Intrigue around the attendance of Taylor Swift, the second-ever end-of-season game to make it to overtime and rumors of a halftime appearance by Justin Bieber are expected to have driven viewership of the Kansas City Chiefs’ second consecutive Super Bowl victory into record-breaking territory, potentially overtaking last year’s big game as the most-watched Super Bowl ever and creeping toward the broadcast viewership record set by the 1969 moon landing.
Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs holds the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the San ... [+]
Super Bowl LVIII was set up for ratings success from the very beginning—with the Kansas City Chiefs defending their championship title against the San Francisco 49ers; Swift flying across the world to see her boyfriend Travis Kelce play following an Eras Tour performance in Japan; and Usher, widely known as being an early mentor to Bieber, performing a throwback set with Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Lil Jon.
The Wall Street Journal, Deadline and NBC News were among those to predict early that the Super Bowl broadcast on CBS, Nickelodeon and Paramount+ would be a contender to beat last year's record Super Bowl viewership of 115.1 million watchers, the second most-viewed American television program of all time.
Super Bowls make up eight of the 10 most-watched broadcast programs in history, according to Deadline—the 10th most-watched was President Richard Nixon’s resignation speech broadcast from the Oval Office in 1974 and the most-watched program of all time was the Apollo 11 moon landing, which stands far and above its competitors with 150 million viewers.
Last year's "Kelce Bowl" matchup between the Eagles and Chiefs was the most-watched Super Bowl ever with 115.1 million viewers, followed by the New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks game in 2015 with 114.4 million watchers, the 2022 Rams vs. Bengals game with 112.3 million viewers and the 2014 Seahawks and Broncos matchup that was viewed by 112.2 million people.
The Super Bowl stands to be the culmination of an already record-breaking year for NFL games—matchups during the 2023 regular season drew an average of 17.9 million viewers, Nielsen data shows, a year-over-year increase of 7% and the most since 2015.
The ratings growth continued in the postseason—the 12 playoff games leading up to Sunday's Super Bowl averaged 38.5 million viewers on TV and streaming platforms, the Associated Press reported, an increase of 9% and the most-watched postseason of at least the last 35 years.
The ratings data. Viewership numbers have historically become available the day after the Super Bowl, usually mid-afternoon.
Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy following the NFL ... [+]
The 2024 Super Bowl was ripe with viral narratives. Leading up to the game, fans were so concerned Swift wouldn’t be able to make her around-the-world trip to see Kelce play that the Japanese Embassy in D.C. released a statement confirming she would be able to "wow Japanese audiences" while still “comfortably" arriving in Las Vegas before the game began. Halftime performance lovers were convinced pop star Justin Bieber would join his mentor Usher on stage, rumors that were only fueled when the Canadian singer showed up in Las Vegas ahead of the game. While he was shown in the stands with his wife Hailey, Bieber did not take the stage, prompting thousands of fans to express their disappointment on social media. Other storylines that fueled interest in the game: it was the first ever Super Bowl to be hosted in Las Vegas; the Chiefs were up to be the first team in decades to win back-to-back titles, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had something to prove and the legacy of Chiefs coach Andy Reid had NFL fans interested in if he'd score his his third Super Bowl win in five seasons.
- That's by how many points the Kansas City Chiefs (25) beat the San Francisco 49ers (22) in overtime play Sunday. It was the second-ever Super Bowl to go into overtime. After the game, multiple 49ers players admitted they were so unprepared for such an outcome they weren't aware of the NFL's postseason overtime rules.
Nickelodeon got in on the Super Bowl action with its own kid-friendly broadcast on Sunday night that instantly became viral meme fodder. Dubbed "wildly chaotic" by the Guardian, Nickelodeon’s broadcast showed the game live from Spongebob's home of Bikini Bottom and included a Dora the Explorer cameo as a rules expert. The show leaned into the under-the-sea theme and showcased celebrity attendees with their names turned into fish puns like “Leprawn James, “Fin Diesel,” and “Billie Eelish.” When Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was introduced, the Nickelodeon broadcast referred to him as "Taylor Swift's boyfriend.”