Cleveland wins the World Series… of mobile speed
Cubs fans rejoiced early Thursday morning when Cleveland’s final play landed in Anthony Rizzo’s glove and ended the 108-year curse of the goat. But they might not realize that all of their celebratory tweets, selfies and phone calls may have been interminably delayed if that game had taken place in Chicago.
That’s because Speedtest data shows the one contest Cleveland did win this past week was the battle for the fastest mobile internet speeds.
While neither ball field had amazing speeds (something that won’t surprise you if you’ve tried to connect to the internet at any crowded event), fans at games held in Cleveland were treated to an average download speed nearly twice as fast as those at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
What’s interesting about results from World Series games is that the average upload speed at Cleveland’s Progressive Field is even faster than the average download speed — something that’s rarely true on mobile networks. Meanwhile, Wrigley Field’s average upload speed was only slightly faster than that in Yan Gomes’s native Brazil. Fans connecting on T-Mobile had a clear advantage in upload speed at both fields, while those using AT&T experienced the slowest connections overall.
For reference, average mobile download speed in the U.S. was 19.61 Mbps in Q1-Q2 2016. Average upload speed was 7.94 Mbps. Chicago’s average download speed was 18.14 Mbps and average upload was 9.56 Mbps, while Cleveland’s average speeds were 20.73 Mbps for downloads and 8.97 Mbps for uploads. That means the download speed at Wrigley Field was less than half Chicago’s average, while the download speed Progressive Field was a little slower than Cleveland’s overall. The Progressive Field upload speed was 75% higher than Cleveland’s average.
Test stats
Cleveland also triumphed in overall tests taken with 333 Speedtest results at Progressive Field and only 75 at Wrigley. You might also notice the lack of results from Sprint customers at Wrigley. Rapt attention or failure to connect, we decline to speculate. But we can only share the stats we have.
So if you want to help prove your home field, stadium, rink, or court is the faster than your rival’s, download our app for Android or iOS and take a Speedtest at the next game. Tweet your result at us with #Crowdspeed or watch Medium for our next analysis.
Victory Parade
Fear not faithful Cubs fans, your mobile speeds at Grant Park during Friday’s victory celebration, though slow, were pretty impressive for the seventh largest gathering in human history. The average upload speed was 5.88 Mbps and the average download was 3.42 Mbps.
While those speeds might frustrate a U.S. mobile user on any random day, you were probably so immersed in the glory of your historic victory that you didn’t even notice. We can tell, because only 34 tests were taken.
Congratulations to Cubs fans on winning the real World Series and to Cleveland fans for winning the World Series of internet speeds! If you want to capture the title of fastest sports venue in America next year for your team, be sure to take a Speedtest at the home games. Between plays and celebratory tweets, of course.
