For those of us old enough to remember the first Super Bowl on grainy black-and-white, very small TVs with less than optimum sound or those who went to games not having to worry about drones flying all over the field or obnoxious fans putting smartphones in their faces, a sample of data from Charlotte captures just how sports is being transformed as an experience.

Even if you aren’t there, you can become part of the social crowd – and fans in the seats are making sure you can share.

Here’s a snapshot of just how wildly popular social media is becoming at the NFL and beyond:

Cam Newton and the NFC Panthers generated a record buzz in championship game.

Yes, Cam’s enthusiasm is infectious. And fans want to share their own.

According to AT&T, excited Panther fans celebrated almost as much as the football-giving, high-jumping Newton and company rolled over the Arizona Cardinals.

Statistics show that fans in Charlotte used 739 gigabits of data alone on AT&T’s mobile network.

“That’s the most ever on our network at the [Charlotte] stadium,” AT&T’s Josh Gelinas tells The Skinny.

He breaks down the data this way. The 739 GBs equals:

  • 2.1 MILLION selfies
  • Data was up 16 percent from the previous week’s game against Seattle

And talk about playoff excitement – the total was 50 percent higher than the average recorded during Panther home games in the regular season.

This is proof ot how much smartphones (and tablets) have transformed the fans’ experiences at all types of events.

These devices have become THE WAY to turn games, concerts and much more into truly immersive experiences.

Tweets, Facebook posts and the rest of social media – fans are saying: Bring it on. We’re having fun – and we want everyone in our circle of friends, family and beyond to know all about it.

Just imagine the network traffic that will be generated this Sunday.