Patriots-Seahawks Set Super Bowl TV Ratings Record Despite Boring Game
How many people watched the Super Bowl?
Super Bowl LX wasn’t the most exciting game ever played, featuring just 12 total points through the first three quarters amid a barrage of punts and field goals. While the scoring finally picked up in the fourth quarter, the Seattle Seahawks coasted to a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in a game that was largely drama-free.
Even so, that didn’t stop the game from drawing a record TV audience.
The game’s TV ratings were released on Tuesday, and the results were somewhat surprising. NBC’s telecast averaged 124.9 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched Super Bowl ever behind last year’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, which averaged 127.7 million viewers on FOX.
While overall viewership was down 2.8 million — a 2% dropoff — the game still set a Super Bowl record for peak viewership. Viewership peaked at an average of 137.8 million viewers in the second quarter from 7:45 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. ET — the highest peak viewership in U.S. TV history.
Most of those viewers also tuned in to Bad Bunny’s halftime show, which drew 128.2 million viewers — the fourth-largest audience for a Super Bowl halftime show. It also shattered NFL social media records.
Overall, the ratings were strong for a game that was a bit light on star power and household names. That shouldn’t be too surprising, though, given that the Patriots had high TV ratings all postseason, setting multiple records along the way.
America may be tired of New England’s success on the gridiron, but it keeps tuning in.
