Fox Sports projects a record-breaking average viewership of 126 million U.S. viewers for Super Bowl LIX, which aired across television and streaming platforms Sunday night.
The broadcast was shown on Fox, Fox Deportes, and Telemundo, and streamed on Tubi and the NFL’s digital platforms.
Fox’s initial projections, released Monday, incorporated early Nielsen data and streaming figures from Tubi and the NFL. More comprehensive data was anticipated on Tuesday.
This marks the second consecutive year the Super Bowl achieved record viewership. Last year’s Chiefs’ overtime victory over San Francisco averaged 123.7 million viewers across CBS, Nickelodeon, Univision, and streaming services.
According to Fox, viewership peaked at 135.7 million during the second quarter.
Preliminary data suggests 14.5 million viewers watched via streaming platforms, including 13.6 million on Tubi, where the game was freely available.
Part of the increase is attributed to a shift in viewership measurement. This year marks the first time Nielsen included out-of-home viewers from all states except Hawaii and Alaska.
Previously, Nielsen only measured the top 44 media markets, encompassing 65% of the nation.
The ratings also encompass Nielsen data from smart TVs, in addition to cable and satellite set-top boxes.
Following two closely contested Super Bowls, Sunday’s game was decided in the first half with Philadelphia establishing a commanding 24-0 lead.
This Super Bowl also featured notable attendees.
President Trump’s attendance marked the first time a sitting President attended a Super Bowl, while Taylor Swift’s ongoing relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce maintained significant public interest.
For the third consecutive year, the Super Bowl averaged over 100 million viewers, reversing a trend where four of the five games before 2023 fell below that mark due to cord-cutting. This contrasts with the 2021 Super Bowl between Tampa Bay and Kansas City, which had the lowest TV-only average since 2007, at 95.2 million viewers.
NFL playoff viewership averaged 35.2 million viewers over the first three weekends, a 9% decrease from last year’s record of 38.5 million.
This followed a regular season with an average of 17.5 million viewers. While this ranked as the sixth-highest average since 1995, it represented a 2% decline from 2023.