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And while MK Dons may only play football in the third tier of English football, the club reigns supreme when it comes to broadband speed, boasting the fastest connectivity speeds of the entire football league. “The Dons’ home ground, Stadium MK, sits within an area that has a broadband connection more than 14 times faster the second richest club in the world, Manchester United,” Gradwell said. “MK’s connection is also twice that of nearest rival in the rankings, Oxford United, and over eight times the football league average.” MK was followed by Grimsby and then Oxford United in third place. Gradwell’s study also found that the average combined internet speed for Premier League clubs is 16.2, with League One – thanks to MK Dons – being the fastest division with an average speed of 28.2. Nick Thompson, CEO of Gradwell Communications, said: “It’s shocking to see Premier League stadiums perform so poorly in respects of broadband connections. Goliaths like Arsenal and Manchester United are some way behind the likes of Morecambe and Grimsby. Our findings show that while BT is spending billions on the rights to broadcast, it is still spending pennies on the broadband infrastructure around football stadiums. “Most football stadia are situated very close to homes so it’s even more troubling to see that the broadband speeds in and around some of the biggest clubs, not only in the UK, but the world are more like Conference North standard than Champions League.” Image: ShutterstockThis article is part of our Real Business Broadband campaign, which seeks to provide a mouthpiece for business leaders to vocalise the broadband issues preventing their businesses from reaching full potential. We’d love to hear your take on the debate and where you think the UK needs to make drastic changes. Get in touch via email (shane.schutte@realbusiness.co.uk) or join in on the action using #rbBroadband.
By Shané SchutteShare this story