The Super Bowl on Sunday night was watched by an average TV audience in the United States of 123.4 million making it the most watched TV broadcast of any description since records started to be kept.
It is likely that the moon landing in 1969 drew a bigger audience before that but nothing since.
CBS has said that the cumulative audience that watched some or all of the Kansas City Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49’ers topped 202 million, 10 per cent up on 2023. The average figure is seven per cent up on last year’s game which drew 115.1 million.
The numbers takes in the coverage on CBS Sports, ESPN, Nickelodeon, Paramount and their related digital channels.
In an age of data it is not only the number of eyeballs that can be monitored.
Measurement service AppsFlyer tracked 4 million sessions in the UK from over 310 apps across social media, sports betting, food delivery and ecommerce, the data analyses app use from 8pm on Sunday night until after the game.
Key findings include:
Social Media Apps
Total sessions up 102% vs. a regular sunday evening
During the start of Usher’s halftime show, social media sessions in the UK increased by 51%
Food and Drink Delivery Apps
Purchases were up 27% for the 2024 Super Bowl vs. 2023
Engagement was up 112% vs. a regular Sunday evening
Ecommerce Apps
Purchases were up 26% during this year’s Super Bowl vs. last year’s game
Purchases were up 17% on the evening of Super Bowl Sunday vs. regular Sunday evening
Sport Betting Apps
Total sessions increased by 120% during the winning touchdown for Kansas City Chiefs
Total sessions were up 135% vs. a regular Sunday evening
“As the NFL captures new fans in Europe, AppsFlyer data reveals growing interest in the sport’s biggest calendar event among UK audiences,” said Shani Rosenfelder, Director of Global Content Strategy and Market Insights at AppsFlyer.
“With the added presence of high-profile figures like Taylor Swift, combined with the international interest in the iconic halftime show as well as a very competitive and exciting game, it is no surprise we saw social media sessions up by 102% during this year’s game.
Similar spikes in the use of food and delivery apps during the game re-affirms the second screen opportunities for brands to tap into engaged viewers of the sport using mobile activations around and during the event.”
Imagine what that kind of data would do for sporting rights holders going above and beyond the baseline of TV viewers and reaching out to partners.
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