Super Bowl Draws Near-Record 113 Million Viewers—Just Shy Of Fox’s Lofty Expectations

Topline

Sunday’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles was the third most-watched Super Bowl ever, as the NFL continues to attract record audiences and the league weathers continued backlash over the often gruesome injuries accompanying football.

More than 100 million Americans watched Patrick Mahomes, center, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the … [+] Philadelphia Eagles.

Getty Images

Key Facts

Roughly 107 million Americans watched Fox’s linear television broadcast, according to preliminary Nielsen Media data provided by the network, and another six million viewers tuned into streaming platforms.

The 113 million total audience tops the 112 million Americans who watched last year’s super bowl but falls short of 2015’s record audience of 114.4 million.

Rihanna’s halftime show averaged 118.7 million viewers, per Fox, a 15% from the 103.4 million average audience for the 2022 halftime show featuring Dr. Dre.

Nielsen will release final viewership data Tuesday.

Surprising Fact

Advertisers shelled out a record $7 million for each 30-minute commercial spot during Super Bowl LVII even after the amount of viewers per advertising dollar spent hit an all-time low in 2022, according to an inflation-adjusted analysis jointly conducted by Forbes, Nielsen and Kantar Group.

Key Background

Fox Sports’ head of strategy and analytics Michael Mulvihill predicted last week the game would set the all-time audience record. The record Super Bowl ratings follow a strong regular season for the NFL on the small screen: Audiences for CBS, Fox and NBC each hit multi-year highs this season, while ESPN dipped slightly from 2021. The NFL remains by far the most valuable property in American television, accounting for 82 of the nation’s 100 most-watched broadcasts in 2022.

Tangent

Viewers have not shied away from the NFL despite a pair of horrific on-field injuries during primetime broadcasts. Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion on Thursday Night Football and Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest each sparked numerous think pieces about the ethics of watching football, but Americans continue to eagerly watch the sport.

Big Number

100 million. That’s how many online sports bets were tracked by location authenticating firm GeoComply over Super Bowl weekend, a 25% increase from the same period last year.