Record-breaker at Gillette Stadium: the highest recorded Wi-Fi usage during a regular season game, and overall one of the most engaged regular season games.

The 2017 NFL season is underway, marking the third year of Extreme Networks’ designation as the Official Wi-Fi Provider of the NFL, as well as its fifth year delivering Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi analytics to the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium.

Since 2012, the Patriots have had record-breaking accomplishments on the field – from the most touchdowns by one player, to the most Super Bowl victories of any head coach and quarterback in NFL history. In Week 1 of the 2017 season, Patriots fans contributed to another record-breaker: the highest recorded Wi-Fi usage during a regular season game at Gillette Stadium to date, and overall one of the most engaged regular season games the NFL has seen from a mobile perspective.

[Courtesy of the New England Patriots/Eric J. Adler]

ExtremeAnalytics reported 33,909 concurrent Wi-Fi users connected to the network, with the peak number of unique users reaching 41,377. This means 63% of fans who attended the game connected to the stadium’s Wi-Fi. Furthermore, peak throughput hit 11.1 Gbps! These usage statistics are not only record breakers for Gillette Stadium, but impressive metrics for any in-venue Wi-Fi network. 

Since it’s just the start of the 2017 NFL season, we’re looking forward to seeing how fan engagement ebbs and flows throughout the regular season and playoffs.

Here are key facts around Wi-Fi usage at the Patriots vs. Chiefs game on Sept. 7:

• Unique Users:  41,377
• Peak Connected Users: 33,909
• Peak Throughput: 11.1 Gbps
• Total Data Transferred: 8.08 TB

For more information on Extreme Networks’ partnership with the Patriots, check out the panel discussion we hosted with the Patriots tech leaders as well as our e-book on mobile connectivity, in-venue technologies, and the fan experience at Gillette Stadium.