December 4 marked a historic peak in internet traffic driven by live football streaming events
Manchester: On December 4, the internet saw its busiest day ever, all thanks to football streaming. Zen Internet reported that traffic peaked 17% higher than the previous record set in 2023. It was a wild night, with usage hitting 10% above what’s typical for December evenings.
This surge coincided with Amazon Prime’s live coverage of the Premier League, featuring the exciting match between Arsenal and Manchester United. Interestingly, Zen’s previous peak was also during a football match on September 17, when AC Milan faced Liverpool. Plus, Fortnite had a big update that day, which might have added to the traffic.
Looking back at October, the highest traffic spike happened on a Champions League night, too. Arsenal’s game against Paris St. Germain pushed traffic up by nearly 12% compared to the day before.
Zen’s CEO, Richard Tang, pointed out that the popularity of Amazon’s live football broadcasts is clear. They attract way more viewers than traditional pay-per-view options, showing just how much people love watching live sports.
Interestingly, even with England reaching the finals of the European Championships this summer, it didn’t really affect Zen’s network stats. It seems folks still prefer watching football on regular TV when they can, even with streaming available.
Other events also caused spikes in traffic. For instance, on November 2, daytime traffic jumped over 20% due to floods in Valencia and Kemi Badenoch’s election news. And on July 9, traffic surged after distressing updates from the Gaza conflict, showing how engaged people are with current events.
Looking ahead, Zen’s data for 2024 shows a shift away from gaming as the main traffic driver. Unlike previous years, there weren’t any big spikes linked to game launches, likely because of staggered release strategies.
Zen also noted a steady growth in internet traffic throughout the year, reflecting a global trend of increased usage. They even surpassed 200,000 broadband subscribers in April. December’s usage was up 6.4% from November, likely due to the longer nights and colder weather.
Tang concluded that live football streaming and major news events have clearly influenced their network peaks this year. But overall, the trend shows a steady increase in baseline usage. As a nation, we’re becoming more reliant on internet services, and Zen is ready for whatever 2025 has in store.
