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Analyzing the Mobile Experience in MLB Stadiums

Robert Wyrzykowski and Rupert Bapty

The 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) season started on March 30th and will run through to the start of October, with each of the 30 teams (29 from the U.S. and Toronto Blue Jays from Canada) scheduled to play 162 games. Ahead of the new season, we have analyzed the mobile experience over all 29 U.S. stadiums, to see how ready the operators are to provide quality mobile services during baseball games.

Opensignal data shows that our T-Mobile users enjoy the fastest download speeds in MLB stadiums. However, Verizon dominates in 5G Video Experience and is unbeaten in overall Video Experience.

T-Mobile places highest for Download Speed Experience with its lightning-fast score of 113.5Mbps. This is almost double the speeds users see on AT&T and Verizon. T-Mobile shares first place for Upload Speed Experience with Verizon, tying with a score of 18.0-18.5Mbps. Users on all three carriers have a Good (58-68) overall Video Experience — users are, on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling. 

AT&T wins Availability outright with a score of 99.8%, beating the runner-up Verizon by 0.2 percentage points. T-Mobile is in third place with a score of 98.8%. These scores mean that, on average, our users spend at least 98.8% of their time with a 3G or better connection at the 29 U.S. baseball stadiums — however, as all three national U.S. operators shut down their 3G networks in 2022, in practice this means 4G or better signal. 

T-Mobile and Verizon are in a statistical tie for the highest score for Excellent Consistent Quality, with scores of 84.1-85.1%. This reflects the number of users’ tests that meet the minimum recommended performance thresholds for HD video, group video conference calls, and gaming. AT&T brings up the rear with a score of 83.2%. However, Verizon is the highest scorer for Core Consistent Quality, with a score of 94.5% — around 1.7 percentage points ahead of statistically tied AT&T and T-Mobile. These scores reflect the percentage of users’ tests in which the operator met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls, and web browsing.
 

 

Looking at the 5G mobile network experience at the 29 U.S. MLB stadiums, we see some similarities shared with the overall rankings. Our T-Mobile users enjoy the fastest 5G Download Speed, seeing average download speeds of 207.1Mbps — nearly double the speeds seen by users connecting with Verizon and over double AT&T users’ speeds. However, Verizon claims the top spot for 5G Upload Speed with a score of 30.6Mbps — beating T-Mobile by 4.7Mbps and AT&T by 11.3Mbps.

Our 5G users also connect to 5G services for the highest amount of time on T-Mobile's network. The carrier scores 67.1% which is over twice the time that our AT&T users spend with an active 5G connection, and a whopping 2.8 times Verizon’s score of 24.2%. This is a sizable uplift from the most recent national results, where the three carriers scored around 15 percentage points lower. 

Turning to the 5G Video Experience, our Verizon users have the best 5G Video Experience, with a score of 71.3 points on a 100-point scale. Verizon is the only carrier to achieve a Very Good (68-78) rating. This means our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling. Second-placed T-Mobile and third-placed AT&T — with scores of 67.9 points and 65.8 points, respectively — place one rating below, in Good (58-68). 

Opensignal also looked at the Excellent Consistent Quality across a selection of individual baseball stadiums. T-Mobile has the highest score of 89% at Coors Field in Denver — the home ballpark of Colorado Rockies — while Verizon takes the top spot at Yankee Stadium in NYC, with a score of 88.9%. Both operators are in a statistical tie at Truist Park in Atlanta, where the Atlanta Braves play their games, and at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Regardless of their carrier, our users observe no statistically significant difference in the consistency of their services when cheering for their teams at Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals) and Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs).

Opensignal has previously analyzed the mobile network experience of our smartphone users across NFL stadiums and NHL arenas. Similar to NFL stadiums, U.S. carriers have been investing in 5G infrastructure at MLB venues, like Verizon at the New York Mets’ Citi Field stadium or T-Mobile at the Yankee Stadium in NYC. T-Mobile also showcased 5G capabilities to provide a more personalized and immersive experience for baseball fans at last year’s MLB All-Star Week in Los Angeles — and in April 2023, the operator inked a partnership deal with MLB, becoming its Official Wireless Partner through 2028. Enabling seamless mobile connectivity that augments the user experience in high-traffic areas like sports stadiums is one of the key ways in which 5G technology can enhance live entertainment.