Super Bowl Draws 113 Million Viewers, Capping Massive Playoffs Viewership For NFL

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If you've been following along, you know the NFL has been delivering massive audience after massive audience this postseason. The Super Bowl ratings continued that trend as over 110 million Americans tuned into the Big Game.

On Divisional Round Sunday, over 50 million tuned in to watch the San Francisco 49ers eliminate the Dallas Cowboys. The following Sunday, despite one terrible game and one controversial ending, the Conference Championships each pulled in over 50 million.

The AFC Championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals saw a peak of over 60 million.

But all of that was just a precursor for the world's biggest sporting event.

According to FOX Sports, an average of 113 million Americans tuned in to the Super Bowl this season. It was third most-watched TV program in US history and the most-watched Super Bowl in six years.

According to Forbes, the New England Patriots dramatic win over the Seattle Seahawks in 2015 is the most-watched Super Bowl ever (114 million viewers).

The game between the Eagles and Chiefs was a perfect recipe for a huge audience. There were two teams with excellent offenses who had no problem putting up points and a last-second victory.

Super Bowl ratings show the NFL is the absolute king of the American pop culture landscape.

Super Bowl halftime show delivers incredible ratings, too

The game wasn't the only thing bringing people to the TV. According to FOX's official release, the halftime show featuring Rihanna scored an incredible number on its own.

"The Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, starring Rihanna, drew an average of 118.7 million viewers across TV (FOX and FOX Deportes) and digital platforms (FOX and NFL properties)," the release states.

With streaming becoming more and more mainstream, the Super Bowl delivered on that front as well.

"Super Bowl LVII was the most-streamed Super Bowl in history, delivering an average of 7 million streams, up +18% over last year (vs. 6 million) and up +103% over FOX’s last Super Bowl stream in 2020 (vs. 3.4 million)," according to the release.

The NFL is king.

Unfortunately, we've got 205 days until it retakes its throne.

Not that I'm counting.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to Outkick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named “Brady” because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.