mbps

Download speed doesn't tell the whole picture, however. As well as monitoring the underlying network quality measurements (download speed, upload speed, latency, and signal strength), Tutela also calculated the consistent quality score for all four operators, Tutela's measure for whether a wireless connection is good enough for users to use demanding apps like HD video calling, video-focused social networking (like Snapchat), or stream HD replays of the action. 

For all of Sunday, Verizon had the best consistent quality of any operator, at an average of 96.8%. To put that in perspective, it means that 48 times out of 50, a Verizon user could stream HD video or place a FaceTime call in the stadium, over LTE, without experiencing any buffering or delay. 

Despite its last-place finish for download speed, T-Mobile was in second place for consistent quality, with an average score of 82.8%. Sprint was just a whisker behind, at 81.1%, while AT&T was in last place on consistent quality at 71.0%.

For the full breakdown of how all four operators performed in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, as well as during the big game itself, you can dig into the live dashboard that Tutela created for the event. 

 

 



Subscribe to our latest insights

Access Tutela Insights to view our complimentary reports in full and subscribe below to get our latest insights in your inbox each week.

Discover all reports and analysis with Tutela Insights

Tutela Insights is our exclusive online portal which hosts all of our complimentary and premium reports and data products.
  • Reports showing mobile network quality split by country
  • Powerful tools to analyse and drill-down into our data
  • Raw data with direct database access and data extracts