Super Bowl Viewership Edges Up After Four-Year Decline

According to preliminary figures from Nielsen, Super Bowl viewership edged up slightly in 2020 as Fox’s telecast of the Kansas City Chief’s historical win over the Francisco 49ers averaged 99.9 million viewers on Sunday. Last year’s game, which saw the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever, had attracted an average of 98.2 million viewers, an 11-year low for the biggest game the American sporting landscape has to offer.

While the slight improvement over last year’s result marks the end of a four-year decline in viewership, the Super Bowl seems to have lost some of its appeal as must-see TV. While still the most watched TV event of the year, this year’s viewership fell 14.5 million short of the 2015 peak. Across all platforms (incl. Fox, Fox Deportes and several digital platforms) Super Bowl LIV drew 102 million viewers, up from the comparable total of 100.7 million last year.