Super Bowl Watching Reached a Record High of 123.4 Million People

With an average viewership of 123.4 million, the Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl on February 11 drew the largest audience for a single telecast in television history.

Of those, 112 million watched the CBS broadcast, making it the biggest audience ever for a single network. The remaining ones were evaluated on NFL digital domains, such as NFL+, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, and CBS Sports. The Super Bowl was streamed more than any other Sunday thanks to record-breaking viewing on Paramount+, according to Paramount Global. However, precise streaming view statistics are not yet available.

The Chiefs and Eagles Super Bowl match from the previous year was the biggest televised in history prior to today. After the Super Bowls in 2015 and 2017, which drew in 114.4 million and 113.7 million people, respectively, it was first listed as the third most viewed event. However, errors in Nielsen’s measurement were later discovered, resulting in a record-breaking 115.1 million viewers instead of the original 113 million. The game on Sunday increased that figure by 7%.

The average number of viewers at any given time throughout each game is represented by these figures, which combine data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. However, Nielsen estimates that 202.4 million people saw some part of the program, up 10% from 184 million viewers the previous year.

Besides the sport, the music and the advertisements, there was one more potential viewership draw: Taylor Swift. Swift’s connection with Chiefs player Travis Kelce and her presence at his games have been the subject of a months-long media frenzy. While some data points to a possible increase in NFL ratings due to Swift’s attendance, other data points are less apparent. (Flash poll results from Consumer Research Firm Numerator revealed that 20% of Super Bowl viewers were supporting the Chiefs due of Swift.) Whatever the case, Swift’s arrival to the arena with Blake Lively and Ice Spice, as well as her celebration of the Chiefs’ victory by kissing Kelce, had millions of fans glued to their televisions.