Despite the game being a blowout, Sunday night’s Super Bowl averaged a record 127.7 million U.S. viewers across television and streaming platforms for Philadelphia’s 40-22 victory over Kansas City.
The game was televised by Fox, Fox Deportes and Telemundo and streamed on Tubi as well as the NFL’s digital platforms.
Not only is it a 3% increase from last year, it is the second straight year the Super Bowl has reached a record audience. The Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime victory over San Francisco in 2024 averaged 123.7 million on CBS, Nickelodeon, Univision and streaming platforms.
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According to Nielsen, the audience peaked at 137.7 million in the second quarter (8-8:15 p.m. EST).
Some of the increase can be attributed to a change in the way viewers are counted. This is the first year Nielsen is measuring out-of-home viewers for all states but Hawaii and Alaska.
It was previously the top 44 media markets, which covered 65% of the country.
The ratings also include Nielsen data from smart TVs along with cable and satellite set-top boxes.
After three straight years of Super Bowls that came down to the final minute, Sunday’s game was decided in the first half as Philadelphia built a 24-0 lead.
According to Tubi first party and Adobe Analytics, 14.5 million watched on streaming platforms, including 13.6 million on Tubi, where the game was available for free.
Telemundo and Fox Deportes averaged 1.87 million viewers for the Spanish-language broadcast. The Super Bowl has been televised in Spanish in the United States since 2014.
Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance averaged 133.5 million — the most-watched Super Bowl halftime on record and a 3% increase from Usher’s last year (129.3 million).
This Super Bowl also had Donald Trump and Taylor Swift in attendance.
Trump was the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl, while Swift’s romance with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce continues to keep the pop superstar’s fans interested in the NFL.
It was the third straight year the Super Bowl averaged more than 100 million viewers on television after a period where four of the five games before 2023 had fallen short of that number because of cord-cutting. That included 95.2 million for the 2021 Super Bowl between Tampa Bay and Kansas City, which was the game’s lowest TV-only average since 2007.
The NFL playoffs averaged 35.2 million viewers the first three weekends, down 9% from last year’s record of 38.5 million.
That followed a regular season that averaged 17.5 million. While that was the sixth-highest average dating to 1995, it was a 2% decline from 2023.