The Kansas City Chiefs’ victory over the San Francisco 49ers was the most-watched Super Bowl ever on Sky Sports, with the channel recording a 49 percent increase from last year.
An average of 514,000 viewers watched 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 to claim its third Vince Lombardi Trophy in five years.
The game, the longest Super Bowl in history, was the most-watched NFL game ever on Sky. It beat the previous record of an average of 415,000 viewers for last season’s divisional round, a 27-10 victory for the Cincinnati Bengals over the Buffalo Bills.
Sky Sports’ previous highlight for a Super Bowl was last year, when the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Arizona in front of a crowd of 344,000.
Viewership peaked at 761,000 on Sky. It was the network’s highest ever NFL audience, up 35 percent from the previous high of 563,000 – also the Bills v Bengals game.
Kansas City claimed back-to-back 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 returned from Japan for the game to cheer on her boyfriend and Chiefs drafted Travis Kelce
And while Usher was joined by Alicia Keys, will.i.am, Ludacris, HER, Lil Jon and Jermaine Dupri during his 13-minute halftime show, this year’s Super Bowl reached 935,000 viewers on Sky – up 63 per cent compared to last year (574,000).
The metric is measured by the total number of people who watched any portion of the Super Bowl, based on 10 minutes of continuous viewing.
With Travis Kelce and girlfriend Taylor Swift capturing the spirit of the times, there were 100,000 more female viewers this year (+93 percent).
Pre-Super Bowl research 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 Britain and Ireland, and we are extremely proud to play a part in expanding it to new audiences. It was a brilliant season with new faces and a new studio added to our coverage, and the Super Bowl itself was a fitting end,” said Bryan Henderson, president of NFL Sky Sports.
Sky first broadcast the NFL in 1995 and has had live rights to broadcast every game since 2015. In 2020, Sky Sports NFL was launched.
According to television ratings expert Liam Hamilton, almost 700,000 people watched the match on ITV1 between 10:45 p.m. and 2 a.m., the cut-off time for measuring end-of-day viewing figures.
The channel broadcast its first Super Bowl last year after signing a three-year deal to show the Super Bowl after seven years on the BBC. ITV was asked for comment.
“We’re thrilled to see how many people in the UK watched Super Bowl LVIII on Sky Sports, ITV and NFL Game Pass on DAZN,” said Henry Hodgson, managing director of NFL UK.
“The viewership, combined with the social engagement during Super Bowl week, is testament to the growth of the NFL in Britain, especially among the youth we are targeting this season.”
Usher performed a special rendition of his hit ‘My Boo’ with New York singer Alicia Keys to loud cheers
Kelce, now a three-time Super Bowl winner, and Swift shared a kiss after the dramatic win
In 2022, a record audience of 1.3 million people tuned into BBC1 to watch Super Bowl LVI kick off at 11:30 p.m., surpassing the previous high of 1.2 million from 2021.
Sunday’s game was the longest Super Bowl in history and was only the second to go to overtime.
In 2017, the New England Patriots roared back from a 28-3 deficit in the third quarter to win 34-28 in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons.
On the other hand, the Chiefs’ win was the most watched Super Bowl ever, with 123 million people watching across America.
According to media analysts Nielsen, of the 25 best broadcasts in American television history, 19 are Super Bowls. Topping the list is Apollo 11’s 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 people.
The most watched program in British history is the 1966 World Cup final between England and West Germany, which attracted 32.3 million viewers.