It’s that time of year again when the world turns its attention to the Super Bowl. People will gather in their living rooms to watch the game, cheer on their favorite teams and ogle the infamous halftime show.
Despite some controversies, the NFL’s popularity continues to surge. This is a big reason why the Super Bowl has become one of the most-watched TV events in America.
113 Million Viewers
Super Bowl XVII attracted a total audience of 113 million across traditional television (Fox and Fox Deportes) and streaming platforms, the highest number for the game since 2017 and a slight improvement from last year’s 112.3 million average. Among those viewers, 106 million watched the main broadcast on Fox and the Spanish-language feed on Fox Deportes, while the remainder streamed through Fox’s NFL digital properties.
It was also a successful night for Rihanna, who performed a halftime show that garnered an average of 118 million viewers across TV and digital channels. The Apple Music event was the second most-watched Halftime Show in Super Bowl history, behind only 2021’s performance featuring Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.
The game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles was an action-packed thriller with a thrilling ending. The game was a rematch of the 2018 AFC championship game between these two teams, which saw Philadelphia rally to win 38-35 over Kansas City.
According to preliminary numbers released Monday, the game averaged a 52.0 rating and 87 share, which are the ratings that represent a percentage of households watching the program. The top 10 markets were Kansas City, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Norfolk, Charlotte and Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, the Pepsi Halftime Show drew a total of 103.4 million viewers, which was an increase over the 99.2 million that watched the 2021 Super Bowl, when The Weeknd was onstage. That figure is based on time zone-adjusted fast national measurements from Nielsen, as well as Adobe Analytics.
Moreover, the NFL reported that 7 million streams — the highest ever for a Super Bowl — came from its digital channel. That represents an 18% increase over last year’s average of 6 million and double the 3.4 million figures it averaged in 2020.
Ultimately, the numbers indicate that the NFL is still attracting record audiences, despite the ongoing backlash over the gruesome injuries involved in football. The biggest factor is the level of competition in each game. If it’s a close one, viewership will likely spike. However, if it’s a blowout, it will decline.
113 Million Streaming Viewers
The Super Bowl is a beloved tradition in America, and it attracts millions of people each year. The game is broadcast on Fox and other networks, as well as on streaming services like Netflix, YouTube TV and others.
In 2023, the Super Bowl drew an average of 113 million viewers, per Nielsen fast national numbers. This was the second highest number for the event in five years, behind only last year’s Los Angeles Rams-Kansas City Chiefs game (112.3 million).
While the numbers are incredibly high, it is important to note that these figures do not include viewership on streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime and Fubo TV. In fact, this year’s Super Bowl drew a smaller audience than Fox’s last Super Bowl in 2020, which pulled in 113.4 million people on linear.
This year’s Super Bowl was a classic, back-and-forth contest with a narrow margin of victory for the Kansas City Chiefs, who fought hard to beat Philadelphia by a score of 38-35. The Chiefs, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, are considered one of the most exciting teams in the NFL and typically pull in huge ratings.
According to Fox, the Super Bowl drew an estimated 113 million people across the live broadcast and on streaming services such as YouTube TV, Fox Deportes and other digital properties. This was a massive number, and it was even more impressive when considering that the Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show starring Rihanna drew an average of 118.7 million viewers, making it the most watched Super Bowl halftime show in history.
Streaming is quickly becoming more and more popular, and the Super Bowl proved that once again. The digital feed for the event drew an average of 7 million streams, according to Adobe Analytics, up 18% from last year and 103% over FOX’s last Super Bowl stream in 2020.
It is a testament to how much people enjoy watching live sports that the Super Bowl still draws huge crowds. The ad market for Super Bowl Sunday is also booming, with Grease-themed Tubi ads and Rakuten’s re-creation of Clueless being just two of the most recent examples.
118 Million Total Viewers
Despite some backlash against the NFL due to gruesome injuries and controversial protests by football players, there are still many Americans who tune in to watch the Super Bowl every year. This year, the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles drew an estimated 118 million viewers across both TV and digital platforms.
During the game, Fox broadcast the Super Bowl in its entirety, with the help of a Spanish-language feed on Fox Deportes. Viewers also streamed the game on Fox and NFL digital platforms.
The 118 million viewership is an improvement over last year’s Super Bowl LVI and a six-year high for the event. However, it is still a significant drop from the 114.4 million audience that watched the game in 2015 between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
There are a few factors that may have contributed to the decrease in viewership. One is the rise of streaming. Another is the infamous kneeling protest by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
While some people have questioned the ethics of watching the NFL, a recent study found that the average American logged 100 hours of football over the course of the regular season. It seems that the sport is still very popular amongst America’s population and will continue to grow.
In fact, a recent report showed that sports betting revenue is on the rise. According to the GeoComply report, online sports bets rose 25% over the past four days compared to the same period in 2021.
As far as the actual game itself goes, it was a close matchup that had plenty of twists and turns. In the end, it was the Kansas City Chiefs who won the game 38-35.
It was a great game to watch, and it has already been ranked as the third-most watched TV show of all time. During the game, there were many memorable moments including the National Anthem performance, the halftime show and even the game itself.
While the Super Bowl has lost some of its popularity, it still remains the most watched sporting event in the world and continues to attract record-breaking numbers. The game is expected to draw a record-breaking audience in 2023, and if it does, it will mark the third year in a row that a Super Bowl has been watched by more than 100 million people.
118 Million Total Streaming Viewers
While sports fans still love to watch their favorite teams on TV, more and more people are turning to streaming platforms like Netflix to watch the games. eMarketer predicts that in 2025 one-third of the population will be streaming live sports on digital devices.
This is why the Super Bowl is expected to break the 100 million viewer mark for the first time in about half a decade, according to the NFL. It’s also the reason why it’s so important to have the right marketing strategy in place to reach this growing audience.
Luckily, the NFL knows how to get people watching this year’s Super Bowl, and the broadcast has a lot going for it. For starters, the game was streamed on Fox, a number of Spanish-language feeds and digital platforms like the NFL’s own NFL+.
And as a bonus, the NFL also got a massive boost from a halftime performance by global pop star Rihanna. She’s not a new name to the game, but she’s a huge fan favorite who regularly hits the top spots in music charts worldwide.
That’s what makes her a perfect fit for the Super Bowl. As Mulvihill points out, the performance is a big draw for casual viewers that don’t normally watch the NFL during the regular season.
The NFL and NBC are hoping that this will help them hit a record audience for the Super Bowl. They’re expecting 112 million total viewers on both traditional and digital platforms.
This is a major increase from last year’s Super Bowl, which attracted an average of 101 million viewers on NBC and a variety of streaming services. But it’s still below the Super Bowl LVII tally of 112.3 million, which was compiled by Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.
It’s hard to tell how much of that is a result of the broadcast, as NBC hasn’t released its household ratings yet, but it appears that a large portion of that number came from viewers who watched the game on a wide range of platforms. For instance, the Fox Sports app, which up-converted Ultra HD 4K streams for free, and the NFL’s own streaming apps both reported a substantial share of those viewings.
