(Credit: Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
If you’re at the Super Bowl this Sunday, you may have an edge on 5G speed if you use Verizon.
A new report from Ookla finds that all three major US carriers have seen significant increases in median download and upload speeds at major stadiums over the last six months. Verizon beats AT&T and T-Mobile in Ookla's testing at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Verizon almost doubled the median download speed of its closest competitors, at 1,464.38Mbps. AT&T came in second at 796.61Mbps, while T-Mobile was third at 768.01Mbps.
In terms of upload speed, it was a similar story: Verizon was out front at 244.06Mbps, T-Mobile at 101.04Mbps, and AT&T in third at 76.71Mbps. Latency results also showed Verizon winning with 17 milliseconds, compared with AT&T at 24 milliseconds and T-Mobile at 34 milliseconds.
Ookla suggests that the discrepancy can be explained by a 10-year deal Verizon signed with the NFL in 2021 to equip stadiums across the US with 5G tech, meaning many customers experience better speeds inside stadiums than outside. Ookla points to data from the last six months of 2025, which found nearby San Jose, California, showed customers averaging 167.57Mbps across all three carriers.
These results are also a step up from last year’s Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. Ookla found that Verizon won there with a result of 1190.53Mbps, while AT&T came in at 683.13Mbps, and T-Mobile at 562.95Mbps. These results were during the game, so we may see changes in speed on Sunday, when 65,000 fans arrive to watch.
Super Bowl LX is set for this Sunday, Feb. 8, between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. The halftime show is set to be performed by Bad Bunny, and you’ll see various tech companies' ads during the commercial breaks, including Anthropic’s new Claude campaign.
Disclosure: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag’s parent company.