Summary
Verizon is providing network services for the 2026 NFL season, connecting officials and coaches during games and supporting fan connectivity in stadiums. The company describes its networks as the technological foundation of the league’s gameday operations, placing wireless connectivity at the center of on-field decisions and spectator activity.
Verizon has been an official NFL partner since 2010 and supplies several of the league’s gameday solutions. Data demand has risen sharply, with Verizon customers using 120.7 terabytes across 15 U.S. games during NFL Kickoff Weekend, an increase of nearly 140 percent from the 2024 Kickoff Weekend.
Since the start of the 2025 season, five officials per game have worn league-issued connected watches powered by Verizon’s private wireless network. Integrated with live data tracking systems, the watches deliver real-time alerts for game and play clock, line-to-gain or first down virtual measurement results, and punt out-of-bounds location. The private network was first deployed across all 30 U.S. NFL stadiums in 2023 to secure coach-to-coach communications against stadium signal interference.
Since last season, Verizon upgraded networks in ten stadiums with 5G C-band and mmWave DRAN (Distributed Radio Access Network) technology, supplemented by Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS). At Caesars Superdome, the company added 509 DRAN mmWave radios, 155 C-Band radios, and high-power ball-shaped antennas overhead, while NRG Stadium received 45 hybrid DRAN nodes using micro-sectoring technology backed by dual 100 Gbps fiber links.
This season, Verizon is extending its ultra-reliable, low-latency private network footprint to nine international games in eight overseas venues through temporary private networks. Verizon also completed C-Band additions and network expansions at Northwest Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, Reliant Stadium, Acrisure Stadium, and Lumen Field.
“Whether it’s giving fans the power to share the big moments from their seats or delivering instant, mission-critical connectivity to coaches on the field, our network evolution is transforming every aspect of the game,” said Joe Russo, EVP and President of Global Networks and Technology at Verizon. Verizon described ongoing testing and exploration of new innovations with the NFL over the private network.
Our summary. The original keeps its own byline.