Remember back at the start of 2020, when we told you that 5G was coming to stadiums? Well that trend is fully underway now, highlighted this week by Verizon’s announcement that it had deployed its 5G ultra wideband services in 14 more NBA arenas, part of multi-year partnership agreements between Verizon and now 15 NBA teams. The NBA announcement follows news from earlier in May, when Verizon announced a deal with entertainment concern Oak View Group to bring 5G services to three OVG venues, including the yet-to-open venues of UBS Arena in New York and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Overall, Verizon said the total number of arenas and stadiums with 5G ultra wideband services is now more than 60, and we have heard and seen Verizon 5G deployments in some of the venues we’ve profiled, including Empower Field at Mile High, among others. It will be interesting to see what fans and teams can do with the low-latency services enabled by 5G as fans return to venues. At recent New Jersey Devils games at Prudential Center, Verizon has been testing using 5G to bring fans real-time player stats.
While 5G services have been showing up in arenas over the past few years, this year will probably be the first time they get significant usage as fans return in greater numbers and bring with them more devices that are 5G-enabled.
