Super Bowl LVII had already smashed all kinds of records by the time the game was over. But now, it’s got another one to add to its list of accomplishments. According to updated figures from Nielsen, the audience for the big game has been revised upward from 113 million to 115.1 million, making it the most-watched Super Bowl ever.
The revision comes after Nielsen conducted a review that exposed “irregularities in the encoding,” as reported by Michael McCarthy of FrontOfficeSports.com.
Patrick Mahomes celebrates Super Bowl victory at Disneyland with his wife and children
It was discovered that a portion of the audience had accidentally been assigned to NFL Network, along with some out-of-home figures that had not been properly accounted for. These issues combined to add another million viewers to the official count.
Prior to this year’s Super Bowl, the record for most-watched edition of the game belonged to Super Bowl XLIX, which drew 114.4 million viewers to NBC for the matchup between the Patriots and Seahawks. However, with this latest revision, Super Bowl LVII now holds the crown as the most-watched Super Bowl of all time.
The past four Super Bowls, from Super Bowl LI through Super Bowl LVI, had all fallen below the 110 million viewer mark, with a low point of 99.67 million for Super Bowl LV. However, the numbers rebounded in a big way this year, with an audience of 112.3 million tuning in to watch the Rams take on the Bengals.
NFL championship game is the most-watched annual TV event
The Super Bowl has long been the most-watched annual TV event, by far, with nothing else even coming close to its viewership numbers. As Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal notes, it underscores the power of the NFL to do something that no other event can: bring together a live audience in the same place at the same time.
The continued growth in viewership for the Super Bowl is a testament to the popularity and enduring appeal of football in the United States. As long as there are passionate fans who are eager to watch the biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl is likely to continue breaking records and drawing massive audiences for years to come.
