The Kansas City Chiefs’ victory over the San Francisco 49ers was the most-watched Super Bowl in Sky Sports history, with the channel recording a 49 per cent increase on last year’s figures.
An average of 514,000 viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl LVIII from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, as Patrick Mahomes once again led Kansas City from a double-digit deficit to win in overtime and claim his third Vince Lombardi Trophy. in five years.
The game, which was the longest Super Bowl in history, was the most-watched NFL game ever on Sky. It broke the previous record of an average crowd of 415,000 for last season’s divisional round game, a 27-10 victory for the Cincinnati Bengals over the Buffalo Bills.
Sky Sports’ previous record for a Super Bowl was last year, when the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Arizona in front of a crowd of 344,000.
Viewership peaked at 761,000 on Sky. It was the highest NFL viewership on record for the network, up 35 percent from the previous highest peak of 563,000, also the Bills vs. Bengals game.
Kansas City won consecutive Super Bowls after beating the San Francisco 49ers
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid celebrates after winning his third Super Bowl with the team.
Taylor Swift had rushed back from Japan for the game to cheer on her boyfriend and the Chiefs squeezed Travis Kelce.
And while Usher was joined by Alicia Keys, will.i.am, Ludacris, HER, Lil Jon and Jermaine Dupri as he performed his 13-minute halftime show, the Super Bowl reached 935,000 viewers on Sky this year, an increase of 63 percent. percent compared to last year (574,000).
The metric is measured by the total number of people who watched part of the Super Bowl, which is based on 10 minutes of continuous viewing.
With Travis Kelce and his girlfriend Taylor Swift capturing the zeitgeist, there were 100,000 more female viewers this year (a 93 percent increase).
Research conducted ahead of the Super Bowl by streaming service NOW found that more than half (54 percent) of British Taylor Swift fans planned to stay up to watch.
“The figures are testament to the continued growth of the NFL in the UK and Ireland, and we are very proud to play a part in helping it expand to new audiences. It has been a brilliant season with new faces and a new studio added to our coverage, and the Super Bowl itself was a fitting ending,” said Bryan Henderson, director of NFL Sky Sports.
Sky first broadcast the NFL in 1995 and has had live rights to broadcast all games since 2015. It launched Sky Sports NFL in 2020.
According to television ratings expert Liam Hamilton, almost 700,000 people watched the game on ITV1 between 10:45 p.m. and 2:00 a.m., the cut-off time for rating measurements at the end of the day.
The channel broadcast its first Super Bowl last year after landing a three-year deal to broadcast the Super Bowl after seven years at the BBC. ITV was asked to comment.
“We are delighted to see the number of people across the UK who watched Super Bowl LVIII on Sky Sports, ITV and NFL Game Pass on DAZN,” said NFL UK general manager Henry Hodgson.
“The viewership, combined with the social engagement during Super Bowl week, is a testament to the growth of the NFL in the UK, particularly among the youth demographic we have targeted this season.”
Usher performed a special performance of his hit ‘My Boo’ with New York City singer Alicia Keys to applause.
Kelce, now a three-time Super Bowl winner, and Swift kissed after the dramatic victory.
In 2022, a record audience of 1.3 million tuned in to BBC1 to watch the start of Super Bowl LVI at 11:30 p.m., surpassing its previous high of 1.2 million from 2021.
Sunday’s game was the longest Super Bowl in history and was just the second to go to overtime.
In 2017, the New England Patriots rallied from a 28-3 third-quarter deficit to win 34-28 in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons.
Across the pond, the Chiefs’ victory was the most-watched Super Bowl in history, with 123 million people tuning in across the United States.
According to media analysts Nielsen, of the top 25 broadcasts in American television history, 19 are Super Bowls. Topping the list is the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, which was watched by more than 150 million people.
The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France is estimated to have reached a global audience of 1.5 billion.
The most watched program in UK history is the 1966 World Cup final between England and West Germany, which attracted 32.3 million viewers.