Smartphones are everywhere these days, keeping us connected to our favorite people as well as social networks, consuming large amounts of data in the process. Its usual to see spectators post updates to social networks, stream highlights, check stats or keep themselves occupied between plays at sporting events, and a lot of that is bound to happen on Super Bowl Sunday. To ensure that spectators stay connected to social media during one of the year’s biggest sporting events, the NFL has confirmed that it will block Super Bowl 2014 video streaming inside the MetLife Stadium, where the Denver Broncos take on the Seattle Seahawks. Both official video streaming sources, NFL.com and Fox Sports, will be blocked on Wi-Fi and cellular networks at the stadium.
The Super Bowl 2014 video streaming sources will be blocked in both mobile applications as well as web browsers, confirms NFL CIO Michelle McKenna-Doyle in a phone interview with Ars Technica. Last year, the NFL initially allowed spectators to stream video, but blocked it later on in the day due to bandwidth constraints. McKenna-Doyle said that 25,000 to 30,000 concurrent internet users can be handled across Wi-Fi and cellular networks in the 82,500 seat MetLife Stadium, without clarifying the speeds that users will experience. NFL has planned to give more priority to upload speeds, as attendees generally spend more time updating social media. In order to avoid network disruptions, all four major U.S. carriers have already upgraded their DAS or Distributed Antenna Systems.
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