Here's How Verizon Upgraded Its 5G Network Ahead Of the 2023 NFL Draft

The wireless carrier is setting out to fix slow or zero connectivity at major events.

While the Super Bowl might be the biggest sporting event of the year, some of the most important decisions that impact that game—as well as all the teams in the league—occur months earlier at NFL Draft.

For 2023, the teams along with 300,000 folks will descend around Kansas City, Missouri for the annual Draft. Specifically, they’ll be near Union Station where a massive stage is being erected. With the large crowds on top of the general population of the city all arriving, and additional activities like a mini fan fest, people need to stay connected.

While the base networks in the city from the likes of Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile offer stable connectivity, we toured the sites ahead of the 2023 Draft with Verizon. Why? Well, to see the network preparations that big red is taking along with how they’re boosting the network to ensure proper coverage.

After all, when your team gets their dream player, you’ll want to be able to share that moment without a dreaded long buffer or worse no connectivity. The good news is that Verizon’s network is quite impressive and we even tested speeds of nearly 4,000Mbps download.

Expanding the Already-There Verizon 5G Coverage

As with most cities in the United States, whether covered by the 5G Sub-6, mmWave, or C-Band networks, Verizon has Kansas City, MO already equipped with ample coverage. This includes 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks along with the fresher bands of 5G. If you have a newer iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Motorola, or Google Pixel smartphone, there is a good chance you can take advantage of the faster speeds.

The proper coverage ensures you’ll see mostly full bars on your respective device, but also lets you get more done. Things like FaceTiming or video calling with friends, posting on a social network like Instagram or TikTok, sending an important email, browsing the web, or even uploading the next viral video. A proper network ensures this connectivity, and a speedy one provides a great experience.

For instance, with the Galaxy S23 Ultra you can capture a 200-megapixel full size image and then share that sizable file without hesitation. Verizon’s 5G network gives you enough speed and has plenty of capacity to get that through.

Already in the area around Union Station, Verizon’s equipped and permanently installed 5G cell sites for mmWave, Sub-6, and C-Band. These are the three main flavors of 5G in the United States, and Verizon’s network. Here’s a quick cheat-sheet:

• Sub-6: This is nationwide 5G for many, and originally in the early days of the rollout. It delivers speeds similar to that of 4G LTE with increased capacity. Think about a three-lane highway versus a five-lane, there is more room for traffic to run through.
• mmWave: Remember the super speeds originally promised? mmWave originally delivered these. You just need to be in close distance to the cell site and have a direct sight line.
• C-Band: This band was key for Verizon and is part of the current nationwide rollout. It also ensures those much faster 5G speeds and plenty of capacity. It’s similar to mmWave, but you don’t need to be in direct line of sight with a cell tower.

These are all permanent upgrades to Kansas City, and furthermore Verizon also delivered some pretty major improvements at the airport. Through the rollout of a Distributed Antenna System throughout the International Airport, you can expect speeds while on the aircraft on the ground (when cellular usage is on the ground) as well as in the terminals. We experienced this first hand and it was impressive. For folks who like to work while traveling, you can also get a bit more mileage out of your hotspot versus the public airport Wi-Fi.

Typically for a major event, a carrier like Verizon would bring in additional, portable cell sites to boost the network. As the general population plus an additional 300,000 fans makes for a lot of network demand. Given the sheer quality of the network already there, it enabled Verizon to bring in less of this extra equipment.

There is still a good amount though and it will directly cover the area of the NFL Draft. Right across the street from the stage, you’ll find two white “Matsing Balls” with a Verizon and 5G logo on them. They’re sitting on top of a scissor lift which gives them enough height to cast the network. The larger ball, as pictured above, is a 4G LTE booster — providing more capacity and bandwidth for connected devices. The smaller white matsing ball will produce 5G.

You’ll also find a portable tower with rectangular white antennas. As we saw at State Farm Stadium in Arizona for the Super Bowl, Verizon deployed these to boost the 5G mmWave network. These, when your phone is connected, will provide exceptionally fast speeds.

With 4G you’d generally be hard pressed to get over a few hundred down, with 5G mmWave (or C-Band) you can pull upwards of 4,000Mbps down with a few hundred on upload. This means you could download every main Star Wars film in just minutes, browse the internet without a stutter, and get an experience that can likely rival your home internet.

All of this is done in the immediate space around the stage, but further up on the Liberty Memorial, you can expect a majority of the crowd to be partaking in activities and watching the NFL Draft. To support what will likely be a larger portion of the crowd, Verizon installed a temporary tower to boost 5G coverage for everyone on the large field. This tall silver pole took about six days to install and stayed up for the duration of the NFL draft. It’s providing increased capacity and plenty of speed to ensure phones can stay connected.

Additionally, further up the hill there are a few COWS (cell on wheels) along with a COLT (Cell on Light Truck). These can provide backhaul if the physical backbone for the network falls, aka why you’ll see a satellite dish on the truck. In our tests near this truck on an iPhone we scored 3950-Mbps down and 153-Mbps up. That is seriously impressive.

All of this is to increase capacity, but in comparison to years past Verizon had to bring less equipment out. That’s a testament to the power of the network already permanently rolled out and Verizon’s expectation that it will continue to hold strong, as it has leading up to the NFL Draft.

Essentially, between the permanent upgrades and the additional network resources it brought, Verizon wants to fix what is sometimes the worst part of any live event or experience. You don’t want to be without connectivity, especially when your favorite player or when at a concert, your favorite song gets played. You want to be able to share anything you capture. And when the event wraps, you’ll want to be able to call an Uber, Lyft, or other ride share. This boosted network enables just that and is up to snuff in our testing. It’s also pretty wild to see the physical hardware that is needed to ensure this experience.

In terms of our favorite devices to take advantage of 5G and what that network enables you to-do, two come to mind. The latest smartphone from Samsung, the Galaxy S23 Ultra, gives you an expansive, vibrant display, a plethora of cameras to capture any shot, and stretches battery life seriously long. This way even when you're streaming content, uploading photos, or any other strenuous task it won’t cause a major drain.

If you’re camp iOS or iPhone, the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max supports the major standards of 5G for smooth connectivity—Verizon even has an unlimited plan that pairs it with some Apple exclusive features—with a bright display, a trio of cameras, and blazing fast performance.

Get Your NFL Draft Gear

Fanatics

Whether you’re on the ground in Kansas City or watching the Draft from the comfort of your home, you’ll want to be cheering for your team and rocking your respective gear. Fanatics are beating the Draft to the punch by letting you customize a jersey with your dream draft pick or even your own name. After all, if you’re a fan, you’re a fan for a while.

The customizable jerseys start at $129.99 and are officially Nike gear. If you want to spend a little less or maybe don’t want your draft pick in writing, they also have a full collection for every time of official draft gear. From 9Fifty New Era hats to shirts that let you show off your team pride.

Verizon customers can also take advantage of the “Up” Rewards program to enter to win some NFL experiences ahead of the draft and throughout the season. Additionally, select Verizon stories during the draft will be hosting some NFL player (and former player) meet and greets.

Prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of publishing.