Verizon launches 5G in basketball arenas

Madison Square Garden, Chase Center, Pepsi Center and Talking Stick Resort Arena are getting 5G.

Corinne Reichert Senior Writer

Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently oversees the CNET breaking news desk for the West Coast. Corinne covers everything from phones, social media and security to movies, politics, 5G and pop culture. In her spare time, she watches soccer games, F1 races and Disney movies.

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Corinne Reichert

Oct. 18, 2019 1:43 p.m. PT

2 min read

5g-2 — Four basketball and hockey arenas are getting 5G from Verizon.
Angela Lang/CNET

Verizon has set its 5G network live in basketball and hockey arenas across the nation, the carrier announced Friday. The high-speed network is now available in Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Chase Center in San Francisco and Pepsi Center Denver, and will be live soon in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

5G, already launched in some parts of the US by Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, is being tapped by smartphones to provide faster speeds and more capacity. Verizon in August announced the expansion of its 5G network to Atlanta, Detroit, Indianapolis and Washington, DC, in addition to already being live in Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Providence.

Now, Verizon says its 5G network will also be live at 10 arenas by the end of the 2019-20 season.

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"Having this next-generation technology in large venues like arenas should not only enhance the game-day experience for sports fans, but provide greater bandwidth for concert-goers, visitors or businesses working inside the venue," said Heidi Hemmer, VP of Technology at Verizon.

The launch follows Verizon setting 5G live at 13 football stadiums last month in time for the beginning of the 2019-20 NFL season.

Football stadiums that have 5G from Verizon include Gillette Stadium (New England Patriots), MetLife Stadium (New York Giants and New York Jets), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Dolphins), Broncos Stadium at Mile High (Denver Broncos), CenturyLink Field (Seattle Seahawks), Soldier Field (Chicago Bears), U.S. Bank Stadium (Minnesota Vikings), Bank of America Stadium (Carolina Panthers), Ford Field (Detroit Lions), Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis Colts), M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore Ravens) and NRG Stadium (Houston Texans).