Anyone who's ever covered a game at the Verizon Center can tell you that the wireless reception can be a bit, ahem, spotty. Indeed it is not uncommon to see beat writers wandering through the bowels of the arena thrusting their smartphones this way and that, trying desperately to get a signal. It's like watching hungry baby birds call for their mother, except a lot sadder.
The good people at Sports Business Journal have been asking staffers to attend various arena sporting events and rate their wireless experience. In their most recent issue, the Verizon Center got the treatment from John Ourand.
Arena wireless connectivity is rated as being "poor," "moderate," or "excellent" in seven different categories, including "ability to text," "upload a photo," and "use a team app." The Verizon Center rated "poor" in two categories (watch a video, upload a photo) and "moderate" in three others (ability to make calls, use an app, search the Web). We'll point out that this is one man's experience, and we've been to the Verizon Center many times when the wireless has worked perfectly fine. Still, we've heard plenty of griping over the years and this is just the latest example.