Super Bowl LIX scores a record 127.7 million viewers despite blowout
The Super Bowl may have developed immunity against a terrible game.
An average of 127.7 million viewers watched Sunday's Fox telecast of the Philadelphia Eagles' 40-22 drubbing of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, setting a new record based on data from Nielsen, Adobe Analytics and the streaming service Tubi.
The figure is up 3% from last year's record of 123.7 million viewers who watched the Chiefs' 25-22 win over the San Francisco 49ers on CBS.
Fox said an average of 13.6 million viewers watched the game on Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming platform owned by parent company Fox Corp., which carried the event for the first time. An additional 900,000 watched on the NFL's streaming app. The combination made it the most streamed Super Bowl ever.
Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Fox Deportes brought in an additional 1.9 million viewers.
The addition of Tubi as an option likely brought in casual fans and the growing number of consumers who watch video only on digital devices without cable or a TV antenna. Tubi has about 97 million active users as of January.
In addition to the TV commercials that went for as much as $8 million for a 30-second spot, Fox sold spots placed exclusively on Tubi at around $2 million each, according to AdAge. The Tubi audience far exceeded the 8.5 million viewers projected by Fox.
Read more: Why the Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl rematch could deliver a ratings record for Fox
Last year's Super Bowl was streamed on Paramount+ and the NFL streaming app, both of which require a subscription.
The Super Bowl has regularly topped 100 million viewers since 2009 and fluctuated based on the competitiveness of the game. But that may no longer matter as the event has evolved into a national viewing holiday available on an array of free platforms.
The showdown at Caesar's Superdome in New Orleans peaked at 137.7 million viewers between 8 and 8:15 p.m. Eastern time. With the Eagles leading the Chiefs 24-0 going into the third quarter, viewing dropped off but was still strong enough to set a record for the entire game.
Super Bowl LIX had the ingredients of another ratings record-setter, with Taylor Swift to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce, the Chiefs' star tight end. President Trump heightened the anticipation by being the first sitting commander-in-chief to attend a Super Bowl.
The lopsided outcome of Sunday's contest was reminiscent of the run of terrible Super Bowl matchups of the mid-1980s, when there were five consecutive blowouts decided by 19 points or more.
Viewers surveyed in USA Today's annual Super Bowl Ad Meter chose a Budweiser commercial featuring the beer brand's iconic Clydesdale horses as their favorite.
The halftime show featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar was polarizing on social media, but provided the liveliest conversation of the night amid the Chiefs' dismal performance on the field. It was also the most-watched halftime show ever with 133.5 million viewers, up 3% over last year's performance by Usher.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
